OurStage Artists Win Opening Slot For Kid Rock & Bon Jovi

posted in: OurStage Updates

Back in April, OurStage teamed up with Bon Jovi to host the Bon Jovi’s Wanted: A Super Band Tonight competition and give OurStage artists the chance to open for the ’80s rock icons. Throughout the summer, winning artists embraced the opportunity to open for both the legendary rock group and special guest Kid Rock in sold out stadiums across the country. Wonder what the experience was like? We caught up with Charm City Devils, The Malibu Knights, The Kids of Survival, The Worsties and DIVE post-performance to get the scoop.

For some of the winners, performing at a stadium venue was a first, for others it was familiar territory. However, it’s clear from both sides that each band took away something unique from their performances. John Allen of Charm City Devils commented on some of the unexpected outcomes of opening for major touring acts. From my experience, sometimes in a support situation you can play to an empty venue but on this show I think we played to over 10 thousand people!!! New  Jersey rockers DIVE had the experience of playing one of the first shows held at the newly constructed Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. Besides the bands and crew being the nicest and most helpful people we have worked with, the stadium blew us away. Being on the first show ever at the new Meadowlands Stadium was a dream come true!

Opening for Bon Jovi has many perks, but the most important benefit for these acts was the chance to reach out to new fans and boost buzz through their performances. We had 5000 samplers we gave out after we played and got to talk to people who said they loved us, commented Dylan Lipari of Kids of Survival. Once we found out about this event we sat down and made of lists of things we can do to snowball this into something huge and use this as leverage.  And thanks to OurStage and Mr. Bon Jovi we now have some really cool things in the works. Dan Harden of The Malibu Knights commented The buzz has been huge for our touring band before and after the show. The audience was standing and clapping along with our tunes. They were terrific!

Tennessee natives The Worsties won the opportunity to open for Bon Jovi in Chicago on July 31st. They drove all the way from home to perform in front of a huge audience at Soldier Field.  “I have not met many people in my life that can honestly say they had a dream of theirs come true, and it did for me. The experience is one I can relive for the rest of my life,” recalls bass player Jairo. Lead singer Anna “Madame Worsty” Worstell stated, “Being in Chicago for the first time and being able to play Soldier Field was a surreal feeling…It honestly felt like a dream except completely natural. This could not have been made possible if it weren’t for the OurStage team and Bon Jovi for hosting this contest, and The Worsties could not be more appreciative for the opportunity…I have a funny feeling this is just the beginning…” You can check out a video of the Worsties performing their song “Let’s Go” live from their set at Soldier Field below.