US "touring band" gets found out in Bristol

[Cato]

3 minutes ago, EliasMooseblaster said:

I just went to peruse the front page, and noticed he's now made it onto the front page of the Graun. I'm beginning to suspect this is what he was hoping for all along...

I'm certain the guy is delighted with the way this has turned out.

I also wonder if he might actually sell some real tickets for the remaining shows of the 'tour' to curious punters who wouldn't have otherwise thought of going.

[uk_lefty]

11 minutes ago, Cato said:

I'm certain the guy is delighted with the way this has turned out.

I also wonder if he might actually sell some real tickets for the remaining shows of the 'tour' to curious punters who wouldn't have otherwise thought of going.

Hmmm he is going for the hipster crowd who enjoy nothing but will attend "ironically"... Plus a few junior journalists getting the thin end of the wedge when assignments are handed out. 

He has cracked it! I think he could have only got more publicity by being a serial killer. 

[Roger2611]

20 hours ago, arthurhenry said:

Facebook  page says "The Shed"

Yes, it is at the Shed or the Vault which is the downstairs of the Shed

[spectoremg]

On 11/11/2018 at 09:46, Rich said:

Just watched his youtube clip. Pretty dreadful 3 minutes and 41 seconds I'm not getting back. But I suppose it gave him the 'view' he wanted.

I lasted 10 seconds into Living is Dying. He could however be the new Ronnie Dio with that title.

[operative451]

International... Also, top tip, Canadian shouty man is funny and has good recording tips...

 

[petebassist]

I see today that this story has been recycled in the Grauniad. Not quite the Great Rock n Roll Swindle, but this guy's gonna be temporarily very famous/infamous.

Sounds like he might be looking for a bass player if anyone's free at the moment...

[BigRedX]

I think there is more to this story than is being reported.

Anyone other than Threatin who is out of pocket as a result of this, then it's down to them not doing their due diligence and they have IMO no-one but themselves to blame.

I have a feeling it will come out as some sort of "stunt" to show how easily it is to manipulate things via social media, which is why the rest of the tour has been cancelled. No doubt all will be revealed at some point in the future.

[urbanx]

The unfortunate truth is most promoters and venues will gauge someones success  / popularity on that number on their FB page. 

 

Usually bands tell the venue they've barely sold any tickets, while pocketing the cash...😂

[EliasMooseblaster]

20 hours ago, operative451 said:

International... Also, top tip, Canadian shouty man is funny and has good recording tips...

I didn't realise Mr Fricker did music news as well these days! I do quite enjoy Canadian Shout Man's oeuvre, and he makes a very good point: even if this stunt has got the guy's name onto papers and blogs around the world, who in their right mind is now going to book their venue out to a well-known con-man?

[BigRedX]

But is it actually a con if no-one has lost any money other than the band and the centre of all of this? 

IME venues will want enough money up front to cover their costs. Maybe they could have let the night go to a band that would have actually brought in some punters and made more money, but they shouldn't have actually made a loss putting Threatin on.

Also AFAICS the support bands don't appear to have done a lot of promotion if they are playing to near empty venues as well. If it had been one of my bands we'd have promoted the flip out of this gig and got a decent sized audience even if they had all left after we'd finished playing.

I don't think this affair reflects well on any of the other "players" either.

[EliasMooseblaster]

By the sound of it, the venue in Bristol nearly did lose out - the local article in the OP mentions that they had it out with Mr Threatin and his tour manager until he shuffled off in a huff and came back with the hire fee. I'd be very surprised if this was their normal modus operandi, and must assume that they had the wool pulled over their eyes by this shady "promotions company" assuring them that 180 Bristolians (not Brazilians...) had purchased tickets - of course, I can only speculate without knowing the finer details.

In any case, I take your point re the support bands - how the hell did they get on the bill if they couldn't even draw a dozen people to one of their bigger local venues? Again, pure speculation, but perhaps more experienced bands had seen through Mr Threatin's facade when he was looking for support acts...

[bassbiscuits]

Having drawn all this attention to himself, the best bit is that his song on Youtube is an absolute sack of cack anyway. Awesome.

[uk_lefty]

2 hours ago, BigRedX said:

But is it actually a con if no-one has lost any money other than the band and the centre of all of this? 

IME venues will want enough money up front to cover their costs. Maybe they could have let the night go to a band that would have actually brought in some punters and made more money, but they shouldn't have actually made a loss putting Threatin on.

Also AFAICS the support bands don't appear to have done a lot of promotion if they are playing to near empty venues as well. If it had been one of my bands we'd have promoted the flip out of this gig and got a decent sized audience even if they had all left after we'd finished playing.

I don't think this affair reflects well on any of the other "players" either.

