Next time you go to a Florence + The Machine show, do me a favor. Put your phone down. Stop scrolling through Instagram. Don’t talk through the opener. Just listen. You might hear something magical. You might hear a band that, in ten years, you’ll be bragging about seeing “before they were famous.”
And if you don’t like them? That’s fine. You only have to wait thirty minutes. But give them a chance. They are working with a literal hurricane of anticipation. They are the calm before the storm—or maybe the drizzle before the flood. They matter.
So here is my challenge to you: find the support act’s album. Play it in the car. Become a fan. Because supporting a support act is the most hipster thing you can do without having to buy a vinyl record you can’t afford. It’s good karma.
And the next time you see that opening song and think, “Ugh, when does Florence come on?” take a breath. Look at the stage. That person up there is living their dream. They are one step closer to their own headline tour. And who knows? Maybe one day, they will be the one with the hair-whipping and the harp. And you can say you were there at the beginning. Isn’t that a lovely thought?
So go, buy a ticket, cheer loudly for the opener, and then lose your mind when Florence appears. You get two concerts for the price of one. That’s a bargain, my friend. A beautiful, emotional, glittery, sweat-soaked bargain. Now go dance until your feet hurt. You deserve it.
