#intohimo

Intohimo - We Can’t See With Our Eyes Open

Even if an opening act is as bad as these guys you should still respect them.

Scenario; you walk into a venue to see your favorite band. You are so excited to see them and you just can’t wait any longer. But then you remember that you have to wait through two hours of opening bands that you don’t know and don’t really want to hear. You just want them to get off the stage so the band you love can start playing.

I feel like this has happened to just about everyone who regularly attends concerts, and those two hours waiting for the band you want to see can last longer than waiting in line at the BMV (or DMV depending on what state you live in). Unfortunately, most openers that you haven’t heard of turn out to sound like nails on a chalkboard. It can be excruciating to sit/stand through their set. However, it is important that you at least give them a chance, or at least keep your opinion to yourself. One time I was watching an opener and heard someone in front of me comment on how terrible the band was (and admittedly they weren’t great). However, what the person who said this didn’t know was that they were a local band with some loyal friends and fans around. This comment came close to starting a fight just because this person couldn’t keep their opinion to themselves.

It’s also important to remember that even though a band may not be great they still could have special meaning to an individual. As someone whose life has been saved through music, I can vouch for this. Certain songs and bands can hold special meaning for someone even if they aren’t that great of songs. So it’s important to think about this when yelling out your opinions around other people. If you dislike them just talk about it amongst your friends after they are done playing. There’s no reason to yell out your opinion for everyone to hear.

Now sure there are times when the openers can be really awesome. Either you already know them or they are a band you have never heard of that absolutey amazes you. I can remember going to see the Swedish band Blindside. They pretty much never tour in the US and when they do it’s never near where I live. We drove four hours to go see them and when we got there I just wanted them to play for the full concert. However, that obviously wasn’t the case. There were two openers: INTOHIMO and Write This Down. While those bands didn’t overshadow how much I wanted to see Blindside, I was still amazed at how good and polished these openers were. I ended up buying all their albums just from seeing them that night. It was the first time that an opener has made me want to buy all their music just from one show, and it’s all the more impressive considering from the start I just wanted them to get off the stage.

I’m not saying that you need to like every opening band that you listen to, but it can be very important that you actually give these bands a chance. Even your favorite band was an opener at some point so give them a listen. It’s not easy to write songs and even harder to get up on stage and perform them in front of complete strangers. So if nothing else respect the courage that a band has. You never know when you could find a band that could become a new favorite. You also never know when someone around you could love a band you don’t like, so just be respectful.

– Jos pelaat jääkiekkoa tai soitat viulua, et opi sitä kirjoista, vaan tekemällä. Aalto-yliopistossa tarinankerrontaa tullaan opettamaan harjoittelemalla. Siitä tehdään oppimisen rutiinia, kunnes jonain päivänä huomaatkin olevasi siinä hyvä ja osaavasi käyttää sitä bisneksen tekemiseen, Oreck kuvailee.