A few venues on this tour have had sensational opening acts like Motley Crue, Metallica, and Pearl Jam...

But those have been the exceptions.

Mostly it's largely-unknown acts of mediocre talent, IMO.

Given the price tag of these seats, the Stones could easily get more GREAT BANDS to open for them, and should.

The single worst thing about this ABB Tour is the ticket price, even though there are good seats available at most venues for fair prices, the abundance of these ridiculously-priced seats assures that younger, more energetic fans don't attend in the numbers they used to...

"It's just that demon life has got me in it's sway..."

BornOnTheBayou Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A few venues on this tour have had sensational
> opening acts like Motley Crue, Metallica, and
> Pearl Jam...
>
> But those have been the exceptions.
>
> Mostly it's largely-unknown acts of mediocre
> talent, IMO.
>
Who would you say is largely-unknown, never mind mediocre?

Beck?
Wilco?
Buddy Guy?
John Mayer?
The Tragically Hip?

I don't get your post.

I gotta agree. Except for Buddy Guy, Beck, Pearl Jam, Metallica and Everclear, there haven't been any openers I'd want to see. Personally I'd like to see the White Stripes, the Black Keys, the Pixies and Paul Westerberg open a few shows each.

However, I must say that it bugs me when people keep saying "the Stones are charging $450 a ticket." Only a few tickets cost that much. There are plenty of good ones in the $160-$175 range, especially if you watch ebay.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-11-22 05:16 by ohnonotyouagain.

I saw a video for the BLACK EYED PEAS new single, MY HUMPS. It is possibly the worst thing I've ever heard in my life! I can't believe they opened a few shows. I think Mick is so out of touch with the STONES legacy that he is just going for these quick cashin openers to try to hook in people who wouldn't normally like the STONES. Not gonna happen. They could learn alot from U2 in picking cool openers.

Thing is, we're all coming from different perspectives. While I'd hope we could all agree that the Black Eyed Peas are terrible, opinions of what a "good" opening act is vary.

You couldn't pay me $450 to see Motley Crue. And Metallica doesn't make too much sense to me in a Stones connection. I basically wouldn't want to hear a Stones-y rock band before the Stones, or even a rock thing at all... I'd prefer someone rootsier, whom the Stones admire, but indirectly. Buddy Guy would be great, or the Nevilles, some reggae or even jazz. Beck might make an interesting combination... but maybe in his folkier persona.

cc

poor immigrant Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I saw a video for the BLACK EYED PEAS new single,
> MY HUMPS. It is possibly the worst thing I've ever
> heard in my life! I can't believe they opened a
> few shows. I think Mick is so out of touch with
> the STONES legacy that he is just going for these
> quick cashin openers to try to hook in people who
> wouldn't normally like the STONES. Not gonna
> happen. They could learn alot from U2 in picking
> cool openers.

OF COURSE ITS NOT GONNA HAPPEN. Black Eyed Peas fans arent the kind of people who are going to spend $160-450 on tickets. Metallica fans maybe, but not Black Eyed Peas fans.

I agree with poor immigrant that the Stones could learn from U2. They will both play the bell centre here in Montreal in the near future and I will not only see the Stones show but also one of the U2 shows. The opener for the Stones will be Anik Jean (???) and the opener for U2 will be The Arcade Fire. IMO a very very good band from Montreal. I will certainly see the U2 opener, but I think I will skip the Stones' one. They could have chosen so much better as far as Canadian bands go; The Tragically Hip, The Barenaked Ladies, Our Lady Peace, Neil Young, Alanis Morisette and if they insist on something Quebecois they could have gone with the already mentioned Arcade Fire or Les Trois Arccords, who opened for them in Moncton and in Ottawa. I'm unlucky with opening acts anyway. From the 10 times I saw them so far only 3 times the opening acts were good/interesting. Robert Cray, Big Country and Toots & the Maytals. The worst was Catatonia in Groningen.

