Publication:
MaximumRockNRoll

Author:
Felix Von Havoc

MRR #209
Sorry to everyone eagerly awaiting the continuation of the Code 13 Pacific tour saga. You will have to wait another month as I have just returned breathless from the frontlines here in America. Below is my report from the front after the DS 13 USA tour and Thrash Fest 2000. This is NOT a tour diary or show review. It is I using the DS 13 tour and the Thrash Fest 2000 as examples of how YOU could set up a tour for a band or book a festival in your town. I'm not saying I'm the best or have all the answers but I do have considerable experience to share. I will be long on details, and show the costs and numbers to help people understand what is involved behind the scenes. There will be a big emphasis herein on money and expenses. I'd love to go on tour and play music just for the fun of it. However, most working class kids don't have this option, and the standard for a DIY tour is to cover at least travel expenses. That is transportation to the gigs in the USA and airfare from overseas. I want to ensure a band that if they come over they will at least have their travel expenses covered and if they are lucky a little money at the end of the tour to cover their food and beer expenses or rent on their crib back home while they were gone.

The Swedish Invasion: OK Swedish hardcore is hot in the USA right now. If you work in a record store you know that there are a lot of good bands in all the genres from Sweden. For the most part the Swedish bands are well rehearsed, have good production, nicely packaged records, and most importantly write popular songs. Some have argued that since Sweden is a relatively rich country that it's unfair to bring so many Swedish bands over. Perhaps there are some Latvian or Indonesian bands that are more "deserving" of a US tour. However, the Swedish bands are what people are listening too, therefore people will come see them, therefore their tours will be successful. I for one have been really into Scandinavian punk music for fifteen years so I'm really excited that this music is starting to get more recognition. I mean, how different would the scene be today if Mob 47 or Crude SS had done US tours in the 80's. Anyway, the Swedish Invasion was to go like this; Intensity, Scumbrigade, and DS 13 were to come over one after the other. All three bands would use the same gear and van, which I was to provide. I also took care of printing tour shirts for the bands. Timmy "little beaver" Hefner did all the booking for Intensity and Scumbrigade. I did all the booking for DS 13. Simultaneously Kelly booked a West Coast tour for Wolfpack. As I write this forces are at work to book a US tour for Skitsystem some time soon. And last I heard Diskonto was still looking for a US band to tour with.

One band or two: It's pretty common when bringing a foreign band over to pair them with a US band for their tour. The trailblazers were of course Toxic Reasons who used to tour Europe with a band then bring them over to tour the states with them. This is how we all got to see CCM, KGB and Raw Power back in the day. For Intensity, Scumbrigade and DS 13 Timmy and I decided that it would be better to provide a van and equipment than to have another band and have to split the money. I charged each band 1,000$ for the van and equipment rental. This was a better deal than to split the money every night with a US band. Also consider that touring during the summer months most shows are with several other out of town bands already, so one more band is often more of a detriment than an asset.

When to tour: Honestly I think its best to tour in the late fall and early spring. Simply because everyone tours in the summer. Most bands seem to have a least one student in them and so schedule their tours around summer vacation. Or they just go on the road in June and July because that's what everyone else does. This means that every show you play in June, July and August has like three or four touring bands on it. On top of that there are maybe four shows a week in most cities and a show every night in some. This seriously cuts into your draw and your pay. But that's not the way most people see it so all the bands tour in the summer. With DS 13 it was the only time they could all get off their respective jobs to tour so I bit the bullet and prepared for a July tour. From my experience touring with Code 13 in January and February, we drew big crowds because there were no other shows with out of town bands for like months and we got to play with all the good local bands instead of the same touring bands every night.

