[Heeplist] Touring classic rock and new music

[RC McWilliams]

Having worked in this business for a long time, it has been my experience that the problem lies with the promoters and not the bands.  A classic rock act will usually be required to play a certain percentage of hit material. Many acts like Foghat, Styx and REO will continue to release great new music, but in order to satisfy the casual fans who are buying the tickets, they must play the hits. There are not enough ticket sales from us hardcore fans to support the acts and the tour. There are some acts ( todd rundgren comes to mind and I'm sure there are others) that will take a new album out on tour and play smaller venues for less money and hope for the best, but it is risky. The usual recourse, then, is to follow it up with a hits tour to make more money.  I'm afraid that UH will only be allowed to present a certain amount of the new material on the next tour as they did a couple of years ago with Outsider.  It sucks for us fans, but unfortunately it is the nature of touring for classic acts.
Mcfoghat