Opening acts can make a big impact at a live show. They set the mood for the rest of the night and get the crowd excited, making the whole experience more memorable. We found a number of OurStage artists who have shared the stage with some truly great names. Here are some of their stories!

February Video Grand Prize winners Picture Me Broken are no strangers to the stage. They’ve played their fair share of gigs and are currently booked solid for the next three months- not bad for a bunch of hard rockin’ 15 and 16 year olds. One of their brightest moments was playing Linkin Park’s Projekt Revolution last year at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in California. Picture Me Broken was lucky enough to share a stage with bands like Atreyu and Hawthorne Heights; Linkin Park and The Bravery headlined the main stage. Bassist Austin Dunn tells us, “Layla and Nick, our singer and guitarist, had the opportunity to meet the bands backstage and even play table tennis with them. Layla also played [Linkin Park guitarist] Mike Shinoda’s guitar.” How much cooler could it get for a kid with a passion for hard rock?

Speaking of hard rock, you may remember hearing Scott Weiland’s name a lot around OurStage last year. One lucky winner whose EPK got selected through Marketplace would get to open for Weiland at his December 7th show at the Theatre of Living Arts in Philadelphia.

That lucky winner was Big Bang TV, an indie/electronic/rock group from Brooklyn.

Band member Matt says, “By submitting our EPK through Ourstage, Big Bang TV was given the amazing opportunity to open for Scott Weiland. The last time we played Philly our audience consisted of three people and a pool table. Never in a million years would I have thought that, on our next trip back, we’d be performing to crowd of 800+. By going through Ourstage, our band was considered for a gig that would normally be reserved for an already established artist and were selected for it based on the merits of our music alone.”

(Psst: Big Bang TV’s Send/Receive EP is currently available for free download. Check it out!)

On the lighter side of things, popular OurStage singer/songwriter Emily Elbert spent some time with the ever-bluesy G. Love last year; an opportunity gained through OurStage’s Artist Access program. Maybe you saw the video of the jam session on Quinn’s blog. Elbert’s list of achievements has grown significantly since then: “three Top 10″ spots have turned into eight, which you can see among other awards and recognitions on her fanclub page. Touring with G. Love was an exciting opportunity for this young artist that put her in front of one of her biggest crowds yet. In her words, “It was a totally crazy feeling to play for all those people… I mean, [I've played for] some fair sized crowds, but that’s a big crowd!”

Emily Elbert’s unique folk style would be a good fit for a bill with our final featured openers, husband and wife Americana duo McClain. They were one of the groups chosen to open for Grace Potter and the Nocturnals through Marketplace. Guitarist Travis says, “We opened for both Grace and for Matt Nathanson and Jessie Baylin in Nashville. Both shows were a real treat, and the opportunity to share the stage with such great artists was something we will never forget. We also made meaningful contacts with them and with the industry people we met through them that is furthering our contacts and influence in the industry.”

Not enough for you? OurStage received more great stories than we could cram into one blog post. Stay tuned for an epic tale from The Petticoat Junkies‘ experience opening up for Kaki King. Here’s a sneak peek:

“After about twenty minutes of listening to the police scanner and watching my drummer cry in the back of a separate car, I start to realize what’s going on… Turns out the crack rock was a piece of frosting from a doughnut… [W]e got locked out of the car three or four times, had a flat tire, numerous hangovers, and a near fist-fight with a server at a burger joint.

All included it was probably the most fun I’ve ever had.”
~Stephen Scott, The Petticoat Junkies