Any special pre-concert PA music (picked by the artist?) at shows you attended over the years?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by ParloFax, Jul 17, 2017.

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  1. ParloFax

    ParloFax Senior Member Thread Starter

    I suppose this must be most frequent with artists who don't have an opening act to their bill.

    Jethro Tull in 1997 (Montreal) featured rare gems like "Mannish Boy" and "It's A Wonderful World"... :rolleyes:

    OTOH, Robert Plant in 2005 (Mtl also) had a long playlist of Indian electro-pop-dance whatever... anyway, things I had never heard in my life, and I liked that! It was exciting and put you into the mood...

    ...What about you?
     
    Last edited: Jul 17, 2017
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  2. bobc

    bobc Bluesman

    Location:
    France
    I saw Robert Palmer in Paris about 20 years ago. The pre-concert PA music was the best funkiest soul I've ever heard in my life, perfect sound. Then Robert came on, much too loud, bass buzzing all over the place, painful on my ears, had to use massive earplugs, but that didn't make it much better.

    I've often wondered what the pre-concert music was (female singer). It was by far the best thing that evening.
     
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  3. Tim Wilson

    Tim Wilson Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kaneohe, Oahu, HI
    When I saw him in Morrissey in LA in 2014, he played cover tunes of The Smiths and himself solo! It was hilariously self-aggrandizing, which is what made it so perfect.

    It was also a nifty selection, so I made a Spotify playlist on the spot, and I do take it for a spin now and again.

    "How Soon Is Now?" t.A.T.u.
    "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish" Bow Wow Wow
    "Everyday Is Like Sunday" Pretenders
    "I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday" David Bowie
    "Dear God, Please Help Me" Marianne Faithfull
    "Everyday Is Like Sunday" Mariachi Rock-O (more easy listening than mariachi, but the largely Hispanic audience at the show ate it up)
     
  4. ParloFax

    ParloFax Senior Member Thread Starter

    EDIT: Sorry, I only saw too late that your Robert was Palmer!! >>

    I really liked Robert Plant's concert in '05. But I too had a problem with the volume! It was the very loudest concert I had ever attended! I wasn't expecting such loud volume judging from the type of music on his then-new album...
     
    Last edited: Jul 17, 2017
  5. pbuzby

    pbuzby Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL, US
    Two I remember:

    A pre-show selection (reportedly compiled by Neil Peart) when I saw Rush in 2008 including "No Opportunity Necessary..." by Yes (which sounded weird over an arena PA).
    "The Man" by Patto before Wilco's show at the Vic in Chicago in 2005.
     
  6. bRETT

    bRETT Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    Springsteen always has a great pre-show mix, probably put together by Little Steven as it's quite in the "underground garage" vein.
     
  7. jonboy71

    jonboy71 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxnard, CA
    When I saw Billy Gibbons solo tour, I heard several songs that sounded like 80's ZZ Top I had never heard before. I even went to the sound man and asked him what was playing. He said it's unreleased Billy Gibbons solo material that I'd never be able to find or hear outside of right now. It's a shame, as it sounded really good and I have no further information about it.
     
  8. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    Several years ago, Swing Out Sister played a very cool VA collection--Miles, Morricone soundtrack stuff, obscure Motown, other stuff I don't remember. the soundman told me it was a member of the band's Ipod.
     
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  9. Bad Samaritan

    Bad Samaritan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    I usually don't pay much attention to the PA music, other than to key off the increasing volume level to indicate proximity to the show start. One I do distinctly remember is from a Great White concert in maybe '89. The last PA song was this, played quite loudly and to the amusement of much of the crowd.
     
  10. gojikranz

    gojikranz Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sacramento
    before Greg Lake on his last solo tour he played the instrumental portion of moonchild. it was looped I remember being confused when portions started replaying that I thought I had heard before (not that I was paying too close attention) must have played through 3 or 4 times but it is fairly innocuous so didn't get too annoying.
     
  11. CybrKhatru

    CybrKhatru Music is life.

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    When I saw the Black Crowes in 1990 or so, they played Derek & The Dominos "Anyday" on the PA about 10 min before showtime. I was hypnotized. Still love that song.

    Was pleasantly surprised to hear Pat Metheny Group's "The Roots Of Coincidence" a couple times before a couple of Yes concerts in the late 90s/early 00s.
     
  12. Brother Maynard

    Brother Maynard Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    At the Hall and Oates/Tears for Fears show last week they played video selections from Live from Daryl's House on the screens. Keeping it all in Daryl's house, I suppose.
     
  13. zaza_3121

    zaza_3121 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Czech Republic
    I saw Manic Street Preachers twice and they always play Speed Of Life by Bowie before they enter the stage.
     
