Jasonic said:
I only have their first one.
I would be more interested in Cathedral and Katatonia
(Though Katatonia will be here in October).
This is what kills me about festivals like Gigantour and Sounds of the Underground. Both fests were created to rival what Ozzfest is doing, yet all each tour does is take prior Ozzfest bands (For the most part) who aren't doing Ozzfest this year.
Gigantour was on the right track last year, though this year's fest is dissappointing. I mean I love Opeth and Arch Enemy, but they don't need the increased exposure that a high profile fest would provide (plus they are each here multiple times a year anyhow).
Sorry for the rant.
I am grateful for fests like Chicago Powerfest, Prog Power, and Heathen Crusade (among others) who take chances on smaller bands who would benefit from first time exposure in the states.
I agree that those fests like you mentioned are cool for bringing in the more cult acts and take chances. The fact of the matter also, is that the acts they're bringing in also don't command as much of a high money guarantee as a band like Cathedral or Anathema probably would ask for.
The big fests that occur here in the states (Ozzfest, Gigantour, etc.) are booked based on what the promoters feel is going to sell the most tickets. Arch Enemy might not "need" to do a fest tour here at this point exposure-wise, but the truth is that they will sell more tickets than My Dying Bride or Katatonia will. That's not a slight against those bands on my part, they're excellent bands, but it's just a fact that they will not draw the kinds of numbers that a band like Opeth or Arch Enemy or Lamb Of God will here in the U.S. And that's what the promoters care about, period. The promoters are not booking and funding these tours with the mindset of being fans themselves, they're doing it from a purely financial business-minded standpoint. As much as it irks me and obviously some of you guys as well, the truth is that it's business and it's how they make their living and I can't really dispute that. If more kids bought MDB cds in the States, and really showed a strong demand for the band to be here, then that might work more in their favor. We should find ourselves very lucky that we're even getting a tour like Moonspell/Katatonia/Daylight Dies, because generally that is a tour that most U.S. promoters would probably consider to be "risky". And that's a shame considering the high quality of those bands. But as I've been told by industry insiders many times before, "talent has very little if anything to do with how and why a band succeeds and gets the necessary breaks in this business."
If people really and truly would like to see this situation here in the U.S. change in regards to having more awesome underground metal acts tour here and be booked for cool fests then heres what needs to be done-
Don't steal music. For underground bands, every cd sale really matters. Purchase as many cds as you can from the bands that you enjoy. I know what it's like to be broke, trust me, but I buy as much music from bands I like as possible.
When a band does finally come around, go see them. For example, I had heard for so long from people saying how much they'd love to see Green Carnation play here, and then they did in Toronto, and many people who'd said that, didn't make it (though thankfully the fest was a success anyhow). Then they got a second chance when we performed together again earlier this year, and we had a turnout of maybe 40 people. Needless to say, it's going to be difficult to get promoters to be geared up to pay to bring a tour like that here again when the attendance numbers were so low last time. You cannot always wait for "the next time around" because chances are good that there won't be a next time.
Promoters and record labels need to know that they're not going to lose a bundle by bringing a band from overseas and putting them on tour, or on a festival bill. They base this on cd sales and any prior turnouts and public response to these bands performances here. I think there's a great amount of misconception amongst the fans and the public as to what would constitute being a "successful" tour or fest here. The costs and logistics for putting on these tours and fests are so high, it's really difficult to even break even on these things often times, much less make any profit.
So anyhow, it's good when people support the smaller tours that come through town, and the smaller one-off fests like ProgPower and Heathen Crusade, because it strengthens the scene and makes it a little more possible for even better festival and tour bills to occur. Having a better understand of how and why this business works might help people to come up with better ways to support bands and do what they can do to help get these bands to come to their town or country.
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