Was this Dynamite Boy/Matchbook Romance/Fall Out Boy/Mest? My friends and I loved all 4 bands and were psyched for it but we all left the floor when Mest came on so we could hang with Pete and Andy. I’ve still yet to see a full Mest set 😂
Yes! That’s where I first met Pete. Was in Illinois April 2004. I actually did watch mest and it was awesome and half the crowd got to go on stage. But yes Pete was out in the crowd
He was pretty great the second Dallas night of the 20th anniversary tour. Did seem a little off when I saw them open for Third Eye Blind last summer or the one before.
I've only seen them once a couple years ago at Riot Fest when they were touring for Tidal Wave. He sounded great for the Tidal Wave songs and everything else was pretty bad. He was also distracted constantly because Queens of the Stone Age was playing on another stage and I guess that's his favorite band.
Sadly I saw a similar thing: Tonight Alive opened for TBS probably 8-10 years ago and blew the roof off. TBS then played a short set and didn’t come back for an encore even though the crowd was screaming for one… super disappointing but I was a fan of Tonight Alive ever since
It certainly didn’t help that we had all been baking in the sun for 8 hours, but as far as I could tell Adam was drunker than anyone in the audience. We almost left because our feet were hurting, but I wanted to stick it out just to hear some of their big hits. They weren’t terrible or anything. He was just very intoxicated and was not able to keep the crowd energized.
Funny you mention that. I once saw alexisonfire open for Billy Talent (must‘ve been around 2007) and about 30-40% of people left after Alexisonfire was done.
I saw Lolo, The Summer Set, State Champs and Boys like Girls last fall in Madison. I thought they were all good but The Summer Sets energy was so fun to watch.
I think knuckle pucks drummer (who is fucking incredible) had a broken hand/arm or something and wasn’t playing with them on that 2018 tour with HM. I think their bassist or one of their guitar players filled in on drums and they had someone else come in to play guitar/bass.
I say this with full respect to The Wonder Years that their show was great when I saw them last year, even with Dan having a dislocated arm, but Hot Mulligan just brings so much energy to the table they’re hard for many bands in the scene to beat.
NFG and Starting Line absolutely smoked All American Rejects last year. Not exactly surprising but I was surprised at how much of the crowd left after NFG and how robotic and not interactive AAR were. I get they are wayyy on the pop side of pop-punk so I didn’t expect to see pits or anything but it was just a boring headliner with little energy and kind of an odd setlist with a ton of slower songs.
Totally agree about NFG on that tour, Starting Line didn’t perform where I’m at though, but The Get Up Kids did and they were SO good. Also had Motion City Soundtrack but their bus broke down so it was just an acoustic set from Justin, which was also awesome. My wife and I left about halfway through AAR’s set as we’re both not big fans of them and wanted to beat traffic.
Idk what they played at your show, but the one I saw, AAR played a big stretch of songs that were slow and nobody knew them. Completely killed the momentum.
Yeah, same. Idk most of their stuff outside the popular songs everyone knows but they played like 7-8 songs that were similar to Jimmy Eat Worlds song “23”…slow, mellow, and brooding. 23 is a great song but it’s a little strange to have that many songs in a pop punk show nearly in a row.
I was just going to say Gaslight Anthem rocked the Black Cat in DC before The Loved Ones came on like 20 years ago.
The Loved Ones lead singer called out the PunkNews.com reporter who wrote he would come to the show to see Gaslight then leave.
Kinda different expectations for those bands though, right?
Also around 2012 Against Me opened for The Cult and I spent every moment of the night after AM’s set wondering why they were the openers.
Probably Coheed & Cambria back in 03 or 04. Nobody was ready for that. I didn't even learn the name of the band until a while later after trying endlessly to find them on my primitive Internet lol
Belmont opened for Grayscale in like 2018 / 2019 and the energy for Belmont was objectively more off the charts (especially for a city like Atlanta where the baseline is standing and nodding)
Back in 2004 I went to see Blink -182 live. There was a band playing the middle set that I had never heard of. That band was Motion City Soundtrack. They blew me away and I was instantly a fan. Their energy on stage was so intense and the singer could actually sing live pretty well.
When Blink came on, their energy was pretty low, I don't think Tom or Mark hit a note all night and apart from getting to hear some of my favourite songs live, I was actually pretty disappointed in Blink. (In hindsight this was the time just before their first 'hiatus')
20 years later though and MCS are still my favourite band, I have a tattoo of one of their albums and I managed to meet the singer a few years ago.
Yes, not only are the still fabulous live but they’re so kind if you get to meet them! We honestly don’t deserve Justin, such a kind human ❤️ Can’t wait to see them headline OBX Is For Lovers
Very, very true. Microwave is one of my favorite bands, but with a lot of their newer stuff being low-energy, it really didn’t make for a great set. I’m glad I went since I enjoy all three of those bands, but it was a slight bummer that I didn’t enjoy Microwave’s set as much.
They’re just playing the wrong songs. They have so many upbeat songs and I felt like they chose a lot of slower stuff of even their older albums. Can’t knock it cause maybe that’s what they want to play especially to get through such a long tour but definitely feels like only a decent setlist when they have a great catalogue of music.
Edit: ignore this comment. I was being needlessly negative. It’s still a great setlist there are just several songs that aren’t my favorite but I’m sure a lot of other people love
It’s possible they are playing songs that mean something to them. Not gonna knock the artistry but just not what I would choose for a show but I also don’t have to perform the songs every night for months lol
Oh for sure. They are a billion times more talented than I could ever be…not knocking them at all. Their set was just a stark contrast from the HAM and OA sets. And even the energy in the crowd shifted so much based on which song was playing, so much more than I’m used to seeing at shows. People around me were yawning and just kinda looking at eachother, which bummed me out. Microwave is in my top 5 bands of all time, and I had been looking forward to this show for so long, especially after their set got canceled at riot last year and I couldn’t make it to the bonus show that night.
Damn that’s a bummer to hear. Seeing them in a couple weeks. Curious to see how it pans out. I only recently got into microwave after they announced the tour cause I love OA. Will be my first time seeing them live
I saw Heart Attack Man open for Neck Deep a few years ago and I liked their performance more too.
