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* "a full cup of coffee, a full tank of gas, an open road and a real good idea is all you'll ever need."

Sunday night I made the hourlong drive over to Raleigh to catch the fine Salt Lake City group Band Of Annuals, who I'd been fortunate enough to stumble upon a few months ago during a visit to Seattle. Sadly I discovered upon arriving at the Pour House that the band's van had apparently broken down en route to the gig, and they were stuck in the middle of nowhere on a Sunday with no prospects for getting it fixed until at least the following day. (Longtime local stalwarts Regina Hexaphone, with guest Jeffrey Dean Foster, had been scheduled to open and stuck around to play a quite enjoyable set, which kept the trip from being all-for-naught.)

Still, in this age of gas prices at $4 a gallon and rising (to paraphrase/adapt the old De La Soul title), the investment involved with just going to see a show strikes home a lot more forcefully these days. Even in a car like ours that gets decent gas-mileage (25-30mpg), going to Raleigh from where we live is a minimum $15 round-trip.

And if that's the dilemma for fans wishing to attend shows (particularly those who, like me, have moved further out to find an affordable house), it's difficult to fathom the toll gas prices have taken on the bands themselves. Never mind the risk of breaking down and missing gigs while waiting for the van to get fixed; the expense of just getting from one show to the next, driving hundreds of miles in a gas-guzzling Econoline with gas prices more than double what they were just five years ago, seems like it might be enough to kill a lot of young bands. (Especially given the shrinking value of CD sales in the digital age, to which the answer was supposed to be, "But you can still make money by going on tour.")

I'd be interested in hearing some thoughts from touring musicians about this. Just how much is the price of gas affecting or curtailing your plans to hit the road this year? Are we nearing (or have we perhaps already passed) a tipping-point where it just isn't worth it anymore?

Leave comments below if you're so inclined. And thanks for stopping by.

adios,
peter

p.s. -- bonus points if you can name the artist whose quote appears in the subject-line of this post.

UPDATE: Here's a link to a good piece about this very subject:

http://blog.oregonlive.com/popmusic/2008/06/bands_on_the_run_from_high_gas.html

Posted by peter on June 11, 2008 11:10 AM | Permalink