When I first started going to see rock shows as a kid, I
always made sure to get to the venue early so I could catch the opening act.
Not always, but sometimes it seemed as though the band that was opening the
show for whatever bigger act everyone else was there to see had a special kind
of grit about them. They had something to prove that the headliner had already
proven months or years earlier. The show
that the opener put on wasn’t always the smoothest, but I liked the idea of trying
to predict whether or not we’d be seeing and hearing bigger things from them in
the months or years to come.
Because of this urge to see bands in their infancy, I ended
up seeing some pretty cool things, and some not so cool things.
I didn’t realize at the time, but I saw the Kings of Leon’s
first show ever. It was at Smith’s Olde Bar, and there were only about ten people
there, but you instantly got the sense that here was something very special
about that band. Last year they headlined England
front of eighty thousand people.
Once, I was invited to the now defunct Cotton Club to see a
band that I really didn’t care for a whole lot, but I went anyway because I had
heard that the opening band (there were four on the bill) was a little known
act from Las Vegas
called The Killers. There were about 15 people in the room when they played,
but it was magical. That’s not to say there weren’t a few things for them to
work on (Brandon was stiff as a board for the entire show), but they had that
“X” factor, that thing that you just can’t put your finger on when you know
something big is going to happen.
It was the search for that factor that drove me to get to
shows early, and what ultimately drove me to getting into the business I’m in.
I’m in the business of finding the opening act that’s going to make people
happy they were there early. It’s been a fun ride so far. As I writing this,
I’m on a plane heading home from England
where I just saw one of my bands play (as the opening act) London
thousand people. Last week one of my bands became the talk of the industry as
they sold out New York
Mercury Lounge to debut songs from their forthcoming album. These bands are
still on the rise, but there was a time when both were opening acts on a much
smaller scale. They were playing shows that fans now remember fondly as, “The
time so and so played and there were only ten people there!” I don’t always get
it right, but it’s a blast trying.
The next time you go to a show, get their early, you never
know what you’re gonna find.
-mm
