Here’s an old thread on a topic that perhaps only Rock Town Hall is fit to fully document. Sadly some of the videos Townspeople posted no longer exist where they once did on YouTube, but maybe we can find new postings of those clips. I wouldn’t be surprised if we missed some killer stage formations way back when, so feel free to flesh out the record. I’m also curious, in revisiting this post, if we might begin the necessary task of cataloging and naming these memorable formations, so that future generations can readily identify a shared bank of archetypal formations to try out and expand on themselves.
One final note: It may be this thread where the controversial ZZ Top bison and buzzards tour first came up in discussion in the Halls of Rock. Bless you, General Slocum.
This post initially appeared 7/24/08.
Quick! Just like I’m sure you can envision the stage formation of The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show, as pictured above, there must be other stage formations that are burned in your memory. Perhaps it’s The Rolling Stones on those risers, playing “Paint it Black” on one of their Sullivan appearances. Perhaps, like me, you occasionally take time to linger over the memory of Pere Ubu gathered in a philosophic group face off as they play “Birdies” in Urgh! A Music War.
What are the iconic rock stage formation that are burned in your memory? They can be alignments you saw in concert films, photos, or even live concerts you attended.
Burn, baby, burn!
I thought I posted, but it doesn’t look like it.
That Freddie and the Dreamers footage is now permanently burned into my psyche.
1989 Metallica at the Grammy’s. As a kid, the wide stances and low slung guitars seemed pretty bad ass.
The Mammas and the Pappas singing side by side.
But the formation most burned into my brain is the eels in the “Novocaine for the Soul” video:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=0sHj6V1lfek
I saw this in concert a bunch of times — Billy Zoom on the left in motorcycle jacket with glittery Gretsch guitar smiling beatifically/maniacally either with a wide-legged stance or with one leg up on a monitor, Joe Doe on the right, leaning earnestly into a mic wrapped in bandanas so he wouldn’t shock his lips, Exene (currently a resident of Jefferson City MO as it turns out) hanging from the mic stand as if it’s the only thing keeping her upright and among the living, and DJ in the back sweating like a hog as he plays with both precision and power.
Oh yeah, BigSteve! The X show that Andyr and I saw when Under the Big Black Sun came out is still my all-time favorite live show.
In the 70s there was a poster of Blue Oyster Cult that had, like, six or seven guitarists in a row in front of the rest of the band. Indelible, with beards.
I hate to say this, but honesty is the best policy: Rob Halford on stage on the motorcycle.
Can’t believe no one’s mentioned these guys yet.
http://tinyurl.com/6ftklf
I saw X on that same tour, Mod, in DC. A great show. Did I see it with you guys? I don’t remember who I saw it with.
yeah, but….
most of the bands mentioned have the typical formation, which isn’t particularly notable:
singer is front and center, guitarist(s) to either side, and drummer in the back.
variations are slight but notable (i like the beatles’ elegant asymmetrical invention: rhythm guitarist singer slightly further front, bassist and lead guitarist on one backing voc. mic).
so what makes the who’s “formation” any more remarkable than the hundreds of other bands with a singer, a bassist, a guitarist, and a drummer?
if we’re going for *memorable* formations rather than typical ones, let’s consider pink floyd’s choice to put nick mason front and center, which, along with the visuals, was perhaps the most exciting thing about their mid-70s act.
I agree. Of the many times I saw the X, the Under the Big Black Sun tour was the best. They were on fire the night I saw them.
If you want different and memorable formations, I like the one Caribou used when I saw them recently. The guitarist and bassist are in the back. The two drum kits are in the middle area, next to but slightly facing each other. Then Dan Snaith is in front on the left, with a mic stand and guitars or keyboards around him for when he needs them, but then he retreats to the second drum kit most of the time when he’s not singing. Awesome.
BigSteve hits one out of the park with Caribou!
Agreed. I saw X on that tour as well in Boston. Definitely a top 5 of all-time show for me.
JELLYFISH!
Kraftwerk on the Computer World tour at Emerald City disco in Jersey. The two main guys facing each other across the front like two WAC stenographers with excellent posture at the keyboard, and the two “rhythm section” fellows in back.
Also ZZ Top in about 74 or 75 playing on a huge mock-up of Texas: Cactus, cattle, the sun rising and setting over the course of the set, funny.
Ah, the Worldwide Texas Tour — during which Billy Gibbons literally killed a buzzard with the sheer volume of his guitar. (The buzzard was part of the on-stage menagerie, if only briefly.)
How about Ted Nugent in loincloth? He also had a bit of schtick that’s memorable to me: every night, they’d wheel a glass globe out on a draped trolley, to set it in front of the amp stacks, so Uncle Ted could shatter it with an ear-splitting surge of guitar feedback. If the feedback didn’t work, they’d have a midget under the trolley with a ball-peen hammer whose job it was to reach up through a hole and shatter it for him.
Maybe not a “formation”, but the footage of The Who that Jeff Stein shot at Shepperton for The Kids Are Alright will forever be burnt into my impressionable mind. I remember when MTV showed videos, they had a set call “Closet Classics” or something. It was usually the old video clips or film clips. Just anything. I saw that video for “Teenage Wasteland” one day. I didn’t know a thing about “Baba O’ Riley” or The Who. Later, when I rented the video from my local dollar video shop, I saw THE KNEE DROP. THE KNEE DROP coupled with THE SCREAM from “Won’t Get Fooled Again” was worth many a rewind. It’s a wonder I didn’t tear that tape. It was (and still is) the greatest moment in Rock, to me.
