A Day In The Life Of A Music Promoter, The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly: Wayland, North Fork, Bro

Having mixed feelings about the show last night...I have been contemplating on how I want to write my concert review, I really have so much to say about it...The bands were all killer and" Wayland" was phenomenal. I really do have something to say about the venue and owner...I will most likely not be using this venue again for future shows which is sad since there are very few venues supporting live music, in turn it will keep my options limited. My whole experience from just about the beginning was a disaster...I would like to sit here and pretend everything was great and make it look to everybody how wonderful things are, but that just isn't the case here.

The Commercial I did for the show.

I want to make something clear, the bands were all great and a pleasure to work with and I would really like to promote "Wayland" again the next time they come to our area if they will have me? The bands performances Rocked and they are just great Musicians. The problems with promoting shows are rarely due to the bands in my experiences, but are caused by all the other outlets you have to go through setting up the show to make it happen for everyone.

I did 2 write ups on this show, one showcasing the bands and the show itself in turn this was actually a great show and I couldn't ask for more from the bands. The second which is this review of my experiences and the problems I went through in setting up this concert. Even though I had many problems I would do all over again, this is what I am meant to do.

I started my promotions company as a hobby over a year ago because I really love music and I also wanted to help the artist with their dreams. I have ran into a lot of drama along the way ever since as with most professions, I was just hoping this wouldn't be as bad as the rest. Every show except 1 has had major problems, but not the kind you would expect, all the bands I have worked with have been great, it's all the other things that go with promoting a show that have been the problem?. It had me wondering if this happens to everyone that does this job? or is it just me? I'm sure everyone has a problem once in a while but this has been ridiculous. The job can be very rewarding most of the time, but it is also a very tedious and unrewarding as well. Promoters take extremely high risks at times. With a great show we can be successful but with a show not as great we can take on big losses and all the blame is directed toward the promoter. Everyone likes to hear positive feedback on their accomplishments and not always the negative, I don't receive credit for the work I do. Most of the time no one knows I was even involved with a show unless someone is trying to the take blame off themselves if the show didn't turn out as planned, but if the show is a great success I don't even get a mention.

When I knew Wayland was going to be touring through our area I wanted to jump at the opportunity to bring them back to Spokane after almost 3 years. The last time Wayland was here was back in 2013 for a To Broke To Rock show with Royal Bliss put on by the radio station. That was the first time I had seen them live and I was totally blow away. The venue that fall evening was sold out and the crowd was really getting into the music and the performances. Wayland was scheduled to also play last spring again with Royal Bliss and Acidic but their bus broke down in Colorado and they were stranded for a week, so they had to cancelle that show. The band has recently invested in a really nice new tour bus so it is less likely this will happen again.

Imagine my excitement to get these guys back to Spokane to make up for lost time? I was just bewildered why no one else had inquired to set them up a show in our area? I was the only one to contact them from Spokane, they were just going to skip us altogether. I worked furiously to find a venue available to get this show set. I tried desperately to find a venue for Saturday February 20th, I thought for sure I could find something with a 2 months advance notice but every venue I tried was already booked for that day, it just wasn't in the cards, all my efforts failed. The band only had a few days to work with, I was very hesitant to book a show during the work week? I know how it is about packing out a venue during the week, I have been to many shows and I have observed and taken note, and very few are sold out, it's hit or miss I know the night of the week the show was held was not a prime day but I had to go with what hand was dealt. I just knew that the fans wanted Wayland to come back to Spokane and I was hoping for the best on the turn out these guys deserved. Unfortunately there were only a handful of people at the show? I don't think we even broke 100 guests?

When selecting a venue I have a few variables that go through my mind. One of the variables I look for is if the venue owner will help sponsor the show? I had contacted most of the bigger venues in town inquiring about putting on this show. I was still in negotiations, nothing was written in stone yet on deciding which venue I wanted to use? I had not given the go ahead with this venue but once I had given the owner enough of the information about the band he took it upon himself to contact the band and run with the show.

We inquired at the venues in town for availability to hold the concert, we were wanting to keep our options open before we committed to one. So imagine my surprise when I spoke to the owner of the "Pin" and was told the show was a done deal? I hadn't even confirmed anything with the band yet? I contacted "Wayland" and was informed that, they had already been contacted from an associate of The Pin Music Venue. They thought they were being contacted from the venue because of me? That would have been the reason had I confirmed the show but I didn't? I had found another venue in those few days and was leaning more towards the other club. I figured "What's Done is Done" and went with it even though I was not happy, I tried to make the best of the situation. This was just the start of my communication problems with this venue owner.

I didn't even feel I had a say in my own show? I was kept in the dark as to what was going on? I would message the venue owner, and would not get a reply for days sometimes. I had not really met him face to face until the day of the show most of the planning had been through phone conversations and messages. When I met the venue owner the night of the show I extended my hand out to shake his , he gave me a nasty look, growled at me then walked away. There had been some confusion over a bar tab I was suppose to get as part of our business deal that none of the employees knew about and the owner obviously didn't want to honor? Sadly that was the only thing I made for all my hard work for this show, never a dull moment. We just did not work well together or maybe this is how he operates? but either way it is not how I like to conduct a business relationship.