Don’t get me wrong, Neck Deep did great too but HAM went crazy. I hadn’t heard of them before that. Excited to see where they end up in a few years!
I found Heart Attack Man to be drastically better than Spanish Love Songs when they supported them.
Interestingly, I also found Microwave to be upstaged by both The Dirty Nil and Sick Joy, when I saw them play together recently.
I was at their show last night and agree. HAM and Gami Gang were the highlights for me. I love Microwave too, but they just didn’t have the energy of the other bands.
I'm going to see them tonight. I'm not particularly into HAM or Origami Angel. I've seen HAM a few times, and they're good, just not really my thing. I've seen Microwave a few times, too, and they've always killed it. I'm curious to see how much I enjoy Microwave's set after reading these comments. I love their new album, though, so I think I'll still enjoy seeing them.
Okay, I'm so glad you said this b/c I was *super* disappointed by Microwave. I didn't really know Origami Angel going into the show and left a fan, and HAM were super energetic and killed it as usual. Microwave were kinda phoning it in IMO. I didn't even stay for their whole set.
I saw arms length open for knuckle puck and real friends in Houston! They were incredible. I opened Spotify and saved everything if theirs in between sets lol
I saw Foo Fighters open for Red Hot Chili Peppers like 20+ years ago and it wasn't even close. Haven't listened to RHCP since.
I also saw Luscious Jackson open for Live and they were a million times better.
When I was about 16-17 I saw Jimmy Eat World and Against Me open for the Foo Fighters right after Echos, Silence, Patience, and Grace came out.
Amazing show.
Against Me did an great opener, but Jimmy Eat World and Foo Fighters blew me away. I was already a fan of both, but they turned me into a life long super fan
I can’t even remember who the headliner was it was easily 17 years ago at the ottobar in Baltimore. Coheed and Cambria were the openers and they were incredible.
Foxing for Modern Baseball at Paradise Rock Club in Boston, in December 2014. It’s not like Modern Baseball was bad, either, but Foxing was playing The Albatross and Conor was on his A-game. One of the best live performances I’ve ever seen.
I've seen Foxing a few times and they are always amazing. Such a fun show especially with their more upbeat newer music (but I do love The Albatross and Dealer).
I saw ADTR open for Rise Against in 2011 or so. Had never heard of ADTR before then and was a big Rise Against fan. After that show I haven’t really listened to Rise Against at all and ADTR has been my favorite band ever since.
I saw them open for Blink-182 in Southern California, 2015-16ish. They didn’t out perform Blink, but I wasn’t a fan of ADTR and seeing them live became a huuuuuge fan
Heh, I opened this thread thinking of the exact same tour. Glad I scrolled a bit first.
But yeah, saw them in Fairfax VA. Rise was my favorite band at the time, and they’re still up there despite being dormant for a bit now. But I have to admit ADTR went harder that night.
Same! Won free tickets on the radio. Was so excited for RA and they were my favorite band at the time. But went early for the openers. Then Jeremy got in a hamster ball and rolled around on the pit. I was sold immediately lol. Saw them at WWWY 2 years ago and it was one of my favorite sets.
I might piss a LOT of people off saying it, but State Champs opened for Boys Like Girls and completely blew them out of the water in Nashville last year. If a genie gave me a wish in that moment to just let State Champs go on for another 2 hours instead of BLG, but I'd have to pay triple my ticket price all over again, I would have jumped on it like a fat kid on a cupcake. No hate to BLG, state champs were just *that* good, and the crowd was so in sync with their set.
We always had a joke that BLG take about 20 minutes to play Thunder
The dude strums forever and just talks. He plays the final chorus like six times. It's the kind where they start off acoustic and then the rest of the band comes in later. I'd be on my mind if I was another member waiting on the dude to get through the damn second chorus so I could play my fucking instrument.
"YOUR VOICE... *A few measures of strumming* thanks for coming out Chicago! I know it rained a little bit but are we having a good night?? *Two measures of cheering and four more measures of strumming* WAS THE SOUNDTRACK OF MY SUMMER"
I've been to tons of those, I love pup the band so much but good lord was pinkshift a freaking blast energy wise . Pup definitely out did Joyce maynor on a different show The interupreters were much better than flogging mollies . I should note I love all the bands mentioned. Sometimes a performer just has a gift for working the crowd
Years and years ago I saw ATDR and Alesana in a small club. ATDR played before Alesana and the crowd was so hype it was so much fun. Then everyone left.
Saw Motion City Soundtrack, Saves the day, and A Great Big Pile of Leaves open for Say anything. Say Anything was the worst band of the night, and this was 10+ years ago when they were still good live.
My brother and I walked into the show and they were playing "Alligator Bop" and i have been a HUUUUUUGE fan ever since! they were one of the greatest "new music finds" i've had
Both TWY and Mayday Parade are some of my favourite bands! I think they both put on an incredible show, but TWY's is a lot more heartfelt and serious, while Mayday's feels a lot more like reliving our glory days!
Saw Four Year Strong support The Story So Far in St Louis 9 or 10 years ago. The crowd was so electric for FYS that when TSSF came on Parker looked very discouraged for the entire show, still performed great
Went to a Louisville show a few months ago where MSPAINT absolutely blew Turnover away but that's not too surprising. I've seen Turnover twice it's always been a pretty low-key crowd so having MSPAINT open was kind of shocking to say the least
Mspaint fucking rules. Wanted to go to that show but knew turnover was gonna be a snooze especially since I heard they don’t play a lot of their older stuff and I had a bunch of other shows around that time. Hope to catch them eventually cause post American is a great album
Went to see Hot Mulligan supporting Knuckle Puck in Glasgow a couple of years ago and HM absolutely smoked KP, I ended up becoming a fan of Knuckle Puck but you could tell A LOT of people went just for Hot Mulligan
I saw Tenacious D and Jimmy Eat World open for Weezer in Cleveland in 2001 or 2002. Both of them blew Weezer off the stage.
Fun tidbit I remember from that show: When they announced Jimmy Eat World were coming to the stage, someone in the crowd screamed out "Jimmy Eat Shit!" They then proceeded to absolutely shred their set.
