Its not rocket science... *soapbox moment* Venues, tickets and countries..
Its not rocket science... *soapbox moment* Venues, tickets and countries..
Dinahkin Fri 17 Jul 2015, 9:23 pm
I am sick and tired of seeing fans from the US and Europe sniping at each other and at the band - if its not the great "US versus Europe" debate, its "we had to pay X how come they get free tickets" or "trying to fill venues".. *whinge whinge*
This is my soapbox and I'm not going to be pulling any punches.
Listen up people, its not rocket science..
In Europe TH have a strong fan base, the countries are small and close together, travel is easier and venues were intimate because Part 1 was a club tour, something to enable fans to get close to the band in a way that hadn't happened before and the "meet and greet" packages were completely different. Some fans went to ALL the shows in Part 1..
Part 1 was a new and unique experience, a return after many years absence.. one that initially the usual small minority of vocally pessimistic fans thought was going to be a failure (gods, some people are a stuck record sometimes) but one that ultimately everyone got on board with, loved the experience, loved the M&G packages, loved the closeness with the guys.. and I have seen tweets upon tweets and video and all sorts that clearly show how much the fans who went to Part 1 of the Feel It All Tour had an absolute blast!
The music was amazing, the lighting and production was awesome and the guys opened up in the M&G's like the real people they are, not as "signing automatons" such as I have seen on video from the Humanoid M&G's and of previous years. They answered questions that bordered on personal and they interacted openly with fans, even when if I had been them I would have clipped so called fans upside the head! ("Rescue Me" v "Rette Mich" anyone?)
BUT.. Europe is where their strong fan base is and economics means that in Europe small venues means high ticket prices for small venues. Thats simple economics, no more no less.
In the USA, TH are not as well known, the fan base is spread over a much much bigger geographic area (the US is flippin' huge!) and travel between venues isn't as easy. Venues have different protocols, charge differently, organise their own competitions for tickets etc.. the ticket prices reflect all those factors and incorporate the fact that TH are essentially breaking into the US market again after an absence. Yes, I know that some fans will be travelling from outside the US to the gigs, and I think that's awesome too!
To put it bluntly, the US is a different country and they do things differently in the US than they do in Europe (or even than in the UK - that's why the US and UK are two countries divided by a common language!) but that doesn't make it "wrong" just "different".
Yes, there are fans in the USA already but there is a totally different geographic profile in the US and a whole new audience waiting to discover TH, building on the success of "Love Who Loves You Back" and "Feel It All". TH are using support acts from local areas and so what if they are advertising "bring a pal free" in some venues.. as far as I am concerned, lucky pal!
Thats what we should be focusing on, that TH music is being heard by a wider demographic than just "teenies in Europe" as the European media keep implying, not those once-teenies whining about the promotion methods. (I'm sorry if that offends, but as a Brit, that's how it sounds to me from the outside.)
Markets like the US and the UK have a huge influence on an artist, more so than Europe - so anyone writing off the London gig as being largely European fans and therefore unimportant can think again.. there were UK fans there who had travelled from all over the country and the reviews that gig got has raised the TH profile in the UK, they are on iTunes UK for the first time with a new release.. a new demographic is hearing their music and the remixes. TH made the charts in the UK too, and they tweeted about it because it was important to them.
Yes I agree, marketing/promotion is important, but to the guys in the band, it is their music that is even more important and that's where they will focus. I don't blame them, their music is flippin' awesome! and they put on one hell of a live show!!
So just for once, can we all remember that TH *MUSIC* is why we support the band and actually get behind them and want the US Part 2 to succeed, because TH getting a higher profile in the US is beneficial not just to the band but to the fan base as a whole.
We have all seen the reaction to the South American gig announcements (Part 2a or Part 3? ) and how the venues have exploded with interest and how radios stations are heavily promoting the TH gigs in their countries.. again, that's a whole different demographic to Europe or the US but we all have one thing in common, and that is that we all love Tokio Hotel and the music they create.
To fans in Europe, (and elsewhere) the guys in the band aren't "your babies" .. and if you ever think of them as such, with every child a parent needs to learn when to let them stand on their own two feet. What TH are doing as far as I can see is exploring new and old markets, playing their glorious music to people who may not be aware of "Schrei" or "Scream" or of "Zimmer 483" or "Humanoid".. but they have heard of "Kings of Suburbia" and that is what matters, because people then explore an artists back catalogue and keep coming back for more.
Its not based on looks and appealing to the teenie fans any more (if indeed it ever was) its all about the music. Professional, well produced, superbly performed, awesome sounding, solid music..
No one demographic of fans "owns" TH, no one country is the "better" fan base, so for once, can we all support the band we love without the constant backbiting?
Personally I couldn't give a flying whatsit about whether "this Euro bitch" or "that USA bitch" (generalising your words, not mine) gets preference.. after years loving the music, my experience of a Tokio Hotel concert started in London in March 2015 with the first gig of the FIA Tour. Tokio Hotel playing in the capital city of my country... opening their new tour in my country... I was blown away by the sound, the production, the sheer theatricality of the whole performance. It was amazing and I can hear all that music in my head even now and relive it through amazing fan videos.
ANYONE lucky enough to get to a TH gig will have the time of their lives, the music is awesome, the atmosphere electric.. and in the US you get support acts too
So if someone is lucky enough to be the +1 that their US fan friend takes along to a gig, good luck to them.. I only wish I lived closer and wasn't scared stiff of flying (anxiety sucks), or I would be right there singing and shouting and applauding along with them, ticket price be damned! (#non-screaming fangirl
)
As it is, I'm waiting patiently for their return to Europe and you can bet your bottom dollar I will be doing my level best to be there to experience Tokio Hotel music live and in person all over again!!
