Acts touring that don't come here (2 Viewers)

I suppose it'd be totally uncool to suggest that if we actually had a platform of agreed fees for musicians in ireland it'd be a fucking no brainer for acts to come here.

I hear talking about that causes not being down with the lads though.
 
Not sure that'd change the costs for touring bands to come here or the fact we have a tiny population on a tiny island. Maybe an internationally agreed platform for fees may help though. Fancy getting started on that?
 
Not sure that'd change the costs for touring bands to come here or the fact we have a tiny population on a tiny island. Maybe an internationally agreed platform for fees may help though. Fancy getting started on that?

It needs more support than just myself to be honest - I was meaning to start a thread but starting a thread where people aren't likely to fight with me is less likely to be effective than saying every time an non-agreed fee thing pops up that musicians should only show up for agreed fees.

I gave it a lot of thought, I've a few people a chew the fat with here in galway - some of them female, and some of them think about their life in music as 'can I get to a survivable pay point in music before i decide i'm going to have children and have to look at another career' and everything they are at muscially is running on that metric/timebomb, which is basically another example of the Irish music scene pricing people out of being musicians.

I don't know how to combat the opportunism though, and that's the kicker. I can refuse all the gigs i like and state my rates all i like but so long as someone is ready to take my place for no guaranteed fee, the system perpetuates and the risk stays on the musician and the beer gets sold and the rest of the staff get paid.

Its a mad thing to consider when you think of just how many bands would align themselves with things like living wage, non zero hours contracts activism and so forth and still sideline themselves on this front.

My fantasy version of events probably includes accepting less gigs happening in exchange for more equity. The pi-chart of who can afford to do this in the current climate probably wouldn't make for comfortable viewing.
 
Not sure that'd change the costs for touring bands to come here or the fact we have a tiny population on a tiny island.

I always figured these were the reasons why gigs are generally more expensive here than in the UK or mainland europe. The fees demanded are probably greater, to cover the logistical costs. Depending on the band, of course. If a 'mid-sized' act can swing Galway, Cork, Dublin and Belfast out of it, then there'd be no need to bump up ticket costs. Thats not to say they won't anyway.
 
There's a bit of what the market will bear price wise from promoters on top of ferry costs being about four times what the likes of England to France are. Then you have booking agents trying to fill a specific time frame with the most efficient and profitable route.
 
It needs more support than just myself to be honest - I was meaning to start a thread but starting a thread where people aren't likely to fight with me is less likely to be effective than saying every time an non-agreed fee thing pops up that musicians should only show up for agreed fees.

I gave it a lot of thought, I've a few people a chew the fat with here in galway - some of them female, and some of them think about their life in music as 'can I get to a survivable pay point in music before i decide i'm going to have children and have to look at another career' and everything they are at muscially is running on that metric/timebomb, which is basically another example of the Irish music scene pricing people out of being musicians.

I don't know how to combat the opportunism though, and that's the kicker. I can refuse all the gigs i like and state my rates all i like but so long as someone is ready to take my place for no guaranteed fee, the system perpetuates and the risk stays on the musician and the beer gets sold and the rest of the staff get paid.

Its a mad thing to consider when you think of just how many bands would align themselves with things like living wage, non zero hours contracts activism and so forth and still sideline themselves on this front.

My fantasy version of events probably includes accepting less gigs happening in exchange for more equity. The pi-chart of who can afford to do this in the current climate probably wouldn't make for comfortable viewing.

Ah yeah was just alluding that it's a massive international problem that we're not gonna solve between us in Ireland.

We could have a revolution and smash capitalism but not sure that'd help or not tbh but profit driven economics is a big reason for these issues.
 
Wasn’t at it myself but I can recall Superchunk or Jon Wurschter (spell!) having a tour blog on their site.
Found it on archive.org. They didn't get paid for the Dublin gig. It was in Mono (name change between Mean Fiddler and Village I think).

https://web.archive.org/web/20040820074148/http://superchunk.com:80/tourarchive/japaneurope01.html said:
10/19

We rise early so Scotty can take us to the airport in Liverpool and then get on his way and drop our gear and the piece of crap van back in London. I don't envy his next 8 hours.