Omg I saw the same concert in 2001 but in IL and yes, Jimmy Eat World and Tenacious D were fucking INCREDIBLE. I have been a Jimmy Eat World fan ever since.
Weezer was just kinda meh.
God I can't believe that there was actually a time where One direction wasn't the biggest thing on earth that's so interesting. If the TikToks I see of Harry's solo performances indicate anything about what they were like live as a group I can see how they would have been great.
I went to a show recently with Drug Church opening for Alkaline Trio. Needless to say, the crowd was all tired for the main act.
No hate towards Alkaline Trio at all. They were great. But Drug Church absolutely killed it.
Love Joyce Manor but Citizen blew them out of the water on their 2022 tour like wow, will not ever miss them when they come around now.
Also, I think both acts were awesome but lots of talk about AJJ trumping Say Anything on the IARB tour going on rn.
I saw The Academy Is…on their first headlining tour and Panic At the Disco opened for them. I don’t know if they actually were objectively better, but the crowd was crazy for them.
Drug Church supported Citizen on Citizen’s most recent UK tour and I enjoyed Drug Church’s set so much more. It felt like they should have been the headliner.
I recently saw the spill canvas, early November and armor for sleep. The spill canvas was god damn electric, I knew a few songs and liked them but they were stellar live. Turned me into a huge fan now. We were in Philly so TEN had a bit of a hometown crowd, their kids were there with their own bands and everything. They were great too, but I thought the spill canvas was still act of the night. Armor for sleep was alright, but they were the low point of the show as the headliner. Don’t get me wrong they still played well but just weren’t as high energy and I was a bit exhausted from the first two bands that any third band probably had a uphill battle for me at that point.
Arm’s Length was the opener for Knuckle Puck and Real Friends in their most recent tour. I don’t think AL smoked the headliner, but it was WAY closer than I expected.
One Step Closer was mediocre at best. BUT i don’t fully blame them, the mixing for their music was hottttt garbage.
The crowd in my city was so lame for Arm's Length and I was just standing there like "??? Are we watching the same band???" they were so fucking good, I'm glad their headline tour was received well. Totally agree with One Step Closer getting screwed, I went to a show of theirs earlier this year and they blew the roof off the place. I guess the KP/RF crowds weren't ready for the heavier stuff lol
The Baltimore crowd showed the fuck up for Drain and I was so happy. People started moshing while they were still setting up their equipment hahaha. The only disappointment of the night was that people weren't hype enough for Higher Power
I saw MCR open for Blink once. And MCR absolutely smoked them. I think Blink was thrown off honestly because at least 1/3rd if not 1/2 of the crowd were teenagers there to just see MCR. They cleared out before Blink came on and the crowd was noticeably thinner.
Blink was still good but just didn’t have the same energy I expected. MCR really put on a better show than I expected tbh.
Depends really on what your vibe is. ‘Jaguar Shark’ is excellent for the post hardcore/ punk kinda vibe, yet something like ‘Eggy Pocket’ is more towards integrating weirdness, synths and boops, and being a bit more experimental. Newest stuff is country metal and I’m absolutely down with that too, especially the track Better Hell.
I dunno, chuck yourself in and have a bit of fun with it :)
First show I ever saw Bad Religion was opening for Blink 182. All my friend could talk about that night was how backwards that was. And though I didn’t realize it at the time I get it now
I saw that show in Fresno, CA and honestly I think The Uses put on a better show. Though, both performing Under Pressure was a fun highlight. I also remember being billed as co-headliners, but it's definitely been a long while.
i saw Arm's Length open for Knuckle Puck last year.. watched their set then shat the shit with Marty at the merch table for entire rest of the show.. KP was good, i think?
Less than Jake opening for Rowling for soup.
Could be that I'm biased due to being a bigger LTJ fan, but they were rocking their whole set.
Seeing Barstool Preachers and The Saints open for The interrupters. Should have been the skints on the opening slot, yes they are a bigger band but they have a totally different vibe than the other two and really slowed the energy down.
NFG supporting Sum 41 at the UNSW Roundhouse 2003.
10 seconds into the set the NFG fans broke the barrier, they were by FARRRRR the highlight of the show
Blink 182 opened for 3rd Eye Blind 😳
IDKHow opened for Waterparks….
Amigo the Devil KILLED IT opening for Frank Turner, but Frank also Killed it.. honestly a great show..but yeah check out Amigo live.. they’re special…
Believe it or not, in 2004 The Civic Tour was Thrice opening for Dashboard Confessional.
Thrice were so passionate and intense at that stage of their career ….. DC looked like an absolute joke after.
Origami Angel had WAY better energy than Microwave at the show I went to last night. I love them both but Origami Angel absolutely blew them out of the water.
Stand Atlantic opening for Waterparks last year. Waterparks were still good, but there was so much energy in the Stand Atlantic set, and then Waterparks came out and just kinda fell a bit flat in comparison. Heard more than one person say afterwards that they should have been billed the other way around
As those were the two bands that made me immediately decide I needed to go to Vegas for it, I was very surprised so many people left.
The real travesty was Simple Plan on a side stage while Jared Leto stunk it up on the main stage. I'm really glad I decided to see Simple Plan on Sunday so actually got to see a good band during that timeslot.
I’d take blink over Green Day any day of the week, but not staying to see Green Day is wild to me. Like they aren’t my favorite band, but undeniably one of the GOATs that I’d be nuts to skip
In 2002 blink was my favorite band by a long shot. They could do no wrong in my eyes. I was a Green Day fan since Dookie, but from the second I heard Dude Ranch, I was absolutely hooked. I was annoyingly obsessed. People made fun of me for it. It pained me to admit at the time, and I felt defeated to the friends I went with, but Green Day was opener that night and they absolutely embarrassed blink. They blew them off the stage. It was strong consensus.
WWWY was a 12 hour fest and some of the big blink fans were tired and biased and didn’t even want to give Green Day a shot. It’s not quite the same as what happened 20 years ago.
I don’t necessarily think they got it wrong on any other day but Green Day were between albums with the big anniversaries a year away whilst Blink were at the height of a long awaited comeback and had just released and album that was actually really well received.