*steps off soapbox*
This is my soapbox and I'm not going to be pulling any punches.
Listen up people, its not rocket science..
In Europe TH have a strong fan base, the countries are small and close together, travel is easier and venues were intimate because Part 1 was a club tour, something to enable fans to get close to the band in a way that hadn't happened before and the "meet and greet" packages were completely different. Some fans went to ALL the shows in Part 1..
Part 1 was a new and unique experience, a return after many years absence.. one that initially the usual small minority of vocally pessimistic fans thought was going to be a failure (gods, some people are a stuck record sometimes) but one that ultimately everyone got on board with, loved the experience, loved the M&G packages, loved the closeness with the guys.. and I have seen tweets upon tweets and video and all sorts that clearly show how much the fans who went to Part 1 of the Feel It All Tour had an absolute blast!
The music was amazing, the lighting and production was awesome and the guys opened up in the M&G's like the real people they are, not as "signing automatons" such as I have seen on video from the Humanoid M&G's and of previous years. They answered questions that bordered on personal and they interacted openly with fans, even when if I had been them I would have clipped so called fans upside the head! ("Rescue Me" v "Rette Mich" anyone?)
BUT.. Europe is where their strong fan base is and economics means that in Europe small venues means high ticket prices for small venues. Thats simple economics, no more no less.
In the USA, TH are not as well known, the fan base is spread over a much much bigger geographic area (the US is flippin' huge!) and travel between venues isn't as easy. Venues have different protocols, charge differently, organise their own competitions for tickets etc.. the ticket prices reflect all those factors and incorporate the fact that TH are essentially breaking into the US market again after an absence. Yes, I know that some fans will be travelling from outside the US to the gigs, and I think that's awesome too!
To put it bluntly, the US is a different country and they do things differently in the US than they do in Europe (or even than in the UK - that's why the US and UK are two countries divided by a common language!) but that doesn't make it "wrong" just "different".
Yes, there are fans in the USA already but there is a totally different geographic profile in the US and a whole new audience waiting to discover TH, building on the success of "Love Who Loves You Back" and "Feel It All". TH are using support acts from local areas and so what if they are advertising "bring a pal free" in some venues.. as far as I am concerned, lucky pal!
Thats what we should be focusing on, that TH music is being heard by a wider demographic than just "teenies in Europe" as the European media keep implying, not those once-teenies whining about the promotion methods. (I'm sorry if that offends, but as a Brit, that's how it sounds to me from the outside.)
Markets like the US and the UK have a huge influence on an artist, more so than Europe - so anyone writing off the London gig as being largely European fans and therefore unimportant can think again.. there were UK fans there who had travelled from all over the country and the reviews that gig got has raised the TH profile in the UK, they are on iTunes UK for the first time with a new release.. a new demographic is hearing their music and the remixes. TH made the charts in the UK too, and they tweeted about it because it was important to them.
Yes I agree, marketing/promotion is important, but to the guys in the band, it is their music that is even more important and that's where they will focus. I don't blame them, their music is flippin' awesome! and they put on one hell of a live show!!
So just for once, can we all remember that TH *MUSIC* is why we support the band and actually get behind them and want the US Part 2 to succeed, because TH getting a higher profile in the US is beneficial not just to the band but to the fan base as a whole.
We have all seen the reaction to the South American gig announcements (Part 2a or Part 3?
) and how the venues have exploded with interest and how radios stations are heavily promoting the TH gigs in their countries.. again, that's a whole different demographic to Europe or the US but we all have one thing in common, and that is that we all love Tokio Hotel and the music they create.To fans in Europe, (and elsewhere) the guys in the band aren't "your babies" .. and if you ever think of them as such, with every child a parent needs to learn when to let them stand on their own two feet. What TH are doing as far as I can see is exploring new and old markets, playing their glorious music to people who may not be aware of "Schrei" or "Scream" or of "Zimmer 483" or "Humanoid".. but they have heard of "Kings of Suburbia" and that is what matters, because people then explore an artists back catalogue and keep coming back for more.
Its not based on looks and appealing to the teenie fans any more (if indeed it ever was) its all about the music. Professional, well produced, superbly performed, awesome sounding, solid music..
No one demographic of fans "owns" TH, no one country is the "better" fan base, so for once, can we all support the band we love without the constant backbiting?
Personally I couldn't give a flying whatsit about whether "this Euro bitch" or "that USA bitch" (generalising your words, not mine) gets preference.. after years loving the music, my experience of a Tokio Hotel concert started in London in March 2015 with the first gig of the FIA Tour. Tokio Hotel playing in the capital city of my country... opening their new tour in my country... I was blown away by the sound, the production, the sheer theatricality of the whole performance. It was amazing and I can hear all that music in my head even now and relive it through amazing fan videos.
ANYONE lucky enough to get to a TH gig will have the time of their lives, the music is awesome, the atmosphere electric.. and in the US you get support acts too
So if someone is lucky enough to be the +1 that their US fan friend takes along to a gig, good luck to them.. I only wish I lived closer and wasn't scared stiff of flying (anxiety sucks), or I would be right there singing and shouting and applauding along with them, ticket price be damned! (#non-screaming fangirl
)As it is, I'm waiting patiently for their return to Europe and you can bet your bottom dollar I will be doing my level best to be there to experience Tokio Hotel music live and in person all over again!!
*steps off soapbox*
Dinahkin- Admin
- Posts : 539
Join date : 2011-06-10
Location : UK -
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