The drive to Liverpool is very short -maybe 30 minutes. We say our goodbyes to our new friend and hunker down in John Lennon Airport. It's small -about the size of the airport that Scranton PA must have. If I ever get to take that dream vacation to Scranton I'll let you know.

I check my e-mail at the airport and find out that my best friend from high school lives in Osaka but didn't know we were playing. I didn't know he lived there. That sucks because I could really use that $2.00 he still owes me.

The flight to Belfast, Ireland takes only an hour. We hump our gear to the curb and try to squeeze it all into two taxis. I am utterly amazed at how green the grass is here. It's really like no other I've ever seen. Ireland's national color should be green. Hey, wait...

Our taxi driver is very nice and rattles off the names and significance of all the places we pass. A few minutes after we pass the dock where Titanic was built we are dropped off at the club. I am startled to see a very cool poster for the show. What went wrong?

Inside we are met by two of the more memorable characters I have met in my years of touring: Dee and Dave. Dee works at the club and Dave seems to be just hanging out. Dee appears to be in his late twenties and has a long ponytail and a friendly smile. Dave is around 38 but looks much younger, almost like the archetypal astronaut of the '60s. While Mac and Jim go do a radio interview I stay and chat with Dave and Dee. It is only a matter of seconds before Dee takes his shirt off. He is remarkably buff and I can't help but notice a huge bruise right on his left pec. There are also several smaller ones all over his chest. Maybe I'll work up the courage to ask him about these later. For now I will listen to him talk about some of the famous music types he's come in contact with. Some of his remarks are disparaging and I won't put them here, My favorite one was regarding Shane McGowan: "What a waste of space, I have nutting for him." Might not translate without the accent and the bruises.

We get so many e-mails from Ireland asking us to play here that we are quite optimistic about tonight's turnout. Our hopes are dashed severally when we walk into the club after dinner and find no more than 30 people. Uh oh.

Backstage is insane. Dee and Dave are going through almost an entire commercial-sized Vodka bottle by themselves. I watch as Dee excuses himself and then returns moments later wearing a shirt for the first time since I've met him. He takes it off the second he re-enters the room. "I would go naked if I could," he explains. Dee takes a shine to Jim and begins wrestling with him. Jim plays along but is visibly uncertain of how far this might go. We all are. Luckily nobody gets hurt. Dee explains that he got the bruises when a hulking man went on a backstage rampage. Hate to see the other guy.

The show goes off well. There are a handful of people who really dig it and we play to them. Seems No Pocky For Kitty is the Belfast favorite -that's the only album people seem to want to hear songs from. We end with three in a row from that record.

I return to the dressing room and find Dave sitting in the exact same place where I left him. He's on his cell phone with his boss (I was never certain what he actually did for a living). Seems Dave was relieved of his job during the 65 minutes we were onstage. After the call he asks me if I enjoyed the show. He will ask me the same question four more times in the next 40 minutes. I never see Dee again.

The wait to load out of the club takes an eternity. We are able to snag some cabs with the kind assistance of some nice locals.

One to go.

10/20

The light at the end of the tunnel. We've been traveling with 5 guitars, a big case of cymbals, an amp and five people's worth of luggage these last couple days. We've been fortunate to find some nice cabbies (several have out -and- out refused to deal with all our gear) to ferry us around. We get up early and make our way to the Belfast train station where we will catch a train down to Dublin.

I'm so glad we took a train because we actually got to see the a lot of the beautiful countryside. I think I even saw a leprechaun hiding behind some bushes.

Jason snags us a monster-size cab in Dublin and we head to the venue. Ain't no one there yet and we unload all the gear onto the sidewalk in front of Mono -tonight's club. The promoter arrives but she doesn't have a key either. Mac, Jim and I go to the hotel to check in. I have my first -and I'm proud to say only tantrum of the tour. There is no elevator and I have to lug my massive bag (full of sticks and books and clothes etc,) up several flights of stairs. I trip and fall on the way up and then knock over a bunch of chairs that are in the middle of the tiny hallway. I think I even used some swear words.

The city is really cool. Tons of shops and pubs and whatnot. We have no time to check out any of it. After soundcheck we go for some surprisingly good tapas. I think I even moaned at one point.

We head back to Mono and guess what? There are even less people than in Belfast last night. The two opening bands play and we put our gear into place. I take a picture of the club from onstage (I debated putting photos up for this diary but I figured it would take too long to load -I think I will later) for posterity. This might rival Bloomington, November of '91, when we played to eleven people.

