Tour Bus Confidential: Behind Music's Bumpy Road Show
February 28, 2015 2:18 PM Subscribe
Last i talked to anyone about this who had any experience with it from the band side, unless they were already monied rockstars like the people i knew in a famous 80s band, they saw tour buses as a way for the label to suck more of their money away. Just another bullshit line item thing they do, at least after the initial "omg we're rockstars in a bus!" thing wears off. It apes that old chestnut article the problem with music.
I know people signed to sub pop who still drive around in a van mostly, barring international stuff. Buses are cool, but really expensive to operate.
The slashing costs thing isn't cheapness on the part of the labels and management IMO, it's bands saying "i'd rather have that money than ride around in a nice bus". I feel like it's something that only makes sense when you're at a pretty high level, that gets sold to people below that level as a signifier that they've "made it". And i think people are starting to wise up to that.
posted by emptythought at 4:36 PM on February 28, 2015 [3 favorites]
I know people signed to sub pop who still drive around in a van mostly, barring international stuff. Buses are cool, but really expensive to operate.
The slashing costs thing isn't cheapness on the part of the labels and management IMO, it's bands saying "i'd rather have that money than ride around in a nice bus". I feel like it's something that only makes sense when you're at a pretty high level, that gets sold to people below that level as a signifier that they've "made it". And i think people are starting to wise up to that.
posted by emptythought at 4:36 PM on February 28, 2015 [3 favorites]
We see this story here over and over: decent middle-class jobs get the marrow sucked right out of them. Of course, in 20 to 30 years, none of these jobs will exist at all...
> The slashing costs thing isn't cheapness on the part of the labels and management IMO, it's bands saying "i'd rather have that money than ride around in a nice bus".
Please.
It used to be none of the money from touring went to the labels, so touring was good money that went right to the band - with possibly serious profit if you sold merch. Now with 360 contracts, a good chunk of that money goes right to the label.
Not hiring tour busses is not some wilful act on the part of wealthy, stingy musicians, but is a logical consequence of 20% or more of tour revenues vanishing out of musicians' pockets almost overnight.
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 5:00 PM on February 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
> The slashing costs thing isn't cheapness on the part of the labels and management IMO, it's bands saying "i'd rather have that money than ride around in a nice bus".
Please.
It used to be none of the money from touring went to the labels, so touring was good money that went right to the band - with possibly serious profit if you sold merch. Now with 360 contracts, a good chunk of that money goes right to the label.
Not hiring tour busses is not some wilful act on the part of wealthy, stingy musicians, but is a logical consequence of 20% or more of tour revenues vanishing out of musicians' pockets almost overnight.
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 5:00 PM on February 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
Plus they introduced us to awesome tour games like Hotwall
Okay I can't find any info on this. What is it?
posted by Lord_Pall at 6:04 PM on February 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
Okay I can't find any info on this. What is it?
posted by Lord_Pall at 6:04 PM on February 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
If "Kent's People" were longform journalism.
posted by jpe at 6:12 PM on February 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by jpe at 6:12 PM on February 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
Google is working on a self-driving tour bus.
posted by lagomorphius at 6:33 PM on February 28, 2015
posted by lagomorphius at 6:33 PM on February 28, 2015
"Good times were had by all! Load-in was easy, they gave us fresh socks, and lots of bonding activities took place, including a bus-driver BBQ and a spirited game of HotWall, a tour-gambling game which involves participants throwing coins of an agreed-upon denomination at a wall. Whoever gets the coin closest wins the pot. Fun! " Wheatus Tour Diary: Cardiff, Barnsley and the Space-Time Continuum
posted by jepler at 6:43 PM on February 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by jepler at 6:43 PM on February 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
Hotwall's pitch-and-toss (pitching pennies), as referenced by Rudyard Kipling.
posted by Smart Dalek at 7:09 PM on February 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Smart Dalek at 7:09 PM on February 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
My tour diary just got quoted on the blue! Now my bucket list is shorter.
posted by grumpybear69 at 7:38 PM on February 28, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by grumpybear69 at 7:38 PM on February 28, 2015 [10 favorites]
It used to be none of the money from touring went to the labels
This is not entirely true - even before '360 deals' labels would often provide "tour support" cash, often used as deposits to reserve things like buses, sound, and lighting gear, and they would expect to be paid back before any profits were divvied up.