When the Rolling Stones and Metallica play a stadium show together and its over by 10:45pm, should they even bother having an opening act at all? (Forgetting the point that Metallica was brought in to sell tickets)

camper88 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> BornOnTheBayou Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > A few venues on this tour have had
> sensational
> > opening acts like Motley Crue, Metallica,
> and
> > Pearl Jam...
> >
> > But those have been the exceptions.
> >
> > Mostly it's largely-unknown acts of mediocre
> > talent, IMO.
> >
> Who would you say is largely-unknown, never mind
> mediocre?
>
> Beck?
> Wilco?
> Buddy Guy?
> John Mayer?
> The Tragically Hip?
>
> I don't get your post.

None of those bands comes close to Motley Crue or Metallica... to Tina Turner, to Stevie Wonder, to any number of other great opening acts in their own right.

"It's just that demon life has got me in it's sway..."

ohnonotyouagain Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I gotta agree. Except for Buddy Guy, Beck, Pearl
> Jam, Metallica and Everclear, there haven't been
> any openers I'd want to see. Personally I'd like
> to see the White Stripes, the Black Keys, the
> Pixies and Paul Westerberg open a few shows each.
>
> However, I must say that it bugs me when people
> keep saying "the Stones are charging $450 a
> ticket." Only a few tickets cost that much. There
> are plenty of good ones in the $160-$175 range,
> especially if you watch ebay.
>
>
>
> Edited 1 times. Last edit at 11/22/05 05:16 by
> ohnonotyouagain.


As it currently stands the $450 seats at United Center are all the floor seats and most of the 1st balcony, back more than halfway... so it's not just a few seats.


"It's just that demon life has got me in it's sway..."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-11-22 09:34 by BornOnTheBayou.

What is the % of $ 450 seats. I guess it should be 2% in Stadiums and 4% in arenas. What a drag that draws so much contra-advertising

Glimmer Twin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The worst was Catatonia in Groningen.


I liked her dress gettin' wet though, after that i forgot about the music...
What i find difficult to understand is this constant reminding us how great Mötlëÿ Crüë is: they are shite, open your ears.

Glimmer Twin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The worst was Catatonia in Groningen.


Yep. Hands down the worst opener I ever saw, although Rowen Heze (southern dutch 'folk' band) came very close a few days later.







Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-11-22 11:38 by mr edward.

worst opening act at a Stone show = "Lovebugs", Zurich 2003.
....yuck.

gimme_shelter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Glimmer Twin Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The worst was Catatonia in Groningen.
>
>
> I liked her dress gettin' wet though, after that i
> forgot about the music...
> What i find difficult to understand is this
> constant reminding us how great Mötlëÿ Crüë is:
> they are shite, open your ears.

Millions of albums and concert tickets sold. Obviously the Stones thought enough of them to pay them a hundred grand to open each show.

99% of the time no one gives a crap about the opener!!!

BornOnTheBayou Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> camper88 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > BornOnTheBayou Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > A few venues on this tour have had
> > sensational
> > > opening acts like Motley Crue,
> Metallica,
> > and
> > > Pearl Jam...
> > >
> > > But those have been the exceptions.
> > >
> > > Mostly it's largely-unknown acts of
> mediocre
> > > talent, IMO.
> > >
> > Who would you say is largely-unknown, never
> mind
> > mediocre?
> >
> > Beck?
> > Wilco?
> > Buddy Guy?
> > John Mayer?
> > The Tragically Hip?
> >
> > I don't get your post.
>
> None of those bands comes close to Motley Crue or
> Metallica... to Tina Turner, to Stevie Wonder, to
> any number of other great opening acts in their
> own right.


Totally subjective comments are hard to argue with, but I'd take Wilco and Beck over Motley Crue any day, . . . or Metallica. Moreover, you're point was that these bands are largely unknown. I can't see that that's true for any of these acts. Perhaps the least known (globally) is The Tragically Hip, but in Moncton they're as popular as any group you can name.