Are you ready to tour? Is your band really ready to tour? Think very carefully about this. Lots of bands go on tour and fail miserably because no one has heard of them. People are less willing to help book shows for unknown bands and people are less willing to come out to see them. I'd make sure you have some good releases out that are selling well. I'd try to get some interviews in zines and send out lots of copies of your record to bands you'd like to play with. Successful touring is all about preparation. Spend your time and money practicing, writing good songs and buying good equipment and studio time. Release a well-recorded and produced record with a nice cover. If you are passionate about your music, sincere in your message and committed to the scene it will come through in your music and your artwork. This is how your band gets noticed and what makes people want to set up gigs for you. As for the Swedes, Timmy spent some time in Europe and made friends with Intensity and Scumbrigade. I had been a big fan of DS 13 since hearing their first 7" which I later re-released on my label. All three bands have been together for some time with numerous releases out. That said, we were still concerned that they weren't very well known in the states. DS 13 had a 7" out on Havoc that had sold about 2500 copies, mostly in the US. They also just released an LP on Deranged from Toronto, which has sold really well and gotten some very good reviews. DS 13 also released a 7" on Insect/Communichaos, which was re-released in North America by Deranged. There was also split 7"s with STGM and Blood of Others although I don't think those were very well distributed in the states. Still I was concerned so I rushed out a split 7" of DS 13 and Code 13. Since Code 13 sells a lot of records in the states I felt this would help reach a lot of people who maybe had never heard DS 13. The two bands were a very good match for a split 7" having similar musical styles and both with the same lucky number. We rushed to get this record out in time for the Chicago fest and to make sure that it would be shipped to distributors before Code 13 left for the Pacific tour.

How long to tour: Personally I think you need a least six weeks to do a proper US tour. Two months is better especially if you are going to do some Canadian gigs as well or take a few days off. This was my biggest cause of concern with DS 13. They could only get one month off from work to tour. This meant having to cut out a big chunk of the US and Canada completely. Also it meant a blitz tour, only playing the major cities and covering vast distances in marathon drives. I apologize to all the DS 13 fans in the South and Southwest whom we bypassed.

Where to tour: There are a lot of "East Coast Tours" and "West Coast Tours" going on these days. I think if a band is coming over from Europe they should tour the whole country, from Sea to Shining Sea. That said, you would want to book your tour around some major population centers with good punk scenes. I always book my tours around when I can get gigs at Gilman St. and ABC No Rio as those are the foremost DIY venues in two of the more important cities for punk music. Also keep in mind any festivals that might be going on and then fill in the blanks from there. There is definitely something to be said for going places most bands don't go as the kids there will be really excited to see an out of town band. I've done tours where we got a much better response in places like Greenville NC than New York City or San Francisco.

The Personality test: Can you stand being in a van with these guys for one or two months? An important but often overlooked issue. Lots of bands break up on or after tours do the stress of being crammed together for weeks on end. Some bands are composed of best friends who hang out together all the time or live together. Others, are people who see each other only at practice. While they might work well together on songwriting, living cheek to jowl on the road for months might not be an option. Small problems up close seem very large and minor personality conflicts can turn into huge rifts in a band on tour. I personally always advise against bringing girlfriends on tour. This almost always results in the band siding against the couple in every argument and frequently results in the band breaking up. (See: Spinal Tap) I also advise against bringing a ton of roadies and friends on tour. This puts unnecessary strain on people who might be feeding and housing you. Also, that many more people to keep track of, wait for and accommodate makes things just that much more difficult. I was pretty sure I would be able to get along with DS 13 as I had met them and seen them twice in Sweden. Also they are mostly Straight Edge which is a lot more easy for me to handle then some of the wild drunks who have been in Code 13. Nothing would suck more than going to pick up a band at the airport and finding out they are complete dicks. I know of at least one band that got sent back from Europe because the guys who set up their tour thought they were jerks and rock stars.

