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TheBluesHadaBaby

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spikenyc

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erikjjf
Ghost Hounds in Amsterdam.

This will be the 3rd or 4th time these guys have warmed up for them.
Their band leader is probably paying lots of money for this slot.

Amsterdam will be their NINTH, in three tour legs.

1)  03.07.2019 - Washington DC

2)  30.09.2021 - Charlotte

3)  04.10.2021 - Pittsburgh

4)  09.10.2021 - Nashville

5)  14.10.2021 - Los Angeles

6)  29.10.2021 - Tampa

7)  20.11.2021 - Austin

8)  23.11.2021 - Hollywood, Florida

9)  13.06.2022 - Amsterdam


And this is a band:

* that has had no hit albums, no hit songs, not even a popular song.

* with a negligible-to-indiscernable "fan base."

* that didn't even exist (talking here the current, 2.0 version) a year before their 1st opening gig for the Stones

* and that -- this to me is the saddest and most telling -- really doesn't like gigging in any situation where another band, a "name" band, isn't providing the audience.

I can find just 4 total gigs, all small ones, in which they had to attract their own crowds -- and in one of those four it's a little unclear to me who headlined.

Two of the four shows were in a 500-600 capacity club in the Pittsburgh area, Jergels Rhythm Grill. At least the first of the two Jergels shows was (a) free, and (b) if you went you got to meet Pittsburgh Steelers, including then-QB Ben Roethlisberger! (For you Europeans, he's a huuuge deal in Pittsburgh.) Gho$t Hound$ owner/guitarist Thomas Tull also being part-owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

All of you many Gho$t Hound$ fans out there on IORR, please help me out here. Can you find us more gigs where The Rolling Stones' 2019-2022 Opening Act Of Choice wasn't coattailing on another band or performer's popularity to supply the audience?

So far I have just:
1. June 12, 2019: Jergels Rhythm Grill
2. July 28, 2019 - Antone's in Austin TX (I'm not sure who headlined)
3. October 3, 2019 - Thunderbird Cafe, Pittsburgh
[November 2019 they finally put out an album]
4. February 13, 2020 - Jergels Rhythm Grill

GH headlining gigs seem to be super-scarce, so we'll accept any size gig in which GH were the band responsible for providing the crowd.

I was there for 1 and 4 on your Ghost Hounds list. My only other Stones show was Nashville 2015 when Brad Paisley opened. I’m not a country fan, but Paisley kicked ass and is a real artist.

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NashvilleBlues

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TheBluesHadaBaby

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spikenyc

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erikjjf
Ghost Hounds in Amsterdam.

This will be the 3rd or 4th time these guys have warmed up for them.
Their band leader is probably paying lots of money for this slot.

Amsterdam will be their NINTH, in three tour legs.

1)  03.07.2019 - Washington DC

2)  30.09.2021 - Charlotte

3)  04.10.2021 - Pittsburgh

4)  09.10.2021 - Nashville

5)  14.10.2021 - Los Angeles

6)  29.10.2021 - Tampa

7)  20.11.2021 - Austin

8)  23.11.2021 - Hollywood, Florida

9)  13.06.2022 - Amsterdam


And this is a band:

* that has had no hit albums, no hit songs, not even a popular song.

* with a negligible-to-indiscernable "fan base."

* that didn't even exist (talking here the current, 2.0 version) a year before their 1st opening gig for the Stones

* and that -- this to me is the saddest and most telling -- really doesn't like gigging in any situation where another band, a "name" band, isn't providing the audience.

....

I was there for 1 and 4 on your Ghost Hounds list.
....

Me too. I loved both shows.

Other than, that is, for the totally unnecessary annoyance of an egotistical billionaire putting himself on those stages to live out his Guitar Hero personal fantasies.

The super-rich... Ugh.

Maybe we should regard ourselves as lucky that late last August Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos didn't suddenly get an itch to play drums in the Rolling Stones.

Luckily I get too avoid the Ghost Hounds this tour. Consider me not a fan.