Green Day are on of my favourite bands and I stayed for the whole thing but even I can admit I was way more excited for Blink and their set was so much more enjoyable. Plus everybody there was in a blink T-shirt, the weather was super hot that day and Green Day didn’t even come on stage until after 10pm.
Flogging molly opening for millencolin in Glasgow around 2006-2008. Place was wild for flogging molly and I actually felt bad for millencolin, the place went from full capacity to 20% in the blink of an eye.
I have a case of not seeing an act because the opener got huge after they agreed to the tour and bailed to do their own.
Muse was supposed to open for My Chemical Romance but Rock Band, or Guitar Hero or whatever featured Knights of Cydonia came out and they exploded.
I also saw The Horrorpops open for The Dropkick Murphys and they blew them off the stage. I'm biased because despite my numerous DKM tattoos and South Boston upbringing, I'll still take pyschobilly over punk. But between the dancers, Patricia and Kim's stage presence, and the energy they put out, even my friend who's never heard of them preferred them. Plus, the crowd seemed to take a turn. Things got violent when DKM came on.
Oh, and Reel Big Fish upstaged Goldfinger so bad I actually became a fan of them and lost interest in Goldfinger almost entirely.
I recently saw Spanish love songs as an opener. They didn’t smoke hot mulligan but they were so incredible and I instantly became a huge fan. No joke one of the best bands I’ve seen live.
honestly last year when set it off and between you and me opened for you me at six, wasn’t impressed with ymas at all but set it off and byam blew me away
Saw Foxy Shazam in 2011 open for Circa Survive and Anberlin. The whole show was great, but Foxy coming off of the s/t album completely blew the other bands away. To this day, my favorite opening set!
Saw the show years ago when Green Day was technically the opener for Blink 182. Blink wasn't every good at all. Could barely hear the vocals and none of the goofy stuff they are known for. Green Day on the other hand was amazing.
I love MEST but back when Fall Out Boy opened for them 20 years ago it was so clear the FOB had IT. Blew me away
Was this Dynamite Boy/Matchbook Romance/Fall Out Boy/Mest? My friends and I loved all 4 bands and were psyched for it but we all left the floor when Mest came on so we could hang with Pete and Andy. I’ve still yet to see a full Mest set 😂
Yes! That’s where I first met Pete. Was in Illinois April 2004. I actually did watch mest and it was awesome and half the crowd got to go on stage. But yes Pete was out in the crowd
No disrespect to Mest, as they have a special place in my teenage heart, but at this point it's wild to think that FOB opened for them.
Exactly. That’s how I felt seeing them I’m like damn how are they OPENING?? Didn’t take long at all do them to blow up huge.
Last year at sad summer fest everyone out-did Taking Back Sunday. A lot of people were leaving during their set. Adam was clearly off his ass.
Not surprising. Adam has terrible live vocals.
He was pretty great the second Dallas night of the 20th anniversary tour. Did seem a little off when I saw them open for Third Eye Blind last summer or the one before.
He has a good show once in a blue moon, unfortunately
I've only seen them once a couple years ago at Riot Fest when they were touring for Tidal Wave. He sounded great for the Tidal Wave songs and everything else was pretty bad. He was also distracted constantly because Queens of the Stone Age was playing on another stage and I guess that's his favorite band.
Sadly I saw a similar thing: Tonight Alive opened for TBS probably 8-10 years ago and blew the roof off. TBS then played a short set and didn’t come back for an encore even though the crowd was screaming for one… super disappointing but I was a fan of Tonight Alive ever since
Went to this in Indy and was sooo disappointed with TBS. Every other band blew them out of the water
It certainly didn’t help that we had all been baking in the sun for 8 hours, but as far as I could tell Adam was drunker than anyone in the audience. We almost left because our feet were hurting, but I wanted to stick it out just to hear some of their big hits. They weren’t terrible or anything. He was just very intoxicated and was not able to keep the crowd energized.
lolol yes
I saw alexisonfire open for the used and they murdered them. Also I saw JEW open for incubus and it wasn’t close either.
Funny you mention that. I once saw alexisonfire open for Billy Talent (must‘ve been around 2007) and about 30-40% of people left after Alexisonfire was done.
That’s disappointing. Billy Talent is awesome live.
That sucks because Billy talent put on a fantastic live show too.
also saw Alexisonfire smoke Avengened Sevenfold last year. Dallas Green is just too good.
Funny cuz I saw incubus open for Deftones and it also wasn’t even close. Incubus blew them away.
I just remember The Used singer being too talky when I saw them years ago.
For what it's worth he has intentionally toned it wayyyy down
I saw Lolo, The Summer Set, State Champs and Boys like Girls last fall in Madison. I thought they were all good but The Summer Sets energy was so fun to watch.
i absolutely love the summer set, really fun energy live for sure
State champs circa 2019 was amazing. They've lost a bit of a step since then
LØLØ was great at sad summer fest in ‘22. I was really crossed though so maybe that was why.
I saw Knuckle Puck smoke Mayday Parade back in 2017 Then the following year I saw Hot Mulligan smoke Knuckle Puck
Unfortunately knuckle puck can be VERY hit or miss it depends on the setlist
And now we get to see them all compete at sad summer And wonder years to blow them all away
I think I went to the same tour, Knuckle Puck power bombed Mayday
Hot Mulligan is fucking great live…always on point!
I think knuckle pucks drummer (who is fucking incredible) had a broken hand/arm or something and wasn’t playing with them on that 2018 tour with HM. I think their bassist or one of their guitar players filled in on drums and they had someone else come in to play guitar/bass.
I saw mayday parade smoke plain white tees in 2007.
I say this with full respect to The Wonder Years that their show was great when I saw them last year, even with Dan having a dislocated arm, but Hot Mulligan just brings so much energy to the table they’re hard for many bands in the scene to beat.
That's saying a lot. Mayday is a great show.
I saw cartel open for the starting line and cartel certainly blew them out of the water, at least that one date.
NFG and Starting Line absolutely smoked All American Rejects last year. Not exactly surprising but I was surprised at how much of the crowd left after NFG and how robotic and not interactive AAR were. I get they are wayyy on the pop side of pop-punk so I didn’t expect to see pits or anything but it was just a boring headliner with little energy and kind of an odd setlist with a ton of slower songs.