There are actually about 50 people by the time we play. My rented bass drum pedal dies during the fourth song. The drummer for one of the opening bands kindly lends me his. The action is kind of slow and hampers my ability to play a song I already loathe performing: "On The Mouth." The rental dude appears out of nowhere and starts fixing the broken one. I swap them out and continue the show.

Several people from last night's gig have made it down. It's good to see them again and get their energy. The pedal dies again -this time at the very end of the show closer "Precision Auto." I take the beater and fling it against the wall. We finish the song and I throw the pedal up in the air, doing my best to make sure it doesn't hit anybody.

(October 27: I have had a rethink about this after witnessing a performance last night by The Damned. The drummer who wasn't Rat Scabies was very upset by the inadequate light show the in-house man at the Cat's Cradle put on. He kept complaining about it into the mic and even hit the lamps at one point. It was so distracting that it nearly ruined the show. I really wanted to clock the guy and say, "Dude, I've seen a thousand bands play here and you're the first person to ever cause a stink about the fucking lights. You're lucky to be in this band." Wonder if people think that about me when I get visibly bummed onstage. The Damned drummer got his when, at the end of the show, he started picking up pieces of his very nice drum kit and tried to fling them at the lights. He never even came close. All he had to show for his effort was a pile of nice drums.)

Jason comes up to me as I'm packing my cymbals up. "You are not going to believe what is going on," he whispers. I'm actually excited because I think it means he's met a special lady. Unfortunately it is not the case.

Because there are two sides to every story I will wait before launching into a massive tirade against our hapless now ex-booking agent. In brief, it seems our hapless ex-booking agent owed the Dublin promoter money from a previous show and just told the guy to essentially call it even with our show.

SO GUESS WHO DIDN'T GET PAID ONE RED CENT (PUNT) FOR THEIR SHOW?

We are flabbergasted. So is the woman who is responsible for paying us. She knew nothing about the arrangement until she went to get our money and was told what was happening. Guess who can't be reached on the phone?

In shock, we drag our gear outside and numbly place it on the curb. We hail a couple cabs and head back to the hotel. We all meet in the hotel pub for beer which we hope will take away all the pain. Mac and I stay later than the others and meet a great couple from Cambridge, UK. They are in their early 50s and are on a little holiday. They've just returned from Orlando, Florida and fill us in on their trip. Strangely, they never made it into Orlando proper but spent all their time on the outskirts and at Wet and Wild. That would be a pretty bizarre first taste of America. Fudruckers, Chili's and the Octoplex Cinema. I retire about 20 minutes later. As I was leaving she asked Mac, "He's the drummer right?" Must've been my stubble.
 
cont..

https://web.archive.org/web/20040820074148/http://superchunk.com:80/tourarchive/japaneurope01.html said:
10/21

As we make our way to the Dublin airport Mac fills me in on a great bit of conversion I missed after I turned in.

Woman: We listen to a lot of reggae (I cannot stress how little these two people looked like not only reggae fans, but music fans).

Man: It's great for when you're smoking up.

He also tells me of a great quote he read in the new Vanity Fair. When asked about the ga-ga reception the White Stripes have received in the UK, frontman Jack White says, "It's like they've never heard music before." I couldn't have said it better.

We're waiting in line at the airport and I hear that voice. "Jonny Wurster." Only one face could possibly go with that lazy cackle. I look up from my reading and sure enough, there he is -Mr. Ryan Adams. Seems Ryan and band played Dublin last night too. It's great to see him and Brad (Brad was also on the Whiskeytown tour I played on in '98). We chat a little (Brad comments on my week-old stubble: "Goin' for that Kenny Loggins look, huh ?") but they've got to get on their flight to Manchester. We've got to go to London and hang out in the Travel In at Gatwick until our flight tomorrow morning.

Laura and I have dinner at the hotel restaurant. Mac and Jim soon join us. There is no mention of the previous two weeks -just fun, small talk. It's nice.

I won't bore you with the return flight. I didn't sleep and I didn't watch any movies. I actually felt proud of us for getting through what was in all honesty a dismal European tour.

Ok America, you ready to get your ass kicked by us?
 
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