There seems to be some (radio)web silence on the concerts post-Amsterdam? How was Berlin? What about Ghent? Any forum members attend? No set-lists or reviews/ I am so curious.....
And those t-shirts Billy said would be in Berlin? What do they look like?
I have had a long week, but luckily it started with the Muses in the Paradiso.
I went to the Berlin concert and it was a wonderful show with a small but lovely & enthusiastic audience (maybe 50-60 people?). First time seeing them and I was kinda overwhelmed, I have to say! (Personal highlights were Bea, Pearl, Finished, Mania...)
I didn't write down the setlist, but the songs played were more or less the same as at the previous shows, in no particular order (2 encores though!):
Furious, Start, Shimmer, Mexican Women, Finished, Hazing, Garoux Des Larmes, Bright Yellow Gun, Soul Soldier, Tar Kissers, Speed And Sleep, Vicky's Box, Limbo, Shark, Mania, Bea, Pearl, Devil's Roof, White Bikini Sand
As for the t-shirts, there were two styles, a lady fitted tee in light blue and a men's style in dark grey/charcoal/khaki(?), both featuring a "THROW-ING MUSES anthology" lettering (the one that popped up before, see here) (very nice looking, I think! I got both, maybe I'll get around to posting some pictures once they're out of the laundry)
The USB-drive was also sold (Anthology lossless audio files, artwork, and the Primavera broadcast video), and now I kinda regret I didn't get one, cause it's not just a regular drive but a custom one featuring the anthology package design, which really looks lovely!
Favorite overheard quote (about two songs in): "I already like them and I don't even know who they are!"
Ah, and a few pictures of the show can be found at gettyimages.com!
thanks for the info Sarah. That tee has my name on it. also the flash drive sounds like a must, even though i have much of it, it will be a little precious treasure to pet & love....
err... moving quickly on, it almost makes me cry to think TM can play one of the major european cities and only attract 50 or 60 people? backs up my comments that we need to help out on the promotion front. That cannot be sustainable and if it is unsustainable we are in danger of TM reverting back to being an occasional band performing rarely.
brightyellowboi's post concerning Manchester is also worrying. If a local promoter, who's job is to keep track of the local scene, is oblivious, what hope anybody else?
In these times of increasing costs and diminishing returns, a good promotional package is essential. I cannot believe there are only 50-60 people in Berlin who would turn out for this. Last time K played in London solo, a record producer at the BBC, on a very well known evening show, was stunned to discover he had missed K's only london show, and confessed to having no clue she was even touring. I beleive the Strange Angels can help out here.
Yeah, the turnout did strike me as disappointing, as well. I kinda felt bad then about getting in for free with my "Strange Angel" card... (luckily there's always the Tip Jar!) I HOPE that there were more people than that, I counted about 30 before the support act came on, but the room definitely filled up some afterwards. Most of the people around me struck me as long-time fans, knowing the songs, singing along... and not casual concert goers. I noticed a lot of English speaking voices, as well. A wild guess might be that most of the people probably got the touring info from here, Kristin's Twitter or something akin to that. As I'm not from the Berlin area myself and don't read much German music press these days, I wouldn't know about the (local) promotion beforehand - but there have not been too many promoting articles from Germany online, for sure!
There HAVE to be more people than that wanting to see TM in Germany. Not only from Berlin, but also from other cities - I myself got there from the other side of the country just to see them.
Another thing that I noticed was that there was no mention whatsoever of CASHmusic/the Strange Angel subscription program or even the new Throwing Muses album - I know that they are humble people, but maybe some flyers/small posters in the merch area advertising the subscription possibilities might be helpful?
I agree Sarah. It is unthinkable that TM are not better known in Germany, but as on other threads, this is not a tour promoted by the label. I think the word of mouth approach, taken by the venues is clearly failing.
I have been to many poorly supported gigs in the past, and more recently too, but usually these are bands so off the radar......
just answered my own point
50 or 60 people to see Throwing Muses?! I could cry, I am that angry & upset about this. I've seen way more than that turn out for unsigned bands without a single out. What can we do to push sales? I'd hate for them to not tour again because it isn't a viable option. It angers me that 4ad seem to be doing nothing to help promote them even though they have a record coming out 7th Nov Anthology single disc version.
I have no clue how this usually works in the world of labels and such (especially with the Muses not being on 4ad anymore), but I definitely think there could have been more support from 4ad here. This together with the Manchester venue change is starting to slightly scare me, too. Seems it really is in the hands of the fans to spread the word.
On a brighter note, I remember Kristin twittering about the Paradiso show being a "packed house", so maybe the Berlin show was a one-off in that regard (the venue isn't that big to begin with, either!) - so here's hoping that the British shows will be visited better!
We can still try to help with some local promotion? I've been onto 4ad & xfm Manchester asking them to promote the gigs via twitter, anyone want to do similar for Facebook?, any ideas? I just wanna help!
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