Your tour Van: This is one of the most important considerations for your tour. If one of the band members already has a van great. If not one of you will have to get one or all pitch in together. If you've been saving your money from gigs and merchandise for a while you might be able to buy a van with your band fund, but ultimately one of you is going to have to insure it and take care of maintenance. Regardless, put as much money and time into buying a van as you can. Buy the best low mileage, latest model van you can afford. Code 13 lost so much money and missed so many gigs because of our shitty tour van. We bought a 1971 GMC Step Van (formerly a Taystee Bread delivery truck) with 210,000 miles on it for 2,000$. This van was super cool; I built bunks and shelves in it and carpeted it. Each of us had our own bunk, there was plenty of room for all our gear, and merch. There was a table you could sit at and you could get up and walk around while driving. It was more like a camper than a tour van. Unfortunately it was mechanically a total write off. We sunk so much time and money into that van it crippled us as far as recording and guaranteed that every one of our tours lost money. We wound up replacing the engine three times, the transmission, tires, brakes, exhaust, front end, drive shaft and carrier bearing, tons of electrical work, etc. etc. In five years I dumped over 15,000$ into that van, on top of the purchase price. On top of that with our last engine/transmission set up we only got 6 miles to the gallon. This doomed every Code 13 tour before we started. When your van breaks down on tour you are fucked. You miss gigs, which sucks for the kids and you lose income from those gigs. You are usually at the mercy of some hick mechanic who will charge you a ludicrous amount to get you back on the road, and you will have little choice but to pay it or miss more gigs. As far as vans go, you will have to chose a full size or mini-van, 1/2, 2/4 or 1-ton, V-8, V-6 or straight 6 engine, Ford, Dodge, Chevy/GMC or import, Cargo Van, Passenger Van or Conversion van. Personally, unless you are a two or three piece band I think you will definitely need a full size van. If you think you can do it in a mini van, go for it you will save a ton on gas but be really cramped. I envy two piece bands like Abstain and Godstomper that probably tour in a mini-van or station wagon. Most bands will need a full size van that rules out all the more fuel-efficient imports. You get to choose between Ford, Chevy/GMC and Dodge. Vans and trucks are rated by their cargo capacity 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton and One Ton. The difference is in the suspension and gearing. 3/4 and one ton vans are set up to haul heavier loads and typically have more powerful engines and transmissions. Personally I think 1/2 ton vans are to light duty to carry a band and gear. At highway speeds the van will "swim" back and forth across the road if it is overloaded. The Ford 3/4 ton is pretty heavy duty, but for Dodge and Chevy you will probably want to go with a One ton. A good way to tell is to look at the number of lug nuts on the wheels. 5 or 6 nuts is usually a 1/2 ton or lighter 3/4 ton. Eight or ten nuts mean a heavy 3/4 ton or one ton. You will need to choose between a cargo, conversion or passenger van. Cargo vans are typically marketed to contractors and delivery companies, they are bare bones affairs, coming from the dealership with just the two front seats. This allows you free reign to build a loft and add seats in the cargo area. Cargo vans typically have few or no windows in the cargo area. This sucks for the guys riding in back, but is good from the perspective of not getting your gear stolen or windows smashed out by angry fans. Conversion vans are the fancy tricked out vans with lots of comfy chairs, big windows, TV's, drink holders etc. These are very comfortable but leave little space for your gear. I would only recommend such a van if you plan to tow your gear in a trailer. Passenger vans typically have three or four bench seats and windows all the way around. You can just rip out the back seats to have room for your gear, or once again use a trailer. On the subject of trailers, I personally think they are a pain in the ass to park, and susceptible to theft. Also most trailers have super small wheels that invariably seem to spin out wheel bearings and go flat on long trips. If you do use a trailer get one with a heavy suspension and wheels that are more like truck wheels than little lawnmower wheels. When it comes to engines you will typically have a choice between power and economy. The best balance of power and economy is in a diesel engine but these are pretty rare in the USA except in big trucks and busses. If you are towing or hauling a lot of gear and people you will probably want a V-8 such as a 350, 351 or 318. Anything bigger, like 400's, 454's etc is total overkill. You can probably sacrifice a little power for economy and run an inline six cylinder such as ford 300. I've always felt V-6 engines were the worst of both worlds but as far as I know they are a little less powerful, but get slightly better mileage than a V-8. You will want to build a loft in the back of your van and store the gear under it. You can either sleep or store you luggage and merch on the loft. If you build the top of the loft even with the bottom of the rear windows and enclose it from the front this will make your gear very difficult to see and steal. A few 2x4s and some 1/2" plywood is all you need. You will want to establish an order to loading your van to ensure maximum efficiency. Try to keep your personal luggage separate so you don't have to deal with loading and unloading it at every gig. So now we know a few things about tour vans. For the Swedish invasion I chose a 1993 Ford 3/4 ton Cargo van with a 300 straight six and an overdrive transmission. This was carefully calculated to be the maximum fuel economy versus load capacity possible. The van cost 4800$ and went into the shop immediately for about 2000$ worth of work. On top of that I put new tires on it (left over from our old tour van) and bought seats at a junkyard. My intention was to charge each band 1,000$ for the use of van and then sell it at the end of the last tour. This van made it 20,000 miles with only two minor breakdowns, a clogged fuel filter and a busted U-joint.

Tragedy strikes: As many of you already know Intensity was refused entry into the USA. This meant one third of the Swedish tour triad was cancelled. A really low blow to everyone, especially Intensity. A few weeks later while Code 13 was on tour in the Philippines my Blazer got stolen from behind Tattoo Shane's place where I was storing it. Since I had switched the insurance from the Blazer to the tour van for Scumbrigade, it was not covered. The Blazer was recovered a few days later totally stripped. I had planned on selling it for maybe four or five thousand. Instead I got a few hundred from the junkyard for what was left. I had been toying with the idea of keeping the van after the tour and selling the Blazer. Now I have no choice. I mean I really didn't want a van as a daily driver, but now I've got one.

