Sophia Hughes responds to a recent Twitter post by Slaves and the importance of catching support acts at gigs.
In 2014 I watched Catfish and the Bottlemen open for The Kooks with a few people dotted around the venue. I get annoyed at 15-year-old me whenever I think back on that gig for not fully appreciating the band in front of me. This year I watched them amongst a sea of people at Victoria Park. I’d never heard of my favourite artist last year before I walked into the venue where he was supporting. These things don’t happen unless you turn up early! Truthfully, it hadn't occurred to me until more recently than I'd care to admit that people don't always watch the support act.
U.K. punk duo Slaves recently tweeted the following:
(Slaves, 2018)
In the current live music climate, with small music venues shutting down at an alarming rate, the overarching message of the importance of watching supporting artists is as poignant as ever. It’s showing as well, with artists becoming extremely vocal. Australian artist Didirri curated a Spotify playlist dedicated to people who have supported him, while Amy Shark tweeted something similar to Slaves a few months ago. The public agrees. “I think that people need to support their local bands and the openers deserve a crowd, it's so hard coming up in the music scene and playing live is one of the only ways to get your name out there”. (Hustwaite & Newstead, 2018)
Maybe it was because of the cringeworthy teen I was, where my priority was essentially standing underneath the band, that I would gladly queue up for hours and sit through all the supports. Nowadays, I’m a cheapskate student so maybe I just want to get every last penny out of my ticket. I don't think that's the case. I think it's a matter of supporting people working tirelessly to make a career out of the thing they love. Being somebody who is slowly chiselling their way into the music industry, it would be disrespectful, not to mention hypocritical, not to support those doing the same. The industry is hard enough as it is.
“To play a show in London we have to take all of our guitars, pedal boards and drum equipment on the train and tube in a busy rush hour. It’s already incredibly tiring, especially lugging all that gear to then play a support slot to 10 people. Only to then see the venue pack out for the headliners.” - Jacob Green, guitarist- People In Museums.
Remember your teachers telling you maths would be necessary in adult life? Well here’s a simple equation: I like artist A + they like artist B enough to ask them to open their show= I will probably like artist B.
I don’t really know anyone who misses support acts, but if you do, don’t. Support those trying to realise their dreams and discover some great new artists. We’re all overdue for a bit of serendipity anyway.