Author Topic: Worst opening act headliner pairing ever? (Read 1079 times)

JimmyJ · « **Reply #30 on:** March 24, 2012, 08:50:27 PM »

I believe my wife saw the Tubes open for the Mahavishnu Orchestra in SF in the mid-70s. Both great bands but they didn't exactly share an audience.

Although it can be rough going for the opening act, I kind of like that Bill Graham put together those crazy combinations back in the day. I suppose from the promoter's viewpoint they were selling the same show to two different audiences (hey, twice the ticket sales!) But in the end I bet there were a handful of people who would not have otherwise heard of the other act and might have been enlightened.

Yeah I know, it was probably ONLY about sales ... but I'm trying to find the positive angle! Tickets were cheeper back then too.

Jimmy J

elwoodblue · « **Reply #31 on:** March 25, 2012, 02:12:20 AM »

At the bumpershoot festival several years back
Iggy Pop opened for an Elvis Costello acoustic set.
Iggy was fun, lively , and the music kept us warm through the rain...as soon as Costello started playing everyone stopped moving and it got cold and dreary,
We left after a couple tunes.
(note to self: don't play slow acoustic sets in the cold rain .)

lbpesq · « **Reply #32 on:** March 25, 2012, 07:30:33 AM »

Jimmy, don't be such a cynic! If you read Graham's autobiography (a GREAT read, Imho), you learn that Graham was deliberatly atempting to expose his hippie audiences to other types of music. Times have changed from those halcyon days when it wasn't always just about the money.

Bill, tgo

jacko · « **Reply #33 on:** March 25, 2012, 07:53:13 AM »

If you read Graham's autobiography (a GREAT read, Imho),

I concur, a superb book. Just reading about his childhood gave me the chills.

Graeme

sonicus · « **Reply #34 on:** March 25, 2012, 08:20:50 AM »

I worked for Bill Graham back in 1977 -81 in various capacities .

I was sad for a long time after his accident.

davr35 · « **Reply #35 on:** March 25, 2012, 08:24:50 AM »

John Thomas Griffins an acoustic balladeer opening for The Mighty Mighty Bosstones a Ska band

JimmyJ · « **Reply #36 on:** March 25, 2012, 11:30:41 AM »

That is cool to hear about Graham, seems he was in it for the right reasons.
I'll look for that book.
Jimmy J

lbpesq · « **Reply #37 on:** March 25, 2012, 12:09:55 PM »

Oooops, double post. Haven't done one of these in a while. I must be slipping in my old age!

Bill, tgo

(Message edited by lbpesq on March 25, 2012)

lbpesq · « **Reply #38 on:** March 25, 2012, 12:13:29 PM »

Don't get me wrong, Graham was definitely thinking about money too. He was no saint. But money wasn't the only consideration. He was driven to provide his audiences with a good time and memorable experience, and refused to cut corners in that regard, even if it cost a little more. And Graeme is right on about Bill's early years. His childhood escape from the Nazis is fascinating. What he had painted on Winterland after it closed as an homage to the Grateful Dead can be paraphrased to apply to Bill too:

He wasn't the best at what he did,
He was the only one who did what he did.

Bill, tgo

jacko · « **Reply #39 on:** March 25, 2012, 12:33:36 PM »

Jimmy.
It's Bill Graham presents: My life inside rock and roll

If you haven't read it by September let me know ;-)

Graeme

jacko · « **Reply #40 on:** March 25, 2012, 12:36:30 PM »

p.s. It's 20:35 here. Just looking out of my window there's a fantastic conjunction of the crescent moon, jupiter and venus. Hopefully It'll still look as good when it's nighttime in LA.

Graeme

hankster · « **Reply #41 on:** March 25, 2012, 02:08:46 PM »

Okay - Doug Henning (yes, the magician) openning for Canadian horn-rock outfit Lighthouse. Now that was strange.

R.

hammer · « **Reply #42 on:** March 25, 2012, 03:06:44 PM »

On the other hand what are the BEST opening acts that you have seen for the band you really went to see. For me it was a triple header...Santana opening for the Allman Brothers, who played right before the Dead.

lbpesq · « **Reply #43 on:** March 25, 2012, 03:40:23 PM »

That's an easy one. The Band opening for the Dead at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City on 8/1/73 - Jerry's 31st birthday. Twelve days later I moved to California.

Second place: the Dead opening for The Who at Oakland Coliseum, back in '76 I believe.

Bill, tgo

keith_h · « **Reply #44 on:** March 25, 2012, 04:36:47 PM »

Strangest would be Sha Na Na opening for Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention at North Central College in the early 70's.

The best would have to be Bela Fleck and the Flecktones opening for Return to Forever, 2008, in Philadelphia.

Keith