Booking your tour: First do you book your own tours or are you booking a tour for someone else. I have had really bad experiences with letting other people book shows for my bands. I had no control over the Destroy/ Oi Polloi tour booking, and that tour was a dismal failure. We spent so much time on the phone with the booking "agent" arguing over money, trying to find directions and wondering why only eight of the twenty-one shows on the tour schedule actually happened. If you decide to book a tour for someone else, especially a band from overseas be damn sure you know what you are doing. My advice to everyone is to book you own tour whenever possible. No job is done better than the one you do yourself and you will only have yourself to blame if things fuck up.

Booking a tour is all about connections. How do you get these connections? In my opinion the best way is to start booking shows in your own town. If you put on good shows for out of town bands chances are your hard work and kindness will be re paid when your band goes on tour. Even if the members of the bands you book are not actually booking in their hometowns, they can probably hook you up with someone who is and help flyer etc. The DIY scene is about working together and helping each other. If you are some ivory tower "professional musician" who never leaves the practice room don't be surprised when no one is interested in setting up a gig for you when you tour. I was surprised how easy it was to book a tour for DS 13. A lot of people actually offered to do gigs that I couldn't commit too do to the limited time available. I wish I'd had that option when I was booking Code 13 and Destroy. The fact is that the DIY scene is much more organized than at any time in the past. Its easier to get good gigs that are well organized and with good bands than at any time since I've been involved with punk.


Merchandise: Merch is a band's lifeblood on tour. I never count on the door money to pay for anything more than gas to the next gig. Bring as much stuff as you possibly can to sell. Even if you have to leave your sleeping bag and camera at home. Bring t-shirts, records, CDs, patches, buttons, stickers, etc. etc. If it’s the night before tour and you aren't screening up more patches and shirts, you should be. Bring a variety of stuff in different price ranges, lots of people will show up with only a buck but still want a patch or a sticker. If you can bring your own table and light, you won't need it every night but you'll be really glad you brought it a few nights. To the fans out there, always buy stuff from bands on tour! Buy t-shirts, records etc. this is about the only time you actually directly support the musician instead of going through store, distributor, label, etc. I always bring money to gigs and buy records and shirts to sell at Extreme Noise because I know the money is going right to the guys who made the music. This brings us to.

Label Support: Try to get your label to support you as much as possible. If you get paid in records save some of these until you go on tour to sell at the gigs. Get tons of releases from your label and sell them at every gig and every store that carries punk in towns you play. Try to get your label to help you with shirts and releases. You can also try to get your label to front you some of its other releases to sell on the road. I send every band from Minneapolis out with a box of records to sell on the road. They pay me back for what they've sold and take a cut. They make some extra cash for the tour and I move some records in places where stores aren't carrying them. As anyone who has ever toured with me can attest I got to every record store that carries punk in every town we play. Of course I'm looking for rare records in the used bins. However, it's also important to try and get them to buy some of your records and maybe some shirts. I also just like hanging out in record stores and meeting the people who are really excited about the music and bringing it to the kids. Running an independent record store these days is a tough racket. You should also get your label to help out with….

Promotion: If you can make some posters and mail them out. Put ads in MRR and other zines with your tour dates and for sure post all your dates and contact info on your web site. You can't be 100% sure your gigs are being well flyered in towns you are going to play. For instance, Scumbrigade's show in LA had zero promotion. Maybe 15 people showed up. I talked to a lot of people in LA later who really wanted to see Scumbrigade who were pissed. There was no flyer and it wasn't on the PCH club's calendar. As far as I know the only publicity at all was on the Havoc Records web site and any other site that posted the Scumbrigade tour dates. If you are really on the ball you can try to contact record stores in towns where you are playing and send them some posters and see if they are carrying your stuff. Most record stores hate getting calls like this, but if your band is any good they might be happy to hear you are coming and want to order some of your stuff.

