So a few weeks ago on a Saturday night a group of friends and I went to see the Electric Six play at the Waiting Room. Now if you have never seen the E6, and you have a chance, it’s worth the price of admission. They are a truly fun band to see. But this is more about the opening act, and how sometimes you underestimate or discount the opener.
For this show, the opening band was a group from LA called Kitten. With a tiny, pint sized lead singer who had more energy and charisma than you see from most front men in bands, she was awesome to watch. Not fake, not playing to the crowd, just pure talent. Seriously, check them out if you get a chance.
But talking about how good Kitten was after the show, many of us talked about the openers that we had seen in the past and how sometimes you get taken by surprise. Sometimes you flat out misjudge based on how a band looks, and sometimes you think it will be a good performance and you suffer through an abysmal 45 minute set only to think, “well thank god THAT is over.”
I have been to hundreds of shows over the years and I have seen the good openers and the really awful ones too. Some that stick out in my memory include the 1991 show at the Peony Park Ballroom with the Smashing Pumpkins and the Red Hot Chili Peppers and this little unknown band opening for them called Pearl Jam. They were amazing, and rightfully so…they did go on to a 20 year career and all.
I remember seeing Tori Amos for the second time at the Orpheum Theater in 1998, the show was alright, not as good as the previous time I saw Tori (that was her first time touring with a band, the previous time was just her and a piano and a harpsichord and 1 guy on bass), but from that show I remember being blown away by the opening act for her, an Irish band called The Devlins. Still have a few of their CD’s and have introduced a few people to them over the years.
Discovered a great band called The Start, who is a blend of Blondie and Missing Persons with an electronica 80’s vibe, when they opened for Front Line Assembly in 2007 at of all places, Knickerbocker’s in Lincoln, a stage that was WAY too small for FLA, but a great show none the less. With the exception of FLA’s fog machine which was made for an arena, or at the very least a club WAY bigger than Knickerbockers.
Now I admit, I have misjudged a few in my day as well. While seeing the Birthday Massacre in 2008 at Sokol Underground they had an opener by the name of Dommin. First, we saw the stage set up, strike one, a roadie was tying red roses to each mic stand with black ribbons and most of us in our group thought, awesome it’s one of those “ooooh, I’m so goth I shit bats” sort of bands. Strike two, they come out on stage looking like 50’s greasers, again…we’re thinking it’s the Hot Topic generation running wild. And then, the lead singer opened his mouth and sang. From his lips came a voice that was a perfect hybrid of Peter Murphy, Peter Steele and Glen Danzig and they were amazing. Trust me, they are another band completely worth checking out, if you haven’t heard of them already.
But for every great opening act you see, you get the bombs. Bands that just make you want to roll your eyes and think to yourself, dear god when will it stop? I won’t name names, but we’ve all been there, we’ve all suffered through them. But just remember, never discount the opening act from the get go, give them a few songs before you make your judgment, you may just be surprised.
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