Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Looking over the Orange Peel's upcoming shows, it is difficult to believe Greenville can't land most of those acts now. There are several tribute bands on there.
Seeing how The Orange Peel has had Buckethead and Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham perform makes me want a similar venue in Greenville.
Don't care about the tribute bands. But the Orange Peel gets some pretty big names. Warpaint, Portugal. The Man, Phantogram, Steve Earle and Dinosaur Jr. are on that list. As much as I loved The Handlebar, they mostly focused on indie and NPR style artists (which were great, don't get me wrong).
I'm a bit biased being an Alternative Rock fan but things come to the Orange Peel regularly that I'd absolutely love to have here in Greenville. The Filmore in Charlotte is even more up my alley. Being married with kids does not lend itself well to hour+ drives to concerts.
Don't have my hopes too high for this though. I'd love to be wrong.
X98.5 has been doing better lately in the market so perhaps they can hook up some concerts there. Before it went under, Silversun Pickups and Fitz and the Tantrums both played at the Handlebar sponsored by X.
I understand this during my years of living there. It is admittedly a bit of a tough market due to proximity to other cities that people already stop in. However, with the buzz the city has been getting in recent years and a new venue, hopefully the management is very aggressive in trying to pull in bands; this could be a time of opportunity to actually start directing more touring bands to stop in Greenville which is kind of exciting.
The number of times a band I was really excited to see stopped in Greenville (outside of fall for Greenville) in my 9 years in the city was probably in the single digits. On the flip side I drove to Asheville, Atlanta, and Charlotte monthly (sometimes multiple times) for shows. And that's covering hip-hop, indie, metal, pop, etc. I can't help but think that the city and any venues really lacked a 'champion' for the city aggressively pursuing bands and labels to stop if they hadn't been in years. Hopefully this new venue comes with that change.
PS: Another key to a venue like this is developing a base of local bands playing as well. Venues that ONLY try to book touring bands and shun local talent tend to not fair well. And there is nothing wrong with booking tribute bands to pay the bills. It's all about balance. But in the end I hope this gets more big name groups (like Dino Jr etc. that you mentioned) stopping down your way!
Looking over the Orange Peel's upcoming shows, it is difficult to believe Greenville can't land most of those acts now. There are several tribute bands on there.
Land them where? No venues seem to be trying. If this new venue can get the types of acts that the Orange Peel pulls in, I'll be quite happy. The upcoming shows do look a little thin at the moment, but looking at the Orange Peel shows since 2015, I'd be interested in all of these:
Robert Earl Keen
Jamey Johnson
Reel Big Fish
Yonder Mountain String Band
Blackberry Smoke
Ceelo Green
Corey Smith
Donna the Buffalo
Rusted Root
They Might Be Giants
Louis CK
Ben Harper
Josh Ritter
Whitey Morgan
Cody Jinks
Henry Rollins
Drive By Truckers
Chris Robinson
Keller Williams
Blues Traveler
Lauren Hill
Ben Folds
Shovels and Rope
Jimmy Eat World
Conor Oberst
Cold War Kids
Big Head Todd and the Monsters
Brandi Carlile
Dave Rawlings
Keb Mo
Martin Sexton
Chris Stapleton
Leon Russell (he's since died)
G Love and Special Sauce
Dawes
Third Eye Blind
Patty Griffin
Paul Thorn
The Devil Makes Three
The Milk Carton Kids
Shakey Graves
Land them where? No venues seem to be trying. If this new venue can get the types of acts that the Orange Peel pulls in, I'll be quite happy. The upcoming shows do look a little thin at the moment, but looking at the Orange Peel shows since 2015, I'd be interested in all of these:
Robert Earl Keen
Jamey Johnson
Reel Big Fish
Yonder Mountain String Band
Blackberry Smoke
Ceelo Green
Corey Smith
Donna the Buffalo
Rusted Root
They Might Be Giants
Louis CK
Ben Harper
Josh Ritter
Whitey Morgan
Cody Jinks
Henry Rollins
Drive By Truckers
Chris Robinson
Keller Williams
Blues Traveler
Lauren Hill
Ben Folds
Shovels and Rope
Jimmy Eat World
Conor Oberst
Cold War Kids
Big Head Todd and the Monsters
Brandi Carlile
Dave Rawlings
Keb Mo
Martin Sexton
Chris Stapleton
Leon Russell (he's since died)
G Love and Special Sauce
Dawes
Third Eye Blind
Patty Griffin
Paul Thorn
The Devil Makes Three
The Milk Carton Kids
Shakey Graves
Ok, I'm pretty sure some of those bands have played in Greenville. Blues Traveler, Ben Harper, Ben Folds, Third Eye Bland, Lauren Hill, Rusted Root, etc.
