Are increases in gas prices limiting summer tour itineraries for smaller bands?
Pennywise at the pump
The high pump prices aren’t just hurting indie bands. Pennywise bassist Randy Bradbury says that he believes the people have the power to change it.
“Not to get on a soapbox, because it’s obvious, everyone knows this,” he says, “but we need to stop being dependent on foreign oil, we need to find alternative fuels. We’re a consumer-driven economy. So if we start demanding options, we’ll get them. It’s really up to us. But yeah, it does affect us, and it does suck!"
METRO/LO
How not to get your gas cheaply on tour
Carter Tanton of the Boston band Tulsa shared this anecdote with us
about getting into trouble stealing some black gold, albeit
accidentally.
We were heading west through Oregon on a beautiful day. We got a
chocolate malt at a cute little drug store in a small town and then filled the tank at the station across the street. Upon leaving, Mikey
and I both exchanged vague words about how we believed the other had
paid for the gas. Feeling like upstanding citizens, we drove off and
admired the rolling green hills. ten minutes down the road we saw cars in front of us on both lanes pulling over. I thought maybe these folks
were having some sort of roadside meeting. Then i noticed the flashingpolice lights behind our van. Turns out neither Mikey or I had paid for
the gas. They called the cops on us. we had to convince the cop we had no bad intentions and were ready to pay. Could we do it over the
phone with our card officer? "yes... no... yes... no..." We had crossed county lines and now two counties were confused over the case
of the out of town gas stealing bandits. Amidst the confusion, it was discovered I have some drivers license "issues" (go figure). It was
looking pretty bad for a while...in the end all we had to do was drive back to the station, walk past the scowling officer gladly waiting for
us to just say one contrary word and pay for the tank of gas. As we were leaving the town for the second time, there was a group of kids
watching us and it warmed my heart to know we'd given them some small time criminal activity to get their minds racing.
Eldridge Rodriguez has gone on seven nationwide tours with his Boston-based band, The Beatings. But when he thought about touring this spring on his own for his most recent album, the singer hesitated.
“Gas prices are f—ing up everybody,” he says, plaintively.
CNN reported earlier this week that the average filling station is charging $3.94 a gallon, with 11 states and Washington, D.C., above $4. This means a much higher overhead for bands.
“If you’re playing smaller clubs, you’re making 100 bucks a night, if that, and you can’t get across the country,” says Rodriguez.
Sarah Cronin, singer of the Boston group Drug Rug, is currently on tour, and having a similar experience.
“More than half of what we make over the course of a tour goes right back into our gas tank,” she says.
Blake Hazard of the L.A.-based Submarines says her band is only playing big cities on their current tour, because they literally can’t afford to have a bad night.
“We drove through Omaha, Nebraska … It’s such a cool city, you know, but we didn’t play there,” she says. “It’s gotten harder to make ends meet in the traditional way through touring and selling records, but we’re doing what we can for now.”
Doing what they can for now seems to be a common mantra among bands. The Syracuse, N.Y., road warriors Ra Ra Riot bring additional nongas-guzzling transport on the road with them.
“We also have all of our bikes with us, which we can use to get around the cities, or to go on quick errands,” says guitarist Milo Bonacci. “The high gas prices definitely affect potential profit. It makes coming out in the positive that much more difficult. … Sometimes guarantees barely cover the price in getting us to the venue.”
The guarantee, what a club promises a band regardless of how many people pay to see them, is a part of the chain reaction of a struggling economy, according to Brandy Hartley, who does the booking at the Philadelphia club Johnny Brenda’s.
“I will say that when working with booking agents now and booking future shows, there seems to be more emphasis on higher guarantees because of the higher gas prices,” she says.
But the buck doesn’t stop there.
“Businesses like ours are also seeing higher costs for operation, so it is very difficult to balance the costs,” continues Hartley. “I am sure it’s the same for bands.”
Some promoters take a harder line.
“I don’t pay bands more money than they are worth; we’d be out of business if that were the case,” says Randi Millman, who books at the Cambridge club T.T. The Bear’s. “[But] I do sympathize with both bands and our customers, in regard to our sinking economy.”
Matthew Prescott Clark, drummer for NYC’s White Rabbits, who seem to always be on the road, says the price of gas hasn’t slowed the band down yet, but it is a concern.
“Due to the current state of the record industry, it has put a hamper on our ability to make a sustainable living off of what we do,” he says. “You have to have money to record, and if you are dropping thousands on gas, it can really put a wrench into your plans.”
Another band who seems to barely be at home, Philly’s Dr. Dog, says they are now playing shows they booked before the price of petrol got so high, but they are trying to keep costs down while keeping their spirits and their body temperatures up.
“The increase hasn’t changed our plans to drive a lot,” they say, “just our plans to use air
conditioner.”
‘Doing the right thing’
Surprisingly, not enough bands have followed in the footsteps of the recently defunct punkers Piebald in lessening gas costs.
Upon playing their last gig this spring, drummer Luke Garro reminisced that converting the band’s van to run on vegetable oil in 2005 was a highlight of his career.
“It was us co-headlining with Hot Rod Circuit. They were traveling in a rented RV that they were paying $200 a day for plus almost the equivalent in gas,” he says. “We ended up spending under $400 on the whole U.S. tour.”
Kevin Hoskins, who books at Cambridge’s famed Middle East, says he wonders why more bands aren’t doing this.
“The fact that bands have to spend twice the money that they spent five years ago on gas now is maddening,” he says. “The bands that have decided to convert their vans to biodiesel or have found other alternatives are absolutely doing the right thing.”
The economy has turned New York’s Ra Ra Riot into a bicycle gang.
