Top 10 Favorite Opening Acts #4 - Machines of Loving Grace

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For #4 in my Top 10 Favorite Opening Acts series, we head to Tuscon, Arizona, home of the former industrial band Machines of Loving Grace. Machines of Loving Grace weren't around very long - they released only three albums and achieved one hit, "Butterfly Wings," a Top 20 (#13) on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart. In fact, the band's biggest claim to fame would most likely be landing their song "Golgotha Tenement Blues" onto the soundtrack for the movie The Crow (and it's one of the best tunes on that soundtrack.) And yet, they were one of the best opening acts I've seen. A friend and I saw Machines of Loving Grace open for My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult at the Ogden Theater in Denver in 1993. In fact, Machines of Loving Grace were the better band that night. The Thrill Kill Kult is one of my favorite bands, and, despite having several high-energy dance songs in their catalog, could not match the sheer power of the opening band. As my friend so eloquently put it, "these guy's are MEAN." Mean-enough to make one of my favorite bands sound boring, but not, I guess, to have a lengthy career. Too bad.