[klaatumail] Re: klaatumail Digest V1 #11
- From: "Glen (aka Barney Rubble)" <barneyrubble120@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: klaatumail@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 13 Jun 2009 15:54:05 -0300
Hey Jaimie (and friends), S:^)
You mention:
> They didn't think this thing through and are, like all institutions from the
> era of major
> label 'stupid money' (i.e. label backed bank accounts), have neglected to
> take into
> consideration that you NEVER launch a tour without having enough stops on
> your trip to pay
> those high costs at least THREE times over. How many North American dates are
> they
> doing? The ticket price should never exceed the regular ticket price of the
> venue.
They're doing _one_ North American tour date, at the request of the
FMPM festival. The band's costs are being covered, and they're still
making a respectable profit (perhaps being paid even more for this one
gig than they did for any one GG gig back when Gentle Giant was still
together). Three Friends have no reason to be worried on this. The
FMPM's financial situation may be another story entirely, but we had
very little time to replace Thieves' Kitchen, and since then we have
not regretted our decision one bit. The ticket price only had to go up
about $10 (all previously purchased tickets remained at the same
price), and we were confident we'd at least balance as long as all
tickets were sold.
Mind you, the FMPM has already taken measures to ensure lower costs
(returning to our original, smaller, first-year venue than the larger
venue used in subsequent years). The original venue is still
top-notch, and I enjoyed it very much when I saw the first year's
FMPM. Mind you, even with my airfare covered and a free weekend pass
(and place to stay), I felt I couldn't afford to go two years ago, and
my schedule didn't permit me to go last year (even though I had
already booked the flight! Last-minute, unexpected twists...). This
year, I _have_ to go.
> And in this economy they should know better. People like Robert and many of
> us here
> cannot afford these types of shows. The era of picking the fan pockets is
> over.
Hmmm, try telling that to the tens of thousands of people over here in
the Maritimes who are going to see Paul McCartney, KISS, AC/DC,
Chickenfoot ("Van Halen without the Van Halen brothers") and Bon Jovi
this summer... all separate gigs! And they're _all_ selling well.
They're paying on average over $100 per concert ticket... and some of
these gigs have no opening acts whatsoever! True, these names are
bigger than, say, Gentle Giant, but the FMPM festival has actually
_exceeded_ its expectations by almost selling out the entire venue
over _three_ months in advance! This is the first year that doesn't
see the weeks before the festival still showing a half-empty or
quarter-empty room, ticket sales-wise.
We have _less_ than _20_ weekend passes left. No "Sunday-only" passes
left (the day on which Three Friends play). On a 500-plus room, that's
pretty amazing from our experience. I just wouldn't want anyone to go,
"Man, why did I pass on those tickets?" just because the price for the
festival _seems_ high as compared to a possible future ticket price
for seeing Three Friends by themselves. Gentle Giant having been a
niche group at best, if Three Friends were ever doing a North American
tour, it might look like: Montreal, Toronto, New York, Los Angeles...
and few, if any, other spots in between. Those were the hotspots of GG
activity. I'm being quite conservative with my (admittedly) _guessed_
3F tour itinerary... but I just want people to be aware of all the
options.
Out of respect for those who only wanted to see Three Friends (or any
band on the FMPM bill), about 30 tickets were made available for each
show, separate from any other show. Of these, only Le Orme and Three
Friends (surprise, the two headliners) have sold out. Regardless of
whether the people who bought the "one show only" tickets could have
afforded a weekend pass or not, the point is the tickets were made
available and promptly sold. (Selling _all_ the weekend's shows as
"one-show-only" tickets would be a logistical nightmare and would
hardly ensure the festival's success... unless if we're talking of a
festival as great in scope as, say, the Montreal Jazz Festival or
Ottawa's Bluesfest.) The "one-show-only" tickets were roughly half the
price of weekend festival tickets on www.progquebec.com (cheaper than
www.admission.com , though I admit I am the webmaster of
www.progquebec.com ), so for double the money, people get to see seven
bands, of which at least four completely knock my socks off. (At least
two of the other three are still very, _very_, _VERY_ good.) By my
standards, that's impressive (heck, nearly miraculous... you should've
seen the bands opening up for the Rolling Stones in 2005. Even the
ones opening up for the Eagles in 2008 were mostly "Ehhh, okay..."
except for John Fogerty who gave the Eagles a solid run for their
money, energy- and performance-wise.
I'll wrap up my defense of the FMPM festival, the ticket price, and
the choice to go with Three Friends (even though they aren't playing
anywhere else in North America) now, but I'm sure you'll sympathize
with me wanting to defend our choice and method of getting Three
Friends to play the FMPM festival. Even if it _weren't_ a global
recession with massive job layoffs, I'm sure you'd agree there would
_still_ be someone out there who'd be saying it was ill-timed and much
too expensive for the average person.
Even if we didn't sell those last 20 tickets (and we will), we'll
still do just as well and be well off, so I'm not panicked here (and
the CEO is sleeping at night). I just want to make sure those who
_love_ GG get to see 3F play without having to travel overseas, or
having to pay much more than $150 to see the band. I know it
absolutely _s**ks_ to not be able to see a band you enjoy a great
deal... but imagine the feeling you'd get when you realize you _could_
_have_ seen a band you enjoy a great deal (say, if anyone at the World
Kontact Day had decided not to go, like, due to extended family
circumstances, which was what almost happened with me? S:^S ). I
prefer not to think about it, and enjoy memories of the day I was
actually able to spend with you all.
Sincerely,
Glen (aka Barney Rubble)
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