Show Your Support

[Jason Tate]

The following was sent in anonymously:

i went to see small towns burn a little slower on their tour with zolof the rock and roll destroyer and controlling the famous yesterday in nyc. i just want to ask that PLEASE, if you are making plans to see this tour in your town, by all means buy a tshirt or cd from the bands. it shouldn't cost you more than about $10. last night the bands literally did not even make enough money off the doors to pay for the tolls to get them out of manhattan. they rely on merch sales to buy enough gas to get to the next city, forget even getting a cheap hotel for the night, and the way it's looking right now this tour isn't going to last for more than a couple more dates. please show your support for these bands, thanks.

[Tmovielife16]

if i was able to get to a date i would buy shit, i love small towns

[Katie Schmitz]

yeah i always buy merch ... it's cheaper than online stores and well it goes to a good cause!

[last light]

GAD was selling Volcano last night for $5, thought that was pretty sweet

[DeadVictoryRose]

truer words have never been said, support the artist, buy the cd you downloaded, buy another one for your friend that downloaded it. discover new music the most amazing way possible, from a live performance.

[Spicoli hey bud]

Exactly, and it's not like you're paying a lot for your ticket to the show

just envision it as an added expense plus a free gift

[splitsecond]

Sounds like someone needs better management.

[meencanta]

there are no tolls leaving manhattan...

[xearlynovemberx]

GAD was selling Volcano last night for $5, thought that was pretty sweet
yeah when i saw them they were selling it for $6

[aminorthreat55]

there are no tolls leaving manhattan...
Yeah, don't you only pay going into the Lincoln tunnel, not going out?

And I'm hoping to give these guys some money or something when they come through on Thursday, it sounds like they could really use it.

[Lucky Denver]

Small Towns are really good live. They came here with Zolof earlier this year and it was a really good show. The lead singer was a really nice guy. I didn't have the extra cash but I wish I had because I would have loved to pick up a CD or shirt.

I don't go to shows much anymore (my next planned show is November 30th with Plain White T's and that is only because of what that band has done for me) but if they came back I would definatly make it a point to go because they were really good.

[HoboAdam]

i think that mean the tolls to get out of ny

[Drew Beringer]

Always always buy merch from the bands. That's my motto.

[meencanta]

there are no tolls out of NYC. perhaps they meant for gas.. not tolls.

[_all_star_me_]

you know what really gets to me? when people say they "love this band" or are just are "a huge fan" of a band, and they dont even own a cd. they have it downloaded. sorry, but i just think thats really not cool. if you really love them, please please buy their record. i dont get how people dont love buying cds, you get a rad cd, and all the artwork, and spend the rest of the day going through the liner notes, reading the lyrics, and seeing who they thank and stuff. its just really cool.

[punkrawkgoddess]

The tour has been cut short, for Small Towns at least. I know the last tour they were on they actually lost money. Buy their shit people!

[Lucky Denver]

you know what really gets to me? when people say they "love this band" or are just are "a huge fan" of a band, and they dont even own a cd. they have it downloaded. sorry, but i just think thats really not cool. if you really love them, please please buy their record. i dont get how people dont love buying cds, you get a rad cd, and all the artwork, and spend the rest of the day going through the liner notes, reading the lyrics, and seeing who they thank and stuff. its just really cool.
I agree. My friend asked me to rip my Cartel CD and send it to her. I said no and told her to buy it because there was no way I was going to screw such a good band out of their well earned money.

[thexflamesxburn]

Always always buy merch from the bands. That's my motto.
i think the world needs more people like you :headbang:

there are no tolls out of NYC. perhaps they meant for gas.. not tolls.
read the above comments

[G.A.M.E]

im going to this show Friday in Delaware

[the_narrator]

I agree. My friend asked me to rip my Cartel CD and send it to her. I said no and told her to buy it because there was no way I was going to screw such a good band out of their well earned money. Maybe she wanted to hear it first before she bought it? I hate blind-buys unless I trust the band (I'd do it for the Cartel, but I've been following them for awhile). Or was it more like, "I just want this CD"? Lame.

Seriously, if you love a band, support the hell out of them. Most bands I listen to aren't getting rich off anything, and they sleep on floors just to play their music. Who the hell am I to call myself a fan, and not give a little love? Many a band has broken up because they just can't "make a living."

I hope this tour keeps going. Cities & Zolof are de-lovely.

[jeremywjmf]

ill buy shit tonight when i see them... well, zolof anyway, im undecided on the other bands... i must say though, i do look forward to small towns since everyone has had nice things to say about them

[DeadVictoryRose]

Maybe she wanted to hear it first before she bought it? I hate blind-buys unless I trust the band (I'd do it for the Cartel, but I've been following them for awhile). Or was it more like, "I just want this CD"? Lame.

