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“Lately, I’d been wondering how we were able to do it,” Harm said. “Now I know.”
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Peter Von Arx, a member of an Allman Brothers tribute band called The Peacheaters, unloads their keyboard from their van Thursday evening outside of the Draught Haus in Winona. The band is squeezing more people and more equipment into their van so they don’t have to travel with multiple vehicles. (Photo by Fred Schulze/Winona Daily News) |
Gas pump pain affects everyone. But if you like live music, it may affect what musicians you get to see and where you see them.
With gas hovering just below $4 a gallon, musicians are traveling less, venues are less likely to book unknown acts and fans are pickier.
The effect on area music
It all makes for a changing musical landscape in the region, where bands such as Rushford’s Troubleshooter put thousands of miles on touring vehicles every year.
Troubleshooter plans to play every weekend but three this year, most shows within 60 miles. Together 25 years, the band recently raised its rate for the first time in six years, partly due to gas. They’re constantly booking shows for the next year, and because of volatile gas prices, a higher set fee helps provide security, band member Rodney Darr said.
Starting out, they played for cheap to get a lot of gigs and build a following. They’re grateful venues were willing to take a chance on the then-unknown band, something Darr says is less common today.
Landing gigs isn’t the problem for La Crosse musician Gregg “Cheech” Hall, who plays in several area bands including The Smokin’ Bandits and The Peacheaters, an Allman Brothers tribute band.
But gas prices have meant driving home from out-of-town gigs instead of a hotel room. His bands aren’t spending as much on dinners on the road, either. They’re also squeezing more people and equipment into the van to avoid multiple vehicles.
He’s also stuck closer to the La Crosse instead of traveling to Colorado as in years past.
“That’s fine. There are plenty of good places to play around the region,” Hall said.
“It’s a small sacrifice,” he said. “It’s always been a sacrifice. If you want to make money doing this, you’re in the wrong business.”
Even national touring bands are feeling the pinch. Atlanta-based rock group Sevendust played in August at the La Crosse Center. They used to bring a semi of equipment. Then they changed to two trailers. Now, they’re down to one.
“We’ve completely scaled down everything,” Sevendust guitarist Clint Lowery said. “I don’t know what we’d do if we were starting out now.”
Maiden Rock, Wis.-based duo Patchouli play more than 150 shows a year, often in the Winona area, and nowadays they do their touring in a Scion XP, which replaced an old 15-miles-a-gallon Chevy van with more than 300,000 miles on it.
Julie Patchouli and her husband say the Scion has helped them double their gas mileage. But the smaller vehicle forced them to downsize their equipment: Julie switched from a full-size upright bass to a smaller electric upright bass.
“It’s a different sound but still a lot of fun,” Patchouli said. “It’s very cool looking.”
Just about everyone is traveling lighter, said Harm, who owns the Warehouse club. Years ago, he saw bands pull up to the Warehouse in tour buses. Guitar techs, drum techs and roadies would all pile out. These days, musicians are carrying their own equipment.
“I think it’s kind of humbling for everybody,” he said.
Today, bands are more business conscious.
“Musicians are usually in bands because they don’t want to deal with anything business or linear thinking. They want to be creative. Now they have to figure out creative ways of making money.”
That means a merchandise person is replacing the roadie in many bands.
It used to be just band T-shirts and maybe a keychain or bumper sticker. Now you can get underwear, pillow cases and a backscratcher. Ice cream pails and empty gas cans often appear next to merchandise counters for bands asking for donations.
“Bands are definitely spending more time taking pictures with fans,” Harm said. “They know they need solid fans.”
Harm has seen more tours packaging four to six bands together. The ticket price might be higher for fans but sharing the costs of touring makes it more affordable for the bands. But higher ticket prices means fans being choosier about which shows to attend.
It’s also made Harm choosier about who he books.
In the past, an unknown Minneapolis band would offer to play the Warehouse for gas money. It’d only cost Harm about $50. Now, it’ll run him almost triple.
“It’s hard to justify paying someone $150 if you don’t know if they’ll draw a crowd,” Harm said. “I always have to go with local bands supporting shows. It scares the bejesus out of me when I don’t have a local band.”
