[klaatumail] Re: Three Friends
- From: "Glen (aka Barney Rubble)" <barneyrubble120@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: klaatumail@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 23:42:57 -0300
Hey friends, S:^)
I just had to pipe up on this. I fully understand, Robert, if $150 and
travel expenses is a bit too high for you to see Three Friends (Gary
Green, Kerry Minnear, and Malcolm Mortimore plus four other musicians)
play the music of Gentle Giant (of which those three were all members
of GG). But I wouldn't want others to think that $150 is a high price
to pay for a band of such caliber without weighing everything here.
To look at the reality of it all, to get Three Friends over in such a
fashion that the band members would still make money and that you
don't have to take out a loan and pay it back over several years,
you'd have to sell tickets at at least $75 a head for a single band. I
believe tickets went for 40 Euros apiece in Sweden, and the place was
packed (over 400 people, standing room only). Sweden being in Europe,
they didn't have to worry over factoring high overseas airfare costs
into the equation. Even if the FMPM festival absolutely sells all its
tickets (which, mind you, it only has _less_ than 20 weekend passes
remaining total, out of over 500), there is still the possibility that
the festival will not break even. Given light of the inability for
Thieves' Kitchen to perform due to health issues, and in light of what
it would cost to bring 3F to the festival, the final decision was: "If
we make a profit, that's a bonus."
To give a comparison: when the Strawbs first came to Montreal in the
late '90s/early 2000's, they had less than 100 people there. The
promoters had to eat their shirts. Forward to 2009, and they actually
_packed_ the place! The first attempt is usually the trickiest...
Given the lack of a proper tour or itinerary for 3F, it's
understandable that costs are going to be high. But it was a chance
I'm glad the FMPM team was willing to take. And hopefully, yes, there
will be other opportunities in North America as well.
BTW, Feel free and take the time to listen to the other groups on the
fmpm.net website. Italian band Le Orme hails from the same years as
Gentle Giant (late '60s beat group to early '80s pop-rock-ish group
going through excellent prog years in the '70s), and I can say their
2000 album "Elementi" is my favorite, and perhaps their best album
ever. DFA ("Duty Free Area"), also from Italy, is _killer_ fusion...
they absolutely surprised me when I first heard them. And atop that,
Miriodor is one of the best current RIO/"Math Rock" groups I've heard
(and Rouge Ciel is a really good one as well)... and ExCubus were
around in the '70s, and have been getting rave reviews. That's 6 bands
out of 7 that I can personally vouch for. Not a bad ratio for a
festival. S:^)
Just had to put in my $0.02 worth,
Glen (aka Barney Rubble)
> Subject: [klaatumail] Re: test message
> Date: Tue, 9 Jun 2009 10:19:35 -0400
> From: "Helie,Robert [NCR]" <Robert.Helie@xxxxxxxx>
>
>
> Yes, me too, but you had to buy a ticket for two full days. Three
> friends are playing only on the sunday night. I did not want to spend
> $150 (and a night in Montreal)for this. First, I don't have the time.
> Second, I'm not sure I would appreciate new prog music. I like the old
> stuff better.
>
> Apparently, they are doing this on a shoestring budget. I was hoping
> they could come to Ottawa for a one act show but it would be too
> expensive...
>
> I would have loved to see Gary Green and Kerry Minnear do their stuff
> once again. Last time I saw these guys was back in 73 with the original
> GG.
>
> I hope there will be other opportunities.
>
> Robert
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: klaatumail@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:klaatumail@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
> Behalf Of Bradley, David
> Sent: Tuesday, June 09, 2009 9:58 AM
> To: klaatumail@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [klaatumail] Re: test message
>
> Is that the event where three friends is going to be appearing? Wish I
> could be there too! Oh well.
>
> Dave Bradley
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> End of klaatumail Digest V1 #9
> ******************************
>
>
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