Strange Concerts

[Flabio]

Of all the concerts I’ve ever attended I just saw the weirdest pairing ever, British folk-rocker Richard Thompson with the gospel group the Blind Boys of Alabama. Thompson had top billing, and I feel comfortable saying that nearly all of the 98% white, middle-aged crowd was there to see him. So it was a little strange to see Thompson step on stage right at the beginning of the concert and play, for him, a relatively brief solo set. He talked about how back in the 60’s he would listen to the Blind Boys records and how great it was to play with them tonight. I actually expected him to come back later.

And then the Blind Boys were led onto the stage, four elderly gentlemen with a much younger backing band, and they pretty much blew the roof off the place. Without preaching or proselytizing they showed what their faith was all about and it was funny and exciting to see these old guys bring it on. They did a killer “Spirit in the Sky” and sang “Amazing Grace” to the Animals version of “House of the Rising Son” among many others. They called Thompson out and he jammed some blues with them on a tune but that was it. Talk about a bait and switch! But if I were Thompson I wouldn’t try to follow that either.

Has anybody else seen some weird concert line-ups?

 

[RockFanatic]

I went to a concert in the 80's (I had to throw that in there) at Irvine Meadows in Socal. Gallagher's Rock Party. Gallagher the comedian along with The Untouchables, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fishbone and one other band. We got there early and the first band was about 1/2 way through their set. After they were done Gallagher did the first part of his show. It was pretty great. Gallagher did his routine in between bands. We got there around 5:30 and the show lasted past midnight. Non-stop entertainment. Finale was all the bands on stage playing "Stepping Stone" Cool gig.

 

[parman]

I saw the Blind Boys open for Peter Gabriel, didn't care for that at all but that wasn't my weirdest pairing. My first major concert was Alice Cooper on his Killer tour and King Crimson opened. One minute we're listing to 21st Century Schizoid man and the next we had snakes, electric chairs, guillotines and a hangman. Quite a strange night when I was used to seeing garage bands playing in a garage!

 

[olson_jr]

I do not find the pairing of Richard Thompson and The Blind Boys of Alabama the least bit strange.

But then I have seen ZZ Top and T-Rex on the same bill. Glam and rock cowboys and we all got along.

WABX used to do some strange pairings at Ford Auditorium, but for a rock station, they played many different kinds of music. I think this really opened folks ears to new & different music and let them become more accepting of what others were into. Probably also sold some records!

I was not at all of these but this is the type of concerts we got used to in Detroit.

Mahavishnu Orchestra with Aerosmith and Jo Jo Gunne

The Siegel-Schwall Band with Black Oak Arkansas

Mahavishnu Orchestra with The Eagles and Ted Lucas

Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band with Captain Beefheart

Tim Buckley with Rory Gallagher and opening act Rush

 

[KrisM]

I saw the Blind Boys close out the Friday at a blues festival years ago. I remember thinking "a gospel group on a Friday night? I'll give it a few songs and then hit the bars to hear some blues". And then they just rocked the joint. I can't anybody wanting to follow them.

 

[fuzzywobbles]

Back a few years I saw Against Me! open for The Cult in Phoenix. That was a very strange and uncomfortable combination of people in the crowd. This was maybe 6-7 years ago and Against Me! was very relevant and still tearing up the punk scene and they opened for the cult who IMHO was neither relevant or tearing up much of anything. We made it maybe 6 songs into the Cult's set and left since they seemed stale and stuck in the 90's still and were the exact opposite of the high energy dynamic performance by Against Me! It was interesting watching the fans of each band eyeball each other with an obvious look of "what ridiculous idiots" on their faces.

 

[Putterman]

The weirdest pairing I've heard about was when Jimi Hendrix opened for the Monkees in 1967. They invited him in after seeing him at the Monterey Pops Festival and didn't quite realize the disconnect between a teenybopper pop band and the hard rock psychedelia for audiences.

My weirdest pairing was attending a concert in the 80's where War opened for Jean Luc Ponty. I don't recall if I sat through main act, but I was definitely more into the funkiness of War than the Jazz Rock of Ponty.

 

[OldPolishGuy]

The weirdest concert pairing I experienced was in the 70's where The Eagles opened for The J. Geils Band; So-Cal country rock and east coast rowdy blues. It was a fun concert. OPG.

 

[SA-708]

I saw the infamous Gang of Four/Public Enemy/Sisters of Mercy tour at a shed near Chicago back in 1991. That tour (abandoned partway through) was the poster child for odd concert pairings for a good long time.

