Backwards bills

[emdasher]

Have you ever been to a concert with a bill that could never be ordered the same way if all the bands were to play another show together in the present day?

Example: In the summer of 2004 I saw the Arcade Fire opening for the Fiery Furnaces opening for the Unicorns.

Here's what I remember--the Arcade Fire were great, the Fiery Furnaces sounded like a 30-minute train wreck, and the Unicorns mostly antagonized the audience.

Alternate topic-- Has a concert performance ever won you over to a band who you thought you didn't like going in?

[buffcoat]

I've been won over to bands that I'd never heard of going in: for example, the Smoking Popes opening for Morrissey.

[Bryan]

In 1992 I saw the Flaming Lips open for Porno for Pyros.

[mcphee from the forum]

I saw Guns and Roses open for The Cult

[mcphee from the forum]

I also saw Jane's Addiction open for Fishbone (I was very young)

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

I thought the Fiery Furnaces were pretty great live.

I didn't like The Mentors so much on cassette, but they really won me over when I saw them live*.

Actually, this is a pretty tough question. Recently I saw Pale Nimbus open up for The Black Hollies and The Nouvellas open up for The Dirtbombs, and loved both bands.  I also saw a few acts at City Gardens in the 80s who went on to become pretty huge in the 90s (Flaming Lips, Fishbone, Rollins Band), but I was usually already converted.  In the case of The Flaming Lips, they were opening for The Dayglow Abortions and no one paid attention to them because they were a weird hippie band (I thought they were OK but honestly was not paying much attention to the show).

I think I've told this story here before, but I bought a pink Dayglow Abortions t-shirt with Ron and Nancy Reagan eating a fetus and saying "aargh fuck kill," and my Mom made me get rid of it.  I traded it for an Adrenalin OD EP, I think.

Yep, just an old farty-fart ex-hardcore kid over here.  I have a theory that ex-punks who don't succumb to drugs or violence wind up in academia.






*not

[yesno]

I think I've told this story here before, but I bought a pink Dayglow Abortions t-shirt with Ron and Nancy Reagan eating a fetus and saying "aargh fuck kill," and my Mom made me get rid of it. 

With them and the Fried Abortions, "abortion" was to the 80s was "kids" is right now (Cool Kids, Black Kids, Cold War Kids).

[dave from knoxville]

I once saw Momentum Flux open for Six-and-a-Half Shooter! How the mighty have fallen.

[<<<<<]

I think that most big-ish bands have at times opened for bands they later notably eclipsed in terms of fame or what-have-you.


Alternate topic-- Has a concert performance ever won you over to a band who you thought you didn't like going in?

Many, many times.  If you work around live music you find yourself continually subjected to bands you probably would never pay to see ~ so things like "wow, that zydeco band is pretty great!" happens often enough.

For me, this most often occurred with country bands or blues acts, less frequently with hip hop.

[Itslikeimsayin]

I saw Sinbad open for Kool and the Gang.

[emdasher]

I thought the Fiery Furnaces were pretty great live.

I haven't seen them live since, but in 2004 they mashed all of their songs together without ever taking a breather for the entire set--not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but with their music the effect was incredibly disorienting. They sounded like a train wreck by design.

[Gentleman Jim]

Groteface Killah wrote:

I also saw a few acts at City Gardens in the 80s who went on to become pretty huge in the 90s...

I worked at City Gardens from 1986-1990ish, and my favorite upside down bill there was Soundgarden opening a show with Faith No More in the middle - both supporting Voivod.

[<<<<<]

I thought the Fiery Furnaces were pretty great live.

I haven't seen them live since, but in 2004 they mashed all of their songs together without ever taking a breather for the entire set--not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but with their music the effect was incredibly disorienting. They sounded like a train wreck by design.

This is purposeful.  You can question the value of it, but that's just the way they are.  I think they are not necessarily great, but certainly an intriguing band.

Comparatively speaking, they are less predictable than most bands in the "experimental" genre.

[<<<<<]

Groteface Killah wrote:

I also saw a few acts at City Gardens in the 80s who went on to become pretty huge in the 90s...

I worked at City Gardens from 1986-1990ish, and my favorite upside down bill there was Soundgarden opening a show with Faith No More in the middle - both supporting Voivod.

Haha, talk about a backwards bill.  I can totally believe it though ~ at that particular narrow window in time.

[Stan]

Groteface Killah wrote:

I also saw a few acts at City Gardens in the 80s who went on to become pretty huge in the 90s...

I worked at City Gardens from 1986-1990ish, and my favorite upside down bill there was Soundgarden opening a show with Faith No More in the middle - both supporting Voivod.

 That was 1990, I think. At any rate, I was there as well.

 Two other interesting shows from the early 90s (probably 1991)-
 
Alice in Chains/ 3rd Bass/ Fishbone/ LL Cool J (The Academy)

Dead Milkmen/ Dirty Dozen Brass Band/ 2 Live Crew/ Fishbone (The New Ritz or may have been The Palladium)