  14. pbuzby

    pbuzby Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL, US
    Not a show I attended, but on audience tapes of the Tales tour you can hear Wendy Carlos's Sonic Seasonings as pre-show music.
     
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  15. tedhead

    tedhead Forum Resident

    Location:
    Space City
    Maybe not rare, but Pink Floyd on the 1994 Division Bell tour just before the quad demo tapes kicked in, played the Hendrix version of All Along The Watchtower that got the stadium actually cheering in Dallas.

    I liked hearing "A Long Time Coming" by Sam Cooke, "Strange Fruit" by Billy Holiday, "Imagine" by John Lennon, and various Neil Young songs played before Roger Waters' Wall tour in 2010. Vera Lynne's "We'll Meet Again" also fits in nicely with the concept.

    Robert Fripp's live soundscapes in quad sound are always fantastic to hear before King Crimson hits the stage. If you look carefully, you may catch him walking on stage to get them started before disappearing again backstage.
     
  16. Beaker73

    Beaker73 Forum Resident

    I remember seeing The Pixies on their first reunion tour in Amsterdam and the PA-music was Pet Sounds, front to back. Also when the house lights came back on after the show, again Pet Sounds. So I went home humming 'Wouldn't it be nice' instead of a Pixies tune :D
     
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  17. CybrKhatru

    CybrKhatru Music is life.

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    There's also some really cool music preceding "Revealing Science of God" on the Tales tour.. while Jon A is talking.. it's a sped-up tape of Vangelis "Creation du Monde" from L'Apocalypse des Animaux
     
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  18. CybrKhatru

    CybrKhatru Music is life.

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I remember seeing the Chili Peppers at Lollapalooza in 1991..and they played most of Hendrix "Axis Bold As Love" album as pre-show. I wondered how many fans knew it....
     
    Last edited: Jul 17, 2017
  19. coniferouspine

    coniferouspine Forum Resident

    As somebody mentioned above, I'm pretty sure Rush used to curate and pick out their own pre-show music. I remember hearing "Watcher of the Skies" over the PA system, before one of their Time Machine shows, and sorta suddenly connecting the dots to the riff in Cygnus and also Jacob's Ladder. Can't remember more specifics, but I know another time I've heard them play different songs by some of the same artists from the Feedback covers album -- it wasn't the same exact songs, but it was very obviously meant to hearken back to stuff from the '60s and '70s bar band cover circuit, from back in the proverbial day.

    When I saw the Cure at Giants stadium in 1989, they made the unusual move of playing Satie's Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes during the intermission, for a solid half hour or 45 minutes of quiet piano music before they came onstage, which was pretty obviously a Robert Smith or band pick. It really was a spot-on choice, because it was summer and the sun was still going down, and it sorta helped bring things "down" a bit after Love & Rockets and the Pixies. Love & Rockets had used a bunch of smoke and strobe lights at the very end of their set, so the Satie pieces helped kinda focus everything back into an appropriately Cure-like melancholy mood.

    When I saw Sigur Ros this past May their pre-show music was obviously stuff they'd picked out or brought with them from Iceland -- it might have even been more of their own music, for all I know, it sounded a lot like them. It was a really stunning playlist of stuff, wish I knew more about it. Everything about that show was special....really top notch.
     
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  20. Mark B.

    Mark B. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Concord, NC
    The first time I saw Queen (May, '77) they played nothing but Beatles pre-show. It was pretty perfect. The crowd greeted each song with louder and louder applause, and sang along lustfully waiting for Queen to hit the stage.
     
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  21. Pennywise

    Pennywise Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Sewers
    Redd Kross once played the entire Shaggs album over the PA before they went on.
     
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  22. ParloFax

    ParloFax Senior Member Thread Starter

    Frank Zappa is rumored to have once played an album by Gentle Giant as pre-concert music. I wish dearly I knew which one! I imagine it could be from around the time he discovered them (mid-70s?).
     
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  23. 99thfloor

    99thfloor Senior Member

    Location:
    Sweden
    I know Billy has an interest in electronic music, and when I saw ZZ Top on the Mescalero tour in 2003 the music played before the show seemed to be Billy's creations, some tracks included samples from ZZ songs and some of them I guess could even have been considered remixes of ZZ tracks.

    Edit: the tour was actually called "Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers", the release of Mescalero had been delayed and it was not yet out at that point.
     
    Last edited: Jul 17, 2017
  24. jonboy71

    jonboy71 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxnard, CA
    This was 2015 on his Pefectamundo tour. The music was not a mash up, they were original songs that could have been for a shelved solo album at some point.
     
  25. Aghast of Ithaca

    Aghast of Ithaca Forum Resident

    Location:
    Angleterre
    Fantastic choice! Any evidence that Wilco chose it themselves?
     
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