TB
Ted Nugent in a loincloth is NOT a formation by any definition.
Sat, I’m looking for formations that are burned in our memories. Some of them may involve “standard” lineups. I do agree that this should be something a little different than “cool” bands. Maybe BigSteve and I went over the top with X. It’s worth being hard on ourselves. On the other hand, I would encourage you not to make this all about “novel” formations.
I think I’m going to get in town tonight to see Bon Iver and the Bowerbirds.
I’m more interested in the Bowerbirds. On the album they use a bass drum (like the marching band type) as the main percussion and sing a lot in unison which makes we wonder what formatation they will be in tonight.
How about this one?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PECk9A-07Pw
The Doors doing Touch Me on the Smothers Brothers. At the time the addition of horns and strings on risers like that behind a rock band for a tv appearance was unheard of. The cool jazz dude in shades and suave threads miming the sax solo is what’s burned in my memory. Krieger with a major black eye is a nice touch I had forgotten. Morrison is still working the leather pants and low-slung belt Look, and he seems to be right on the cusp of the point of no return.
Here’s another Smothers Brothers memory:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crYIV-SsC7c
The Airplane doing Crown of Creation with Grace wearing ‘negro’ makeup. What’s burned in my memory maybe more than the formation is the black gloved black power salute she gives at the end and the volcanic reaction it caused around my family’s tv set.
I don’t know if this exactly counts, but at the very least, this has to be the most tasteless mainstream TV variety show setting I’ve ever seen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxNEiZhpinY
This was from a Hullabaloo show hosted by David McCallum as Ilya K. in which he’s chased by some no-goodniks, who throw a bomb at him to start the Animals song.
You don’t see stage formations like this much these days.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tNKUyvALaXA
Can I just butt in on this thread to say that after being on hold for 20 minutes to change an airline reservation, I want to travel back in time to put a bullet in Pachelbel’s head. Is that the most abused tune in the history of the universe, or what?! I remember I went to a bed and breakfast once that played it on an endless loop throughout the meal, thinking it would provide a soothing touch of class to the proceedings. Instead, it made me feel like hurling my plate at the stereo. STOP ALREADY!
p.s.: AAAARRRGH!
TOWNSPEOPLE! You are showering us with burniing stage formations, and for that I thank you! That Animals clip is really cool – and kind of bad at the same time. The mustache on the guy from The Association is a key component of their already innovative riser formation. The iintro shots of the Airplane are worth the price of admission – and then that song answers the question, “Mod, why do you mostly hate the Airplane so much?”
That Association clip is apparently an actual live performance, not miming. That is admirable, but the dude playing the recorder side-saddle is so wrong.
The entire Association look like they just wandered in off the set of Dark Shadows.
Those of you in bands need to go build that Association riser. I’d be at every show for any band that lugged that around with them.
I can’t believe no one mentioned the Rock and Roll Iwo Jima.
Also, KISS from the photo in the gatefold of Alive 2 where the everyone in the band was on individual platforms that rose up out of the stage and a whole bunch of shit was exploding.
As a teen I went to see Night Ranger (1986/87..way past their born on date) and the drummer was on the right side of the stage, the two guitar players were way up on the riser (where most drummers would be), the keyboards were on the left side and the bassist was front/center (ok, he was the singer). I thought that was the strangest set-up at the time and have never seen this again (nor has Night Ranger returned to Atlanta to my knowledge)
ok, I found this..My memory did not fail me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBQEf9srDpM
Yikes! That video looks like a perfect candidate for one of HVB’s “Try to say something nice about this video” exercises.
Your wish is my command, cdm. The video is now posted for analysis and nice comments on The Main Stage. Good find, j2!
Bob Dylan and the Hawks in 1966. This is a good photo http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/be/Bob_Dylan_and_the_Band_Tour_1966.jpg
But what I have in mind are the shots from Eat the Document where Dylan, Robertson, and Danko are seen from behind and through a fish-eye lens.
I always like big, anarchic band formations on stage like Prince around Sign o the Times (http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:u4qfMkhPzhCj5M:http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d189/pejman1/princetimes.jpg&t=1)
or Springsteen anytime (http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/84885351/Redferns).
Particularly memorable was this 4-piece in large band mode (http://dvdmedia.ign.com/dvd/image/article/678/678643/the-who-tommy-and-quadrophenia-live-20060103064737779-000.jpg). Not visible here, is the glass soundproof box that Townshend played inside. Will never forget that sight.
The Boss definitely runs from a spread offense.
Townshend was a big hoops fan, you know. At that point, k., he drew up a lot of plays that put him in isolation.
A Minor Forest performed with the drummer in front of the stage with his back to the audience, facing the rest of the band. Asia had a set in the shape of a giant ‘A’ when they played the Spectrum in the early ’80s. Geoff Downes’ keyboards were spread horizontally along the crossbar section of the A, and he scampered back and forth from keyboard to keyboard in the midst of songs throughout the night.
Good ones, bruinskip. I wish I’d known about the Asia “A” formation when I spoke to John Wetton.