It's been said a thousand times, but if she wanted to hear it first before she bought it there are options... absolutepunk.net/theleak, purevolume.com/cartel, they have an ecard with clips of every song. record labels do a wonderful job to ensure that the whole I wanted to hear it before I bought it excuse is a pile of shit, you can hear it, a lot of times the entire record, people just want to rip people off. I wonder how many people download an album just to hear it, then upon deciding they won't actually purchase the album, delete the files off their computer? my guess about 1 percent of downloaders.

you know what really gets to me? when people say they "love this band" or are just are "a huge fan" of a band, and they dont even own a cd. they have it downloaded. sorry, but i just think thats really not cool. if you really love them, please please buy their record. i dont get how people dont love buying cds, you get a rad cd, and all the artwork, and spend the rest of the day going through the liner notes, reading the lyrics, and seeing who they thank and stuff. its just really cool.

that part above where i said truer words have never been said, yeah well these are even more true. way to break it down. a cd is a treasure, and its a small price to pay.

[xearlynovemberx]

you know what really gets to me? when people say they "love this band" or are just are "a huge fan" of a band, and they dont even own a cd. they have it downloaded. sorry, but i just think thats really not cool. if you really love them, please please buy their record. i dont get how people dont love buying cds, you get a rad cd, and all the artwork, and spend the rest of the day going through the liner notes, reading the lyrics, and seeing who they thank and stuff. its just really cool.
i usually buy cds the first day they come out at best buy when there like 10-11$ instead of going to fye and getting them for like 16 with some bullshit rebate

[snowtires]

it's not just this band that's having problems, it's every band. gas prices are putting a serious hurt on tours. two years ago it sucked to tour when gas was $1.25 a gallon and you got maybe $50 a gig. now you're still lucky to get $50 a night, but gas is $3.00+ a gallon. touring has become pointless, if not impossible for any unsigned or lower-level indie-signed bands. bands don't get paid enough per gig and, unless the headlining band is on mtv, mtv2 or getting pimped by pitchfork, you're guaranteed to get a turnout of about five kids.

i know my band prays that we get t-shirt sales at out-of-town gigs, not just because of poor turnouts, but because of shady promoters and greedy headliners. a couple of my friends are in a band called marigold, they played at the troc in philly recently and they brought out 75 kids, just for them, whereas the headliners brought around five (they keep track at the door by saying 'who are you here to see?'). but noooo, the headliners had a guarantee of $300 and they wouldn't budge so, instead of getting $150 like they should have, marigold walked away with $30. it cost them $85 to fill up their van's gas tank.

then you have to take into account that venues charge tax on merch sales. maybe you sold 10 t-shirts at 10 dollars. figure in that you're getting $7 profit per shirt and you're going to want to put maybe 2 bucks back into a 'more shirts' fund, that's $5 a shirt, profit. but then you have to figure in that the venue is going to take anywhere from 8%-14% of your merch sales and you're looking at like $4.30 a shirt. it seems like that .70 cents wouldn't matter, but if you're trying to eat, it makes a huge difference. don't even get me started on cd sales. bands are getting fucked from every possible angle and there's really no way to stop it.

it's such a lame thing to say but, in all honesty, the only way to tour (if you're not already rich) is if you live with your parents. touring is financial suicide for those of us who live on our own, because 9 times out of 10 you have to quit your job to tour and you still have to pay rent/car insurance/utility bills while you're on tour.

i do, however, have to give a big 'boo hoo' to the comment about them not being able to afford hotel rooms. that's what sleeping bags are for. roll down the windows and sleep on the floor or the van or sleep outside in a park. paying for a hotel room, no matter how cheap, is a waste of tour money.

anyway, the moral of this story is: buy five t-shirts at every show you go to.

[romantic rights]

i'd buy more merch if i had the money... but thats also why i've been going to less concerts.
Anyways, witht he whole cd thing, you have to remember that bands dont make a lot of money off of cd sales from stores, they barely make anything off of them, expecially those who are on larger labels. The bands tend to get arround 1% of the profits from cd sales. Personally i've started to actually buy more cds, usually i'll download the cd or just a few songs so i can make sure that its worth my hard earned money unless its a band that i really trust will put out a good release. But the best way to help a band get money, if you are at their show and you're looking at their merch but you see nothing that you like, dont just walk away, expecially if its a band you really like. Bands always have tips jars with their merch, so leave them a tip, no matter how big or small the tip can be, it still helps out the band

[joz]

zolof are awesome, and so are stbals.
i wish they were playing over here
to the on about how buying cds is rad- i agree. it annoys me when a band don't put the lyrics in their album sleeves though, but most do :)