Recently Vicki and I went to see the Tragically Hip in concert. It was an OK show, considering I wouldn't call myself a big Hip fan (and Vicki's not really a fan, per se, at all) and considering how crappy the sound system was. But what really left an impression was just how unbelievably bad the opening act was.
Notice I didn't say "opening band," as I normally might. There was nothing band-like about "Buck 65". This was two young white guys doing rap. Now, it's no secret that I can't stand rap, and Vicki likes it even less than I do! But I try to be a "live and let live" sort of music fan, since I know that, while my particular tastes are terribly narrow, all types of music should be embraced by those who like it. I have no problem with anyone playing or recording whatever just so long as misguided souls don't try to shove it down my throat. In keeping with that, I think openers should be booked with some consideration of the fans of the main attraction. In other words, having a couple of quasi-talented rappers warm up the crowd for Eminem or 50 cent makes perfect sense. Inflicting them on fans of the Tragically Hip, on the other hand, just seems irresponsible and stupid. For all I know, it was the Hip themselves who arranged this - I have no idea how such things work - but whoever it was ought to have their head examined for signs of activity, cause I'm not sure they'll find any.
I've seen a variety of opening acts over the 30 or 40 concerts I've been to in my life. That includes a few great ones - The Blind Boys of Alabama come to mind - and some good ones, and a lot of bad ones... but until this concert, Vicki and I had never walked out on one before! We actually got up out of our seats, about two minutes into their first song, and spent the next forty minutes wandering the lobby, wishing there was somewhere we could go to better drown out the noise. And we were far from alone, judging by the number of people who poured out of the stands when they realized what Buck 65 was all about. (And the smattering of applause after each selection bordered on silence.)
A co-worker was nice enough to lend me a Tragically Hip concert DVD from a Toronto show not that long ago, which I watched this morning. It was great to actually see the band members, since we were so far from the stage as to render them unrecognizable. And of course the sound on the DVD was excellent, another big improvement on seeing them live.
Now I've got the fairly-new Peter Gabriel: Still Growing Up Live DVD on. Watching Peter in concert always puts everyone else to shame, but I guess when you've got the best music in the world to perform, it does give you an unfair advantage... ;-) And tying it all back to opening bands, he's often had some of the strangest lead-ins of anyone I've seen, but they all play music that's complementary to his own style. Which makes it work. And are there other artists besides Mr Gabriel who routinely invite the openers to come back out on stage and join the main act on a song or two? I've never seen anyone else do it, and yet he seems to always extend that courtesy. Just all part of being a class act, I suppose.
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3 comments:
Choosing an opening act is definitely a talent of its own, and it's one that's not as common as one might like. There are two artists I've found who have a lot of skill in that respect; in fact, one of them is someone I was introduced to as an opening act for the other.
The first is Holly Cole. I've become a fan of almost all (except one) of the disparate range of acts I've seen open for her: Moxy Früvous (with Steve and Tyler from Barenaked Ladies in the audience), Jann Arden, and Bela Fleck and the Flecktones (who almost showed her up with an amazing string-breaking bass solo by Victor Wooten) to list just a few.
By far the Holly Cole opening act I became most enamoured of, though, is Lenni Jabour. (I think I've told that story elsewhere, at length, to anyone who'll listen, so I'll summarize: I saw Lenni open in 1996, bought her CD at the concert, and the rest is history. :) Lenni makes it a practice to surround herself with great performers, not only in her groups but as opening acts; sometimes her openers even join her group as "permanent guests". Lenni's opener list is even more wide-ranging than Holly's: tapdancer Paula Skimin with bassist Drew Birston, mezzosoprano Vilma Vitols singing the songs of Kurt Weill, Hunter Eves, Harmony Trowbridge ("Gigi Bisou"), Claire Jenkins ("Claire de Lune")... the list goes on, and I can't think of one in there who I haven't enjoyed. Lenni's got the "mood music" thing before her shows down too---Serge Gainsbourg, Stereo Total, and a bunch of other perfect music that I won't list because I've already done that twice and this comment has almost reached the length of a post of its own. :)
Worst opening band ever! Just unbelievable and it was the topic the next day at work....no one was chatting about the Hip.
And watching Peter G again this weekend was a treat....always is.
Peter J is right, the opening slot is always tough and sometimes very rewarding for the audience. I know that Rap is just not either of your thing, but there have been some pretty landmark rap cds made this decade. Rock and roll acts are for the most part pretty stagnant. I know this is falling on deaf ears, but you should listen just once to the complexity of a 'Common' track. 'Be' from 2005 is a fantastic cd.
Oft times, I've gone to see only the opener and been bored to tears through the main set:
ie Sarah Harmer with Josh Ritter opening. If ever there was a case of the warm up act having 10 times the talent of the main draw, this was it.
sorry - can't get into Moxy Fruvous at all. Gian Gomeshi (sp?) is just way too irritating.
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