Less risk-taking
Frank Productions, based in Madison, Wis., has been promoting and producing concerts since 1967, including the Sevendust concert at the
La Crosse Center. The company has produced shows for stars such as Bruce Springsteen, Metallica and Van Halen.
Vice president Dave Maynard has noticed a shift in the touring business. Instead of breaking into new markets, bands are often sticking with a city that’s tried and true, he said.
“People are taking a hard look at the money,” he said. “It’s becoming more about that.”
An act already booked at Saint Mary’s University Performance Center is asking for a surcharge specifically for gas, said Patrick Grace, who books acts for the center.
“Our budget doesn’t go up, even with higher gas prices,” Grace said. “It might affect the number of events we can have.”
Other performers are offering discounts to venues if they can get neighboring gigs.
“I think we’re all going to be looking at ways to make entertainment more affordable,” Grace said.
Still, some bands are hungry enough for stage time that they’re willing to take high gas prices in stride.
Draught Haus manager Tim Kruger says his venue books a lot of bands from the Twin Cities or local bands, most of which haven’t complained too much about gas prices.
“The type of bands we get here aren’t superstar bands,” Kruger said. “They just want to play. They’re doing something they love.”
Three months ago, the Draught Haus got rid of its cover charge to see bands. Kruger says that has encouraged more business, especially from people just passing by.
“It was for the simple fact that we turned a lot of people away,” Kruger said. “I guess people don’t want to pay a cover for a band they don’t know.”
Gas prices have been high as long as Ed Hoffman has owned Ed’s (No Name) Bar in Winona. He bought the bar a little more than a year ago. He says the cost of gas isn’t a big consideration when booking bands from La Crosse or Minneapolis but when he’s trying for Milwaukee or Chicago bands, it’s much more difficult.
“Winona is kind of not much more than a blip on the map to a lot of folks,” Hoffman said. “After they’ve been here, it’s much easier.”
He’ll send a tip jar around to customers to give the band a little bit more money.
Oftentimes, he has to coordinate a show when a band is playing a neighboring gig in La Crosse or Eau Claire. Offering to provide a sound system is one way to coax bands into playing at his bar, Hoffman said, since it allows them to travel lighter and therefore cheaper.
The biggest side effect of high gas prices for Hoffman has been higher costs of all the products he serves customers. He estimates that everything he sells has gone up by 10 to 20 percent.
Better here than overseas
Joshua Lauer and his band Winona-based Wake up Bedhead play out of town about every three months. They’re hoping to play more often and have a Sept. 18 gig at Minneapolis’ Uptown Bar.
He recently read a book about touring. It said gas in the United Kingdom has long been around $8 and that the United States is the place to tour.
When they do play out of town, Lauer doesn’t expect to get paid a lot. He’ll ask his dad if he can borrow his van. If he’s lucky, it’ll have a full tank of gas.
As a music fan, Lauer finds music festivals to be the best bargain for your gas dollar. He recently attended Lollapalooza in Chicago with dozens of bands, including Rage Against the Machine, Kanye West and Radiohead.
“We crammed 14 people into the hotel room,” Lauer said.
Obviously, musicians aren’t the only ones feeling pain at the pump.
“It’s across the board,” said Trempealeau Hotel owner Jim Jenkins. “If you’re going to go somewhere, it’s going to cost you more.”
This Saturday, the hotel is hosting a Recession Blues concert with Westside Andy, Mel Ford, Howard “Guitar” Luedtke & Blue Max. Jenkins is charging $10 because he knows when times are tough, entertainment can be the first thing people cut from their budgets.
“Everybody else is paying more for gas, too,” Jenkins said. “It’s the nature of the beast. Everybody’s kind of caught in it.”
But for local bands like Troubleshooter, that beast could be building a tighter bond between band and audience, said musician Darr. “It really makes us appreciate the people who do come out to see us play,” Darr said. “We know money is tight.”
Käri Knutson may be reached at kknutson@winonadailynews.com or (507) 453-3523.
