Rising fuel prices put the breaks on Indie band tours
2008-06-26 15:50:34 (GMT) (Caymanmama.com - Entertainment News)San Francisco, California (CaymanMama.com) — Recently, Steven Garcia went to a Houston fuel station to put gas in his Dodge van which he uses when his punk band tours in the summer. For months, Garcia, a guitarist and singer, has been saving money while booking dates for the third tour of Something Fierce. However, it is the skyrocketing prices of gas that have marred his plan severely.
In the summer, the new season creates a surge for independent bands and musicians to book gigs playing in bars while moving with their troops in vans. This is the way of making a living for these bands while building upon a future band. However, this process has come to a stand still when the price of one gallon of gas is nearly $4. This is definitely taking a toll in traveling expenses for bands.
Basically, the cost factor has been an intricate concern for many touring bands. With a $2,500 gas bill, Garcia and his band mates has no choice but to pay out the price incurred for traveling to Vancouver, Canada. According to Garcia, “There’s no way we can sustain a blow that big.” He says that he if bookers are canceling tours, smaller bands would not have performed together while stuffing themselves into a single van or cutting on the number of tours.
According to Ken Cheppaikode from Dintrap Records, a Portland based record and independent label, “We do have two bands, the Revisions and the Estranged, out on tour together right now who have decided to share a van to save on gas costs.” Cheppaikode said that he is putting almost seven members of a band into a van.
Similarly, the band members of Love Like Fire from San Francisco perform more at the South Coast instead at the East Coast as it has closer proximity to each other in comparison with West Coast. According to singer of Love Like Fire, Ann Yu, “We often ask ourselves, is it worth driving so far when gas is almost $5 a gallon?” She continued, “It does screw up a lot of bands on the West Coast, ’cause … there are very few cities to play in under seven-hour stretches, which can be costly.”
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