GOD FORBID guitarist Dallas Coyle has written the latest entry for his weekly column on MetalSucks, “The Hard R.” This week’s entry focuses on the challenges touring bands are meeting as the price of gas climbs ever higher.

An excerpt from the blog follows:

"Most support bands get anywhere from 100-500 bucks a night. With a 6 hour drive, the average for a tour, those bands getting 100 dollars might as well stay home. They are spending a hundred dollars a day between 5 people to stay on the road because the gas is more than their guarantee. Those bands getting 500 bucks a day are only making about 200 bucks a day after the drive. What about a hotel here and there? They won't be able to afford it. Before this gas crisis we'd make 500 bucks a day in a van and be able to make some good money if you went by our frugal standards of living. Those days are now gone. I believe LIGHT THIS CITY broke up because of this to a certain extent and I believe you're going to see a lot of bands dropping off a lot of tours. Especially the THRASH AND BURN and SUMMER SLAUGHTER tours. Those tours have so many bands that some aren't going to be able to compete. It's like politics. Imagine what the presidential election looked like 8 months ago compared to now. It's a 2 person election now but 8 months ago it was a 16 person race. Only so many can compete.

It's Darwin with these conditions.

Now, how to fix this problem? I wish I had any kind of real answer. I don't. I do have some ideas about making the circumstances better.

First, it's up to the bands who are in a position to tour. It is YOUR decision to say yes and no to tours. I know how labels and agents will pressure you into doing shit you know you don't want to do or just can't do. If that's the case tell them to FUCK OFF! Seriously! Agents and labels want you to do those things because they make money when you do what they want. 10% for the agent and record sales for the label. It's not hard to figure out.

Second, if you do decide you want to tour make sure there aren't more than 4 bands on a package. Hell, if you can get it down to three, do it with three. Why? When people come to a show they only have X amount of dollars. If they have to decide which bands they want to spend money on because there are 5 bands they like, somebody will lose. That's not conducive to touring these days. Maybe it was back when we started but now it's a not even a gamble. It's a lose-lose situation.

Third, if you happen to go on tour with a band almost the same size as you don't act like the burden is just yours. Instead of having your one van and working with your one crew, see if there is any way for you guys to split things down the middle between the two of you. This is actually a great way to go about it. Have one merch guy everyone pays. Have both bands ride in one van if you're not hiring any crew to save money on gas. The smart way of doing business wins in these times.

Fourth, look into bio-diesel touring. On the last tour, Brian from LIGHT THIS CITY gave us the run down on it and we're seriously considering it. He let us know they make these new types of diesel conversion modules that cut your cost on gas from 5K a month to 250 bucks a month. I looked it up and sure enough the technology is out there AND it's been around for a long time. You need a diesel van and 3000 bucks to convert to this standard.

Here's a website for you to check out: goldenfuelsystems.com

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