To/Die/For, Virgin Black - Arlington, TX - 07/05

[See You In Hell]

A big thanks to those in the forum who've posted their thoughts about Virgin Black and To/Die/For these past weeks. I first learned about these two bands from the posting regarding the Atlanta show a little while back. Last night I had the opportunity to see both bands live and they surely did not disappoint. Virgin Black was especially memorable and I was literally mesmerized for their entire set.

What was equally-memorable, but unfortunate, was the attendance at this show. According to Rowan London (Virgin Black vocalist/keyboardist) this show was a relatively late addition to their tour and was only booked about three weeks ago. The total number of band members / crew / venue support staff outnumbered the fans in attendance for this show! The city of Arlington, with a population of about 250,000, sits in the midst of a metropolitan area of probably about 3 million people (when you add in Dallas, Fort Worth, and surrounding communities). My wife and I counted 19 fans in attendance. 19. Now it's possible we missed some people when we were doing the math but, if so, we didn't miss many. I don't pretend to know anything about promotions save what the good people in this forum have shared with me but even a show booked only 3 weeks ago in a metropolitan area of this size should still turn out way more than 19 people if promoted aggressively I would think. I actually found out about this show by accident -- nothing on the radio, no flyers posted, no word of mouth. I realize the show was on a weeknight and that the rains around here won't stop and there are probably scores of excuses and, yes, sometimes "life" just gets in the way of our best-laid plans. But still......19 people. How does this happen? I commend these bands and the others that opened for them on this night as they were all very gracious to those of us who did attend and took the time to mingle with fans after their sets. Yet I couldn't help but witness the disappointment / disbelief on the faces of some of the bandmembers when they first ventured out onto the stage to see what little was facing them. Whether it is true or not to lay blame at the promotions side of things for this show I do not know. From what I have garnered from many of you in the forum promotions is a challenging undertaking that requires a lot of work. To those of you pounding the pavement religiously to bring awareness to the shows you've booked and to those who provide assistance to these promoters I applaud you and urge you to keep up the fight. Perhaps the battle is much harder than I could have ever estimated.

For those interested I've posted a few photos from the show.

Virgin Black

To/Die/For

 

[MetalNations]

Good pics. Yes it is horrid about the turnouts in Texas. I hope California does better.

 

[cinflames]

Thanks for posting those pictures. I am SO looking forward to seeing Virgin Black again. I saw them in 2003 and they were amazing!! I am going to the show in San Diego. Let's hope there are more than 19 people there.




.

 

[Ruthven]

Yeah, I hear about a band like Virgin Black pouring their emotions into their music and getting low turnouts, and then I think of crap like Hinder getting rich and famous by gene-splicing Theory of a Deadman and Great White, and I can't help but get mad. People wonder why I get mad at the deluge of terrible post-grunge bands (that is to say, 98% of them) and why I don't just "listen to CDs," but I think of how talent largely goes unrewarded in this country.

Nothing against the promoters working their hearts out to make these shows happen, so much as against the general public for not already knowing and rewarding these bands with something beyond crowds of 5 to 19 people.

 

[Jibrille]

I found out Virgin Black played NYC a week too late. A real shame too because Unexpect was the opener and I'd love to have seen both bands for the first time. It's honestly probably better I found out too late since the show was a Monday and there was just no way I could take a day off in June.

 

[Stingray11214]

Yeah, I hear about a band like Virgin Black pouring their emotions into their music and getting low turnouts, and then I think of crap like Hinder getting rich and famous by gene-splicing Theory of a Deadman and Great White, and I can't help but get mad. People wonder why I get mad at the deluge of terrible post-grunge bands (that is to say, 98% of them) and why I don't just "listen to CDs," but I think of how talent largely goes unrewarded in this country.

Nothing against the promoters working their hearts out to make these shows happen, so much as against the general public for not already knowing and rewarding these bands with something beyond crowds of 5 to 19 people.

How right you are! The problem is that the US recording industry is about making hits, aka, money. There has to be an "it" factor. There is little patience for artistic integrity. That is why you have labels like Bieler, The End and Century Media. Those are "artist-based" rather than "it-based".

Also, you need to blame the radio industry. Clear Channel, Infinity, and Viacom have destroyed the radio indutry in the US. There was a time when radio was content driven. You might jnot be #1 in your market, but you still made money if you went metal/country/oldies. Now, everything is a demographic.

Long story short, there is a lot of blame to go around for 5 or 19 people showing up at a show. It is obvious that many promoters are ill equipped to handle mid-major acts. My attitude is this: Unless you have $10-15K armed and ready to drop on print ads, flyers, internet, and yes, on rock radio, it would not be wise to do a show in a major market. Obviously, the guys in New Orleans and Arlington were in way over their heads.

 

[halcyonwayband@aol.com]

How right you are! The problem is that the US recording industry is about making hits, aka, money. There has to be an "it" factor. There is little patience for artistic integrity. That is why you have labels like Bieler, The End and Century Media. Those are "artist-based" rather than "it-based".

Also, you need to blame the radio industry. Clear Channel, Infinity, and Viacom have destroyed the radio indutry in the US. There was a time when radio was content driven. You might jnot be #1 in your market, but you still made money if you went metal/country/oldies. Now, everything is a demographic.

Long story short, there is a lot of blame to go around for 5 or 19 people showing up at a show. It is obvious that many promoters are ill equipped to handle mid-major acts. My attitude is this: Unless you have $10-15K armed and ready to drop on print ads, flyers, internet, and yes, on rock radio, it would not be wise to do a show in a major market. Obviously, the guys in New Orleans and Arlington were in way over their heads.

Based on the turnout in Atlanta - about 100 people - I'd have to differ a little bit. We definitely didn't have the marketing budget you mention at all - in fact it was all guerilla warfare - bulletin boards, flyers up in strategic areas around town, poster printed for the venue of the flyer, myspace, college radio (free), and so forth. My feeling is that the other shows were simply booked and not pushed. Also, I think the tour guarantee was unrealistic for the draws of the bands - I am pretty sure that every single local promoter will lose money on the tour - which makes it that much harder to get the next one through town. We busted butt to make the Atl show a success, and it still lost money for Hoyt, the local promoter & our manager.

Sad to see.....as a musician and also as a fanboy.