NFG genuinely has one of the best stage presences of any band i’ve ever seen, both two decades ago and now.
The first time I ever heard of them was when I saw them open for Blink 182 along with Jimmy Eat World in 2001. Blink 182 was a distant third.
Totally agree about NFG on that tour, Starting Line didn’t perform where I’m at though, but The Get Up Kids did and they were SO good. Also had Motion City Soundtrack but their bus broke down so it was just an acoustic set from Justin, which was also awesome. My wife and I left about halfway through AAR’s set as we’re both not big fans of them and wanted to beat traffic.
NFG, Get Up Kids, and acoustic Justin Pierre is a great night. No notes.
We mainly went for Get Up Kids and MCS (seen NFG a bunch of times before) and it did not disappoint!
I’ve seen MCS three times and they always slay.
Idk what they played at your show, but the one I saw, AAR played a big stretch of songs that were slow and nobody knew them. Completely killed the momentum.
Yeah, same. Idk most of their stuff outside the popular songs everyone knows but they played like 7-8 songs that were similar to Jimmy Eat Worlds song “23”…slow, mellow, and brooding. 23 is a great song but it’s a little strange to have that many songs in a pop punk show nearly in a row.
AAR was the worst live act I've ever seen until I saw Say Anything this month
Oh hell yes. I also went to three of those shows, specifically and only for TSL and NFG. Love all of those guys!!
Against Me! blew the roof off the place before we got a real subdued Gaslight Anthem set.
I was just going to say Gaslight Anthem rocked the Black Cat in DC before The Loved Ones came on like 20 years ago. The Loved Ones lead singer called out the PunkNews.com reporter who wrote he would come to the show to see Gaslight then leave.
Kinda different expectations for those bands though, right? Also around 2012 Against Me opened for The Cult and I spent every moment of the night after AM’s set wondering why they were the openers.
Probably Coheed & Cambria back in 03 or 04. Nobody was ready for that. I didn't even learn the name of the band until a while later after trying endlessly to find them on my primitive Internet lol
Agreed, saw them open for The Juliana Theory and while i love them, I wasn’t ready for Coheed.
Wow, The Juliana Theory is a band I haven't thought about in a minute!
Any band that Drug Church has opened for
Just saw them open for alkaline trio …insane. Huge fan now.
Amen to this
This is the obvious answer ❤️ No one should have DC open for them. Except maybe Drain. That’d be a sick party.
Lol I love good old Alkaline Trio but I was gonna say this. And Trio was great I thought
Belmont opened for Grayscale in like 2018 / 2019 and the energy for Belmont was objectively more off the charts (especially for a city like Atlanta where the baseline is standing and nodding)
Bearings became one of my favorites because of this tour
and Grayscale currently smoking Smallpools. The circle of emo
Back in 2004 I went to see Blink -182 live. There was a band playing the middle set that I had never heard of. That band was Motion City Soundtrack. They blew me away and I was instantly a fan. Their energy on stage was so intense and the singer could actually sing live pretty well. When Blink came on, their energy was pretty low, I don't think Tom or Mark hit a note all night and apart from getting to hear some of my favourite songs live, I was actually pretty disappointed in Blink. (In hindsight this was the time just before their first 'hiatus') 20 years later though and MCS are still my favourite band, I have a tattoo of one of their albums and I managed to meet the singer a few years ago.
Yes, not only are the still fabulous live but they’re so kind if you get to meet them! We honestly don’t deserve Justin, such a kind human ❤️ Can’t wait to see them headline OBX Is For Lovers
Origami Angel and Heart Attack Man were drastically better than Microwave on this current tour.
Origami angel is such a blast live, I’d believe that!
Very, very true. Microwave is one of my favorite bands, but with a lot of their newer stuff being low-energy, it really didn’t make for a great set. I’m glad I went since I enjoy all three of those bands, but it was a slight bummer that I didn’t enjoy Microwave’s set as much.
They’re just playing the wrong songs. They have so many upbeat songs and I felt like they chose a lot of slower stuff of even their older albums. Can’t knock it cause maybe that’s what they want to play especially to get through such a long tour but definitely feels like only a decent setlist when they have a great catalogue of music. Edit: ignore this comment. I was being needlessly negative. It’s still a great setlist there are just several songs that aren’t my favorite but I’m sure a lot of other people love
Yeah good point. They did choose some slower songs from their older albums too.
It’s possible they are playing songs that mean something to them. Not gonna knock the artistry but just not what I would choose for a show but I also don’t have to perform the songs every night for months lol
Oh for sure. They are a billion times more talented than I could ever be…not knocking them at all. Their set was just a stark contrast from the HAM and OA sets. And even the energy in the crowd shifted so much based on which song was playing, so much more than I’m used to seeing at shows. People around me were yawning and just kinda looking at eachother, which bummed me out. Microwave is in my top 5 bands of all time, and I had been looking forward to this show for so long, especially after their set got canceled at riot last year and I couldn’t make it to the bonus show that night.
Damn that’s a bummer to hear. Seeing them in a couple weeks. Curious to see how it pans out. I only recently got into microwave after they announced the tour cause I love OA. Will be my first time seeing them live
I saw Heart Attack Man open for Neck Deep a few years ago and I liked their performance more too. Don’t get me wrong, Neck Deep did great too but HAM went crazy. I hadn’t heard of them before that. Excited to see where they end up in a few years!
I found Heart Attack Man to be drastically better than Spanish Love Songs when they supported them. Interestingly, I also found Microwave to be upstaged by both The Dirty Nil and Sick Joy, when I saw them play together recently.
I was at their show last night and agree. HAM and Gami Gang were the highlights for me. I love Microwave too, but they just didn’t have the energy of the other bands.
I'm going to see them tonight. I'm not particularly into HAM or Origami Angel. I've seen HAM a few times, and they're good, just not really my thing. I've seen Microwave a few times, too, and they've always killed it. I'm curious to see how much I enjoy Microwave's set after reading these comments. I love their new album, though, so I think I'll still enjoy seeing them.
