How accurate is this list?
If it is somewhat accurate, any surprises about what a particular band asks for? Some of the bands that would appear for $15,000 were a little surprising.
How much does it REALLY cost to book your favorite band for a show? - Lambgoat?
I can’t imagine paying $200 for a Natalie Merchant-less 10,000 Maniacs, much less $20,000.
Slayer is only $30,000? Wow, that would be one cool night if you could make it happen.
An Allen Toussaint/Joe Ely double-Bill is awfully tempting.
Gwen Stefani is $400k but you can get No Doubt for $300k. I thought maybe she wasn’t with the group any longer but according to Wiki she is.
I’m surprised that They Might Be Giants is a mere $15k. That’s less than (random grab) The Dandy Warhols at $25k. There’s gotta be more TMBG fans out there than Dandy Warhol fans.
For a svelte $7.5k, practically couch change, I can get The Georgia Satellites to play “Keep Your Hands To Yourself” for two hours.
Crosby & Nash is $100k but Crosby, Stills & Nash is $250k. Stephan Stills is expensive, I guess.
Some weirdness. Annie Lennox is $850,000+ but The Eurythmics are only $150,000+.
I guess the “+” covers a lot of variation. Otherwise, I’ll take the latter thanks - I’m sure that putting up with Dave Stewart is worth the $700,000 saving.
I wonder under what conditions these acts would play. If you give Elvis Costello 350 grand but tell him “only play songs from your first three albums, nothing else” would he take it? If you offer Dokken fifteen thousand but they find out they’re playing your uncle’s 50th birthday backyard barbeque, do they walk?
Plus who the hell is paying ten to twenty grand for tribute acts? Why pay ten thousand for a Stones tribute band when you can find them in any neighborhood bar?
I would’ve thought Shinedown would be more than $250,000.
I think the real bargain is Dick Dale for $7500.
Otis Day & The Knights are $12,500. A bit much for an Animal House tribute party. (What I’d like is a really good Beatles tribute band.)
Iggy Pop is $100,000+
I assure you, if you just want the Iggy without the Pop you’re going to be disappointed.
TMBG are really cool and tend to do stuff for kids, though. I could totally buy them keeping a low price even if they could get more. $15k is probably only a tiny bit over travel expenses to most places for a band, crew, and a bunch of equipment.
I get the feeling that the people who command “$999,999+” aren’t actually asking for that much, but rather indirectly saying “not interested in playing at your community college in Nowhere, Minnesota.”
Yeah, I saw that too. I was like. Man, I could maybe afford that, if I really wanted to throw a crackin’ party, especially if I split it a few ways with some friends. I mean, that can’t be right, can it? I don’t want to throw names of lame bands out there, but look at some of the folks charging 5-10x the price.
Adrien Belew for $10,000!? It would be worth that just to have him sit on stage, diddle with his guitar and tell stories/BS. I saw Adrian in a really small venue once, and it was more like hanging out with him than watching a concert.
Only a quarter million dollars to hire Kesha! Maybe once I get my mortgage paid off…
Yeah. I mean, the Black Keys at $1 million?
That list is very questionable. I got just half way through the Bs and there are two bands who are no longer touring and one dead man.
Well, how expensive was he?
And the price is for a one-off show. NOT a stop on a tour. The California Guitar Trio only wants $7,500. Not bad.
I get the feeling they’re happy where they are without making huge amounts of money. They do a lot of free shows, and if you look at some of their opportunities for self-promotion (and therefore more money) they don’t seem to try as hard as some bands. Some of the songs they play as guests on talk shows are really not what you’d call crowd-pleasers and seem to have a hint of trollery about them. If money isn’t your main focus, why be in a band at all if you don’t like playing for people?
I doubt the 15k number (to keep using this example) is supposed to cover a lot of expenses, though. It’s 15k and up. If they want 15k to play locally, presumably they want more to play 3,000 miles away.