Bunnymen / Warsaw Village Band

[manny at garfieldartworks.com]

Work visas are not only expensive, they can also be denied for any small
or spurious reasons.
Musicians usually having more drug use in their past than most (hence
possible criminial records for it) that can be one of the problems. And if
one person doesnt' have the paperwork in order for some reason, that can
kill it for the whole group. etc.

Rather than renting all gear, another way an international band can tour
without arousing suspicion is by touring with an American counterpart band
which provides all the backline. I booked several tours in the '90s this
way (for example, Ghost & Magic Hour).

--------

On a similar note, I just brought a great band from overseas that did have
official visas thanks to
invitations from the Polish embassy and so on. (When coming from overseas,
it helps to play ethnic music from your country - they will give you a lot
less shit than they would a rock band).

WARSAW VILLAGE BAND drew 220 people to Synod Hall on Monday night. The
concert was musically fantastic. Despite my having marketed to diverse
audiences (the Calliope folk crowd, the Pandemic indie-hipsters, the
goth/dark cabaret/gypsy/bellydance scene), none of those kinds of people
showed up at all. Instead the concert was supported by almost 180 Polish
people (three generations of them), and a sprinkling of others (most of
whom were Pitt Students from the Pitt Arts ticket buy). So it was a
success. WITHOUT YOU. (unfortunately)

-mt

> On Sun, Nov 8, 2009 at 4:12 AM, Sc'Eric (aka sc'Que?)
> <scque at ymail.com> wrote:
>> In my tiny world of experience, whenever a European band that I'm
>> interested in seeing decides to tour the States, they get refused for
>> one reason or another.  Seems that unless the band is playing
>> stadium-sized venues or lies about their intent, they have no chance of
>> touring here legally.  And even the latter of those two options can
>> backfire.
>>
>> Manny, any commentary on that?
>
> That is pretty straightforward: work visas are prohibitively
> expensive.  Only a stadium-filling band can make the kind of money to
> cover that expense, besides all the other expenses of transporting a
> number of people overseas and schlepping them around an unfamiliar
> country.
>
> Paperwork and background checks can take on the order of months, too.
> Many bands underestimate how long it will take.
>
> When you see a small band from out of the country, they have usually
> lied and claimed to be here as a tourist, as you said.  I have heard
> of bands that had stateside promoters rent all the gear the need so
> they don't have to try to cross the border with it, raising suspicion.
>  When it's a couple of guys with a keyboard, a mic, and a backing
> track, sometimes they can get away with it.  A medium-sized band just
> can't do it.
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