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You opened for WHOM???

#721
I was with 2 different bands in Jersey that opened for country artists ... Billy Gilman and the other was Toby Keith.

We didn't see much of Billy but Toby was very nice and his band were superb to work with.

Now ... I have been a sideman to Don Rickels (who is one of the nicest folks out there inspite of the shtick), Joan Rivers - very nice (both of these folks absolutley require live musicians onstage in their contracts to support live music ... very cool ... huh?)
The Golden Boys (Bobby Rydell, Fabian and Frankie Avalon - all very nice and a great band to work with (some guys travel with them), Martha and the Vandella's .... well ... the Vandellas' were nice :eyebrow: I know these folks aren't bands in the usual sense but what the heck.
 
#726
Back in the day................:
Joe Cocker ( a real nice crew and band, Joe came over and chatted to us after the show)
George Thorogood (very arrogant outfit, from the roadies up to himself)
John Mayall (got to have a chat with guitarist Coco Montoya, nice guy and great player)
Canned Heat (chatted with Harvey Mandel, got stoned with Fito)
 
#727
Over the years, with several different bands, I've gotten to open shows for Mitch Ryder, The Grass Roots, Charlie Daniels, The Platters, The Drifters, Michael Stanley and the Resonators, Ohio Express, Music Explosion, and others I can't remember off the top of my head, but the one I'm the most proud of is opening for Peter Green in 1998, on the first gig of his American tour that year, in Cleveland, OH at Wilbert's Bar and Grille.

Most of the people have been really easy to talk to. Charlie Daniels was the nicest, most gracious man, and his keyboard player, Taz, was a riot, one of the funniest guys I've ever met. Mitch Ryder was very approachable, and we talked for a while about all kinds of stuff. Two weeks after we opened for him, we were playing at a truck stop, outdoors, and Mitch and his bus stopped there to fuel up, and they stayed and listened for a while, Kind of a thrill when you look behind you, and Mitch Ryder is listening to you play, and recognizes you when you see him! We got to hang with Peter Green and his band backstage, and they were the nicest group of guys I've ever met, great to talk to, and even Peter, whose grip on reality is shaky (sorry Peter, don't mean to offend), was very nice and talked with us for a while.

Over the years, I've met some big names, and most of them are pretty decent people. Merle Haggard is as down to earth as your next door neighbor, as is Roy Clark. I even met Frankie Yankovic, the Polka King on the street one day! I stayed overnight in Joe Vitale's home (just before he went on the road with Nugent). I've played with, and become friends with Phil Keaggy, and his bandmates from Glass Harp, John and Dan, and a former bandmate of mine who now lives south of Nashville is friends with Mark Stein (Vanilla Fudge), Felix Cavaliere, Chester Thompson (Genesis), Rick Derringer, and others he has told me about, but I don't remember right now...

So, even though I'm just a local musician who has never toured, or played in a famous band, I've gotten to meet quite a few famous and semi-famous players. I even have a mutual friend with Paul McCartney, although I've never met Paul, and two mutual friends with Joe Walsh. The guys from Ohio Express and Music Explosion are old friends, since we are all from the same local area. I see several of them on a regular basis, around town.
 
#728
I've had the good fortune to open for some great bands, but the two nicest were Charlie Daniels and, especially, Willie Nelson. All of Willie's road cases say "Willie Nelson and Family" and he treats everyone just like family. His road crew was very gracious and helpful to us, we were invited to have dinner with his "family" before the show and afterwards, he invited us to hang for a while on the bus. His guitar tech even let our lead guitarist play "Trigger", the famous old Martin N-20 of Willie's with the giant hole in it. Great songwriter, performer and super human being.
 
#729
Chick Corea Elektric Band in 1991.

Dave Weckl ran off with our drummer's rug. Certainly by accident. He was a nice guy and happy to talk shop for an hour after the show.

Patitucci was friendly but a bit curt. I recall him being a much smaller dude than I expected. He was eager to leave after the show; Kirk Whalum was also playing in town that night and they were going to meet for a late dinner.

Marienthal and Gambale were both friendly; I was focused on Weckl so I missed an opportunity to chat with them.

Chick himself was magnanimous, but surrounded by a huge throng backstage.
 
#730
Sort of... anyone here heard of a punk band called the Skeptix?
When I was 15, my then 18 year old brother was in a Buffalo punk band with a decent following. At some point their drummer got in a fight with the bassist and the bassist quit the band. They were actively playing and had shows set up, so my brother said "Hey, my little brother plays bass. He's got great gear and takes jazz lessons, so he's pretty good."
So they asked me to join and I thought, why not? Could use some of that I'm-15-and-in-a-gigging-band appeal with the ladies ;)
Anyway, I joined and things were going swimmingly. Then in Aug of 2004, the Skeptix (a well-known 1980's UK punk band) announced that they were going to tour the US and somehow we ended up opening for their Buffalo show. It was a blast. Fish, the guitarist, even ended up using my telecaster (which my brother was using at the time) because he broke a string on his guitar. Shortly thereafter my brother went to PA for college and that was the end of the band. Great times while it lasted though and many valuable life experiences were made that summer.
 
#734
I have opened so many shows it would take me a long time to post them all. Some good ones are: Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Cocker, Talking Heads, Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff, Toots & The Maytals, The Police, The Pointer Sisters, Herbie Mann, Freddie King, Third World, The I-Tals, Big Youth, The Wailers, Julian Marley, Rory Gallagher, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Ray Price, The Texas Tornados, Joan Baez, The Meditations, Kinky Friedman, Asleep At The Wheel, Gregory Issacs, Roots Raddics, Noel Redding Band, Spirit, Head East, Eric Johnson.......just to name a few.
 
#735
Richland123 said:
I was the bass player and lead singer in band called Axis about 20 years ago.
Click to expand...

We must've been in separate areas, or else we may have been sued. :eek: Almost happened before. "Axis" just seemed like a good name for a rock trio. Jim and I split from "Arcade" after the guitarist and his wife registered the name as theirs. :mad: We got a cease-and-desist order when we first named our trio "Arcade II". Fun, fun, fun in a local music scene.
 
#737
Us on the opening bill for Weezer last weekend at Bayfest in Sarnia Ontario

bayfest1.jpg
 
#738
gflowers said:
I've had the good fortune to open for some great bands, but the two nicest were Charlie Daniels and, especially, Willie Nelson. All of Willie's road cases say "Willie Nelson and Family" and he treats everyone just like family. His road crew was very gracious and helpful to us, we were invited to have dinner with his "family" before the show and afterwards, he invited us to hang for a while on the bus. His guitar tech even let our lead guitarist play "Trigger", the famous old Martin N-20 of Willie's with the giant hole in it. Great songwriter, performer and super human being.
Click to expand...

That's an awesome story about the mighty Willie Nelson. I think you normally find the bigger the artist, the less attitude. And Willie Nelson is a big time guy. :bassist:
 

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