Portland Seattle and Vancouver Headliner Sharing (why isn't it happening)

[djowns]

So just curious why people aren't doing this. If portland, vancouver, and Seattle were all in kahouts, we could all probably share a headlining DJ who comes out. Cuts cost of flight way down, and if the headliner gets 2 or 3 bookings while he's out here he'll probably do both bookings for cheap.

Just a half thought I figured I'd post on here, and something I'd like to see happen in the future cause we'd all benefit from it.

Thoughts? Opinions? Free beer?

Jesse :)

[kangaroo]

people already do this...i think that one of the main problems that stops it from being really prevailent is that the rave scene is sort of in decline right now, and there are enough kids that are willing to drive for one party, but not necessarily enough in all three cities. the die hard fans will drive 3-6 hours, but there isn't enough of an influx of new blood, so to speak, to keep independent scenes thriving.

i could be totally wrong, but i see attendence, even at large events, paling in comparison to what it used to be.

this is just my take on all ages parties-- the club circuit is much more able to book dj tours, because they have a much larger user base.

i've only ever really thrown parties which are predominantly happy hardcore based, and we certainly depend on the seattle-portland conglomerate to keep our parties going. there isn't really enough of a fan base to have two separate parties, we have to drive to support the hardcore.

back to the general take on things though, i've noticed that less promoters are bringing out headliners at all. what's the deal with booking the same five locals for everything? and this isn't even just for seattle/portland...i've noticed that even all of the california [and seattle] "massive" lineups i've seen lately have been getting less and less ambitious. part of it has to be the state of the economy and the transitions that the rave scene is going through, but i also sense a lot of general laziness and boredom on the part of the people throwing parties.

xo, joey

[djowns]

I don't mean kids going city to city, or going to see a headliner twice, I mean promoters in portland and seattle working together on a headliner, so as friday night one city gets a headliner, next night the other city gets a headliner.

Headliner charges less for each party cause he makes more in the end in general, and gets more exposure. Also flight cost can than be split between the two cities, making the headliner consequently cheaper for both cities.

[kangaroo]

Originally posted by TheLiquid1
I don't mean kids going city to city, or going to see a headliner twice, I mean promoters in portland and seattle working together on a headliner, so as friday night one city gets a headliner, next night the other city gets a headliner.

Headliner charges less for each party cause he makes more in the end in general, and gets more exposure. Also flight cost can than be split between the two cities, making the headliner consequently cheaper for both cities.

i know what you were saying, and im saying that there is little point in two promoters spending [and these days, losing] money on two venues, two sound systems, two sets of flyers, two sets of openers, etc. when kids are willing to drive to another city. it's not financially viable to split what little market there is.

and i'm familiar with splitting djs...the problem is that often what happens is some flight costs are cheaper, but the free for the headiner is still going to be a huge amount of money. they may charge less to do two dates in one city, but not to play cities as distinct [in their mind] as seattle and portland.

[djowns]

Well are you saying this from experience? I'd like to have some people put down thoughts on this. Most likely I'd bet if seattle and portland got together on things and both approached the booking agent, they'd take a deal from them. $3k for one event or $4k for two... and I'm sure they'd bend cause otherwise it wouldn't happen, and thats an extra $1k they woudln't be making that weekend.

Hence I think we should start trying to do this. I'm willing to bet it's already been tried, and know of a few occasions where it's happened. I'd however like to see it happen more often though because that'll help.

... and as far as people traveling, peopel going from PDX to seattle or vica versa is a large haul, so people aren' t always so willing to do it. However, if it's in their home town they're much more inclined to go. Hence, I think it's a good idea.

[Jizosh]

We've split Headliners with other cities plenty of times. The reason this doesn't happen directly between two or more promoters is the entity called the "booking agent" who is responsible for putting tours together. You get said headliner on a tour (or mini tour) , and you pay your share of flight and what not to the booking agent. It can be really helpful when booking acts who live a ways away.

[Dave Science]

Most promoters in the U.S. unless you are one of the big time ones such as Buzz, Coolworld, etc, won't bother trying to bring a headliner into the states cause they want to try and go around work permits and most of the foreign djs don't even consider the booking only because they dont want to risk getting banned from the states.

[dj heavyweight]

Originally posted by kangaroo


back to the general take on things though, i've noticed that less promoters are bringing out headliners at all. what's the deal with booking the same five locals for everything? and this isn't even just for seattle/portland...i've noticed that even all of the california [and seattle] "massive" lineups i've seen lately have been getting less and less ambitious. part of it has to be the state of the economy and the transitions that the rave scene is going through, but i also sense a lot of general laziness and boredom on the part of the people throwing parties.

xo, joey

well i think it all comes down to money....its not 1997 any more. when you bring out somone you have to pay a huge fee for anf airline tickets, you increase you risk. we can really only expect a crowd of 3-400 these days, so brining foreign dj is that much tougher...noone wants to lose money... if ther was no risk(or enen minimal risk), the you would see us booking all kinds of forign talent. but most of us are trying to throw parties on less than 10,000...cuz its hard to make your investment back when its that amount or higher...

plus we have the added advantage of having a shitty economy...so a lot of us dont have the high paying jobs we once did..

as for lazyness....where i see that is in the choice of venues...i dont see many promoters searching for usable space thats inexpensive, i see promoters looking for a space that they dont have to do anything to use...except pay a huge fee fore. however....there is somthing to be said for ease of use...

[kangaroo]

Originally posted by dj heavyweight


well i think it all comes down to money....its not 1997 any more. when you bring out somone you have to pay a huge fee for anf airline tickets, you increase you risk. we can really only expect a crowd of 3-400 these days, so brining foreign dj is that much tougher...noone wants to lose money... if ther was no risk(or enen minimal risk), the you would see us booking all kinds of forign talent. but most of us are trying to throw parties on less than 10,000...cuz its hard to make your investment back when its that amount or higher...

plus we have the added advantage of having a shitty economy...so a lot of us dont have the high paying jobs we once did..

as for lazyness....where i see that is in the choice of venues...i dont see many promoters searching for usable space thats inexpensive, i see promoters looking for a space that they dont have to do anything to use...except pay a huge fee fore. however....there is somthing to be said for ease of use...

oh i definitely agree, i'm not talking about small parties though. i'm talking about the "massives." exhibition [or seahawks stadium, whatever] parties, the big plaza parties in vancouver, general massives in california...it seems like the attendance is not down enough to say "oh well we had to cut a lineup" and they are still charging $40+, but they still seem to be cutting back on the quality.

for small parties, i definitely understand how hard it is to bring headliners out. i have yet to throw a party that costs more than $3k, and it's difficult to bring out foreign [and a lot of domestic] headliners in for that, sharing or not.

[dj heavyweight]

^^^yea werd.

[theperfectcyn]

spandecks has a line out on a few crews up norf for just this purpose,
just waiting to hear back from agents/promotion co's on the headliners.

when you're in those sister cities just look for peeps w/the same work ethic that you use...