i can't think of anything really great for this off hand.

mmj opening for beth orton in '02

brmc opening for the strokes just before is this it came out (fall '01?)

and my least impressive: the counting crows opening for suede in '93 and getting a homemade cassingle of "mr. jones" at the end.

ok, checking out some old stubs, looks like i saw cornershop open for superchunk in '95....meh.

epmd opening for public enemy in 1989.

I'm from Amherst Ma., so Dinosaur Jr.

I saw that Sufjan/Vanderslice tour. Vanderslice was supporting "Cellar Door" which IMO was a much worse album than fourtracker (although I can't really stand either now), so yeah, Sufjan killed him.

I also saw MMJ for the first time opening for Ben Kweller at Tasty World in Athens in July of '02. I was enamored with MMJ - Chocolate & Ice EP and remember being really excited for the show, which coincidentally I was helping promote.

I also saw BRMC play Tasty World in Nov. '01.

MMJ blew my mind and BRMC just blinded me with their lights.

Great topic.

I saw Jimmy Eat World headline a <150-capacity venue about a month after Clarity dropped. Originally the show was just 764-HERO, but Jimmy and No Knife showed up to dominate the merch table and set time. Still one of my favorite shows ever; "Goodbye Sky Harbor" fucking slayed.

Pete Yorn opened for Sunny Day Real Estate in 2000. The girl I took signed me up on Pete's mailing list, and I got a cassingle of "For Nancy" with "Simonize" as the B-side. Played it to death for six months until musicforthemorningafter was released.

Seems like an interesting place for this.

From Dalen's first 8 roper to The New York Times in what? 3 months?

SURFGERB BLOOGB

I had almost the same experience as Sketch, but for me I think it was American Football and The Promise Ring instead of No Knife/764-HERO. It was a weekday show in Champaign, IL and there were maybe 15 people there when Jimmy Eat World went on second. The guy who doesn't handle the bulk of the singing had the flu so the set wasn't very long.

Sorry for the bump, but I found this thread while doing a search for Fishbone, and thought that it was as good one, and that it might be fun to resurrect.

So...
I saw The Pixies at a tiny club in Columbia, MO, right around the time that Doolittle came out.
I guess that they were already known in some circles, but certainly nowhere near what they became, even before they called it quits the first time.

I also saw Urge Overkill at that same club when they were touring for Supersonic Storybook. They underwhelmed me.

a few more.

The Black Keys at a sxsw party in 2002
The Shins opening for 764-Hero and Modest Mouse @ Irving Plaza