Support Network: The Power Of A Killer Opening Band
Tuesday, 28 October 2014
Written by Simon Ramsay
Support bands are, broadly speaking, there to get a crowd warmed up, provide extra value for money and, occasionally, even bore the audience to the point where they're salivating for the main attraction.
Every now and then, though, they ignore the script and blow the headliners off their own stage. Black Stone Cherry, fresh from the release of the excellent ‘Magic Mountain’, are currently winding their way across the UK with renowned firestarters Airbourne, offering up a hard rock one-two to savour and running a gauntlet that has claimed certain bands in the past.
Here, we look back at some support acts who've strode away with the show in their back pockets, often opening up new avenues for themselves.
Led Zeppelin and Grand Funk Railroad
In 1969, the supposedly untouchable Zeppelin hit Detroit’s Olympia, home at the time to the Red Wings ice hockey team. Along with the MC5 and Lee Michaels, Grand Funk Railroad, who hailed from nearby Flint, Michigan, opened and sent the crowd wild.
The aftermath has all the qualities of a classic case of rock ‘n’ roll he said she said, with Zep's notorious manager Peter Grant and his Grand Funk counterpart, Terry Knight, apparently at the centre of things. Railroad drummer Don Brewer, in an interview with Andrew Olson, said: “The audience was just totally going nuts toward the end of our show, and Peter Grant and Led Zeppelin didn’t like that. So they said they wanted the band off the stage, they pulled the plug, and they kicked us off the tour. We did one more show with them and then they kicked us off the tour. They just didn’t want to be overshadowed by Grand Funk—that’s all it was.”
Grand Funk were a quintessentially 'American band', whose beer-swigging anthems and worldview were bound to triumph in the heartland of the USA. It also shows that the publicity generated by being a cracking live act and eclipsing a renowned group can boost your career, as they soon released 'Grand Funk and 'Closer To Home', played the Texas International Pop Festival and broke the Beatles' Shea Stadium attendance record.
The Rolling Stones and LynyrdSkynyrd
If the Stones’ management really didn't want anyone on their 1976 Knebworth bill who could upstage Mick Jagger and company, they either fucked up or were telling fibs. Among the unimpressive likes of Hot Tuna and 10cc, southern rock giants LynyrdSkynyrd appeared and absolutely killed it. The band, on a day when delays and sound issues prevented others from delivering, ran through such an epic rendition of Free Bird that it was a show-stealing moment in its own right.
While many accounts lavish praise on the band, one onlooker had a different view, though. Writing for Rolling Stone, Mick Brown said: “LynyrdSkynyrd was next, swaggering but unimaginative. Their refried boogie versions of songs like "Call Me the Breeze" and "T for Texas" sounded stilted and formularized, but the crowd seemed game and even the most pedestrian boogie was enough to stir them.”
Although the Stones were ragged and in one of their least impressive touring periods, they weren't as bad as some have claimed. But, this case highlights that, regardless of stature or history, if a band takes their eye off the ball and gets consumed by the trappings of success, there will always be a younger, hungrier group with the determination and desire to nick their thunder.
Black Sabbath and Van Halen
In 1978, heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath were a washed up, drug addled entity who'd just released their worst album, 'Never Say Die!'. By contrast, Californian newcomers Van Halen were on fire, with the athletic showmanship of David Lee Roth and groundbreaking guitar pyrotechnics of Eddie Van Halen leading their high-octane charge towards world domination. Thus, when they opened for Sabbath on their ‘78 world tour, they at times made the static Brummies - with whom they actually developed a good rapport - look like dinosaurs.
This is a time honoured scenario: a precocious opening gang kicking the headliners’ backside because they're fuelled by the kind of intense ambition and appetite the declining older act has lost, often courtesy of too much money, an overload of substances and destructive internal friction. Van Halen would become one of the biggest bands in America within six years.
The Monkees and Jimi Hendrix
Yes, you read it correctly. In 1967, Hendrix had experienced some success in the UK, but not America. In the wake of his legendary Monterey Pop festival performance, he was booked to open for the musically-challenged TV stars on their mega-selling US tour. Although Hendrix was in a different league to the teenybopper favourites, and despite the fact that they got on well and the Monkees were avowed fans of the guitarist, he only lasted eight shows.
