touring in the US is “not really viable at the moment”

[Conn6orsuper117]

https://www.nme.com/news/music/the-chemical-brothers-say-touring-in-the-us-is-not-really-viable-at-the-moment-3498787

This means we're screwed, right?

(also should this belong in Music:response? dunno if this bends any rules regarding live)

[Born In Planet Dust]

Pretty much.  I suppose dj sets could be viable (looking at you Detroit Movement Festival), but yeah.    Spending about $700 to fly from Cincinnati to Denver and see The Avalanches dj and the Chems live, stay overnight, and fly back the next day was absolutely worth it.  Sadly, I can't do that again any time soon.  That said, I feel incredibly lucky to have seen them 5 times.  The Beatles stopped touring alltogether but they continued to release some of the most important music ever made.  Of course, their fans had a better chance of being able to actually go the record store and buy the album over a week after release date.

[Wolkenkrabber]

(also should this belong in Music:response? dunno if this bends any rules regarding live)

Well Pumisher posted this exact article in General Bullshit Chat.
But yeah, the live section is perhaps as good as any.
Or Chemicals To The World
Or What Really Grinds My Gears

[Born In Planet Dust]

Well Pumisher posted this exact article in General Bullshit Chat.
But yeah, the live section is perhaps as good as any.
Or Chemicals To The World
Or What Really Grinds My Gears

Or Fuck This Timeline.  I blame my beloved Cubs breaking the curse.  It broke the universe, our broken Electoral College elected Trump, Brexit, Game Of Thrones final season, etc.  Or maybe it started with Bowie dying that year.  Either way, this timeline is full of foolish fuckery.

[shakermaker]

I do think it means we have seen our lot until next album cycle.

though it seems like an odd thing to say on the heels of two US visits. perhaps those weren't considered "tours".

[Enjoyed]

They were very much accompanying larger festival appearances, so I would agree.

And festivals will, I would think, still be a little more swallowable in terms of cost. So there's still hope for the odd surrounding show. I don't think they've really 'toured' in quite some time. I guess you could consider the California 3-peat somewhat of a tour? But I'm hoping they can still make things like Seattle and Denver happen, even if it's contingent on some other bigger appearance elsewhere.

Sadly that doesn't come close to being good news for a large majority of fans. I think to echo Bosco's comments in the other thread, it's going to come down much more to weighing up opportunity costs and trying to make the most of the chances we do get when we get them - again, only if means allow.

[shakermaker]

makes me wonder how much those festivals pay out. 

portola + 1 solo date (to which they ended up giving away tickets no less) was worth a trip across the atlantic, but a tour isnt? 

or, if the portola/coachella thing was a package deal, then 3 festival dates + 3 side gigs was worth TWO trans-atlantic trips, while 6 solo headline dates would not be viable?

perhaps the festivals are a guaranteed paycheck, while solo shows rely on ticket sales and so are too much of a risk.

or perhaps they took a loss on these last two visits to the US and that is inspiring their present comments.

[Bosco]

North American tour dates since 2019:

2019 - May 11th - Guadalajara, [Mexico] Corona Capital (Ocesa/CIE)
2019 - May 12th - Mexico City [Mexico] Pepsi Center WTC (Ocesa/CIE)
2019 - May 15th - L.A. Shrine Expo Hall (Goldenvoice/AEG)
2019 - May 16th - L.A. Greek Theatre (Goldenvoice/AEG)
2019 - May 17th - S.F. Bill Graham (Another Planet Entertainment)
2019 - August 1st - N.Y. Forest Hills Stadium (AEG Presents)
2019 - August 3rd - Montreal [Canada] Osheaga Music Festival (Bell Presents)

2022 - September 23rd - Broomfield/Denver 1stBank Center (AEG Presents)
2022 - September 25th - S.F. Portola (Goldenvoice/AEG)

2023 - April 14th - Coachella (Goldenvoice/AEG)
2023 - April 16th - Santa Barbara Bowl (Goldenvoice/AEG)
2023 - April 18th - Seattle WAMU Theater (Showbox Presents/AEG)
2023 - April 21st - Coachella (Goldenvoice/AEG)

There, maybe you can play around with that information. Prior to 2019 they didn't have a Goldenvoice or AEG show since Coachella 2011. It should be noted that 2019 All Points East (London), was an AEG show. And that's the only one I know of internationally.

[Born In Planet Dust]

2015 - last Chicago date or anywhere in the midwest.  In fact, when was the last midwest date that wasn't Chicago (not that Chicago dates have been exactly bountiful)?

