Gas prices hitting touring bands hard

Posted July 10th, 2008 by eric

Well, this is unsurprising. Even on a good day with cheap gas, making a profit on tour for an upstart band is next to impossible. And, now that gas is over four dollars a gallon in some states, going out on tour has practically become cost prohibitive at the grassroots level. CNN has a story recapping a few bands’ experiences with gas prices derailing their tours. Some bands are canceling their tours outright, while others are making the trips shorter or just cramming several bands into one van to cushion the blow and spread the hurt. I can’t imagine it would be worth it to take a hit like that when you’re at a level where you’re just trying to get your name out there. Even if you sell a decent amount of t-shirts or whatever, the gas bill will swallow any profits up whole. [via punknews]

Tags: commentary · news