 

[Flabio]

I do not find the pairing of Richard Thompson and The Blind Boys of Alabama the least bit strange.

But then I have seen ZZ Top and T-Rex on the same bill. Glam and rock cowboys and we all got along.

WABX used to do some strange pairings at Ford Auditorium, but for a rock station, they played many different kinds of music. I think this really opened folks ears to new & different music and let them become more accepting of what others were into. Probably also sold some records!

I was not at all of these but this is the type of concerts we got used to in Detroit.

Mahavishnu Orchestra with Aerosmith and Jo Jo Gunne

The Siegel-Schwall Band with Black Oak Arkansas

Mahavishnu Orchestra with The Eagles and Ted Lucas

Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band with Captain Beefheart

Tim Buckley with Rory Gallagher and opening act Rush

Those are some good ones! Bob Seger with Captain Beefheart? The Mahavishnu Orchestra with the Eagles? Back in the day Bill Graham really liked to mix it up, especially bringing older blues guys back to play for the younger crowds. He paired a real hair-raising Miles Davis fusion band with Neil Young back in the early 70s. Maybe people were more open then. Now I think our culture is more fragmented and stuffed into little boxes whether we want it that way or not.

On their first US tour the Clash had Bo Diddley open for them. Ignorant kid that I was it seemed strange to me at the time, but in retrospect it makes perfect sense.

 

[Flabio]

I saw the infamous Gang of Four/Public Enemy/Sisters of Mercy tour at a shed near Chicago back in 1991. That tour (abandoned partway through) was the poster child for odd concert pairings for a good long time.

Boy that is a weird one. I like Gang of Four and old Public Enemy so I can sorta see the connection, but throw in Sisters of Mercy and you have a love triangle from Hell.

 

[K2SA]

In 1982 I went to see Rainbow with opening act 38 Special. When I showed up at the concert they had added an additional pre - opening act that I had never heard of at the time - Iron Maiden.

 

[Mystic]

I do not find the pairing of Richard Thompson and The Blind Boys of Alabama the least bit strange.

But then I have seen ZZ Top and T-Rex on the same bill. Glam and rock cowboys and we all got along.

WABX used to do some strange pairings at Ford Auditorium, but for a rock station, they played many different kinds of music. I think this really opened folks ears to new & different music and let them become more accepting of what others were into. Probably also sold some records!

I was not at all of these but this is the type of concerts we got used to in Detroit.

Mahavishnu Orchestra with Aerosmith and Jo Jo Gunne

The Siegel-Schwall Band with Black Oak Arkansas

Mahavishnu Orchestra with The Eagles and Ted Lucas

Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band with Captain Beefheart

Tim Buckley with Rory Gallagher and opening act Rush

Or Mahavishnu Orchestra opening for The Faces (in '75 IIRC).

 

[Mystic]

I saw the infamous Gang of Four/Public Enemy/Sisters of Mercy tour at a shed near Chicago back in 1991. That tour (abandoned partway through) was the poster child for odd concert pairings for a good long time.

I was there. Geez, it was in 1991 and I still think of it as one of the more recent concerts I've attended. haven't got out to see/hear very many since the 1990s. Attended more concerts b/w 1972 and 1980 than in the years 1981-now.

 

[noogies]

My weirdest pairing was attending a concert in the 80's where War opened for Jean Luc Ponty. I don't recall if I sat through main act, but I was definitely more into the funkiness of War than the Jazz Rock of Ponty.

If you'd stuck around, you would have remembered it. He puts on a great show.

 

[Mystic]

I recall an odd pairing that involved Pavlov's Dog as one of the opening acts (a three-band card, IIRC), but I no longer recall the headlining act.

 

[olson_jr]

Saw Pavlov's Dog open 2 times here, with Nectar and Thin Lizzy.

They also opened for ELO in the same time frame.

 

[KrisM]

One oddball "pairing" style that drives me bonkers is when blues festivals bring in some tired rock act to sell tickets. The worst one was 38 Special closing the weekend at one festival I was at. Just a horrible show.

 

[Mystic]

Thought of another:

Les Variations (French I-dunno-what-genre band) opening for Rush and Aerosmith, 1974.

 

[RockFanatic]

Rolling Stones - J Geils - George Thorogood and....Prince. 1981 LA Coliseum. Prince opened and got booed off the stage after 15 min. during a song called Jack U Off.