Some years ago, the Ramones played at my college. In the cafeteria, to be specific. It wasn't a big school, so this was a proportionally bigger deal.
Anyway, a guy I knew from the school paper got the assignment of covering the show. As well as hanging out with the band beforehand. I got to the show in time to hear the opening act. They must have been pretty good, because I asked this cub reporter who they were.
He had no idea. I'm not sure he even knew there was a band opening up, never mind their name.
This is depressingly typical. When I used to read the Boston Globe they'd have music reviews, and it was 50-50 whether the name of the opening act would even make it into the article. And from musicians I've talked to I've gotten word that when you play first the headliner's manager will tell you that you have time to play three songs, don't do any between-song patter.
The Rolling Stones have generally maintained a habit of enlisting only known talent to open on their tours. I think this is the right move. It's only if there are people in town who already have some familiarity with you that you can profit from a gig like that. Someone trying to get their first exposure opening for the Stones won't get it.
2 comments:
Since we mostly saw bands at clubs I hadn't given much thought to opening acts in a while. The big shows like Prince and The Talking Heads 'Stop Making Sense Tour' didn't have opening acts when we saw them.
But now you've mentioned it I did remember seeing Nick Lowe opening for Blondie and long ago I saw a show at the O'Keefe Centre in Toronto where the Grateful Dead opened for The Jefferson Airplane (Jer says they were touring together as friends).
I don't know who the band was that opened for The Ramones that night at your college but apparently The Beastie Boys did one time when they were all about 13 years old and so did did The Talking Heads. The Ramones liked giving exposure to less well known artists.
Jer remembered Sonic Youth opened for Neil Young and surprisingly I also read that Lennie Bruce opened for Frank Zappa in 1966 at the Fillmore.
The Stones can probably get pretty much whoever they want to open their shows.
Prince was doing a different kind of setup, it seems. A full production, not really conducive to other artists opening up. Same with Talking Heads on that tour. Certainly worth seeing though.
Nick Lowe and Blondie seem like a good combo. Their fans seem like they would be compatible, in that if you liked one you'd at least be open to liking the other. And the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane do indeed seem to have been friends. Both from San Francisco of course. There were rumors that Jerry Garcia helped produce Surrealistic Pillow.
Opening act for that show was local, I'm pretty sure. Can't say much more than that for certain. If the Beastie Boys were that young when they toured with the Ramones it might be before they got into rap. Talking Heads played with them when both bands were quite new, which must have been exciting. Jane's Addiction opened for them in the late 80s and seemed to benefit from it.
Sonic Youth show expected good taste on Young's part. Lenny Bruce opening for Zappa was probably sad, mostly, given how depressed and drugged out he was by that point.
True, few are going to say no to the Stones.
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