Tour Notes, part II
the drama! the intrigue!
Tour Notes , part 2
11) I called Jim at the rental van place a couple of weeks before the start of the tour to ask him about adding the guys to the list of approved drivers (which so far included just me). I’d made the reservation online and I hadn’t spoken to anyone and the first thing Jim said to me after hello was “You’re still doing this?” with his dry, witless wit.
I’ve rented a lot of vans from him; the last time was a few years ago.
“Yup,” I sighed. “I’m still doing it.”
12) Pittsburgh
Me, to Todd : You were kind of sloppy tonight.
Todd: I know, but it doesn’t matter.
13) I am told by my booking agent that shows are “underperforming”. I mention this to Ryan as we are chatting on the stage just after they’ve finished their soundcheck and I’m getting ready to set up for mine. We in the bands can see it with our eyes as we play our sets: Some of the rooms are not full, not even close to sold-out.
I say to Ryan, “I’m told the shows are ‘underperforming’.” And here I swish my hand back and forth between him and me and add, “But we are not. We’re rocking.”
14) Let me speak for the people who believe that every hotel room should come with a bathtub and a clock. I want to be able to roll over and open one eye and see what time it is, in the middle of the night; not to have to reach for (or get up out of bed and go and pull out of my bag) the godforsaken device and turn it on and wait for it to power up and then punch in my passcode, by which time I am probably fully awake and won’t be able to get back to sleep.
And showers? A shower, to me, is like work. I have to stand up. I want to relax and lie down and be enveloped in soothing warm-hot water, not be pummeled by it.
15) So many homeless.
I gave one guy with a dog a big unopened bag of mixed nuts.
At another stoplight I gave a guy holding a cardboard sign that said “FOOD” at the top of a list an apple.
Both seemed glad enough and willing to accept the food from me.
16) MA. Day 1, $2 scratcher, no win (lost it all)
OH. Day 2, $2 scratcher, $3 win (I’m up $1 for the day but still down $1 overall)
MI. day 3, $2 scratcher, $10 win (up $8 for the day and $7 overall)
IA, day 4, $2 scratcher , $15 win (up $13 for the day and $20 overall)
It's not the shows that are underperforming, it's the audiences! :)
I feel bad that your tour was viewed as "underperforming" from a numbers perspective. I sincerely hope that there is still enough financial and personal reward for you to keep playing shows, they are so enjoyable.
I can't even imagine how difficult it is to get exposure and compensation in the current music ecosystem. You have consistently put out great albums - Blood was outstanding, and so perfect for the times - but where do people even discover it?
No one listens to the radio anymore. There aren't really any music stores anymore. And without those avenues, how does anyone even hear about your tours unless they are a superfan?
I know that if even 100,000 people put a song from that album on their Spotify playlist, that earns you maybe $5k in a year. That's such a shame.
I hope that you can put together enough revenue streams to continue to allow you to make music.