Your gear: Bring all your gear on the road. In Europe it is very common to tour with just guitars and some drum stuff but in America you have to bring all your gear. You will probably find lots of nice bands that will be happy to share equipment with you, but don't count on it. Some people are just uptight about their gear and others are just dicks. If you can bring two guitars and two basses and tune them every night so if you break a string you can do a quick change. In Code 13 Trevor broke strings like they were going out of style and I would always have to ad lib while he changed them and tuned up. Which reminds me bring lots of strings, picks and drumsticks. Bring duct tape, flashlights and a good tool kit too, I thought everyone thought of this kind of stuff but it seems like someone is asking to borrow my shit at every gig. Some bands bring their own PA on tour. I did this once, and didn't need it. But I've showed up to several poorly organized house shows where no one seemed to think of bringing a PA. (They never have trouble figuring out who will bring the beer) You can also bring some extra mic's too. Especially if you have more than one singer. I've showed up to lots of gigs with only one mic, and if that one breaks then what?

Communication: This is one thing that has gotten so much easier in the last few years. I bought a cell phone just for the DS 13 tour and I know for a fact it saved one show from being cancelled due to us being late. If you can possibly afford it bring a cell phone, it will make your whole operation so much easier. Give the number to all the people who set up gigs for you and call them a day or two ahead of the gig to confirm everything, especially if you haven't heard from them in a while. I was able to book all but three of the gigs for the DS 13 tour by e-mail. This was a huge help. I remember sitting a pay phone with a red box booking the Destroy tour in 93. No more of that shit. E-mail a letter to all the people who set up gigs for you asking for their contact numbers, address of the venue, directions etc. If they e mail all these back to you simply print them out, staple them together and you have an instant tour itinerary with all the important details. I was stunned when we showed up in Europe and Jens had a notebook with maps and directions to every gig waiting for us. If you can have someone back in your home town (friend, room mate, your label etc.) who can keep in touch and relay messages, especially if you don't bring a cell phone. Also you might want to have someone waiting to print up more shirts or send out more records and CD's if you sell more than you thought. I know several bands that underestimated their popularity and sold all their shirts at the first few gigs. When Code 13 went to Europe our shirts got seized by German customs. So every night people asked me for shirts and I had none to sell. I'm certain our tour would have broken even if we had just had those shirts. That said don't take too much stuff. Your van probably won't have room for more than 100 or 200 shirts anyway. Have the rest shipped ahead if you can.

Doing the tour: Get up on time and show up early. Not very exciting but always better than showing up late, especially showing up after the show is over. Code 13 always had van trouble that would make us show up late for gigs. Be polite and accommodating with local bands, people whose places you stay at and gig promoters. I've had a lot of bands show up for gigs I booked and just rub me the wrong way from the start by being rockstarish pricks. You can really burn a lot of bridges by being a dick on tour; you would be amazed at how rumors can start. I think the band Bleed pretty much shot their whole career by stealing a jar of spaghetti sauce from the THD house when they stayed there. Play your best every night even if it’s a small unresponsive crowd. Remember what it was like when you were young and saw a band that blew you away that no one else was getting into. Play for that kid every night.

All of this stuff seems like common sense to me, but I'm surprised how much of this stuff I didn't do when I first started doing tours for Destroy. And how much I see bands ignoring on tour every day.

DS 13's tour: Well this tour went better than I could ever have hoped. And certainly better than any of Code 13 or Destroy's tours. Except for the Cleveland fest we had no real cancellations, no trouble with the cops, no major van breakdowns, no broken or stolen equipment, no missing or injured band members, no real fights at the gigs. Good turnouts, good crowd responses, decent to good pay, and we sold a lot of merch. We got to play with some really good bands and of course met a lot of great people, visited old friends and had our faith in hardcore renewed again.

DS 13 played Chicago, Pittsburgh, Richmond, DC, Wilkes Barre, Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York City, New Haven, Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis, Lawrence, Denver, Las Vegas, Long Beach, LA, San Diego, Berkeley, San Francisco, Reno, Portland, and Seattle. That’s only 25 gigs, about half as many as I'd recommend for a band touring from overseas. I think we were just plain lucky and fortunate that a lot of people are into DS 13's music. For those of you who ask, "how many t shirts should we bring" here is a breakdown of all the merch sales.

