All Live show coming to a town near you...

[cosmosuave]

Option One (clockwise):

26 June: Philadelphia PA
27 June: Charlottesville VA
28 June: Atlanta GA
29 June: Indianapolis IN
30 June: Toronto ON
01 July: Montreal QC
02 July: Boston MA
03 July: New York NY

Advantages: Start in Philly, end in NY means start and end points are convenient for most, Final Show in major metropolitan centre NYC, Long driving legs are finished at start of tour.
Disadvantages: In Philly during a major music event, Play in Charlottesville on a Sunday – is this possible?
We play in Canada on Canada Day (July 1st) but it's Montreal and Quebecois generally don't get too worked up about Canada day... Therefore I don't see it being much of a competing gig.



L8er
Montrealbreaks

I'm all for option #1... The start date couldn't be better since I just asked yesterday to change my vacation for that week... As for Atlanta I would have to vote "No". I feel it is too far for such a short schedule...

I have a few venues in mind for us to play.... What capacity are we looking at? What is everyones expectations for attendance at shows?

[crt]

This all looks rosy to me. I'll get in touch with the venue guys. Unless Rich has done so.

CRT

[ducktail]

Hey Montrealbreaks,

As bizarre as it turns out, I could probably do all the gigs except Montreal Boston NY and Toronto easily, even though I'm in Toronto now.

If I can coordinate my divorce court date in Ottawa with the Montreal and T.O. gigs I could probably do those

What? Quebecois don't like Canada Day? I'm crushed. Maybe we can do a gig for St. Jean Baptiste Day. (Also known as Burnin' and Lootin' Day in Montreal)

Ducktail

[Rich]

I'm impartial to Atlanta, and my vote goes to option 2.

I haven't been in touch with any venues. This week is final exams and last week was even more stressful.

I can't remember if I've mentioned it before, but I'm under 21 and I don't drive. I'm not sure if either of those facts will cause a problem. If we play a 21+ venue, I just don't drink (unless we're in Canada - I guess I'm legal there). And it seems like there are enough people involved so far to take care of the driving.

[Rahlo]

I'm impartial to Atlanta too--I can take it or leave it, to be honest. But, it should be big fun if it happens!!

Also, since I'm gonna have to fly to the start of the whole thing, it doesn't matter where it starts and ends. If you put a gun to my head though, I'd prolly choose. . . option 2.

[quandry]

Charlottesville here, I would go for option two, but my vote shouldn't count as I could only do the Cville-Philly-NYC tail end of option two, not the whole thing. C-Ville on a sunday is possible but I can't guarantee much--it will be summertime and most of the college kids will be away--coupled with sunday it will be hard, but we could definitely at least have a gig, make a bit of scratch, and have a few dozen people (or more if we're lucky) turn out. Thanks again Montrealbreaks for all of the work you've done to get this going.

Ryan

[montrealbreaks]

I have a few venues in mind for us to play.... What capacity are we looking at? What is everyones expectations for attendance at shows?

Well, here's my school of thought here: I would rather have a small venue (with a small expense) and have a small but crowded attendance there, instead of a large venue (and possibly large expense), with a larger but noticably sparse attendance. Nothing screams dead party like open space.

I figure we're doin all right if we can average 100 people a gig at ten bucks per person, or 200 people at five bucks per person. That's for an $800 venue. For a $400 venue, we will need 50 at $10 or 100 at $5. This will cover the expense of the venue and leave a touch over for fuel, veh rental, etc.

So, I would say we should play it safe and shoot for venues with at least a 100 person capacity, and unless we get a sweet deal, no more than 300 or 400.

Is this making sense to everybody else?

L8er
Montrealbreaks

[Guest]

Charlottesville is going to be on the small tip, as it is a smaller little town of less than 100.000 people, but I will do my best to advertise the hell out of it in papers, radio, and mad flyers, not to mention beggin all of my friends to come out. The venue I have in mind doesn't normally charge cover, but still guarantees at least a few hundred, though I could look into other venues.

Ryan

[Guest]

Could not agree more. It used to be called the "Alice Cooper Booking". He'd book venues smaller than what he was capable of selling out, so there'd always be a packed house and a bunch of people standing outside wondering what could possibly be going on in that place that they couldn't get into.

There's also the blast of playing a packed house. I've done warehouse raves with 8000 people and I thought the place was empty!

Ducktail

[cosmosuave]

I have a few venues in mind for us to play.... What capacity are we looking at? What is everyones expectations for attendance at shows?