Yikes! Ghosthounds nine times now!
There are many more deserving bands then this.
A billionaire with a band paying to warmup for the Stones just does not seem right.

Javier Vargas Blues Band is ready!

Not necessary! Good Band, but ...

Ghost Hounds in Bern.
Ayron Jones in Paris.

Above I said I loved both the DC and Nashville shows.

I should clarify, I loved the Stones' shows.

About Gho$t Hound$' performances, of which two have been imposed on me, I will say that musically they're competent players. They don't embarrass themselves onstage. (Why would a billionaire hire hacks?) Their original songs, though, I find unexceptional. Nothing sticks with me as memorable. And as professional as the members are individually, as a band, a unit, I find them unconvincing blues rockers. The feel I get is inauthenticity.

Not even just not "three chords and the truth," but more of an elaborate exercise in posing. Gho$t Hound$ exist, I firmly believe, for one guy to play pretend rockstar. So there's very little that's even distantly related to the truth going on up there.

Thomas Tull, a very smart guy, has tried to make GHs appear like a normal, hard-working, up-and-coming, (oh yes, and popular) rock band. But that's a big challenge to bring off, even for a master of movie illusion, when what GHs have been -- I believe, at least -- was a hurried, spare-no-expenses vanity project undertaken to get him up on a 2019 Rolling Stones' stage.

He hired some employees, took them into a studio and created some songs, and dropped a few of the songs digitally, I think not long before he was announced to be opening for the Stones. They hadn't even played to an actual audience, I don't believe, when it was announced they would open for the Stones.

I guess we're supposed to believe that some Stones org V-P or whatever for support act acquisition listened to the few digital files he or she received, and decided, oh yeah, this unknown new band is great! They're exactly what we want!

And that then they were so great in DC that Stones Inc concluded, wow, these guys deserve seven spots on the next leg!

If you choose to believe that's what happened, that the 2019 opening slot for the Stones concert for America's capital was obtained on merit, and that since then eight more spots were earned the same way -- even as we all continue to await the GHs' first popular song, much less hit -- that's your perogative. I, obviously, do not. And I regard even being expected to believe it is an insult by the Rolling Stones organization to Rolling Stones fans

Look, the 2019 sequence, as I understand it, was:

SPRING 2019. It's announced that an unknown act called Ghost Hounds were opening for the Stones in DC.

JUNE 12, 2019. But nobody'd ever heard of them! Even in Tull's city, Pittsburgh. They were a brand new band (caveat: 2007-2009 Tull did do something similar in LA with an entirely different crew, and their music disappeared without making a ripple), that had never played to a live audience. So they quickly staged a FREE GIG -- with the added bonus of Pittsburgh Steeler star players being there -- in a 500-600 capacity local venue.

JUNE 22, 2019. They latched onto the bottom of a large bill of already six acts and played in Willlie Nelson & Family's Outlaw Music Festival's Pennsylvania show, one date out of the 10 dates on the tour.

And that, as far as I can locate, was their live performance experience and preparation to open for the Rolling Stones! Zero hits, zero albums, zero popular songs, zero demand for them, but they were already locked in for their rapidly approaching THIRD gig. Just that fast... Small, free Gig 1, Coattailed Gig 2. And BOOM:

JULY 3, 2019. Washington DC's NFL stadium in Landover, playing for 43,000 ardent Rolling Stones fans.

So how TF did THAT happen?

We'll never have proof in hand, neither Tull nor Stones Inc. is ever going to release the full contents of the contracts for those, so far, NINE opener slots. His employee-musicians surely must have an idea of what's behind the scenes, but the rare occasions any of them does speak publicly they are not at all forthcoming with specifics. They seem uneasy, far from candid, and disclose little of substance. I keep in mind that NDA's -- non-disclosure agreements -- are standard operating procedure in the world of movie development and production that Tull comes from.

One thing that has surprised me is how
everybody has just rolled over for this.

