marik said:
do any european bands get that kind of finanical committment from record companies now adays? ( that young and unproven)
do north american bands ge that kind of support to go over to Europe? i know the killers, based on the back on a single album toured Europe extensivly, but they made have already been a popular household name by then, i'm not sure
It does not take a major financial committment to come to the United States and tour a few clubs in a few east coast cities. Of course, the nationwide tour they did in the Spring of 1981 would definitely take some more funds, but it is possible for a band to come and do it on a budget. Your not going to make any money though.
The Police came to the United Sates in late October 1978 with NO record deal or money from a record company. Sting, Stewart and Andy all bought their own plane tickets with their own money as well as bringing their gear. They rented a van and had one roadie to help with the gear. They played about 20 shows primarily in the North East of the United States as well as a couple of show in Canada. But they drove themselves from place to place and sometimes would even sleep in the same bed at the hotel because they would only get one room. The money they made at shows was used to help pay for the cost of the trip.
When Sting arrived back in London in late November, he handed his wife 10 US Dollars. That was essentially the total monetary profit of the tour. But, at several of the shows they played, Radio DJ's came to the show and added their record to their play list after seeing the band play. Word spread and people began buying up imported copies of the first album on the East Coast. The Police only had a record deal for A&M UK/Ireland at the time, but the success of the late 1978 tour forced A&M to release the album in the United Sates in February 1979 on the Police's terms.
A friend I have played in a country/folk/western cover band that would every few years go over to Scotland and tour on their own. So, its financially possible to do it on your own, just as its financially possible to do a nice lengthy low budget vacation of Europe and some other places.
U2 obviously needed funding for the 3 month coast to coast tour they did of the United States, but it was not something that broke the bank for the record company. Again, playing at a tiny college bar in Pittsburgh or a wet t-shirt contest in Dallas with little or no promotion at all is not going to break the bank. The length of this tour and the miles travelled is where the record company funding came in.
An interesting note is that after October dropped off the US chart after only 15 weeks on the chart, the record company pulled the rug out from U2 and cancelled their funding for the rest of the tour. Thats when U2 jumped on the J. Giels Band "Freeze Frame Tour" and opened up for them at some large basketball arena's.
I'm not sure what U2 would have done if the War album had tanked early like October. They may have tried to jump on one of the big 1983 tours by David Bowie, or the Police.
I think it's just that these guys decided that the band was going to be it--that this was what their lives were going to be about (hence why they foiled Edge's college plans..