I think that because of the tourist aspect of Asheville being in the mountains, it can get some acts that would otherwise not be interested in doing a small show.
If these bands are popular and there is a huge demand to see them in Greenville and elsewhere, it doesn't seem like a venue would have to try to lure them to Greenville. The bands would be contacting the various venues to come here.
Last edited by ClemVegas; 05-17-2017 at 11:25 AM..
Ok, I'm pretty sure some of those bands have played in Greenville. Blues Traveler, Ben Harper, Ben Folds, Third Eye Bland, Lauren Hill, Rusted Root, etc.
I'm not sure saying "hey, Blues Traveler played Furman sixteen years ago!" or bands who played venues that no longer exist (like Third Eye Blind playing Characters nearly twenty years ago) make that great a case. I realize that's not the case for everyone on that list, Ben Folds in particular, but...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Simpsonvilllian
I think that because of the tourist aspect of Asheville being in the mountains, it can get some acts that would otherwise not be interested in doing a small show.
I love Greenville too, but I think you're letting yourself be blinded by your passion for the area. What you're doing here is dismissing Asheville, its thriving art and music scene, and basically every band that plays there. The way you've worded things, you make it sound as if these bands could fill arenas or amphitheaters, but they're lowering their standards to play to tourists in some sleepy, remote mountain town. The Orange Peel accommodates more than a thousand people; that's far from "a small show". I've seen that place filled to capacity time and again. The Orange Peel is often a destination, not just a way for tourists to pass the time while in town.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Simpsonvilllian
If these bands are popular and there is a huge demand to see them in Greenville and elsewhere, it doesn't seem like a venue would have to try to lure them to Greenville. The bands would be contacting the various venues to come here.
"Various venues" are part of the problem. There's very little in between modest-sized clubs and theaters/amphitheaters/arenas. Even a newer venue comparable to the Orange Peel would face some challenges early on. With Greenville in such close proximity to Atlanta, Athens, Charlotte, Asheville, etc., it could be tough to make a case for coming to Greenville as well or taking the place of one of those other cities with a more established scene. If you've played The Orange Peel three times and pretty much filled the place to capacity, would you want to roll the dice on moving your next show from Asheville to Greenville?
Last edited by Adam Tyner; 05-17-2017 at 12:10 PM..
"Various venues" are part of the problem. There's very little in between modest-sized clubs and theaters/amphitheaters/arenas. Even a newer venue comparable to the Orange Peel would face some challenges early on. With Greenville in such close proximity to Atlanta, Athens, Charlotte, Asheville, etc., it could be tough to make a case for coming to Greenville as well or taking the place of one of those other cities with a more established scene. If you've played The Orange Peel three times and pretty much filled the place to capacity, would you want to roll the dice on moving your next show from Asheville to Greenville?
I can't disagree with that. My hope would be that someone playing Atlanta, Athens, Charlotte and Asheville might have an open date in there before moving on to another area, at least until the venue could become established. Not really moving a show as much as picking up a gig without having to drive out of the way.