[Bosco]

2015 - last Chicago date or anywhere in the midwest.  In fact, when was the last midwest date that wasn't Chicago (not that Chicago dates have been exactly bountiful)?

No Chicago because there isn't a festival that's interested in them headlining or a viable venue for them to book.

The exception being ARC music festival (labor day weekend) that is basically the new North Coast music festival. It takes place at the same location (Union Park) and just had Eric Prydz "Holo" which is a fairly big production. I just don't see it in their future though. I had that vibe they were kinda miffed with the Electric Zoo and North Coast back in 2015, for making them compromise their show. I think they might be done with the whole niche music festival experience unless it's someone they have a reliable relationship with (Goldenvoice).

The other being Pitchfork music festival, which ironically also takes place Union Park but in July. I don't think this has a very high chance because they don't facilitate high end production. But that could change. We are still awaiting a Pitchfork review of FTBF, and maybe they're gonna juice the score in order to eventually hype up a potential headlining spot at their festival.

Lollapalooza having them as a headliner would be an absolute bust to their demographic. They have certain quotas to hit to make the city happy, and booking the Chems as a headliner would be the exact opposite of achieving that.

Huntington Bank Pavilion, which I just saw Beck and Phoenix at, would be a great choice. But still, too large of a venue for them to fill.

[shakermaker]

interesting... so 2019 also had two trips across the Atlantic, each paired with a single festival date.

[whirlygirl]

Santa Barbara felt like the perfect venue, it was a great size - accommodating for their gear, comfortable venue capacity and what can I say, great vibe! Could it be feasible for them to haul this traveling art show doing venues of this size throughout the US?

[Bosco]

Santa Barbara felt like the perfect venue, it was a great size - accommodating for their gear, comfortable venue capacity and what can I say, great vibe! Could it be feasible for them to haul this traveling art show doing venues of this size throughout the US?

Something like the size of Santa Barbara Bowl and maybe a singular mini residency would be an interesting concept. Chems could then bypass some transportation cost and still put on multiple shows. Obviously, would be done best on a weekend to give out-of-towners a shot.

If they did this, I do think they might have to throw a bone to concert goers to garner more attention, though. Something like guarantee some type of variance between shows and whatnot. I understand this is probably a taller task than it sounds, but I think it could be done. Wouldn't even have to be a brand new concept, could be something they did from the past eras and just brought back from the depths of yesteryear.

That being said, it still sounds incredibly risky, and the US doesn't necessarily deserve something like this with the small crowds that have showed up for some of their shows of recent.

[Enjoyed]

Something like guarantee some type of variance between shows and whatnot.

Surrender and Come With Us in their entirety. I concur.

[gfa2001]

I doubt venues the size of the santa barbara bowl (4.5k) would cut it - this venue is about half the size of any of the UK arena tour next month.

The Japan shows are 8k, while the aussie shows are 8-10k + 2 festivals which bolster the tour.

I doubt they will be back in the US until demand builds up for a few years or a festival books them and they do some sideshows, I think under about 7,500 people just isn't sustainable for them and if they play regularly as they have recently in the US then less people will be making big trips etc so the shows will sell poorly.

Guaranteeing variance etc adds to costs for something that is already very much on the unviable side. Adding many new songs specially for example would cost tens of thousands.

[Bosco]

@gfa2001 

Residency for a 3 day weekend at something with the capacity of SB Bowl would essentially up the attendance to 13,500. If you charge $100 a tix and sell out all 3 nights, we are above the million mark...

[ThePumisher]

@gfa2001
If you charge $100 a tix and sell out all 3 nights, we are above the million mark...

Them Brothers hopefully never charge 100 money for tickets while i'm alive

[MadPooter]

How are people still factoring COVID into business decisions???

This is ridiculous.

[actionjackson780]

How are people still factoring COVID into business decisions??? This is ridiculous.

To be fair, COVID still is a thing, even if it's not really top of mind these days, so the quick mention of it in the article feels valid. I made it 3.5 years without getting it and just 2 weeks ago it finally caught up with me. Not only that, but echoing the "business decision" side of it, I had to push back starting a new job, and therefore lost out on over a week's pay because I was due to start the day after I tested positive.

[Bosco]

Them Brothers hopefully never charge 100 money for tickets while i'm alive

fwiw, I never would pay $100 for "Them Brothers". But I have payed $100 for The Chemical Brothers. Honestly, think it's a fair deal. Merch and concessions on the other hand...