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comment by kleinbl00
kleinbl00  ·  2515 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: "Making it" as a modern touring band

Didja see where they bitched about parking a "42 foot" van?

It was also interesting how they said they were on the hook for per diem when every hospitality rider I've ever seen has it coming out of the venue. But then

...we never booked bands based on ticket sales. We paid an up-front fee, which was a bid that was competitive with the other venues in town. So you can say shit like "you sold $100k in tickets" but that number literally has nothing to do with what you made. Our occupancy was 750. We'd push that to 800 sometimes. If we sold tickets for $20 we grossed $16k. The band prolly got $8k, $10k for the show, no hinky shit about only so many people showed up so you didn't get paid, it's our city, it's our venue, we can promote just fine thankyouverymuch.

Right now, I could go see Aimee Mann at the FIllmore for $35. 1129 tickets is basically selling it out - it's a showcase, not an arena. A sold out show at the Fillmore is $40k gross and you toured for a month and you sold $100k in tickets? At 24 shows? At $10 a head that's 400 people per show at which point you're not a 42-foot-van band. You're not a "we bring backline" band. You're not a "$48k in salaries for a 24-date tour" band. You're the band that opens for the band that opens for that band.

About a month ago I paid $35 for Front 242/Severed Heads tickets at the Regent. About 20 years ago I ran lights for Front 242 at my 750-person showcase. They showed up in a 15-passenger van.