It must be embarrassing for the venue's, they've now got an empty slot and it's national news that any idiot can book them saying they're a big touring band.

Agree on the support acts, unless getting hold of tickets was stupid expensive or difficult on some way. 

The article says that the "artist" had a hired band, which is what brings me to think he's a fantasist that somehow got people to play along/ turn a blind eye and take his cash, rather than this being a clever-clever stunt about social media.

[mcnach]

I find it very interesting how many people are quick at saying how crap his son(s) is (are)... I'd love to hear the songs these people write

[NancyJohnson]

Years ago, the original Nancy Johnson played a gig to a soundguy and a lone barman.

We were asked to step in because illness had caused a band to pull out.  This was about 24 hours beforehand.

Turn up on the day, the headliners had now pulled out as well.  The promoter had found an acoustic/cajon duo (bit of a mismatch TBH) and assured us tickets had been ore-sold.  The duo played to us four and departed citing a long journey (Bracknell to Basingstoke, sigh) and work next day, so the place was empty.

We didn't get a Grauniad review, happily.

Edited November 14, 2018 by NancyJohnson

[bassbiscuits]

15 hours ago, mcnach said:

I find it very interesting how many people are quick at saying how crap his son(s) is (are)... I'd love to hear the songs these people write

You'd be more than welcome to come along to one of my gigs and hear them for yourself.

They're not American guitar metal tho. Thankfully. 😀

[BigRedX]

20 hours ago, urbanx said:

The unfortunate truth is most promoters and venues will gauge someones success  / popularity on that number on their FB page. 

Well then they're stupid and they'll die (or go out of business).

[BigRedX]

It's not uncommon for foreign bands to come to the UK and play to minuscule audiences, I've been some of these audiences. 

The Terrortones were even the support band on one of those tours. We landed a support with German Rockabilly band Boppin' B. In their home country they are pretty well known - my more musically-inclined German relatives had all heard of them and were impressed that we had got the gigs. The reality was that apart form the final date of the tour at The Underworld in Camden where The Meteors were also on the bill and had consequently sold out, we spent a week travelling up and down the country playing to tiny audiences most of whom had come specifically to see us.

For some reason that didn't make the front page of the Gruaniad.

[Monkey Steve]

20 hours ago, urbanx said:

The unfortunate truth is most promoters and venues will gauge someones success  / popularity on that number on their FB page. 

 

Usually bands tell the venue they've barely sold any tickets, while pocketing the cash...😂

But the issue here is that he was his own promoter - he was pretending to be a promoter/agency and booking the venues.  So he knew very well that he had no following and hadn't sold any tickets.  For a gig in these types of venues I would expect the headliner to be getting a fee from the promoter, regardless of how many people turn up, and for the band to make sure that all of their travel expenses, etc are covered.  Clearly if the band is also the promoter then that's not happening, so this is a very expensive lesson.  From the tone of his other YouTube videos, etc, sounds like he was happy to lose money so that he could claim to have been on a headlining European Tour

From the venue's point of view, having agreed and been paid the hire fee, they have to open up and provide the staff.  However, venues do tend to assume that there will be a certain level of punters through the door for alcohol sales, so while they have to put on the show even if there's no audience, they won't be best pleased or keen to have you back, hence the naming and shaming/blacklisting

For all that, if he had the brass balls to do it in the first place, it's a shame that he doesn't have the brass balls to ride it out.  If we read in, say, an Iggy Pop biography that the Stooges did the same thing in 1967 we'd all think it was a brilliant bit of rock n roll history

 

 

[mcnach]

1 hour ago, bassbiscuits said:

You'd be more than welcome to come along to one of my gigs and hear them for yourself.

They're not American guitar metal tho. Thankfully. 😀

 

Only if you use picture frames as props onstage 😛

[Rich]

16 hours ago, mcnach said:

I find it very interesting how many people are quick at saying how crap his son(s) is (are)... I'd love to hear the songs these people write

Yeah you're right. I hang my head in shame for expressing an opinion. I also take back my comments on Andie Macdowell, as I'm not an actor.

[Muzz]

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

Well then they're stupid and they'll die (or go out of business).

Blimey, I hadn't imagined music promotion was so risky... 😕

[Merton]

Interview with the (now former!) touring drummerist:

https://www.loudersound.com/features/threatin-interview-inside-the-years-most-talked-about-tour

[Teebs]

On 13/11/2018 at 10:31, petebassist said:

Sounds like he might be looking for a bass player if anyone's free at the moment...

I would, but I'm on a world tour at the mo - supporting Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin & Davie Bowie

[Ricky 4000]

The guy probably borrowed 50k off his old nana to "live the dream". Or maybe he used a redundancy payout - Like David Brent did to record his single? 👍

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB0kKi5p8Ho

Edited November 14, 2018 by Ricky 4000