You and emptythought aren't really in disagreement, IMO; I don't think he's saying that wealthy musicians are getting stingy, he's saying that mid-level bands who aren't really getting enough money per gig to really afford a tour bus are more often choosing to not spend the dough on a bus, even when various people are telling them that touring in a bus is A Thing That You Do.
posted by soundguy99 at 7:41 PM on February 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
This is not entirely true - even before '360 deals' labels would often provide "tour support" cash, often used as deposits to reserve things like buses, sound, and lighting gear, and they would expect to be paid back before any profits were divvied up.
You and emptythought aren't really in disagreement, IMO; I don't think he's saying that wealthy musicians are getting stingy, he's saying that mid-level bands who aren't really getting enough money per gig to really afford a tour bus are more often choosing to not spend the dough on a bus, even when various people are telling them that touring in a bus is A Thing That You Do.
posted by soundguy99 at 7:41 PM on February 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
I just posted a comment under the Wheatus dude. MY bucket list is complete!
posted by shockingbluamp at 7:50 PM on February 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by shockingbluamp at 7:50 PM on February 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
Well, that will cheer us all up. Another little niche of life, grown smaller and meaner.
posted by thelonius at 7:56 PM on February 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by thelonius at 7:56 PM on February 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
Google is working on a self-driving tour bus.
Google is working on a self-playing robot rock band.
posted by happyroach at 9:01 PM on February 28, 2015
Google is working on a self-playing robot rock band.
posted by happyroach at 9:01 PM on February 28, 2015
The author is David Peisner, not David Peisn. He's probably happy his last name is not an anagram for PENIS. Though I guess it's an anagram for PENISER.
posted by axiom at 9:04 PM on February 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by axiom at 9:04 PM on February 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
I had no idea that Counting Crows had a "busy summer season".
posted by Brocktoon at 9:10 PM on February 28, 2015
posted by Brocktoon at 9:10 PM on February 28, 2015
if you can get enough hits and put on a pretty competent show, you can pretty much tour for the rest of your life
freddy "boom boom" cannon had two hits in the early 60s and he was touring on the oldies circuit until very recently - i saw him in the 80s and he was enjoyable, plainly loved what he was doing - i won't say it was a great performance, but it was a good one
so, yeah, counting crows will have a busy summer season for as long as they want to have one
posted by pyramid termite at 9:26 PM on February 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
freddy "boom boom" cannon had two hits in the early 60s and he was touring on the oldies circuit until very recently - i saw him in the 80s and he was enjoyable, plainly loved what he was doing - i won't say it was a great performance, but it was a good one
so, yeah, counting crows will have a busy summer season for as long as they want to have one
posted by pyramid termite at 9:26 PM on February 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
"But we just don't like to sit around all that much."
Sitting and driving 65mph, however...
posted by not_on_display at 9:28 PM on February 28, 2015
Sitting and driving 65mph, however...
posted by not_on_display at 9:28 PM on February 28, 2015
axiom: "The author is David Peisner, not David Peisn. He's probably happy his last name is not an anagram for PENIS. Though I guess it's an anagram for PENISER."
Because, when PENIS is not enough...
posted by Samizdata at 10:35 PM on February 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
Because, when PENIS is not enough...
posted by Samizdata at 10:35 PM on February 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
It's a trilogy: Penis, then Peniser, and culminating in Repenis.
got to the point where everyone was saying, 'Come on, can you give me a bro deal? We don't have any money,'" says Clarke. "We wanted to fill that gap between a van tour, which is horribly uncomfortable and not as cheap as you might think, and a bus, which is holy-shit expensive and not always reliable on the budget end of the spectrum."
Their answer was the BandWagon, which was designed to be shorter and lighter than a full tour bus so it couldn't be classified as such by the DOT (it falls into the same category as a U-Haul). They rent for $325-$365 a day, which is roughly half of what you'd pay for a tour bus, and there are additional savings because it doesn't required a commercial-licensed driver to operate. When you factor in the money saved on hotels, the price is comparable to what many bands pay to tour in a van. The company started out with three vehicles; since then, the fleet has grown to 22.
As so often, the ability to edge past regulations is what lets people avoid paying living wages, but it's also what you would want to do if you were in a band that was a step above touring in an old van but where a bus didn't pencil out.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:17 AM on March 1, 2015
got to the point where everyone was saying, 'Come on, can you give me a bro deal? We don't have any money,'" says Clarke. "We wanted to fill that gap between a van tour, which is horribly uncomfortable and not as cheap as you might think, and a bus, which is holy-shit expensive and not always reliable on the budget end of the spectrum."