Well, here's my school of thought here: I would rather have a small venue (with a small expense) and have a small but crowded attendance there, instead of a large venue (and possibly large expense), with a larger but noticably sparse attendance. Nothing screams dead party like open space.

I figure we're doin all right if we can average 100 people a gig at ten bucks per person, or 200 people at five bucks per person. That's for an $800 venue. For a $400 venue, we will need 50 at $10 or 100 at $5. This will cover the expense of the venue and leave a touch over for fuel, veh rental, etc.

So, I would say we should play it safe and shoot for venues with at least a 100 person capacity, and unless we get a sweet deal, no more than 300 or 400.

Is this making sense to everybody else?

L8er
Montrealbreaks

I totally agree with you on a small venue size but the issue regarding cover charge worries me. 100 people at $10 a pop sounds a little steep... I don't want to sound like a pessimist here but we are a group of people that no one has heard of. It's not like Akufen or a big name is on our roster.

Hey don't think of me as a killjoy I am just being realistic.... I have played in a rock band for a few years and I know what it can be like.... As for the venues here in T.O I am pretty sure there will be no charge for there use...

[montrealbreaks]

I totally agree with you on a small venue size but the issue regarding cover charge worries me. 100 people at $10 a pop sounds a little steep... I don't want to sound like a pessimist here but we are a group of people that no one has heard of. It's not like Akufen or a big name is on our roster.

Hey don't think of me as a killjoy I am just being realistic.... I have played in a rock band for a few years and I know what it can be like.... As for the venues here in T.O I am pretty sure there will be no charge for there use...

No man, you're not a killjoy. I totally don't expect many people to pay $10 to see us. I was just "thinking on the keyboard" so to speak.

My preferences in order are:

1. FREE venue, small size - that way we don't have to charge anything at the door, really. If we get paid even a cursory ammount to play, so much the better. This is obviously the best case scenario.

2. Free venue, medium size - same as above

3. Small venue that we have to rent

I guess I was anticipating having to pay to rent a joint. If we can just be the entertainment and get paid for it hopefully, that's the ideal scenario.

If that's the case, free entrance for everybody, so much the better. Also, if the venue owner or entertainment director doesn't want to pay us, hey I would rather have a non-paying gig than have to rent the joint too. Payment for us is preferable, and we should ask for it (to cover gas etc) but honestly, if they balk or only want to throw a few pennies our way, so be it.

I mean, I would HOPE that we would not have to rent a venue in each city, but my budget, anticipating a worst case scenario, will incorporate this.

L8er
Montrealbreaks

[Guest]

You can always stick my Men Without Hats association on the bill if you want. II think it's lame, but the name still carries a fair bit of clout.

Has-been,

Ducktail

[bonus]

I reckon you should get someone to video the tour and gigs because it would make for a great fly-on-the-wall documentary.

Any videographers out there?

Cheers, the bonus.

[Rahlo]

I reckon you should get someone to video the tour and gigs because it would make for a great fly-on-the-wall documentary.

Any videographers out there?

Cheers, the bonus.

That's a good idea! I have a mini dv camcorder and imovie on my powerbook. We could edit it as we drove if we wanted to. Or wait til the tour was done and have it all edited by a pro.

[montrealbreaks]

The people (who are involved and responded and expressed preference one way or another) have spoken!

2 for Option two, One undecided and leaning towards Optio two (weighted worth = half a vote), one for option two but wants his vote to not count (weighted worth = half a vote), one abstain and one for option one. It's three to one for Anti-clockwise.

One for Atlanta, two undecided, one against Atlanta. I would rather accommodate those with restricted schedules, so I change my vote to abstain and it's one nothing for skip Atlanta.

And so it shall be!

OK, so option two it is, and we skip Atlanta.

Therefore the tour is Option Two (anti-clockwise):
26 June: Boston MA (Saturday)
27 June: Montreal QC (Sunday)
28 June: Toronto ON (Monday)
29 June: Indianapolis IN (Tuesday)
30 June: Charlottesville VA (Wednesday)
01 July: Philadelphia PA (Thursday)
02 July: New York NY (Friday)

OK... This is good. We end on a Friday, giving everybody two days to recover (or fart around in NYC) and return home at the end of the tour...

Alternatively, for the last date in NYC, we could have a little flex time in booking our venue (play Friday or possibly Saturday) or even play twice if we feel up to it...

Thanks for all the help guys.