promote - promote - promote!!!

[manny@telerama.com]

much respect, Alex, but despite all your calculations, there is nothing
'special' about goth bands. first of all many g/i bands ask for somewhat
elaborate soundchecks, whereas indie bands can generally just jump on stage. i
understand that is a factor of using certain equipment. so that is not annoying
in itself, it is perfectly understandable if it wasn't accompanied by other
pretensions.

but unfortunately, for many years it has been acccompanied by pretensions. if
anything, a g/i band's audience is *more rarified* than the average indie
rock bands. more people look at Magnet or Pitchfork than look at Industrial
Nation. which means they should be asking the same or even *less* than the
average indie rock band, not more.

indie rock bands can tour 7 days a week, so why not goths? oh, i know why.
because for the last ten years, goths have been programmed to come to dance
weeklies, once a week, or to 'events', rather than coming to shows. so no wonder
you can't string a g/i tour together if the chances of being able to play any
given city are only *1 in 7*. that's dumb.

in essence, the g/i bands that you will see on the road the most are those
who stop whining about not having a separate room with a mirror to put on their
make up, and who operate in the most DIY manner possible. (where, if you are a
small act that draws small crowds, you don't make money on guarantees, but you
make money on *merch* instead, like Brian said).

also:
with large guarantees demanded by g/i bands, folks like Jim also have no choice
but to charge $15-$20 for a show that's only going to draw 50-60 people. even
though an indie rock show with the same draw is likely to be only $6-$7. for
example, the Dischord band Medications got paid $150 to play to about 45
people. But E-Craft/Terrorfakt/Mono No Aware want five times that, even though
their audience is gonna be about the same size. and then you'd wonder why more
people don't want to go to goth shows. the price being so high is surely a
factor keeping some new attendees away.

with that said, i still highly commend Jim for doing the shows he does. he is
keeping the situation as 'real' as he can whereas everyone else has packed it
in because they can't pull off a rivethead's wet dream 300+ event in a club
with industrial girders whose walls are painted jet black or whatever. is it
about the style or is it about the substance?