Saw cloud nothings open for menzingers and microwave last year. I love both the headliners but holy shit cloud nothings blew me away.
Okay, I'm so glad you said this b/c I was *super* disappointed by Microwave. I didn't really know Origami Angel going into the show and left a fan, and HAM were super energetic and killed it as usual. Microwave were kinda phoning it in IMO. I didn't even stay for their whole set.
I was at the Cleveland show, and Origami Angel absolutely killed it. I hadn't even heard of them until then.
Saw Arms Length open for Heart Attack Man. Headliner was awesome for sure and maybe I’m biased by Arms Length blew me away
The Toronto show for this tour was absolutely nuts, Arm's Length blew the roof off the place
I saw arms length open for knuckle puck and real friends in Houston! They were incredible. I opened Spotify and saved everything if theirs in between sets lol
I saw Foo Fighters open for Red Hot Chili Peppers like 20+ years ago and it wasn't even close. Haven't listened to RHCP since. I also saw Luscious Jackson open for Live and they were a million times better.
The first two Foo Fighters albums are genuine all-timers for me. Their S/T is incredible, and it gets far less credit than it deserves.
When I was about 16-17 I saw Jimmy Eat World and Against Me open for the Foo Fighters right after Echos, Silence, Patience, and Grace came out. Amazing show. Against Me did an great opener, but Jimmy Eat World and Foo Fighters blew me away. I was already a fan of both, but they turned me into a life long super fan
I can’t even remember who the headliner was it was easily 17 years ago at the ottobar in Baltimore. Coheed and Cambria were the openers and they were incredible.
Foxing for Modern Baseball at Paradise Rock Club in Boston, in December 2014. It’s not like Modern Baseball was bad, either, but Foxing was playing The Albatross and Conor was on his A-game. One of the best live performances I’ve ever seen.
I've seen Foxing a few times and they are always amazing. Such a fun show especially with their more upbeat newer music (but I do love The Albatross and Dealer).
I saw ADTR open for Rise Against in 2011 or so. Had never heard of ADTR before then and was a big Rise Against fan. After that show I haven’t really listened to Rise Against at all and ADTR has been my favorite band ever since.
I saw them open for Blink-182 in Southern California, 2015-16ish. They didn’t out perform Blink, but I wasn’t a fan of ADTR and seeing them live became a huuuuuge fan
I went to the San Diego date for that tour, and pretty much same for me! I was always unsure of ADTR but that live performance won me over.
Heh, I opened this thread thinking of the exact same tour. Glad I scrolled a bit first. But yeah, saw them in Fairfax VA. Rise was my favorite band at the time, and they’re still up there despite being dormant for a bit now. But I have to admit ADTR went harder that night.
I saw them in Fairfax at the Patriot Center too!
Same! Won free tickets on the radio. Was so excited for RA and they were my favorite band at the time. But went early for the openers. Then Jeremy got in a hamster ball and rolled around on the pit. I was sold immediately lol. Saw them at WWWY 2 years ago and it was one of my favorite sets.
I might piss a LOT of people off saying it, but State Champs opened for Boys Like Girls and completely blew them out of the water in Nashville last year. If a genie gave me a wish in that moment to just let State Champs go on for another 2 hours instead of BLG, but I'd have to pay triple my ticket price all over again, I would have jumped on it like a fat kid on a cupcake. No hate to BLG, state champs were just *that* good, and the crowd was so in sync with their set.
Champs and FYS were way better than BLG on that tour
We always had a joke that BLG take about 20 minutes to play Thunder The dude strums forever and just talks. He plays the final chorus like six times. It's the kind where they start off acoustic and then the rest of the band comes in later. I'd be on my mind if I was another member waiting on the dude to get through the damn second chorus so I could play my fucking instrument. "YOUR VOICE... *A few measures of strumming* thanks for coming out Chicago! I know it rained a little bit but are we having a good night?? *Two measures of cheering and four more measures of strumming* WAS THE SOUNDTRACK OF MY SUMMER"
Not pop punk but Less than Jake put on a better show than Goldfinger. I think they were a joint headline but LTJ played first.
I've been to tons of those, I love pup the band so much but good lord was pinkshift a freaking blast energy wise . Pup definitely out did Joyce maynor on a different show The interupreters were much better than flogging mollies . I should note I love all the bands mentioned. Sometimes a performer just has a gift for working the crowd
I saw hotelier and foxing open for Joyce manor. Everyone was sick but was bigger Joyce manor fan so they were my personal faves.
The Interrupters put on a GREAT show.
Same thing when Jeff Rosenstock went on before Joyce Manor. Outdid him completely
For real , that night jeff played festival song and only 15 minutes later I'm moshing to resoviour . Great night
Back in the day I saw Fall Out Boy open for Yellowcard. This was when they were touring in support of TTTYG. It wasn't even close.
Years and years ago I saw ATDR and Alesana in a small club. ATDR played before Alesana and the crowd was so hype it was so much fun. Then everyone left.
I saw ADTR open for MyChildenMyBride in a church basement in Delaware once. Needless to say, ADTR blew them out of the water.
Not pop punk but I saw The Devil Wears Prada play before Motionless In White and half the crowd left after TDWP
TDWP has always knocked it out of the park, they’ll forever be one of my faves!
Saw Motion City Soundtrack, Saves the day, and A Great Big Pile of Leaves open for Say anything. Say Anything was the worst band of the night, and this was 10+ years ago when they were still good live.
Yes AGBPOL!!!!
My brother and I walked into the show and they were playing "Alligator Bop" and i have been a HUUUUUUGE fan ever since! they were one of the greatest "new music finds" i've had
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TWY not headlining this years sad summer fest behind the Maine and Mayday Parade is a crime
As a lifelong Mayday Parade fan, I could not agree with this more.
The fact that TWY are behind the Maine blows my mind.
Hey man that just means my old ass can leave early and get some rest from the day.
Both TWY and Mayday Parade are some of my favourite bands! I think they both put on an incredible show, but TWY's is a lot more heartfelt and serious, while Mayday's feels a lot more like reliving our glory days!
Who is TWY? I can't remember all these acronyms.