It's true what tat2you says -- no one's there to hear the opening act, and that makes it very difficult for the band. Living Colour was the opener at Shea Stadium '89, a terrific hard-rocking band already getting lots of video play, and the place was dead for them. My friend and I -- high school students -- were cheering from the nosebleeds and that was about it. There was also an interesting African percussion ensemble, which connected with "Continental Drift."

In my view, that's a much better choice to set the mood than a pulverizing hard rock act, a corporate pop group, or an indie bar band, which are all too much like the Stones already and will just seem inferior. Of course, Motley Crue would seem inferior to just about anything -- the worst of all worlds.

cc

I've seen the Stones 8 times and recall some awesome, bad, and mediocre openers

'97 - Foo Fighters - awesome
'99 - Jonny Lang - awesome (w/ missy jagger and leah wood doing backup vocals)
'99 - Goo Goo Dolls - so-so
'02 - The Pretenders - aweseome
'03 - Ryan Adams - awesome
'03 - Adams again - awesome
'03 - AC/DC, Rush, Guess Who.... etc. AWESOME (Sarstock )
'05 - Alanis Morrisette - good God, NO! At MSG, you have to give something great!

I just hope that the next few shows I'm going to in NYC, they re-think the opener. Keith once said that he thinks of bands like Strokes, Jet, Vines, Hives, etc., as his babies -- new wave of rock. Get some of them on the bill!!!

At this point since no one cares about the openers, even if they are great arena and stadium filling bands in their own right, they should just show some stupid movie on the jumbotron or something.

If I ever actually paid that kind of money ($450) for a ticket I would want AC/DC, Metallica and Motley Crue to open with full sound, lights and stage set up. I thought it was ridiculous the SBC show was over at 10:45 with a lineup like that but thats past your average fan's typical bedtime these days.

For $450 a ticket, give me a 3 hour show and scrap the opening act.

The Sicilian

No one cares about the openers? I for one do. Would much rather they schedule one I want to see than one I care nothing about.

The good thing about no decent opener though is that I usually end up paying a lot less for a ticket. If I lived in Seattle, Portland or SF I probably would have done the unthinkable and get one of those overpriced Ticketmaster tickets.

gimme_shelter Wrote:

> I liked her dress gettin' wet though, after that i
> forgot about the music...


I missed that. I was standing (high and) dry under one of those big umbrellas wich covered a beer stand. Enjoying a nice cold one with my friend, celebrating my (and Charlie's) birthday, while we were waiting for the rain & Catatonia to go away, before we made our way back to our spot in the front section.

cc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's true what tat2you says -- no one's there to
> hear the opening act,

A big part of the reason for that is that the Stones openers have been uniformly so mediocre...

Further, if nobody's there for an opening act, why have price tags that could easily pay for HEADLINING ACTS to open ?

"It's just that demon life has got me in it's sway..."

I do not know much about your luck but mine isn't that great. Every time I went to a concert, I was never lucky enough to have a great opening band. I would rather have the main band performing and that is it. I understand that one wants to see many good bands performing before the main band but sometimes one can do without. Also, the opening act type of music do not always match with the style of music of the main band. That can be a real bore to have to stand and listen there until the band is finished performing. In Europe every time I attended a concert, there was no seat. We were just standing up so in order to have a good seat, one must run and hope to get the best place for the main show. That also means that we have to wait long hours someties for nothing. That is so hard.

BornOnTheBayou Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> cc Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > It's true what tat2you says -- no one's there
> to
> > hear the opening act,
>
> A big part of the reason for that is that the
> Stones openers have been uniformly so mediocre...
>
> Further, if nobody's there for an opening act, why
> have price tags that could easily pay for
> HEADLINING ACTS to open ?
>


If the Stones need to sell more tickets than it makes sense to pay a few hundred grand to a band who possibly sell a few million dollars worth of tickets as was evident in their decision to ask Metallica to co-headline the SBC shows.

And to those of you who say there is no such thing as a good opening band at a Stones gig - then hide outside or grin and bear it. If you have such a narrow view than you probably are just hooked on the carefully cultivated image and don't really even like music to begin with.