wierd concert pairings

[BinFrog]

I travelled 600km to Winnipeg from Regina with some friends to see this as I was a big fan of System and a budding Mars Volta fan (the Volta opened for System, natch). Imagine the shock of my bewilderment and subsequent disappointment as the Mars Volta kicked ass and System SUCKED ass. Wow.

The Volta were insane and I would've loved to have seen them perform for a full set (they only played about half an hour...boo!). On the other side, I can't believe how terrible System were. It was honesly one of the worst live performances I've ever experienced. No energy, no communication with the crowd, not tight at all, sloppy, playing most songs too fast, off-key singing, and a real vibe of just doing their jobs and not actually wanting to be there at all. That didn't stop thousands of easily pleased teens from having a good time, but man, I was NOT impressed. I later found out that they had played another show earlier in the day in LA (thousands of km away), so that explains it, but certainly doesn't excuse it. Who's the a**hole manager that planned that one?!

Anyways, what a bizarre experience. I can barely listen to System anymore because of how disappointed I am with the whole band. I'd LOVE to see The Mars Volta again though!

I have seen SOAD a few times and they are hit or miss. If they are feeling the energy and loosen up a little, they can destroy the place. Other times they just don't hit their groove. I wouldn't write them off because of one show.

[Dusty Chalk]

You know, that describes most of those '80s hairy metal bands.

I'm going to start referring to this genre as "hairy metal".

[Woochifer]

Helen Reddy with Joe Cocker opening

This was at a Tahoe casino during the late-70s. Back then, playing Vegas and Tahoe was a sign that your career was getting close to the end, and that was the case for Reddy (at least as a top 40 fixture). But, how Joe Cocker wound up playing second fiddle to Helen Reddy was something I could never figure out.

[MindGoneHaywire]

2 pages & Jar hasn't mentioned the Sonic Youth/Sun Ra show in Central Park! It was one of those that was so weird it wasn't, sort of, I guess.

A couple of years ago the Garage Fest ended with the only 3 bands given sets that approached normal times--the NY Dolls, the Strokes, & Iggy & the Stooges, in that order. I've heard a few tunes from the new Strokes album I thought were real good, but they were kind of a downer. A friend said they were trying to be the Cure, which made a lot of sense. That Iggy & the Stooges were better, by miles, than all of the rest of the 40 bands that played that day only highlighted the oddness of the placement of the Strokes' set on the bill.

For better or worse, most of the shows I have seen have featured bills that made some sort of sense.

[unleasHell]

Actually, I can see that, lyrically speaking







I think this one takes the prize so far...what on earth did Camel fans think of KISS back then? I'll bet they were thinking, "Man, I knew I shouldn't have taken that last hit of acid".

yeah, I was not really into kiss, but the coolest thing was that there were some kiss fans in the second row that left after kiss played and we moved into their seats for camel & wishbone ash... rmember back then you already had alice cooper, so kiss just seemed gimmicky, although I did (only) like their first album...

[3-LockBox]

Helen Reddy with Joe Cocker opening

This was at a Tahoe casino during the late-70s. Back then, playing Vegas and Tahoe was a sign that your career was getting close to the end, and that was the case for Reddy (at least as a top 40 fixture). But, how Joe Cocker wound up playing second fiddle to Helen Reddy was something I could never figure out.

Remember when Wolfman Jack was replaced by Reddy as permanent host of Midnight Special?

Wasn't Reddy's 'I Am Woman' voted #1 on one of those most grating song ever lists?

Gee, thanks for the memories...

[ForeverAutumn]

I heard about the latest odd pairing on the news this morning....Death Cab for Cutie and Franz Ferdinand touring together.