An opening act or warm-up act (in British English and Australia, supporting act) is an entertainer, musician, band, or entertainment act that performs at a concert before the featured (or headline) entertainer/musician(s). Rarely, an opening act may perform again at the end of the concert.
The opening act's performance serves to "warm up" the audience, making it appropriately excited and enthusiastic for the headliner.
In rock music, the opening act will usually be an up-and-coming group with a much smaller following than the featured artist. On long concert tours, different opening acts may be used for different legs of the tour.
The opening act may also be followed by a DJ in some shows before the headline act performs.
Famous quotes containing the words opening and/or act:
“Haven’t you heard, though,
About the ships where war has found them out
At sea, about the towns where war has come
Through opening clouds at night with droning speed
Further o’erhead than all but stars and angels
And children in the ships and in the towns?”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“Without being forgiven, released from the consequences of what we have done, our capacity to act would ... be confined to one single deed from which we could never recover; we would remain the victims of its consequences forever, not unlike the sorcerer’s apprentice who lacked the magic formula to break the spell.”
—Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)