SCENE REPORT: CHICAGO
RECAP OF THE CHICAGO STOP ON THE EIY SPRING (INTO ACTION) TOUR
Chicago was a tough show to put together. We didn’t have many nominations and had to work pretty hard to get the word out about the event. Luckily Reggie’s was super easy to work with and helped us put together a solid line-up of up-and-coming bands from the pop/rock scene.
The meet-up was no sweat; we had a great turnout of extremely active music supporters who are all working on their own projects, helping with street teams, and actively pursuing internships and jobs in the Chicago area. There are plenty of record labels, management and production companies located in that part of the country so it’s a good place to get your foot in the door as a young entrepreneur. It was really inspiring to hear about how much effort people are putting in to get things going for themselves here.
However, it was really disheartening to hear about how many promoters are taking advantage of the local bands and pulling “pay to play” scams on a regular basis — and how many bands have accepted it as the standard. It sounds like there are one or two promoters/companies specifically known for their pay-to-play policies, one of them even taking bands’ money from pre-sales and still not letting them play the show if they didn’t sell all their tickets! This is an epidemic that must be stopped, IMMEDIATELY. There needs to be an alliance of bands who publicly denounce these shows, and you all have to stick to it. Let the shitty rich kid bands play those shows and get nothing out of them, while you guys put on awesome shows of your own — maybe at some of these houses in the suburbs — and keep all the money for yourselves instead of lining the pockets of greedy, lazy promoters. It won’t be long before they get tired of only working with horrible (but desperate) bands, or before people stop coming to their shows because they can only get crappy bands to buy on. Eventually they will come begging on their knees for the good bands to come back and play their shows. And in the meantime, you’ll have been busy building and expanding your followings by playing cheaper shows to new audiences, and the promoters will need you more than you need them!
On to the show:
The bands on the showcase were all in the “pop rock” vein, which was a first on this tour. Everyone had one or two interesting elements in what they were doing, but there wasn’t anything during the show that really jumped out at me — musically or performance-wise. This isn’t to say the bands weren’t good — far from it; it’s more that the bands weren’t living up to their individual potential. And by the way, what’s with all the self-deprecation on stage?
That being said, it was definitely apparent that everyone takes their music seriously and puts a lot of effort into their bands. Everyone was polite, supportive of each other, and genuine — which is the way of the Midwesterner!
Here’s a quick show recap:
Band: Everlene from Chicago
Pop/indie with boy/girl vocals!
Check them out HERE.
Band: The April Year from Chicago
Indie-inspired pop rock!
Check them out HERE.
Band: The Born Ready from Chicago
Emo-inspired pop rock!
Check them out HERE.
Band: Good Luck Jane from Chicago
College circuit pop rock!
Check them out HERE.
Like I said, each band in this showcase had a couple interesting things that could be developed into something unique and exciting. It was a pretty even-keeled show from beginning to end, but there was one band on the bill who really had their live show together, who know their target demographic, and who obviously spend as much time practicing their instruments as they do promoting themselves — and that was Good Luck Jane. We think the experience of playing Warped Tour is going to put some serious hair on this band’s chest, but it will be good for them.
Thanks to Vito and everyone at Reggie’s for a great night, and to everyone in the Chicago scene who is working hard and eager to get involved and contribute something back to the community there.
Love,
Sarah & EIY
7 Responses to “SCENE REPORT: CHICAGO”
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Correction, Good Luck Jane was the only band that played cover songs, 2 of 6 infact. They were by far the worst band of the night. A Backstreet Boy fronted band that was hard on the ears and certainly NOT Warped Tour material.
You might be right about the covers, and I had it mixed up with Cleveland where every band played a cover. This was the show where all the bands talked about how much they sucked between songs.
“By far” the worst band is a bit harsh, don’t you think? If you stripped away the genre, presentation, and everything else you didn’t like about this band, there is simply no denying that they were the tightest, most in-tune and in-key band of the night.
Loren, I disagree. They had some of the most impressive vocals that night. That kid can sing. No way were they close to being the worst. They probably played covers so we could hear something we recognize, what’s wrong with that? If you listened to their original music you’d see how good they are.
i know what you mean about these shows – BUT – bands cant ‘unite to stamp them out’ or whatever – they tried it in Milwaukee where the Rave have been doing this for much longer than any other clubs (for a while it was just them, a place on the east coast & the Whiskey in LA) but, after a big announcement and a big ad in the paper – bands started to play there anyway when they were offered shows there with larger bands………
so many problems are in the hands of bands themselves………
Yeah it’s definitely a fine line. I’ve had conversations with a couple promoters in the past week that have given me some new ideas about the ticket pre-sale thing. Bands should never be forced to buy tickets in bulk, or be forced to sell a minimum in order to play the show (especially not if they have to pay for the tickets they DID sell, and still not be able to play) — but having tickets available for pre-sale are a good promotional and tracking tool for the promoters, and it makes sense if a promoter asks a band to try to sell a certain amount. It’s like saying, “Hey, you’re going to work your hardest to bring 50 people to this show, we’re counting on you, and here’s a way to prove that you did it.” But bands should always get paid per ticket sold, and promoters should never rely on local bands to help them meet outrageous guarantees for headliners who would only do a certain amount of tickets without the locals pimping the tickets for them. Headliners should only ask for guarantees that they can make off the backend from their own ticket sales, just like all the other bands on the bill, and if the show profits, everyone should profit. But… There will always be a desperate (and/or rich) band who will do the buy-on, and perpetuate the cycle.
I think it comes down to a philosophical question about what kind of person/band you want to be, and how you want to feel about yourself when you go to sleep at night. You can buy spots on shows, but you can’t buy respect, admiration, loyalty, or integrity. And none of the bands I love had to buy their way to the top.
Pay to play has to stop. Its nonsense.
i’m upset that i didn’t make it to this as it was right after my prom and i had to recover. is there any way we can still join the street team?