Maybe it’s just the circles I follow, but there seems to be this increasing trend where a headlining act also goes ahead and takes up the opening support slot for their show/tour. Am I the only one a little perturbed by this?

The alternative to this I’ve also seen is where members of the headlining band are also the opener/support act.

As a couple better-known examples; Death Cab for Cutie & The Postal Service shared duties on the 20th anniversary tour, but I almost want to give them a pass for that given that TPS isn’t really a touring act – or they’re on a decade-at-a-time schedule and are unsure if they’ll bother with a 3rd return act.

From a similar camp, Pedro the Lion came to town with opener Erik Walters who you might recognize from… Pedro the Lion.

And just the other day I caught the announcement of once-defunct Hollerado opening up for the final (final final?) show for Toyko Police Club, with special guest opener Menno Versteeg, who you might know from… Hollerado.

I get that touring is increasingly not viable for a lot of artists and I’m nearly certain this is their not-so-sneaky workaround to ensuring they’re taking home a greater collection from the pot at the end of the night, but I have to say it is a little worrying to someone like myself, as both an artist and a general fan.

As an artist, it means the pool of opportunities for me as a potential opening act are dwindling even further, which is extra troubling given all the other trends where it’s increasingly more difficult just to get booked onto local gigs as well, even if you want to promote the show yourself, more and more venues are turning away local musicians.

Getting gigs locally never used to be such a strenuous ordeal and the dream of opening for one of your favourite artists did not used to seem an unattainable task, but with the way bands are touring, it does look like that dream for many of us is going to keep shifting further and further out of reach.

Personal band goals aside, it sets a bad precendent for the community aspect of music when you realize the show you’re at is actually a bit of a glutton-fest for the 4-5 people on stage who don’t want to share any of that time. I get that friends want to stick together and support each other, too, but there’s gotta be a way to reach a happy medium where you’re also allowing some stage time for someone else in the scene, like perhaps from the town you’re visiting, to partake in the fun.

As a listener, half the fun of going to a headliners show is catching a cool opener you maybe have never heard of before and witnessing their music in a live setting for the first time, instead of what’s been polished onto a record. It’s more authentic of an experience and easier to connect to, even if that band is only given a 20-minute slot at 6PM. before the audience has properly shuffled to their seats. It’s also very cool to come across a local act you might not have heard of before, there’s a certain sense of pride that comes with seeing them on the same stage as one of your favourite’s in the same way you feel pride in watching your favourite sports team, even if they suck and its’ been like 60 years since they’ve not sucked.

I’m not saying they, the headlining bands (or perhaps by order of their meticulous management), shouldn’t do it, because do whatever you want, but this will undoubtedly be looked back on in some years time as another great catalyst for emerging artists and ultimately will lead to a drop off in attendance to those same bands show, if I had to wager a guess. The extreme die-hards will still be there (and thrilled about it on some level), but it doesn’t’ leave much room for growth in… I’m gonna say it… don’t run off now… exposing…. yourself to new ears and hearts.

Perhaps these bands are just being smart and thinking ahead to that dwindling attendance anyway, but I think it’s the wrong play.

I think there’s probably a time and place for it; special one-off situations that will literally never happen again or to celebrate an artists big achievements, with those performing alongside having played significant roles throughout in such that it would be silly not to include them, but I’m not 100% sure that’s what’s happening or why in the recent influx of shows that I’ve been seeing.

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Have you been to a show like this recently? What did you think? Sound off in the comments.