Having battled the Monkees’ young fanbase at the start of the tour - issues reportedly included crowds singing ‘Foxy Davy’ when asked to join in with Foxy Lady - Hendrix finally snapped at a gig at Forest Hills Stadium, New York, perhaps apocryphally, giving the audience the finger before walking off stage. Still, Purple Haze had entered the US charts by the time he quit the tour, and his journey towards immortality was nicely on course.
Queen and Mott The Hoople
When these two acts toured the UK together in 1973 and North America in ‘74, glam champions Mott The Hoople were on their last legs and frontman Ian Hunter – who quit the group in late ‘74 – was increasingly disillusioned with the band. Queen, on the other hand, were ravenous for success and recognition, driven by a gargantuan confidence, bordering on arrogance. From Freddie's flamboyant showmanship and world-class voice to Brian May's orchestral wall of multi-layered harmonies and coruscating riffs, few bands at any stage of their career could have coped with them.
“They planned the whole time,” Hunter told the Telegraph in 2013. “Like, if we haven’t made it to such and such a level in two years, we’re out of here, and they did exactly what they said they were going to do. We didn’t have a plan. We were just like – thump!”
For Queen, the experience and friendship they garnered during their time on the road with Mott would prove invaluable on their road to superstardom. Regardless of the Hoople's indifference, sometimes there's no shame in being bested by your support act. Especially when they go on to become one of the most influential, legendary bands in history.
Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica
When San Franciscan heavyweights Metallica opened for Ozzy Osbourne on his 'Ultimate Sin' tour in 1986, double O was still delivering electrifying shows, ably assisted by the dazzling skills of guitarist Jake E Lee. But Metallica's popularity – having just released their classic third album 'Master Of Puppets' – was reaching boiling point, and their relentless, brutal, uncompromising live performances were destroying everything in their path as they whipped each and every crowd into an uncontrollable frenzy.
The implications of this upstaging were massive for both band and genre, as it marked the moment thrash metal came of age and broke through to a wider audience, helping to pave the way for their contemporaries in Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax. Metallica went from being a huge underground act to one capable of playing arenas and stadiums. They never supported another band, and from here on out it was almost inevitable they'd become the biggest heavy metal band of all time.
AC/DC and...pretty much anyone they opened for.
When they were feisty little scrappers full of piss, vinegar and aggressive energy, Australian firebrands AC/DC were an unbeatable live act. Just ask any band - Aersomith, UFO, Journey - who followed them as headliners as the band developed a reputation for being the worst support act on the circuit. Because they were so damned good.
Whether the headliners were in decline, a thriving force, cracking live act or spectacular musicians, AC/DC destroyed anyone, anywhere, any time. UFO bassist Pete Way recalls their competitiveness when they toured together in Mick Wall's AC/DC biography, Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be: “[They were] going out of there to absolutely kill us every night. You know, support bands don't usually admit they're trying to blow the headliners off the stage, but Malcolm, especially, didn't bother to hide it. He wouldn't even look at you before they went on. Even Bon, who’d be hanging out in our dressing room most nights, he’d give that little nod and a wink but you knew as soon as he went out there he didn’t give a fuck about you. They were gonna steal the rug from under you first chance they got.”
Sometimes you have to hold your hands up and admit defeat. Regardless of your band's potency, when you encounter a gang who combine jaw-dropping power and groove with a ruthless desire to obliterate the competition, it's time to wave the white flag.
Black Stone Cherry Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Tue October 28 2014 - CARDIFF Motorpoint Arena Cardiff
Thu October 30 2014 - BIRMINGHAM LG Arena
Fri October 31 2014 - MANCHESTER Phones 4u Arena
Sat November 01 2014 - LONDON SSE Arena Wembley
Click here to compare & buy Black Stone Cherry Tickets at Stereoboard.com.
We don't run any advertising! Our editorial content is solely funded by lovely people like yourself using Stereoboard's listings when buying tickets for live events. To keep supporting us, next time you're looking for concert, festival, sport or theatre tickets, please search for "Stereoboard". It costs you nothing, you may find a better price than the usual outlets, and save yourself from waiting in an endless queue on Friday mornings as we list ALL available sellers!
