I did not go see the Mooney Suzuki last night because I'm old and there were three bands opening, and so not only would I have been stuck in a student ghetto neighborhood late at night, but I would have had to suffer through three crappy bands to see the one I wanted. But it got me thinking about times when the opening band didn't suck. It's been such a rare experience that I think I remember each one.1983: INXS opening for Men at Work. Both bands were really good.1985: a Robbie-Robertson-free version of The Band opened for Crosby, Stills, and Nash and still blew the headlining band off the stage. 1986: My friends' band, the Edge (band slogan: no, not the guy from U2) opened for Husker Du.1987: Christmas opens for Husker Du in Philadelphia and feeds off the crowd's hatred (people kept shouting "you suck! Go back to Boston!)to put on an amazing show. Also the drummer was adorable.1988: Michelle Shocked opening for Billy Bragg. Not sure if I can count this one because The Beatnigs (Starring Michael Franti!) opened the show, and they were just awful. They did have power tools, though. So there's that. 1989: Steve Earle opens for Bob Dylan. Steve Earle was good-not-great, but this was Dylan with G.E. Smith, and that was 55 minutes of complete shit.2002: David Lovering does a funny magic show opening for Frank Black. It was shockingly entertaining. Maybe this doesn't count since it wasn't a band.That's all I got. In a lifetime of concertgoing, just a handful of times when the opening band didn't suck. What about you?