"We have no questions" was the American music press' reaction.

Ahead of the DC show I wondered, Just how gullible and passive does Tull think die-hard American Stones fans are regarding opening acts? Well, it turned out, "very," and "very." He definitely assessed that correctly.

If he snatches up another Sixty Tour European gig or two (I haven't checked late-tour opening-act status the past couple of days), who knows, though? Maybe somebody in the European music press will actually start asking some questions about what's really going on here. Okay, doubtful. But, you never know. NME, where are you?

I will add that in major ways Thomas Tull is also "one of us."

We're obsessed with the Stones.
He's obsessed with the Stones.

We pour time and treasure chasing after the Stones.
He's pouring time, vastly more treasure than we are, and reputation as well, chasing after the Stones, trying to be as physically close to them as he can, as many times as he can. He seeks to share their very stage, experiences, and applause with them.

It's inconceivable to me, in fact, that he isn't a longtime reader, at a minimum, of this website. And it wouldn't surprise me if he's a member as well.

Who knows, maybe after Amsterdam he'll step forward here and tell me where I'm off base.

****
I'm down in Virginia
with your Cousin Lou

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erikjjf
Ghost Hounds in Bern.

So, the count is ten concerts now.

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TheBluesHadaBaby

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erikjjf
Ghost Hounds in Bern.

So, the count is ten concerts now.

What a joke. I wish someone would ask Mick about this farce.

I'm listening to Ghost Hounds now on Spotify, they sound pretty generic.

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NilsHolgersson
I'm listening to Ghost Hounds now on Spotify, they sound pretty generic.

That's the perfect description - very generic...reminiscent of a band like Hootie and the Blowfish
I saw them at one of the L.A. shows as openers, and while the singer had some visual presence and on-stage charisma, the music itself was as bland as can be.
Not completely horrible, but generic and bland...in fact musically speaking there's absolutely nothing about their set I can even remember.

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-06-02 22:18 by Hairball.

I'll see them in Amsterdam - maybe I should get some merch

A photo on Instagram appeared briefly this morning saying the Ghost Hounds were opening in Milan, but the caption read Bern. They've corrected it now. I do hope someone else opens in Milan. The two shows I saw last year that the Hounds opened were enough. Generic is the best description for them. They're not awful, but they remind me of a cover band.

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Hairball
...I saw them at one of the L.A. shows as openers, and while the singer had some visual presence and on-stage charisma, the music itself was as bland as can be.
Not completely horrible, but generic and bland...in fact musically speaking there's absolutely nothing about their set I can even remember.

Frontman Tre Nation has a pretty good voice, is very personable, works hard onstage, and clearly is doing the best he possibly can with the material he's been given. He's next-to-impossible not to root for.

Super-smart casting choice on Tull's part. It's almost as if he knew he was taking a risk by walking out with this band he controls and owns, to play music he co-wrote and nobody has been asking for, in front of stadiums full of fans who are there to hear the Rolling Stones

Tre Nation would be just the kind of guy that I'd want out front to catch, if not completely fend off, any flak that might be about to break out from a grumbling audience that thinks it smells fraud.

If Tre couldn't shield you, live, from the consequences of those actions, then I don't know who could.


Although I'm sure the GHs' frontman having such qualities is just a coincidence.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-06-02 23:01 by TheBluesHadaBaby.

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BFR
The two shows I saw last year that the Hounds opened were enough. Generic is the best description for them.

They're not awful, but they remind me of a cover band.

Speaking of, between the two U.S. legs, Gho$t Hound$ recorded a cover of Thunder Road. (And I looove Thunder Road. Sing every line of it along with Bruce every show of his I get to.)

Billionaire Thomas Tull hired Sasha Allen to sing it!

We all love Sasha
(Edit: This was countered below. Ok. Some of us love Sasha. But how good a vocalist she is is secondary to the point of this post anyway.)

Any favor that might happen to have been curried with the Rolling Stones by a little extra income coming Sasha's way, I'm absolutely certain was also entirely incidental and that no ulterior motives were involved.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-06-03 18:10 by TheBluesHadaBaby.

