I remember seeing Lambchop supporting Yo La Tengo about 6 years ago and they were excellent, almost as good as YLT. However there was about 14 of them on the stage - the economics of having them as a support act on a european wide tour was just insane.

I generally always catch the support, I like to show the act a bit of respect as theyre usually facing a disinterested crowd and I think that takes balls. I havnt had too many bad experiences either. Provided its not a band that I already hate, and that they appear to genuinely enjoy what they do, I'm usually happy.
Recent enjoyable supports include The Tallest Man on Earth supporing Bon Iver (Town Hall, NY), Jesca Hoop supporting Elbow (Ambassador) and De Staat supporting dEUS (Tripod). Also quite enjoyed Friendly Fires supporting Interpol (RDS)and further back was very impressed with my first experience of The Immediate when they supported Doves (Olympia)

torche were feckin deadly when I saw them supporting pelican in whelans a few months ago, was well impressed. they blew pelican off the stage.
saw 2 really good bands supporting municipal waste a few weeks ago, iron lung and gama bomb, a band from newry. was glad i got there early.
if i was to go back even further, i remember the manics out rocking the prodigy in thurles many years ago.
saw a band called feable weiner supporting do me bad things a few years ago. horrendous name, great live act
there's an irish band called droppin bombs that i've seen play at a few gigs around dublin. deadly ska punk band, always really enjoyable when i see them, great musicians

i've seen some stinkers too:
saw emmet tinley supporting nerina pallot. i was never so feckin bored. the dreariest man alive.
nine black alps supporting weezer. they got a shockin time off some of the crowd, but i didn't really have a huge pile of sympathy.
female hercules supportin nomeansno, shockingly bad.
an irish band called pete the killer supporting sick of it all. crowd of aging punkers that should have given up years before.
i remember going to see spellbound a few years ago and the support act was some really awful punk cover band. the lead singer wore a gimp mask and a dildo. they were playin all the usual stuff by the sex pistols that most people would've played when they were about 14 except these guys were pushin 30, it was really sad

idlewild when they supported coldplay 6 odd year ago (present to the wife)
and funny enough FKOS when they supported the afore mentioned idlewild in the nerve centre the following year

Motherf**ker, I love that guy. He's a Swede who seems allergic to touring in Europe. Would really like to see him. How does his guitar playing hold up live? Great stuff on the album and EP.

In 1995 on the Washing Machine tour I saw Beck support Sonic Youth (in Ghent of all places) and he was terrible. He was solo with an acoustic guitar. Absolutely woeful.

I've never seen any support act blow away the headliners - but I do remember You Am I supporting The Lemonheads at the Olympia around 1999 and really enjoying them. I think it was more their attitude and live show than their material, though.

As for the hall of shame, I remember the wonderful Katell Keineg always having awful support acts, woeful singer-songers. One that sticks in the mind is Jeff Finlin; horrible. But one exception was a guy from Killarney who supported her in Whelans once - can't remember his name though.

Heard he was pretty woeful on that tour. He's been good anytime i've seen him. but the acoustic parts can sometimes drag.

think i know the fella you're talking about. he was on no disco a few times. very good.

when i went to see juliana hatfield in the sugar club a few months ago, there was a really good dublin singer songwriter called fiach, i think, playing support. really good tunes, not a million miles away from damian dempsey, and very funny between songs

best i've ever seen was Patrick Watson supporting the Cold War Kids, blew me away

Most entertaining support act - Anat Ben David supporting Chicks on Speed in the Triskel Arts Centre Cork a few years ago. Barking mad karaoke performance art cabaret weirdness.

Can anyone tell me who I saw Spoon support in the Olympia, circa 2002/03.

Nod to Ben Kweller supporting KoL in the Olympia also.



Worst by far, again the Olympia, Eels had a mime artist supporting them .... The sound was awful, Ba Boom Tisch !!
Seriously, they had a mime artist on stage for about 25mins.

I've never seen any support act blow away the headliners - but I do remember You Am I supporting The Lemonheads at the Olympia around 1999 and really enjoying them.

Aidan - I would highly recommend you catch You Am I in Whelans on Paddys Day so! Last couple of albums Dilettantes and Convicts are excellent, and they are still incredible live.

http://www.youami.com.au/

Posted By mixtapepublicity on 04 Feb 2009 04:15 AM

I've never seen any support act blow away the headliners - but I do remember You Am I supporting The Lemonheads at the Olympia around 1999 and really enjoying them.

Aidan - I would highly recommend you catch You Am I in Whelans on Paddys Day so! Last couple of albums Dilettantes and Convicts are excellent, and they are still incredible live.

http://www.youami.com.au/

Ah, I am in exile, far from the land, so no Paddy's Day in Whelan's for me: http://www.cluas.com/indie-music/Bl...etter.aspx. But I'll try to catch them if they swing around my way soon.