Opening act tips?

[Sinmastah]

As for announcing the next band, I would not think they would be on stage and ready to start seconds after your band finished. Or am I wrong on that assumption?

Good question, I will have to talk to the event planner to see whats going on. It's only a 25 minute set, so I am guessing the other band will set up in 5-10 minutes and start a little after 7?

 

[TOMMYTHUNDERS]

overthink - Wiktionary

 

[Sinmastah]

Nothing wrong with wanted to make both your first impression, and your first gig, go perfectly planned.

 

[TOMMYTHUNDERS]

Nothing wrong with wanted to make both your first impression, and your first gig, go perfectly planned.

agreed. this is what you need to know:
bring your gear (obviously including extra strings).
know your songs inside and out.
everything else will fall in line.

if you psych yourself up for this too much you're gonna screw up. it's the first show of many in your future. don't try to make it too big of a deal, if you're planning it to death your nerves will kill you.

 

[LoKi]

Practice your ass off and blow the headliners off the stage!

Bring 2 guitars, and 2 amp heads just in case... A blown tube is a bummer... At the very least bring extra fuses! Club power sources are as a rule sketchy at best.

Don't get drunk. Get drunk AFTER you've packed up your stuff and said goodnight.

Other than that, just have a good time bro. You got this.

 

[LoKi]

OK, exiting the stage first. When I was in a cabaret band supporting big name TV stars, we had a simple routine. At the end of the first set (the 'listening' set), those playing instruments simply unplugged their leads and let them drop to the floor. As we were doing this, the drummer came around his kit and lined up with us. This would take about 5 seconds at the most. On a whispered count of 4 (the audience couldn't hear this) we would bow from the waist once, straighten up, and turn 90 degrees and head off immediately to the dressing room. In your band's case, it might be that everyone comes to the front, acknowledges the crowd and heads off stage quickly.

As for announcing the next band, I would not think they would be on stage and ready to start seconds after your band finished. Or am I wrong on that assumption?

We never do the 'bow' but we do all stand on the stage, wave, smile and listen to the calls for an encore for a minute before getting back up for one more kick at the cat... We usually do a cover of Ace of Spades for our encore song just because by the end of the night we've burned off almost all of our originals except a ballad or 2, which is no way to end the night UNLESS you want to calm the crowd down before letting them loose on the streets... Some club owners appreciate this quite a bit.

 

[lowe]

good luck, let us know how it went

 

[FLICKOFLASH]

Look & be your best people are barely drunk then

 

[Adwex]

I'll just add this...get there early, get all your gear ready, get all your bullshit done so that you can just hang out and just noodle on your guitar to warm up and relax before you go on so there's no stress when you hit the stage.

 

[v8ko]

Make sure your drummer doesnt forget anything, there is alot of pieces to a kit and Ive seen it happen before. I also try and spend a couple minutes strumming my strings then go for my last tune before getting on stage.

Once you get on stage turn your amps on asap let the tubes warm up as long as possible. Be prepared for things to go wrong this is usually the rule than the exception. If stuff starts to unravel dont freak just deal with it.

Take time sound checking, this is in my opinion where you can either make or break a set. As an opening band youll have more confidence if you know how kickass your music sounds to the audience. Alot of times there are issues with monitors etc so you might think, man it sounds like crap on stage it must sound like crap out there lol. So during your sound check have a band member step out in front of the mains and listen for levels.

Just last night we were playing in a place where the sound is ALWAYS great but the owner was trying to run the monitors and had everything so screwed up that all we could hear was the drummer and my bass players back up vocals. All the drummer could hear was the drums. We tried to get them to fix it but it actually got worse so we cut our set in half and got off the stage.

Youll be fine and just tell all your mates to have fun!!!

 

[snaredrum]

yeah, to back up vasco's comments - get your guitar acclimatized to the room. the last thing you want is your strings going from hot to cold and contracting. don't forget that an aggressive lighting rig can play havoc as well, so tune up close to the stage.

and have fun!

 

[snaredrum]

Go in and kick ass.

I remember seeing Lynerd Skynyrd open for Black Sabbath, blew them off the stage.

10 years After open for Edgar Winter. Both great bands, 10 years After's performance is the one I remember most from that night.

All bands are at one time opening acts. Its what you do with that opportunity that counts. Above all have fun, then the audience will also.

my mate's band (who i used to guitar tech for before i got ill) got kicked off a tour after the first night for being better than the headliners. how crap is that?

 

[The_Sentry]

My band got a gig to play a 25 minute set for an opening at a smaller venue (same one we practice at).

It's my first gig, and I never really thought much about opening for another band that much, so anyone have tips? Here is the proposed set list.

Kryptonite- 3 Doors Down
Hysteria - Muse
Song 2 - Blur
Time is running out - Muse
War Pigs - Black Sabbath.

Just don't play any songs they do and you'll be fine.

 

[LoKi]

my mate's band (who i used to guitar tech for before i got ill) got kicked off a tour after the first night for being better than the headliners. how crap is that?

Happens all the time. Happened to us a few years back. Management called it 'artistic differences' and then a 'conflict of interest' if the crowd was leaving after we played our set. What that really meant was that the headliners hadn't worked hard enough to front their own tour and we were 'stealing' their audience through our own honest to God hard work.

 

[diceman]

Have fun - talk to the crowd a bit - thank the venue/host - and announce the following acts near the end of your set or immediately after. "Thanks again for coming out - stick around and hear (whoever), they're gonna put on a great show." That kind of thing.

Good luck - and show us some pix after it is all done!

 

[FLICKOFLASH]

Leave a impression .These guys used to wear makeup & blow fire catching the ceilings on fire

Saints in Hell - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Adwex]

Just don't play any songs they do and you'll be fine.

HA! That happened to me once, the headline band asked (told) us not to play a particular song because they were doing it.

 

[snaredrum]

Happens all the time. Happened to us a few years back. Management called it 'artistic differences' and then a 'conflict of interest' if the crowd was leaving after we played our set. What that really meant was that the headliners hadn't worked hard enough to front their own tour and we were 'stealing' their audience through our own honest to God hard work.

yeah it sucks. the best bit was when the management said that my friend's band had been playing for an hour instead of the alloted 25 minutes.

a lot of their cues and drums are sequenced, so it was impossible for them to play much longer.

dumbasses

 

[LPLeo]

Man, I feel inferior, all I could think of is AC/DC For those about to Rock.