I'm not sure saying "hey, Blues Traveler played Furman sixteen years ago!" or bands who played venues that no longer exist (like Third Eye Blind playing Characters nearly twenty years ago) make that great a case. I realize that's not the case for everyone on that list, Ben Folds in particular, but...
I love Greenville too, but I think you're letting yourself be blinded by your passion for the area. What you're doing here is dismissing Asheville, its thriving art and music scene, and basically every band that plays there. The way you've worded things, you make it sound as if these bands could fill arenas or amphitheaters, but they're lowering their standards to play to tourists in some sleepy, remote mountain town. The Orange Peel accommodates more than a thousand people; that's far from "a small show". I've seen that place filled to capacity time and again. The Orange Peel is often a destination, not just a way for tourists to pass the time while in town.
"Various venues" are part of the problem. There's very little in between modest-sized clubs and theaters/amphitheaters/arenas. Even a newer venue comparable to the Orange Peel would face some challenges early on. With Greenville in such close proximity to Atlanta, Athens, Charlotte, Asheville, etc., it could be tough to make a case for coming to Greenville as well or taking the place of one of those other cities with a more established scene. If you've played The Orange Peel three times and pretty much filled the place to capacity, would you want to roll the dice on moving your next show from Asheville to Greenville?
Yes, my 'passion' for Greenville has blinded me. In other words, I was skeptical about something you said.
I don't think a band like Blues Traveler is playing the Orange Peel on a regular basis. I don't view 1000 people as a big show.
I think that most of the bands that you are talking about don't have a strong following. If they aren't playing in Greenville, they aren't playing in a lot of places. Greenville is the largest MSA in the 23rd most populated state, so in my view, it is on the band if they can't put on a show here.
If you haven't been involved in being in a touring band, or running a venue, or working at a label or as a touring manager, there are a lot of details that are in play that make it more complicated than 'if they had a following, they'd play here.' If someone is already stopping in asheville, charlotte, atlanta, etc. Greenville would have to be a 'steal' from one of those cities in some cases; they aren't going to hover over a 200 mile radius for a week. It depends on the layout and plan of the tour and the tour management's plan for how many stops within a certain radius and what venues have in their contract for shows within a certain radius etc. Also, if a band is going on a 3 week tour for example, they're going to try and hit the venues that they will do the best at in that time-frame while covering the overall ground they want to. So, if they're already playing atlanta -> asheville -> charlotte (as they are proven stops for a lot of bands) before moving to Richmond for example, it just doesn't make sense for them. It's not that they can't draw at all in Greenville, but they have limited days in a geographical area. They will assume that the people who really want to see them will travel to these 3 options. Greenville is an 'unknown' to a lot of these bands while there are a lot of established venues and stops within travel distance. It is what it is.
The counter argument 'this band stopped in Greenville once in 1999' or they played at a fall for greenville one time isn't really sound. Several of those bands will stop in those cities every other year or more sometimes while you might be able to find one example in the past 10+ years of them playing in Greenville. There is a big difference. For one example of a band I am intimately familiar with: Between the Buried and Me - 8 studio albums, 6 of which have made the Billboard charts, including #12 US on their last album (#1 for Rock only charts). Looking at the past 5 years only, they played Charlotte 6x, Winston Salem 2x, Asheville 2x, Charleston 2x, Atlanta 5x, and Athens 2x. Yet they haven't played Greenville once. I drove to several of those shows to see them play. It's a pretty good example of the pecking order that Greenville has fallen into over the years. I'm not cherry picking one city to be unfair to Greenville - i'm literally listing many other cities in the area that bands consistently choose to stop in over Greenville.
Yes, people do stop in Greenville now and then. I went to as many shows as I could in town during my time in Greenville to try and support the venues and the bands in hopes that it would grow. But not nearly as much as many surrounding cities I found myself driving to multiple times a month for shows. But hopefully with a new venue and aggressive promotion (bands have to know the venue exists!), Greenville can start fighting to make that happen on an actual regular basis.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
