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This goes out to those of you who have toured as, or with, musicians. Which cities are the worst? In terms of:
- Worst crowds. Indifferent? Fussy? Snooty? Mean and violent? Stupid and boorish?
- Sleaziest or flakiest venue owners and/or booking agents, etc.
- Crappiest venues, crappiest local music scenes (or lack thereof).
- Likelihood of police harassment or interference.
- Likelihood of being ripped off or being paid peanuts (relatively speaking).
- Lack of things to do or places to see during down time.
- The situation with the local ladies is... less than ideal.
- And so on.
I once heard an experienced touring musician mention in passing that Salt Lake City was the worst by far and that his band and many other bands he knew went out of their way to avoid it, but he didn't elaborate, and I haven't heard anyone else say so. I'm just curious as to which cities are the worst. And for the sake of balance, which cities are the best?
I wouldn't know from the bands point of view. My friend's local band has played all over the New York area and southern New England and I don't think I've ever heard him complain about a venue and rarely about a bad crowd.
I wouldn't know from the bands point of view. My friend's local band has played all over the New York area and southern New England and I don't think I've ever heard him complain about a venue and rarely about a bad crowd.
This quote below reminded me of living in Ashland, Oregon--right in the middle of the drive between Portland and Sacramento.
Quote:
The drive between Portland, OR and Sacramento, CA is what I like to call the <b>Drive Of Death</b>. The only way to mitigate the suck of the Drive of Death is to book Eugene AND either Redding or Chico, CA. Otherwise, you’ve got a long ass drive on your hands.
Occasionally Ashland(or even Medford and the surrounding area) would get touring musicians--not super big time, but often somewhat fairly notable(although a lot of reggae bands and jazzy types of musicians often) who would book a gig in Ashland to break up the drive between Portland and the Bay Area or Sacramento.
I remember Bob Dylan playing at the Jackson County Fairgrounds in Central Point next to Medford in 2001, obviously because between northern Oregon and Sacramento that was probably the best location they could find for that itinerary.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Depends what kind of music you play.
If you have a decent following/fanbase in that city I don't think they should be too mean/snooty, but as an unknown trying to promote yourself if could be anyone's guess.
I'd say cities like Austin, Nashville, Seattle, NYC would probably have slightly more discerning crowds than somewhere in the middle of Kansas.
In my experience, being stuck in NYC for the last three years, I'd have to say the audiences are mostly fine... definitely not discerning. There is such a huge over abundance of amateurs that "crowds" seem to like everything and show up to practically nothing.
If you're unsigned, pretty much every venue I've ever heard of pays the band ZERO... which is less than peanuts. They expect YOU to do the promoting while still feeling entitled to call themselves "Promotors" somehow and pretty much every one else involved gets part of what they gouge out of your fans except the band themselves. Because there's so many hobbyists, don't expect to ever make any money playing venues unless you have mad money to promote yourself with and can manage to get a few hundred people to show up.
We got like 30 or so people to show up (an amazing feat for a start up band in this city) and I think we made like $15. The venues treat you like slave labour and shuffle everyone on and off the stage... and the "Promotors" forbid anyone from booking more than 1 show in the space of two weeks. This is THE last place you wanna go to accomplish anything.
Last edited by GuitarMistress; 12-24-2012 at 06:18 AM..
Reason: Ammendment
In cincinnati a guy shot T.I the rapper best friend a couple yrs ago so he doesnt really come to cincy anymore. Taylor Swift stopped coming. It seems like our audience is the problem. The city is very supportive for rappers coming but not so much other types of music.
Don't come to Houston unless you are rapper or play country. Tiny crowds and no pay usually.
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