BRAIN: Touring info that's phat!

[Si Halley]

> First an apology.  Please excuse my comment, which was written in the heat
> of the moment, and without the detailed knowledge of the large amount of
> work which you clearly put in to Sickcon 1.  And the main thrust of my
> message wasn't supposed to be directed at you; so sorry!

\No problem. I didn`t take it personally.

> But the fact remains that one of the reasons I've been given (admittedly,
> at second hand) for the tBS tour falling apart is that the promoter was
> concerned about the small number of BOC fans at Sickcon.

Ok. But I`ll admit I haven`t heard anything like that. It would seem odd, as
the promotor didn`t organise that event and it wasn`t aimed at BOC fans.
However Mick`s viewpoint is oviously his to have.

>And I would take
> issue with that for a couple of reasons:
>
> - You said yourself that the publicity for Sickcon was geared towards
Alice > fans;

Very much so. It was specifically an Alice event.

> - The disparity in numbers between those BOC fans who were at Crewe, and
> those on the very well attended BOC UK tour last year, suggests that the
> vast majority are not active at the various BOC forums (fora?!) on the
'net.

That`s true of Alice fans too(he plays Wembley Arena/NEC size places
remember). Unfortunatly (fortunatly?) the internet is now the primary source
of information on bands who most printed media won`t cover.

> This suggests to me that the 'net isn't necessarily the best way to get
> through to a lot of fans; but that there is an "unrepeatable" opportunity
> to get at a lot of BOC fans based around the BOC shows.

I agree totally in theory. Unfortunatly often the return for leafleting
doesn`t justify the outlay cost. Just in my experience.

> And I'm sure that
> many of those of us who are active on the 'net would be prepared to help -
> I certainly would.

Cool. Mail Mick. He`s the one to talk to.

> Although whether a BOC convention could ever be viable on a "commercial"
> scale is has to be open to question;

Agreed. But we`re not talking big bucks here. For the Alice Convention, we
simply look to not LOSE money. We do it for the fun. We did Sickcon1 because
WE wanted to see Neal and Dennis on stage. Simple as that.

> you've said that you lost money on
> Sickcon, and Alice has a much bigger population of fans to draw on than
BOC
> has.

I should think that`s correct, yes. And this is the problem. You see a lot
of people at shows, but only a small percentage are die-hard fans who would
travel from all around the country for a show. This is what we found with
Sickcon. The Convention worked because 1) we announced it early and 2) it
was a special event with lots of other stuff happening(bands, Mike Bruce,
signings, video), not just a gig in a small club. That made a big
difference.

>But wouldn't it be fun if it came off ...??!

Absolutely. I`d love a BOC convention with tBS headlining.
Sickcon1 was one of the best days of my life. I got to stand on stage and
introduce three of my heroes, to an audience, many of whom shared my view.
And on top of that BDS where spectacularly good!!
Our problem is how to top last year as we don`t know that it`s possible!

Si