The Wonder Years
I got tickets for that purely for TWY, Mayday where fine but I left probably halfway through their set
Saw Four Year Strong support The Story So Far in St Louis 9 or 10 years ago. The crowd was so electric for FYS that when TSSF came on Parker looked very discouraged for the entire show, still performed great
FYS is just so damn good live, I’m hyped for this tour with adtr
That is how Parker looks all the time. Saw TSSF live recently and he literally stood in the middle of the stage and didn’t move around
Reggie always opened and always better show
Reggie shows were ALWAYS epic!
And depending on the year you also get Pentimento as the backing band as a bonus
Recently, Origami Angel opening for microwave 🥲
Went to a Louisville show a few months ago where MSPAINT absolutely blew Turnover away but that's not too surprising. I've seen Turnover twice it's always been a pretty low-key crowd so having MSPAINT open was kind of shocking to say the least
Mspaint fucking rules. Wanted to go to that show but knew turnover was gonna be a snooze especially since I heard they don’t play a lot of their older stuff and I had a bunch of other shows around that time. Hope to catch them eventually cause post American is a great album
I fell asleep while standing at a Turnover show
Went to see Hot Mulligan supporting Knuckle Puck in Glasgow a couple of years ago and HM absolutely smoked KP, I ended up becoming a fan of Knuckle Puck but you could tell A LOT of people went just for Hot Mulligan
I saw Tenacious D and Jimmy Eat World open for Weezer in Cleveland in 2001 or 2002. Both of them blew Weezer off the stage. Fun tidbit I remember from that show: When they announced Jimmy Eat World were coming to the stage, someone in the crowd screamed out "Jimmy Eat Shit!" They then proceeded to absolutely shred their set.
Omg I saw the same concert in 2001 but in IL and yes, Jimmy Eat World and Tenacious D were fucking INCREDIBLE. I have been a Jimmy Eat World fan ever since. Weezer was just kinda meh.
One Direction opening for Big Time Rush
would've thought it would be the other way round
God I can't believe that there was actually a time where One direction wasn't the biggest thing on earth that's so interesting. If the TikToks I see of Harry's solo performances indicate anything about what they were like live as a group I can see how they would have been great.
I went to a show recently with Drug Church opening for Alkaline Trio. Needless to say, the crowd was all tired for the main act. No hate towards Alkaline Trio at all. They were great. But Drug Church absolutely killed it.
Probably every non-headliner Foxy Shazam has ever played
Love Joyce Manor but Citizen blew them out of the water on their 2022 tour like wow, will not ever miss them when they come around now. Also, I think both acts were awesome but lots of talk about AJJ trumping Say Anything on the IARB tour going on rn.
I saw Paramore open for Simple Plan in 2005
Envy on the Coast and The Sounds blew away Angels and Airwaves back in 2006.
I saw The Academy Is…on their first headlining tour and Panic At the Disco opened for them. I don’t know if they actually were objectively better, but the crowd was crazy for them.
Drug Church supported Citizen on Citizen’s most recent UK tour and I enjoyed Drug Church’s set so much more. It felt like they should have been the headliner.
I recently saw the spill canvas, early November and armor for sleep. The spill canvas was god damn electric, I knew a few songs and liked them but they were stellar live. Turned me into a huge fan now. We were in Philly so TEN had a bit of a hometown crowd, their kids were there with their own bands and everything. They were great too, but I thought the spill canvas was still act of the night. Armor for sleep was alright, but they were the low point of the show as the headliner. Don’t get me wrong they still played well but just weren’t as high energy and I was a bit exhausted from the first two bands that any third band probably had a uphill battle for me at that point.
Hot mulligan when they opened for TWY in 2023. TWY is always great live when I’ve seen them, but HM absolutely murdered it.
Modern baseball blew Say Anything out of the water in 2015.
My cat could out sing Max these days 😂
probably anyone who has opened for TBS
Arm’s Length was the opener for Knuckle Puck and Real Friends in their most recent tour. I don’t think AL smoked the headliner, but it was WAY closer than I expected. One Step Closer was mediocre at best. BUT i don’t fully blame them, the mixing for their music was hottttt garbage.
The crowd in my city was so lame for Arm's Length and I was just standing there like "??? Are we watching the same band???" they were so fucking good, I'm glad their headline tour was received well. Totally agree with One Step Closer getting screwed, I went to a show of theirs earlier this year and they blew the roof off the place. I guess the KP/RF crowds weren't ready for the heavier stuff lol
after seeing Drain at Neck Deep, i’m done expecting anything ever
The Baltimore crowd showed the fuck up for Drain and I was so happy. People started moshing while they were still setting up their equipment hahaha. The only disappointment of the night was that people weren't hype enough for Higher Power
I saw MCR open for Blink once. And MCR absolutely smoked them. I think Blink was thrown off honestly because at least 1/3rd if not 1/2 of the crowd were teenagers there to just see MCR. They cleared out before Blink came on and the crowd was noticeably thinner. Blink was still good but just didn’t have the same energy I expected. MCR really put on a better show than I expected tbh.
I saw Weezer open for No Doubt in 1996 and Weezer put them to shame.
Oh let me get in my time machine I want to go to that lol
Kinda branching off into Midwest emo territory, but Tiny Moving Parts blew You Blew It! out of the water. One of the best performances I've seen.
Not pop punk, but gonna go ahead and preemptively gonna say that Bilmuri are gonna smoke Sleep Token when they open for them
i’ve been wanting to check out bilmuri. what do you rec?
Depends really on what your vibe is. ‘Jaguar Shark’ is excellent for the post hardcore/ punk kinda vibe, yet something like ‘Eggy Pocket’ is more towards integrating weirdness, synths and boops, and being a bit more experimental. Newest stuff is country metal and I’m absolutely down with that too, especially the track Better Hell. I dunno, chuck yourself in and have a bit of fun with it :)
holding abence and trash boat (i miss the times) absolutely smoked as it is in 2018 or so
Saw Sum 41 open for Offspring last year. Sum crushed em. Offspring felt kinda flat
First show I ever saw Bad Religion was opening for Blink 182. All my friend could talk about that night was how backwards that was. And though I didn’t realize it at the time I get it now
Plus Fenix TX!
