Event Preview: Verboden Festival 5/12-5/14 Vancouver

 

Poster for Verboden Festival 5/12/23-5/14/23, Vancouver

   I've been looking at the different dates on the on-going MVTANT tour- looking forward to that Reno date on Sunday!  But the stand out from the West Coast swing is the Verboden Festival 5/12-5/14 in Vancouver British Columbia- of all places!   That is a pretty great line up but the top of the bill in particular:  Drab Majesty, Kontravoid, Void Vision, Spike Hellis, and then MVTANT has a decent billing in the main block of performers.  Looks like MVTANT will be opening for Kontravoid on the 12th at the Rickshaw Stop- which is a totally solid venue for Vancouver- I would say 90% of the bands that play Vancouver play the Rickshaw Stop the first time through.  Passes are 130 CAD!  Worth it is what I would say judging by that flyer and the super-pro looking website I just reviewed. 

     I just went and looked at the Darkwave entry on Wikipedia.  It's hard to distinguish Darkwave from EBM (Electronic body music) or horry old genres like Industrial.  You could also argue it all falls into "post-punk" as indeed is the name of the biggest site to cover this kind of music.  Anyway- this festival should be a (the?) highlight of the MVTANT 2023 west coast swing of his ongoing tour.

Upcoming MVTANT 2023 Tour Dates 5/2 - 5/8

Poster for the 5/7 MVTANT show in Reno, Nevada.

Upcoming MVTANT 2023

 Tour Dates 5/2 - 5/8

5.2 DENVER – GLOB
5.3 SLC – INTERNATIONAL
5.7 RENO – HOLLAND PROJECT
5.8 CHICO – NAKED LOUNGE

 Part of what I appreciate about MVTANT as an Artist is that he is a self contained touring unit and that he works out of Austin- in the middle of the country.  There is no worse place for a DIY artist to be than either coast- anything on the west coast from San Diego to Seattle and then the Northeast- Boston to New York.  That is because both those places are relatively isolated from the rest of the United States.  The best places for DIY artists are cities that are close to other cities.  So- Nashville is the absolute best.  Austin is fantastic.  There are strong arguments for the midwest- Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Louisville etc. 

  When an artist in San Diego or Los Angeles wants to tour, they have to go all the way out and all the way back, the same way an artist in Boston or New York needs to do the same thing in reverse.   If you are working out of a market like Nashville or Austin you can do loops- a loop north, a loop west, a loop east, a loop south.    Usually you get a two week swing west, then one week strings for the other directions.  Here, MVTANT has a non-traditional two week swing.   His second week:

5.12 VANCOUVER – VERBODEN
5.15 OLYMPIA – CRYPTOTROPA
5.17 OAKLAND – GOLDEN BULL
5.18 SAN DIEGO – THE MERROW
5.19 TIJUANA – BLACK BOX

5.21 EL PASO – 101

  Then he takes a couple weeks off and does an amazing three week streak- no back and forth for him.   The venues are a mixture of extreme DIY spots and more established venues.  Also he's skipping Los Angeles which is probably related to some other LA area show. Hard to imagine he'd just skip it. 

   I used to like looking at the different venues- I really think it's important for DIY level artists to try to connect to the venues and markets where they tour.  It always seems like such a drag, like, I get it, as someone who drives back and forth between San Diego and Los Angeles once and twice a week for work.  I get it, it is tough- driving from city to city but it is also your job.  Artists who don't get that- even if they are succesful, not actually enjoying touring is enough, by itself to end an upward trajectory for an artist. 

   The first show is in Denver- at the what I believe is the Globeville Riverfront Art Center.  It appears to have semi-legal status, like they probably can't sell booze there but since weed is legal in Denver who gives a shit about booze?  I hate bar shows personally, and bars.  There is no poster and no advance ticket sales- which- I mean who gives a shit at the DIY level.  Tuesday night in Denver I'm guessing the target audience is like 15-20 people.   It's not his first time through Denver though, so perhaps we are talking 50 people.  So Tuesday night in Denver and then 520 miles to Salt Lake City.  That is an epic journey and a good illustration of the problem with touring in the American West.   The route I'm looking at on Google Maps runs through Laramie Wyoming and then just nothing.  The drive out of Denver to Laramie is two hours so if I was driving that run I would get up at 4 AM, drive to Laramie, have breakfast then do the drive to Salt Lake city between 7 AM and 3 PM say.  

   Wednesday night is a more established venue- the International Bar in Salt Lake City.  Personally, I've always been interested in Salt Lake City as a touring market because of the lack of alternatives.   They've also got a Spike Hellis show coming up.   The venue did do a post about the show on their instagram account.  The show doesn't have it's own poster but we are getting closer.

      May 7th is a Sunday which should be a leisurely couple of days- I'd imagine he will be going rock climbing somewhere because rock climbing is all over his social media.   This venue in Reno- The Holland Project looks like a classic DIY situation but they have their act together enough to be selling ticket on line. Advance ticket sales are great!  If an artist has a booking agent, advance ticket sales matter!   The Naked Lounge in Chico- the next night- seems tough- Monday night at a coffee shop in Chico, CA., but it's entirely possible it could pull some college kids- coffee shop and all.  Chico State is huge but the students aren't that cool.   One poster and one advance ticket sales out of four! DIY Life!  It's impressive!   The live show MVTANT puts on is amazing so if you live in one of these cities you should  check it out!