Who would you like to see come to Metro Detroit?

[pleasurekatzen]

There are several reasons why bands skip over Detroit and other cities. Sometimes it's as simple as tour routing doesn't allow for a stop in Detroit. Other times it's that the bands are only doing select dates in select cities (ie: Throbbing Gristle, VNV Nation on several tours). Case may be the booking agent doesn't know who to contact in a certain city (odd, but yeah it does happen, see: 16 Volt). Occasionally bands don't want to get stuck playing on a Wednesday night. Sometimes technical riders can't be met (De/Vision the first time they wanted to tour). Often times the bands themselves are charging wayyy too much money for a single show (hello Alien Sex Fiend). It's all negotiations and if it's doable then the show usually happens. Some of the request of these bands are insane and it should be made clear THAT in most cases it is NOT the fault of the promoter, but many of these bands just being simply unreasonable. There are more reasons than you could imagine.

I've only once ever in my 20+ years of scene involvement run into a band that toured America and swore they would never come back due to the way the promoters/tour agency treated them. My old band did several shows on that tour and basically the headliners got their egos bruised when they realized they weren't the big thing in the states as they had thought they were. Circumstances such as that are rare.

Having worked in promoting over 200 events, each one proves unique. Some go off easier than others (thanks to a hardworking crew) while other shows are like pulling teeth. In the end it's usually rewarding.

It always amuses me to hear what people think are the reasons bands bypass Detroit, cause 9 times out of 10 it's so far removed from the truth.

Nope, Darque Productions is still here and still booking all kinds of electronic/goth shows. Check out the past shows archive at: http://www.darqueproductions.com/event-archive.php We work with the biggies in conjunction with the major venues when we can (ie: Puppy, Sisters, Front 242, etc...). Some stuff we just don't have the resources to do, but we're still very much active in bringing live events to Detroit.

Also keep your eyes and ears on local promoters Dethlab who have brought acts like Motor, Lowfish, Solvent, Kill Memory Crash, Telfon Tel Aviv, Vitalic, and more to the city. This Thursday they welcome Fixmer/McCarthy to Detroit. McCarthy is the voice of industrial legends Nitzer Ebb.

And of course there is the new guy Graphic Equalizer Productions who booked the Funker show.

so yeah, there are still promoters working behind the scenes to make shows happen. Keep your eyes and ears open.

Thank you Marc. You said everything I wanted to, but probably far more eloquently. Someone told me the other day that they imagine we in Darque Productions have the most thankless jobs ever- dealing with egos, fulfilling contracts and gurarantees, dealing with scene apathy/excuses/the economy to get people out to shows, etc. etc. I say we have some of the best, because we're bringing the live shows to you guys, getting to witness the look of enjoyment on your faces when you hear a band play your favorite song, and meeting a lot of really cool people along the way!

We're not miracle workers. but we do what we can

[stoopidheavy]

mumakil