Best I can do is a three nighter in North Africa
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Sam Sutton is leaving the merch booth position, I’d love for them give him a shot at management but safe to assume that KB is here to stay.
You would? He’s the guy picking print artists & green lighting designs, a job he’s unquestionably fumbled for years.
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Didn’t think about it like that, he’s just a great guy in general. I’d argue he’s way more in touch with the fans than KB as well.
I agree, he is a very nice guy and I’ve had nothing but nice interactions with him.
Running a merch booth and managing a band are completely different animals
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Yeah, I was just about to say the same thing…I guess I should’ve also said I think they need to get some younger blood with a better grasp of the recent shape of the scene.
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That’s something I can get behind. I think KB hit a ton of home runs early in the bands career, but it definitely feels like his luck has run out. I can’t imagine the band has the heart to make a change tho.
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ftfy
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True, and I respect the loyalty to one of their friends. That said, it’s a business and all that NFT shit seemed like an absolute flop (unless it’s wildly profitable and we are completely in the dark).
I honestly feel like the overall change in the feel of their studio releases have alienated typical jam band fans while simultaneously failing to pick up the crotch rock and alt rock fans they maybe hoped to attract. Anchor Drops may well be one of my favorite albums ever, with LBDOK and Mantis close seconds. They haven’t touch that level of engagement with me since then.
But bands evolve and sometimes our tastes just don’t evolve with the new releases. I say this as the biggest U2 fan boi in that 80’s that couldn’t listen to them after 1992.
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I think it’s a myriad of things. I’m sure the new material is part of it, but I don’t think people were going to shows entirely to see the songs they liked the most off a new album. That was never why I started seeing them.
My comments were less related to the decrease in fanbase and more geared toward not thinking a merch guy that eliminated cool prints could manage a rock band.
Post covid landscape has changed. There is still a chunk of the population who is not as comfortable going to concerts, inflation has folks not spending as much on concerts the past few years, there was a ton of competition for shows with every band and their mother touring post Covid. Not sure how much $ they used to get from TourGigs streams but with that going to free streams on Nugs that is probably reduced their income.
Add to that UM’s aging fanbase who have more work and family responsibilities and less time + money to spend on tour and it’s a recipe for disaster. They are going to have to find other revenue streams to survive.
They already have started expanding their revenue streams to Facebook marketplace for instance.
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Stasik put his grill up for sale last week.
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they just sold and moved out of their beach house.
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I wondered if they were moving
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If it really is the end times, I’m so happy I finally got my terrr dream checked off.
What was your ter dream? The most shows I did in a stretch was 32 out of 38 from December 2009 to March 2010. I love permaTER!
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So glad I’ll hit my 3rd show tomorrow. That obviously means they’re trending up, right?
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Always wanted to follow the guys. Did so during their winter tour beginning of this year. Knocked UmBowl off my bucket list. Saw our beautiful nation from Boston to LA. Never did anything like that before. Indy will be my 17th show this year. I’ve got tix for NYE, that’s the last big UMs thing I’ve left to do.
Then 2025 is the year of the Squeak
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