Their answer was the BandWagon, which was designed to be shorter and lighter than a full tour bus so it couldn't be classified as such by the DOT (it falls into the same category as a U-Haul). They rent for $325-$365 a day, which is roughly half of what you'd pay for a tour bus, and there are additional savings because it doesn't required a commercial-licensed driver to operate. When you factor in the money saved on hotels, the price is comparable to what many bands pay to tour in a van. The company started out with three vehicles; since then, the fleet has grown to 22.
As so often, the ability to edge past regulations is what lets people avoid paying living wages, but it's also what you would want to do if you were in a band that was a step above touring in an old van but where a bus didn't pencil out.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:17 AM on March 1, 2015
I had no idea that Counting Crows had a "busy summer season".
Is that industry slang for "county fairs and random suburban rib-fests"?
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:51 AM on March 1, 2015
Is that industry slang for "county fairs and random suburban rib-fests"?
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:51 AM on March 1, 2015
lagomorphius: "Google is working on a self-driving tour bus."
Which will only do approximately half the driver's job.
posted by Mitheral at 10:24 AM on March 1, 2015
Which will only do approximately half the driver's job.
posted by Mitheral at 10:24 AM on March 1, 2015
Is that industry slang for "county fairs and random suburban rib-fests"?
There's that, but casinos are also a pretty lucrative revenue stream for some of those B and C level acts. They get to play a smaller venue and save face, their fans see them in a part of the country that might not otherwise be a tour stop, and both singers and fans save money due to lower fees. (But they are still entitled assholes, at least the ones I've dealt with in any capacity. And definitely not sleeping alone).
posted by librarylis at 5:55 PM on March 1, 2015
There's that, but casinos are also a pretty lucrative revenue stream for some of those B and C level acts. They get to play a smaller venue and save face, their fans see them in a part of the country that might not otherwise be a tour stop, and both singers and fans save money due to lower fees. (But they are still entitled assholes, at least the ones I've dealt with in any capacity. And definitely not sleeping alone).
posted by librarylis at 5:55 PM on March 1, 2015
Is that industry slang for "county fairs and random suburban rib-fests"?
Sure, sometimes. Hey, a gig's a gig. Beats working in the salt mines.
The Counting Crows, though (as much as I myself might hate to admit it), are more than a few steps above rib-fests, and I don't know if they play that many casinos, either.
Their tour page shows them playing a bunch of 2-3000 seat venues, with ticket prices somewhere around $50-$60. There's a couple of casinos in there, and a lot of festivals in Europe, but mostly (so far) it seems not a small number of people are willing to shell out no small amount of dough to see them live. Enough that in 2014 they were in the top 200 highest-grossing North American tours, with an approximate gross total of 4.9 million dollars, and an average gross per show of $98,000. PDF of Pollstar Magazine's chart of the top 200 N.A. tours in 2014. Not far under Neil Young and Judas Priest, higher than the Goo Goo Dolls and Beck, in terms of gross totals.
These are gross numbers, not net, of course, so it's not like they actually put all that money directly in their pockets, but it's pretty safe to say that the Counting Crows can actually afford tour buses.
posted by soundguy99 at 9:48 PM on March 1, 2015
Sure, sometimes. Hey, a gig's a gig. Beats working in the salt mines.
The Counting Crows, though (as much as I myself might hate to admit it), are more than a few steps above rib-fests, and I don't know if they play that many casinos, either.
Their tour page shows them playing a bunch of 2-3000 seat venues, with ticket prices somewhere around $50-$60. There's a couple of casinos in there, and a lot of festivals in Europe, but mostly (so far) it seems not a small number of people are willing to shell out no small amount of dough to see them live. Enough that in 2014 they were in the top 200 highest-grossing North American tours, with an approximate gross total of 4.9 million dollars, and an average gross per show of $98,000. PDF of Pollstar Magazine's chart of the top 200 N.A. tours in 2014. Not far under Neil Young and Judas Priest, higher than the Goo Goo Dolls and Beck, in terms of gross totals.
These are gross numbers, not net, of course, so it's not like they actually put all that money directly in their pockets, but it's pretty safe to say that the Counting Crows can actually afford tour buses.
posted by soundguy99 at 9:48 PM on March 1, 2015
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posted by grumpybear69 at 3:13 PM on February 28, 2015