Good opening songs for concerts

[Smells Like a Username]

It was the opener on The Bad Hair Tour. Al would come out on stage alone in a shiny silver coat (no, not the Pentiums one) and the band would make it's way to stage at the end of the song and start right up with "Gump."

They really did it? Wow! That was just something I came up with. Well, in that case, I think Couch Potato would be a good opener this time, since it's one of the only once that seems to start out slowly rather than just begin. Except for maybe Party at the Leper Colony.

[sarah_yzma]

I would like to hear Why Does This Always Happen to Me as the opener



Sarah

[Weird Alan]

How about Albuquerque?



Ok...Al usually needs the opening song to be a rush of energy to get things going fast. Kind of weird when a band comes on and sings a low key song. At one of the They Might Be Giants concerts I went to to, John and John and the band came on and opened the show with 'Dead'. Al can't really afford to do that. Perhaps 'Trigger Happy'. I doubt it since the fans like like the parodies better...perhaps he could start with a polka?

[mrmeadows]

Personally, I'd like him to go back to a real oldie for the opening song. . .one that he hasn't done live in a while. If I could, I'd choose "Living with a Hernia"! That would be a kick-a** opener!



Meadows

[Elvis]

There's more than one Silver Suit? Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Actually, I believe it was gold. But it was definately shiny.



Dave

[scottidog]

To quote CindyBob "OOOOO Shiny...."



Don't start with the Black Leather jacket again, it'll be too much for my poor heart!

[CatraDhtem]

There's more than one Silver Suit?

IIRC, it was more just a lamé jacket.

[weirdallie27]

I was thinking maybe It's All About the Pentiums, because the music rocks and stuff. I really think it should be a nice strong beat (like you said) but in a way UHF almost seems too slow to me to start off the show.. but that's just me.

Adrian

Well, I kinda doubt he would do It's All About the Pentiums as the first song. Here's why. One thing has remained consistent in Al's shows all along. The first several songs are done one after another, with Al in a Hawaiin shirt and plain pants. As the concert moves along, he starts performing songs with more complex costumes and props, with short video bits between songs. Then, after the medley, comes the really big productions like "Bedrock Anthem", "Smells Like Nirvana", and "Fat." Followed of course by the Star Wars encore. Also, the first couple songs are always relatively short, so as to make it feel like the show is moving along quickly. That rules out "UHF!" I think it's a safe bet that this format will remain. Having said that, the opening number will most likely be something that doesn't require special costumes or props, and is relatively short!

Possible opening songs:

Since You've Been Gone
Gump (I think this one works very well as an opening)
My Balogna
George of the Jungle (I doubt it!)
Bob
Polkamon
This Is The Life

Al actually did open with "Pentiums" at Hershey Park August 8, 1999. It was a shortened set- They showed a clip and then went right into the medley. It worked pretty well for an opener, I thought.



~Allison

[al fan300]

I know!And we can do some thing really cool with it...Well not us,i mean Al and TBITB

Hey Bermuda if your reading this give this a try.

Hardware store could be done with a slow beat like a special edition version like Surgeon[wow I am allready saying terms and short ways of calling songs just from lurking here ].

And then when The verse starts Al says "O.K now my voice needs to relax so you the audience can sing it with me to help me out because I can`t even remember the lyrics"

but THE VERSE will be a sound file.

And at the end he will do FAKE but pretty funny

heavy panting and pass out

then while Al is still on the floor they continue the song in normal pase.

Is that good?

[Elvis]

IIRC, it was more just a lamé jacket.

Yeah, it was a jacket. Didn't I say that? Well I meant to.

Don't start with the Black Leather jacket again, it'll be too much for my poor heart!

This thing?







Okay, I won't.



This is also a good example of what a standing GA show is like. It's also a good example of what happens when you use a flash. So, unless you're planning on documenting the back of people's heads, leave the flash off.



Dave