As a manager, it’s important that when you’re band is taking on the road as a support act that they’re paired with the right act.
There’s nothing more soul-sucking than sending your boys out in front a crowd that is completely mis-matched for what they do. Take the case of the Ramones in Lake Charles, Louisiana, on January 26, 1979.
The Ramones were, at this point, the kings of the New York punk scene and their record label was keen to break them wide open to a mainstream audience. For some reason, however, the Ramones ended up in Louisiana, opening for Toto, the soft-rock band who were selling millions of records with songs like "99," "Rosanna" and "Africa."
The jeans, leather jackets and fast guitars. It did not go over well with the good ol’ folks from Louisiana. You gotta wonder what someone was thinking...