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TheBluesHadaBaby

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BFR
The two shows I saw last year that the Hounds opened were enough. Generic is the best description for them.

They're not awful, but they remind me of a cover band.

Speaking of, between the two U.S. legs, Gho$t Hound$ recorded a cover of Thunder Road. (And I looove Thunder Road. Sing every line of it along with Bruce every show of his I get to.)

Billionaire Thomas Tull hired Sasha Allen to sing it!

We all love Sasha

Any small favor that might happen to have been curried with the Rolling Stones by a little extra income coming Sasha's way, I'm absolutely certain was also entirely incidental and not a factor at all.

*cringe* No one wants to hear a cover of a great song done by a mediocre (at best) band. Gho$t Hound$ really seem like hangers-on at this point.

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TheBluesHadaBaby

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BFR
The two shows I saw last year that the Hounds opened were enough. Generic is the best description for them.

They're not awful, but they remind me of a cover band.

Speaking of, between the two U.S. legs, Gho$t Hound$ recorded a cover of Thunder Road. (And I looove Thunder Road. Sing every line of it along with Bruce every show of his I get to.)

Billionaire Thomas Tull hired Sasha Allen to sing it!

We all love Sasha

Any small favor that might happen to have been curried with the Rolling Stones by a little extra income coming Sasha's way, I'm absolutely certain was also entirely incidental and not a factor at all.

Not all of us.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-06-03 21:02 by VoodooLounge13.

Bilderbuch have just been announced as a warm-up act for Vienna show.

[en.wikipedia.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-06-07 09:15 by Hutchence.

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Hutchence
Bilderbuch have just been announced as a warm-up act for Vienna show.

[en.wikipedia.org]

Great!!!

Does anyone know support band for Milan? I must have missed the announcement..

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Oriongalaxy
Does anyone know support band for Milan? I must have missed the announcement..

Ghost Hounds

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corvonero

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Oriongalaxy
Does anyone know support band for Milan? I must have missed the announcement..

Ghost Hounds

Oh...thanks!
Are they good? Just curious if we should go earlier or rather pass...

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Oriongalaxy
Are they good? Just curious if we should go earlier or rather pass...

Never heard them before but according to comments of this board they are a pass.
IIRC they are fronted by a multi millionaire that is actually paying for the privilege of opening for the Stones.

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corvonero

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Oriongalaxy
Are they good? Just curious if we should go earlier or rather pass...

Never heard them before but according to comments of this board they are a pass.
IIRC they are fronted by a multi millionaire that is actually paying for the privilege of opening for the Stones.

WOW...that does not sound good. Thanks anyways.

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Oriongalaxy

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corvonero

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Oriongalaxy
Does anyone know support band for Milan? I must have missed the announcement..

Ghost Hounds

Oh...thanks!
Are they good? Just curious if we should go earlier or rather pass...

Here is their LA performance.

Ghost Hounds 2021-10-14.aud.mk41.losangeles.flac16 [spaces.hightail.com]

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Oriongalaxy

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corvonero

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Oriongalaxy
Are they good? Just curious if we should go earlier or rather pass...

Never heard them before but according to comments of this board they are a pass.
IIRC they are fronted by a multi millionaire that is actually paying for the privilege of opening for the Stones.

WOW...that does not sound good. Thanks anyways.

Like others have said, generic. Not bad, not great. The worst part to me, is paying to open, when other, way better bands are left out. What's up Mick? You got some 'splainin' to do.

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corvonero

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Oriongalaxy
Are they good? Just curious if we should go earlier or rather pass...

Never heard them before but according to comments of this board they are a pass.
IIRC they are fronted by a multi millionaire that is actually paying for the privilege of opening for the Stones.

Billionaire, according to Wikipedia.
Ya, sounds pretty lame.

Who’s opening in Lyon?

So, Maneskin did not get an opening slot in Italy?