Something Eric posted while I was out of town got me to thinking. That’s a pretty mean feat in itself, but I digress.
I’m not sure what it is about Atlanta but Heavy Metal acts have just never done very well here in the ATL. Huge bands that sell out two and three shows in NYC, Miami, LA and other cities barely fill the arena here. Hell, some of them just skip us altogether. They will play in podunk, Missouri and buttfuck, Alabama but just scoot on past Atlanta.
When I went to shows more often back in my teens, up until I hit about thirty, quite often a band would tour and I just wouldn’t get to see them. The first big tour that Metallica did in the southeast was opening for Ozzy Osbourne. I caught that show in Knoxville, TN. I think I’ve even posted about meeting the band and road tripping to that show.
So what is it that Eric said that caught my eye? Other than the fact that I enjoy Tom Waits quite a bit more now than I did when I was sixteen? I saw John Waite’s (obviously no relation) solo tour after leaving The Babys in the early eighties and the first of two opening bands for a particular act. He sucked. The second opening act was Steve Marriott and Humble Pie (exactly how it was being billed). Now don’t get me wrong. I like Humble Pie. A lot. As a teenager in 1983 I wasn’t particularly excited about seeing them though.
Imagine if you can, the lobby area at the civic center filled with the screaming hordes of fans (sort of like chipmunks in effect) of pop has-been John Waite, All of the stoners and other hippies going to see Humble Pie. Sort of an age difference for one thing but then you add in the fans for the man they were going to see and there is what makes it so utterly fucking ridiculous.
Ronnie James Dio on his first solo tour after leaving Black Sabbath.
I guess the promoters thought that Dio was going to be doing stuff from his days with Elf and Rainbow and didn’t bother listening to any Sabbath, much less any of his solo album. That or they weren’t thinking at all. Rainbow in the dark indeed.
Waite, Humble Pie, Dio? Not exactly a match made in heaven. Almost as ridiculous as Tom Waits opening for Buffalo Bob, which is what prompted me to write this. It actually started out as a comment to Eric’s post but obviously ran a bit long.