Does being an "opening act" for a bigger act really provide as much valuable exposure as is assumed?

In 'American Hardcore', the book, there's a bit where it says that Motorhead approached Black Flag to support them on a US tour, as they were fans, but still wanted them to pay $25,000 for the privilege

somebody recently tried to sell me a slot opening for B.G. for $350 ----- seen a lot of rap shows here in Austin, sometimes they're so empty I'm wondering how the headliner gets paid ---- now I know ----

can't blame em really, I guess other people's dreams of makin it is one of the few income streams that hasn't dried up -----

after all aspiring musicians are also music fans right?? and they probably ain't gonna spend $$ on your record anymore --

kinda like being an opening act is a VIP ticket to the show or something ----

if i understand it correctly, the violent femmes entire career was based on chrissie hynde of the pretenders seeing them busking on the street before her show, saying to herself: "hey, these guys are GREAT lets let them open for us at the arena tonight" and things snowballing from there

don't suppose it happens like that very often though...

All the second stage acts on tours like Ozzfest, Mayhem Festival etc. have paid to be there. I think the buy-in for Ozzfest is something like $75,000.

interesting thread. title kind of sounds like a hipster runoff blog entry tho

I would say this depends on what kind of fanbase the act you support has, and also the act's interest in its own support act. Being a support act is largely a tough job because the audiences are waiting for what they came there for. However, if they are openminded and not just fanatical fans, they may also pay attention to the support act if the support act isn't completely different from their fave act.

Some acts have a more fanatic following than others, and I would suppose being an opening act for, say, Kiss or Rush may be a tough job.

the violent femmes entire career was based on chrissie hynde of the pretenders seeing them

Chrissie Hynde, yesterday:

http://addictedtovinyl.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/James-Honeyman-Scott-BW.jpg

Van Halen blew up because they blew the doors off Ted Nugent's live band on their first opening arena tour. Granted, they were Van Halen.

honestly had no idea bands payed bigger bands to get an opening spot. how fucked up.

or get paid something real slim. like getting paid $100 to open for a "big band" playing for 1000+ people. even if that band is your "friends" and maybe even if you're on their "label"

One of the more depressing gigs I attended was Sleater-Kinney opening for Pearl Jam in '02. Their dynamics are lost in an amphitheatre setting; in addition the crowd was comprised of total louts, epitomized by the dickwad with the lon ghai rin fron tof me who said, "Who're the dikes?"

"Who're the dikes?"

As opposed to what I would've said, which is "Who is this horrible fucking band, and what fucking crime did I commit to wind up at a Pearl Jam show?"

the dickwad with lon ghai rin fron tof me

At first, I'm reading this and wondering "What in god's name is a lon ghai rin?"

For some reason I'd always naively assumed the opening-slot "payment" was usually AT LEAST done in some kind of subtle, back-door, management/label/agency kind of way (bargains struck, quids pro quos, funds and "investments," etc.) -- not just asking the band for a price up front. Shows what I know.

At first, I'm reading this and wondering "What in god's name is a lon ghai rin?"

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, February 4, 2010 7:47 PM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

me too, sounds like a cambodian dish or something

I didn't notice the rin, but I did look up lon ghai. It didn't help. Thankfully I stopped being an idiot.

Tom Kha Gai soup though... lovely.

(see: every story about how thankless a gig it is to open for the Stones).

is this true?

This thread reminds of the live disc on the recent Big Star box set where the band are opening for Archie Bell and the Drells and the audience audibly doesn't give a fuck. Slightly depressing.

xp Kasabian were the support on the last Stones tour (certainly in the UK, not sure abt elsewhere) and I read a bunch of stuff about how the Stones had no idea who they were and wouldn't let them talk to them etc - this presumably coupled w/ being on when everyone is queueing for their paper cups of beer etc

Slayer are pretty much the benchmark for crowd who make disinterest in the support into an art - I don't get the impression that their crowds are demonstrably more rabid in their fandom than other metal bands' but at some point it became a meme to shout SLAYER all the way through the support

the big legendary story about opening for the Stones was that Prince got booed opening for them in the early '80s, but I feel like I've seen several acts talk about how their audiences are usually hostile or indifferent to openers and that mainly you take the gig just to say you opened for the Stones

Iggy Pop was apparently also booed off the stage opening for the Stones. So was Meredith Brooks, which is a bit more understandable.

