DANKO JONES Says American Audiences Sometimes Don't 'Give The Opening Band Even A Chance To Play'

October 30, 2019

Canadian rocker Danko Jones says United States audiences are hostile to support acts in a way not seen anywhere else in the world.

Speaking on the latest episode of the "White Line Fever" podcast, Jones says other bands agree with him that audiences in the U.S. are the rudest to opening bands.

"The only time it does get a little, not intimidating but rather annoying is… We've been on tour with bands where the crowd — and this happens mainly in America — where the crowd doesn't give the opening band even a chance to play," he said. "They're ready to just boo them.

"It's weird. And I've had this same conversation with a lot of other bands in the same situation. And it's only in America. In other places, they at least listen and try to decide for themselves. In America, it's more, like, 'If you're not the headlining band, then we don't wanna see you.'

"It's weird. It's a real closed-minded way of listening and taking in music."

The frontman of his namesake group revealed that he and his bandmates John Calabrese and Rich Knox have even confronted hecklers after their shows.

“I've bitten back," he said. "It always bites you back, though. You can't go up against two thousand people. I've screamed back, but then two thousand people will just start booing or chanting or anything.

"But it's only in America. And that's such a weird situation. I find it a very closed-minded way to take in music.

"And it's funny, too, 'cause it's happened where we've actually confronted some of the people who were booing us in the crowd, after the show, and they're suddenly so timid — not scared, but timid and shy and almost sorry for doing it.

"It's this weird mob mentality there that I don't see anywhere else in the world. It's just so weird."

DANKO JONES's latest album, "A Rock Supreme", was released in April. The disc was produced by Garth "Gggarth" Richardson (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, RISE AGAINST, BIFFY CLYRO).

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).