Sold 125 LPs, 225 patches, 428 buttons, 373 t-shirts, 29 tapes, 150 6"s, 107 CD's and maybe 500-700 7"s (three different titles) We only had the LPs for about a week and could've easily sold 400 of those if we'd had them. DS 13 also brought some records with them from Sweden and shipped some other Swedish stuff over to sell at gigs. Total profit from Merch was $3564. That's not including stuff I sold at the gigs from my label and distro. Total gate receipts was $2414. Total from the whole tour $5978. DS 13 gave me $978 for the van and the gear and took home $5000. They spent about $4000 on airfare. So for once a DIY tour actually covered all the travel expenses plus 250$ per band member to cover their food and such while they were here. I'm convinced I could've done a lot better if I'd had more time to work with. But the bottom line is that its possible with the right amount of planning, determination and hard work to bring a band from overseas and set up a totally DIY tour and break even.

But wait I'm not through yet. In the middle of the DS 13 tour I booked the Havoc Records Thrash Fest 2000. This was basically a chance for me to get all the bands on my label together for one big gig. (except for Clusterbombunit from Germany) Since there was no Barn Fest in Wisconsin this summer I felt the upper Midwest needed a destination event. Other labels like Prank, Slap a Ham and Six Weeks have festivals so why not Havoc. I Booked the gig at a local indoor skate park the Third Lair. This was really expensive as I just rented the room; I had to provide stage, PA etc. However, I wanted to do the gig away from the club scene and the rock music business in this town. I also wanted it to be a drug and alcohol free event, at least inside the building, so that it could be all ages and the cops would have no excuse to shut it down. I rented a stage and folding tables from a local rental outfit (thanks to Sean from the Real Enemy who works there for the hook up). I rented the biggest baddest PA that would fit in the room and some top shelf sound guys to run it. I hate going to shows in big halls where they skimped on the PA and it sounds like the band is ten miles away in a cave. I made some nice posters and flyers, put ads in MRR and hyped the gig on my web site. I got all the guys from the Inferno to help out with working the door, as well as Stuart, Timmy and Tony Pointless who were all visiting dignitaries but helped out anyway. The line up was Onward to Mayhem, Holding On, The Real Enemy, United Super Villains, Spazm 151, DS 13, Code 13, Aus Rotten and Nine Shocks Terror. (Brother Inferior and Distraught broke up during the planning process and the planned Destroy re-union fizzled as Markstein was in Thailand) The doors opened at noon and for the first three hours we had a record swap meet. I was pretty busy but I think a lot of people brought records to buy sell and trade. The gig started on time at 3:30 and ran until 11:30. Most of the skate park was open to skate during the show, although you had to pay the skate park an extra five bucks and wear a helmet. Once again, I was pretty busy, but I think a lot of people got to do some rad skating on the ramps. I think the view of the bands was really good from all over the room, as there were lots of ramps and such to stand on. We used plastic wristbands to identify people who had paid and didn't have much trouble with people trying to sneak in. We did throw out a few people for drinking inside and toss out a few would be gatecrashers. There was no real hassle from the cops because everyone who was drinking in the parking lot was discreet enough to pour their booze into a coffee mug or pop bottle. There were no real fights that I know of. All in all 575 people showed up to see nine great punk and hardcore bands ranging from drunk punk to Straight Edge hardcore. Everyone seems to have had a good time and got along. To me its just a miracle that a punk fest happened where all the bands scheduled actually showed up and played. We charged 12$ at the door. Bands, staff and guests accounted for about 100 people. That left 480 paid, actually about 200 less than I had hoped. The room could've held 1000. The PA, stage, flyers, wristbands, hall rental etc. came to about $4200. That left only $1560 to pay the bands. That sounds like a lot but several bands traveled really far just to play the fest and the only way Aus Rotten could do it was if half of them flew. It wouldn't be the same without Aus Rotten so I agreed to pay for their airfare. Luckily I sold a lot records and t-shirts at the gig so I kicked in another 800$ from Havoc Records to pay the bands. Honestly, I still think the bands should've gotten more. All the staff including myself were volunteers. Havoc records took no money directly from the gig either, in fact the label kicked in most of what it made to the band and donated the rest to the family of a punk kid who got killed the night before the gig. In retrospect I should have charged 15$ at the door. I don't think anyone would've griped much about the extra three bucks and it would've meant an extra 1400$ to split among the bands which would've made all the difference. Still a good time was had by all and the spirit of unity prevailed.

That about wraps up my last month's activities and I hope gives anyone interested some behind the scenes details that might help with your projects. I'd especially like to thank all other people at work behind the scenes who helped set up the gigs, work the door, run the PA etc. and of course everyone who came out and saw the bands and had a good time. As AC DC once said "Its harder than it looks".

Publication Date:
January 1, 1984

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