But shouldn't it be pretty much the same deal opening for the Stones as it is for pretty much any other big-name arena rock acts, like U2, Coldplay, Springsteen, etc.? Unless they charge a higher fee, or something.

that do you mean same deal? I wasn't saying the Stones charge people to open for them (they might, but I haven't heard of it and for some reason I doubt it). I was just using them of an example of how a band can get a gig opening for a huge band and not win any new fans.

that do you mean = what do you mean

At first, I'm reading this and wondering "What in god's name is a lon ghai rin?

It's Laotian for "mullet."

Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, he always tells the truth.

fwiw, the crowd seemed to really like Living Colour when I saw them open for the Stones on the Steel Wheels tour.

Ah, but Mick Jagger produced tracks on that album! LC had the band's seal of approval.

I'm not sure how much the audience knew about that, though. Certainly the press made it clear but this was a stadium show and in Atlanta no less; how many of them read the papers? (That's mostly sarcastic.) In any case "Cult of Personality" was already a huge single, and I think Jagger came prancing out during "Glamour Boys", though I'm not 100% sure that wasn't a dream.

It's Laotian for "mullet."

hahahahaha

Does anyone know: how is it decided when a band has an opening act that tours w/them verses having some local act from every spot on the tour open for them? I've found a lot of new bands I liked when a band has an opening act that tours w/them, but I've never found love for a local band that got scrounged up to play before the show. The worst example of this was when some generic coffeeshop acoustic open-mic type guy opened for Sleepytime Gorilla Museum in Boise. I happen to know how that one happened, tho – he was the husband of the lady who booked them. Nils still went out of his way to congratulate the guy & say, "Pick up his CD, he's been very gracious" but I think that is bcz they are probably one of the fan-friendliest and politest groups this side south of Andrew W.K.

Well it seems it worked out just fine for Kraftwerk and Sigur Ros when they were opening acts for Radiohead.

Isn't the deal on those Ozzfests that all of the smaller bands pretty much either had to pay or get no pay to be on that tour?

But shouldn't it be pretty much the same deal opening for the Stones as it is for pretty much any other big-name arena rock acts, like U2, Coldplay, Springsteen, etc.?

Never had the misfortune of seeing U2 or Coldplay, but whenever I've seen Springsteen he's never had a support act. Doesn't believe in them, apparently. With his own shows running 3hrs plus, there isn't time for one anyway.

Peter Hammill is another one who doesn't do support acts. Back in 1983, for some unfathomable reason, he chose to accept an offer from Hammill fan Fish to open for Marillion. He got booed for his trouble.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark got hugely valuable exposure by supporting Gary Numan on his first headline tour. It's always rankled with him – rightly in my view – that they've never acknowledged this debt to him.

I may be remembering wrong, but wasn't there something about Sonic Youth, when they were opening for Neil Young...his soundmen wouldn't give them full volume during their set, so they were kind of automatically blown off the stage by Young. Who was a fan of them, to be sure...

Yep! There's more detail here...from SY's perspective mostly. http://www.thrasherswheat.org/jammin/sonic_youth_noise.htm

As far as general thread topic: first time I ever saw Drive By Truckers was when they were opening for the Black Crowes. Hardly anyone in the audience, but the people who were there were NUTS for the DBT's (ie on their feet for the very first song, sang every word, etc etc), and it was their enthusiasm that made me hang around to see what the big deal was. Glad I did. Found out about Dead Confederate when they opened for the Truckers a couple of years ago here in Sacramento. I really think it does provide good exposure...not tons, but if you're good enough you might get a few new fans in each city. Those small numbers add up.

"I really think it does provide good exposure...not tons, but if you're good enough you might get a few new fans in each city. Those small numbers add up."

word. there's always a few music nerds who come to check out the opening act (like, maybe even a thousand!) that it's probably worth the indifference/hostility of everyone else... specially since it's those opening act checker outers that are buying 10 albums for every one the lon ghai rin mullethead dude buys...

Hoe boy. The old "buy-on" trick. It's actually shockingly routine, not so much with really big bands with those middling-level bands that still need some up-front cash injection to get them on a proper headline tour.

Usually support bands are matched by sharing a record company or management - but don't assume there hasn't been a buy-on even if they do share. (Even if it's books-fiddling of moving money from one account to another. So much of the money shuttled around at major labels doesn't actually exist, it's "to be recouped" and added to the band's bill.)

Does being a support act provide valuable exposure? If your music is compatible and the fanbase likely to overlap, hell yeah. We sold more CDs on 2 dates of a big-name tour than our record company sold officially through distribution channels (well, according to their books, that is.) But that wasn't a buy-on, that was a friends of a friend that invited us to do it.

xpost to Anagram - I saw Hammill supporting Marillion. I was just a kid. Was bored shitless (as was entire crowd). Rather suspect I'd find him infinitely preferable if I attended the same show now.