[kj] The Complications opening for Killing Joke in Montreal

[B. Oliver Sheppard]

Right.

Killing Joke opened for Motley Crue. Times have changed.

Not that KJ were ever part of the same sort of scene spoken of in, say 
"The Day the Country Died" (UK grassroots DIY etc., even though they did 
that weird thing with Honey Bane, who was on Crass Rex) or in the 
underground network that deveoped of he sort in "American Hardcore."

Still, I remember a time when a odunk, grassroots meaningless, 
let-s-just-automatically-refer-to-them-with-contempt-and-derision-for-no-good-reason 
type of band, Minor Threat, opened for PiL. Minor Threat were paid a 
pizza and coca-cola. You can hear Ian macKaye recount this experience 
bitterly in a few interviews. Lydon pulled up in a limo or something and 
refused to even meet Minor Threat. They were a podunk grasroots local 
band who weren't important, after all.

-Oliver


GREG SLAWSON wrote:

> I remember in the old days of punk, in places like Boston (and LA, 

> from the posters I've seen) there would be 3, 4, 5, or even more bands 

> at a gig, for a reasonable price, w/no real headliner or opening 

> bands. SST records bands were famous for this. And in Boston the 

> garage/punk/power pop bands all collaborated and did gigs together, 

> making for a real community atmosphere. These days music is much more 

> segmented into sub-sub-sub genres, and there is less of a community 

> feeling.