Almost famous: 10 big-name music acts that played Lexington before they became stars

A moment, if you please, for those most maligned of modern music accessories – the opening acts. At the rock, rap or country show you just plopped down a ghastly sum of money for, they are often billed as “special guests.” To most attendees, though, their appearance on a concert bill translates into either an extra half hour to find a parking space by the venue or an addendum to the already hearty of amount of waiting time (referenced, in more polite circles, as “anticipation”) in the seeing the headline attraction the patron is personally invested in.

Since opening act slots are usually where new and hopeful artists get an initial crack at winning over a sizeable act, their importance is significant. Besides, you never know just where that eager-to-please show opener will be in a few years.

Ask anyone who caught one of the seven concerts The Monkees staged in the summer of 1967 that were opened by an upstart guitarist from England named Jimi Hendrix.

Or, on a more regional level, talk to someone who caught the J. Geils Band at Louisville Gardens in the fall of 1981 (I was among them) and witnessed a feisty band of young Irishmen kick off the evening. They went by the collective name of U2.

As we await the return of larger scale club, theatre and arena concerts, let’s go reeling in the years of past Lexington shows where future marquee acts were overlooked show openers.

R.E.M

April 8, 1983: R.E.M. opens for The English Beat at the University of Kentucky Student Center Ballroom.

This one is legendary among Lexington audiences. Riding a modest, MTV-assisted crest of popularity, The English Beat were mere months from disbanding when they hit Lexington. Fellow Brit rockers Au Pairs were set to open the evening but bailed from the bill. The last-minute replacement was a scruffy, unknown quartet out of Athens, Ga. The show fell less than a week before R.E.M. released its debut album “Murmur.”

Tim McGraw

June 18, 1994: Tim McGraw opens for Dwight Yoakam at Rupp Arena.

McGraw wasn’t exactly an unknown at the time of his Rupp debut, but even with a pair of sizable country hits to his credit (“Indian Outlaw,” “Don’t Take the Girl”) his growing stardom was eclipsed by Kentucky country kingpin Yoakam, who, in the summer of 1994, was at the commercial apex of his career. Opening for a star on his home state turf? McGraw got points for guts.

Gwen Stefani

April 6, 1996: Gwen Stefani (with No Doubt) opens for Bush and Goo Goo Dolls at Rupp Arena.

California popsters No Doubt, fronted by the effortlessly arresting Stefani, had already released its breakthrough album, “Tragic Kingdom,” by the time it landed at Rupp Arena as an unknown. The record would eventually yield seven singles and sell over 16 million copies globally. On this Lexington night, though, Stefani and No Doubt were still introducing themselves.

Patty Griffin

Nov. 16, 1996: Patty Griffin opens for Jimmie Dale Gilmore at Lynagh’s Music Club.

During the latter part of the ’90s, the Woodland Avenue nightspot that would eventually become home to Cosmic Charlie’s housed Lynagh’s Music Club. Texas troubadour Gilmore was a regular, as were many soon-to-be Americana giants. On his second visit, he brought a red-headed folk stylist along as show opener who had just released her debut album, “Living with Ghosts.” That’s the night Lexington met Patty Griffin.

Pink

June 26, 2000: Pink opens for N’Sync at Rupp Arena.

Boy bands were the rage at dawn of the new millennium with N’Sync (which included a then 19-year-old Justin Timberlake) as one the genre’s biggest chartbusters. Opening was a spunky singer from Pennsylvania who was two months shy of turning 21. Her name was Alecia Moore, but her friends called her Pink. At the time of this show, her debut album, “Can’t Take Me Home,” was two months old.

Miranda Lambert

July 4, 2005: Miranda Lambert opens for Jo Dee Messina and Billy Currington for Red, White and Boom.

In 2005, Red, White and Boom was still a single-evening event staged outside of Rupp Arena in the Cox St. parking lot. Headliner Messina had just released her best-selling album, “Delicious Surprise.” But the real surprise was a largely unknown Lambert, who served up her major label debut record, “Kerosene,” the preceding April. By year’s end, the album’s title tune caught fire, along with Lambert’s career.

Cage the Elephant

Sept. 28, 2009: Cage the Elephant opens for Silverspun Pickups and Manchester Orchestra at Buster’s Billiards and Backroom.

Sometimes a band’s reputation rests on its abilities as a concert act. On this night, there was ample buzz surrounding the Bowling Green-bred Cage the Elephant, but the band was still a novice act supporting a double bill of high-profile alternative bands. Brothers Matt and Brad Schultz would have none of that, though, and summoned a performance drive onstage that left the headliners in the dust

Kendrick Lamar

Feb. 22, 2012: Kendrick Lamar opens for Drake at Rupp Arena.

Drake was wildly popular at the time of this concert with a sophomore album (“Take Care”) that debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 chart. Lamar was, quite simply, a new commodity with a single album (“Section.80”) to his credit. Despite a low-key opening set, there were already hints of the thematic topicality and musical diversity that would soon make him one of the biggest hip-hop crossover artists since, well, Drake.

Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson

Jan. 15, 2011: Chris Stapleton performs with The Jompson Brothers at Cosmic Charlie’s.

July 11, 2011: Sturgill Simpson performs with Sunday Valley at Cosmic Charlie’s.

A slight twist of protocol, here, as neither of these Kentucky country renegades were actually opening acts for these shows. Instead, they were frontmen for a pair of indie bands that made the rounds of local clubs – Stapleton with the electric roadhouse-savvy Jompson Brothers and Simpson with the traditionally minded country outfit Sunday Valley.