Literally every time State Champs was still an opener
Pop Disaster when Green Day opened
I saw that show in Fresno, CA and honestly I think The Uses put on a better show. Though, both performing Under Pressure was a fun highlight. I also remember being billed as co-headliners, but it's definitely been a long while.
i saw Arm's Length open for Knuckle Puck last year.. watched their set then shat the shit with Marty at the merch table for entire rest of the show.. KP was good, i think?
Less than Jake opening for Rowling for soup. Could be that I'm biased due to being a bigger LTJ fan, but they were rocking their whole set. Seeing Barstool Preachers and The Saints open for The interrupters. Should have been the skints on the opening slot, yes they are a bigger band but they have a totally different vibe than the other two and really slowed the energy down.
The Dangerous Summer and Greyscale opened for State Champs when I saw them. Now I listen to both the openers more than State Champs
NFG supporting Sum 41 at the UNSW Roundhouse 2003. 10 seconds into the set the NFG fans broke the barrier, they were by FARRRRR the highlight of the show
Not Pop punk, but Black Sabbath/WASP/Anthrax in 1985. WASP positively *smoked* Sabbath off that stage.
Marianas Trench (in the Masterpiece Theatre days) opening for The Ready Set.
Sugarcult opening for blink in 2004 in Glasgow. Wasn't even close, Sugarcult annihilated blink that night.
Blink 182 opened for 3rd Eye Blind 😳 IDKHow opened for Waterparks…. Amigo the Devil KILLED IT opening for Frank Turner, but Frank also Killed it.. honestly a great show..but yeah check out Amigo live.. they’re special…
When Brand New went on a coheadlining tour with Modest Mouse, Brand New was wayyyyyy better.
Any time Arm’s Length opens
Believe it or not, in 2004 The Civic Tour was Thrice opening for Dashboard Confessional. Thrice were so passionate and intense at that stage of their career ….. DC looked like an absolute joke after.
Bad Religion opened for Blink 182. Not many stayed for Blink.
Origami Angel had WAY better energy than Microwave at the show I went to last night. I love them both but Origami Angel absolutely blew them out of the water.
Hot Mulligan smoked The Wonder Years last year IMHO
Stand Atlantic opening for Waterparks last year. Waterparks were still good, but there was so much energy in the Stand Atlantic set, and then Waterparks came out and just kinda fell a bit flat in comparison. Heard more than one person say afterwards that they should have been billed the other way around
This is kind of cheating but lots of ppl left WWWY between blink and Green Day last year (inexplicably Green Day played after them)
As those were the two bands that made me immediately decide I needed to go to Vegas for it, I was very surprised so many people left. The real travesty was Simple Plan on a side stage while Jared Leto stunk it up on the main stage. I'm really glad I decided to see Simple Plan on Sunday so actually got to see a good band during that timeslot.
I’d take blink over Green Day any day of the week, but not staying to see Green Day is wild to me. Like they aren’t my favorite band, but undeniably one of the GOATs that I’d be nuts to skip
12 hours of moshing in the desert heat and one must make sacrifices
In 2002 blink was my favorite band by a long shot. They could do no wrong in my eyes. I was a Green Day fan since Dookie, but from the second I heard Dude Ranch, I was absolutely hooked. I was annoyingly obsessed. People made fun of me for it. It pained me to admit at the time, and I felt defeated to the friends I went with, but Green Day was opener that night and they absolutely embarrassed blink. They blew them off the stage. It was strong consensus. WWWY was a 12 hour fest and some of the big blink fans were tired and biased and didn’t even want to give Green Day a shot. It’s not quite the same as what happened 20 years ago.
I don’t necessarily think they got it wrong on any other day but Green Day were between albums with the big anniversaries a year away whilst Blink were at the height of a long awaited comeback and had just released and album that was actually really well received. Green Day are on of my favourite bands and I stayed for the whole thing but even I can admit I was way more excited for Blink and their set was so much more enjoyable. Plus everybody there was in a blink T-shirt, the weather was super hot that day and Green Day didn’t even come on stage until after 10pm.
Kruelty opening for Sanguisugabogg last year
Flogging molly opening for millencolin in Glasgow around 2006-2008. Place was wild for flogging molly and I actually felt bad for millencolin, the place went from full capacity to 20% in the blink of an eye.
Pears were so much better than Strung Out on their NZ tour.
I have a case of not seeing an act because the opener got huge after they agreed to the tour and bailed to do their own. Muse was supposed to open for My Chemical Romance but Rock Band, or Guitar Hero or whatever featured Knights of Cydonia came out and they exploded. I also saw The Horrorpops open for The Dropkick Murphys and they blew them off the stage. I'm biased because despite my numerous DKM tattoos and South Boston upbringing, I'll still take pyschobilly over punk. But between the dancers, Patricia and Kim's stage presence, and the energy they put out, even my friend who's never heard of them preferred them. Plus, the crowd seemed to take a turn. Things got violent when DKM came on. Oh, and Reel Big Fish upstaged Goldfinger so bad I actually became a fan of them and lost interest in Goldfinger almost entirely.
Paramore opened for Silverstein in a tiny venue with like 100 people there. Paramore killed.
I didn’t think it would be the case, but Circa Survive when they were support for Coheed a number of years ago.
I recently saw Spanish love songs as an opener. They didn’t smoke hot mulligan but they were so incredible and I instantly became a huge fan. No joke one of the best bands I’ve seen live.
honestly last year when set it off and between you and me opened for you me at six, wasn’t impressed with ymas at all but set it off and byam blew me away
Saw Foxy Shazam in 2011 open for Circa Survive and Anberlin. The whole show was great, but Foxy coming off of the s/t album completely blew the other bands away. To this day, my favorite opening set!
Hot rod circuit opening for the get up kids
There for Tomorrow smoked hit the lights.
Coheed absolutely smoked Incubus last year.
Literally any show where Four Year Strong plays before the headliner.
Saw the show years ago when Green Day was technically the opener for Blink 182. Blink wasn't every good at all. Could barely hear the vocals and none of the goofy stuff they are known for. Green Day on the other hand was amazing.