Sound Check.

The concert was drawing near, it was just 3 days before the show was to go on. Then I received more bad news? One of the local bands I had scheduled to play contacted me and said, they had to cancelle? I was like, "you have to be kidding me"? I mean I get it, and I understand their reason for doing so, but I'm thinking, "does this happen to everyone? There were just to many problems in the beginning, I was hoping for everything to level off but problems kept accumulating, such a day in the life of a music promoter. The day of the show I had a friend ask me, "if I was excited for the show tonight"? And normally I would have been ecstatic but all the problems I was having for this particular show had me worried I did not know what to expect. I was really excited to see "Wayland" and the other bands perform I just wish I could have relaxed enough to really enjoy the show without all the worries.

North Fork from Coeur d'Alene, ID opened the show around 7:30 pm. The first time I saw these guys with their new line up of musicians and new name was in November when they performed at The Knitting Factory with "Red Sun Rising", and "Art of Dying". These guys blew me away, I was really impressed with them and I liked their rock style sound. North Fork members include: Myles Weaver-Lead Vocals/Guitar, Brandon Kunka | Drums, Josh Wilhelm | Bass, Robby Erickson | Guitar, Vocals. Myles Weaver, lead vocals of North Fork had also been in the band, "Evolved". You can catch North Fork playing clubs around town, check them out you will be glad you did.

Broken Identity co-headlined the show with their heavy medal sound with front woman Tiffany Ann Marie De Leon leading the band with her powerful vocals, other members include, Caleb Patrick Stevenson-Drums, Jay Burn Ried-Bass, Lead Guitar- Jason Paul Villella, Rythem Guitar -Razor Smile. Members of this band also played in other local bands such as Morbid Inc. and Damn Them All.

Wayland started out their day in Spokane with a Meet N Greet or as the radio station likes to call it a Grub N Grope at the KXLY studios with our local radio station Rock 94.5. They apologized for not coming back to town sooner, did an acoustic set for the contest winners and just had an overall good time. Next stop was The PIN for sound check before their performance. The crowd was small but mighty. "Wayland" took the stage full force,these guys are real troopers and make the best out of any situation.

I had the pleasure to see "Wayland" for the first time those 3 years ago and they instantly became one of my favorites. "Wayland"is a 4 piece band from Wayland, MI. and also how the band chose their name. Wayland puts on a show you wouldn't believe. They are true professionals with Mitch Arnold's penetrating vocals and Dean Pizzazz's fierce bass sound, not to mention Phillip Vilenski's aggressive guitar riffs and Tyler Coburn's pounding drum beats, these guys are crazy good. They opened their set with "Welcome To My Head", and continued with, "Through The Fire", "Back To Life", "Bloody Sunrise", "Shopping For A Savior", "Come Back", Nobody's Perfect" Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love", I must say that "Wayland does one of the best renditions of this song I have ever heard other than Zeppelin themselves, continued with" Get A Little" and closed the show with "Reno". I just cannot say enough to give them the credit they deserve.

During the closing of the show Mitch Arnold was giving the fans high fives. There was a particular fan at the show that had been bothering me and my friend. This guy shoved past by me, I thought to shake Mitch's hand? He grabbed his hand so hard I thought he was going to pull him right off the stage. Later after the show I was hanging out at the merchandise booth with the band when Mitch asked me if I knew that guy? I said no and asked why? I guess this guy called him a few choice names that I cannot repeat. I thought he was kidding at first, but why would someone joke about something like this, I was in disbelief. I know things like this happen, people are rude everywhere, The moon was full this night and some people were in rare form? I was so embarrassed that this happened at my show. These guys are so nice and humble, how could anyone be so rude? They sound amazing and have so much passion in what they do. "Wayland" puts on a fantastic show no matter the circumstances, their stage performance is full of passion and energy, they really love what they do and bring that passion to the stage and their fans...I can not say enough to do them justice, how good these guys are, "Wayland" is outstanding they ROCK, I can't wait until they come back to Spokane.

The show itself and all the bands performances were killer. I was hoping Spokane would show these guys more love and show them that Spokane can still rock hard on a Monday night? There were probably less than 100 in attendance for the concert but the guys performed as if it was a sold out show. I was thanked from Phillip Vilenski (lead guitar for Wayland) for bringing them back to Spokane, he relayed to me that they wouldn't have been here if it hadn't been for me contacting them. They really enjoyed the Meet N Greet Acoustic set earlier in the day with the radio station. I really wanted to capture the show, but I couldn't get a good photo or video to save my life as this venue's lighting is something to be desired. I had just put on a sold out show a week earlier at a different venue, done on a Friday night, sometimes the day of the week makes all the difference? If you were one who missed this show it is your loss.take advantage of the concerts presented to you, or in other words use them or lose them. We won't be be able to continue to bring great shows to town without more support. Missing a couple hours sleep is a small price to pay for a rare opportunity to see a band like "Wayland". The show was over by 11 pm most people don't even go to bed before this even on a work night. There was no excuse to miss this show, tickets were reasonable and the show was over in plenty of time to hit the sack for the next day. Like the song says, "Welcome To My Head", until next time keep it real and hang loose Rock$tarzz.**.Peace**

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