Category: View From The Road
VIEW FROM THE ROAD: PROMOTING THE PROMOTERS
Everybody loves to complain about promoters. Bands complain about them. Fans complain about them. Crew complain about them. Venues complain about them. Yet without promoters, there are no shows, no festivals, no tours, no tickets, no stages, and no one arguing online about who should have been higher on the bill.At the end of the day, the promoter is the person putting their neck on the line. They’re the one signing contracts, paying deposits, taking financial risks, dealing with production, handling disasters, and hoping enough people buy tickets to make the whole thing work. And they’re not all built the same.
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VIEW FROM THE MERCH TABLE: WHEN TOO MUCH IS… TOO MUCH
One of the biggest mistakes merch manager George P sees at small festivals is the belief that bringing more designs automatically means more sales. It sounds logical on paper. More options, more chances for people to find something they like, right? Wrong!
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VIEW FROM THE ROAD: HOW LEMMY MADE ME WHO I AM
On what would have been his 80th birthday, our resident road warrior looks back on the impact Lemmy Kilmister had on his nascent self and how who turned him into who he is today…
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VIEW FROM THE ROAD: SUMMONING A REALITY SLAP
Let’s summon a reality slap for a second, because lately there’s this weird fetishization going on our veteran road warrior George P’s timeline all the time where stagehands are being framed like the last line of defense between live music and total societal collapse.
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When The Show Ends, The Real Work Begins
Most people think the show is the big moment. Lights go off, the band takes a bow, everyone cheers, selfies, hugs, merch flying off the table — that’s what they think touring is about. But for the people behind the curtain, that’s when the real work begins, as our veteran road warrior points out…
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VIEW FROM THE MERCH TABLE: THE GLAM VS THE FILTH
There’s a certain kind of venue that keeps popping up lately – the so-called glamorous corporate experience. You know the type.
Polished social media presence, fake exclusivity, a logo that looks like it came from a perfume campaign, and an interior that screams “look at us, we made it.” But scratch the surface and you find the same old rot – sticky floors, piss-stained toilets, overpriced drinks, and crew members working twice as hard just to make it function. It’s the perfect illusion, as our resident road warrior now explains…
Authority ≠ Entitlement
Seasoned road warrior George Pirounakis looks at how, in the music business, positions come with responsibility — not a license to act like a king.
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View From The Road: Against The Bare Minimum
In his latest op ed, road warrior George Pirounakis looks at what he calls a disease in live music… the bare minimum mindset.
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