In 2020 the world changed when COVID-19 forced people to stay home and halted artists around the world from performing live. Two years later live performances are in full swing due to the fact that many bands and artists have begun touring. Despite the success of the live performances, some artists are struggling due to how expensive it is to be touring during the post pandemic.
Today blabbermouth.net has reported that during an interview with Metallerium Canadian singer Devin Townsend discussed about the realism of post-pandemic touring which includes the cost of gas, tour buses, hotels, and flights.
“It’s gotten way worse. I don’t think it’s better at all, actually. Because the costs of touring now, with inflation and the cost of gasoline and diesel… Plus, over the course of the pandemic, we’ve lost a ton of really good venues. I’d say probably 50 percent of the workforce in touring has now left. ‘Cause what’s a guitar tech gonna do for two years? You have to get a job, right? And so the ones that are remaining, not only are they already spoken for with other bands, but they’re almost twice as expensive.” said Townsend.
Also during the interview Townsend talks about his opinions regarding how pricey it has been when touring and performing live.
The singer added “It’s 10 times as expensive. It’s, like, what do you do? Even little things like, okay, the hotels are more expensive; the food at the hotels [is] more expensive. So at the end of it, you’re touring for what? You’re touring ultimately so you can present your work to the people who care about your work, and that’s worth it to me. But I think for anybody to think that it’s now easy again, you should investigate that, because I’m trying to set up tours for next year, and there’s no way to keep them within cost — there’s no way.”
Perhaps the highlight of the interview is when Townsend explains how he hope fans notice the hard work bands and artists put into a show and how in today’s touring has become a lot harder than it was in the ’80s.
“The hope is that by doing it people recognize the effort. Again, it’s not like MÖTLEY CRÜE in the ’80s, where [you had] three tour buses and a semi-truck and millions of dollars and women and all that sort of stuff. I think for prog metal, none of those things exist.” said Townsend
Although the music world is booming with wonderful live performances, the struggle is real for some bands and artists because it has gotten really expensive for those who struggled with making money during the pandemic.
Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat
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