Still no Chicago?
 

I've been waiting for the weekly Chicago concert updates, hoping for an announcement of an Underworld date, and...nothing. Zilch. Nada.

Could somebody please explain why not Chicago?

The last time they toured North America, they played Toronto and Denver, both smaller cities, but not here. This time, they're hitting both coasts but nothing in between. Nothing against D.C., San Fran, San Diego...but why not the third-largest city in the US? If you're going to travel across the country you might as well make one stop in the middle, right?

Here's why they should play here:

1) We have the audience. We're the largest populace outside of NY and LA, not to mention we're centrally located so we draw people from all over--everywhere but the coasts, usually!

2) We have the venues. There's the Riviera, where UW played two very well-received shows in 1999 and 2002, the Vic, the Metro, the revamped Bottom Lounge (which has hosted a number of electronic acts lately), and more. If, as was mentioned in another thread, it's more cost-effective for UW to play festivals, we also have Sonar and the dance-oriented North Coast Music Festival, plus a little gathering called Lollapalooza.

3) We have the enthusiasm. We're a city in love with dance and electronic music, the home of house. Karl didn't compare us to Manchester twice for nothing.

We've been waiting since 2002. It's been too long.

Any thoughts?

Re: Still no Chicago?
 

You've sold me. Where do I sign up?

Re: Still no Chicago?
 

Let's see if we can get Rick and Karl to sign up, then we'll all be happy. ;)

Thanks!

Re: Still no Chicago?
 

<-- has also been waiting for a return since 2002. i've hear rumors that there was some issues with promoters in the past, but i would sincerely hope that they would figure out a way to make it back to the midwest.

i don't think that i can fly to any of the other shows this time :(

Re: Still no Chicago?
 

I hear ya. I can't afford to travel, either. :(

I'm a little surprised there isn't more of an outcry. Surely there are plenty of us out here, right?

Re: Still no Chicago?
 

If it fell on a weekend, I'd hit up the Chicago show. Love that city and the flights from Newark NJ to Chicago are dirt cheap.

Re: Still no Chicago?
 

Thanks, I'm pretty fond of my adopted city as well. She tries my patience at times, but I ain't movin'. :)

I've been mulling over the possibility of organizing some sort of grassroots effort. Give us a quota of tickets that UW needs to sell to break even, say, and we'll see if we can spread the word enough to pull it off. Or are there other issues besides ticket sales?

I may be tilting at windmills, but I'm genuinely curious about what it takes to book a show here.

Re: Still no Chicago?
 

You're basically asking to take on the role of concert promoter. That's basically how bands end up playing in certain cities. The promoter goes to the band and says, "I'll pay you this much money to come play at X city at Y venue," and then books the band. On the other end, the promoter calculates how many tickets he can sell and at what cost, books and pays for the venue, pays the band and other costs (like ticketing, insurance, press and promotion, transportation, hotel, security, etc.), and what's left is the promoter's profit.

Here's an overview of what a concert promoter has to do, to give you an idea of what's involved.

http://www.concert-promotions.com/concertexcerpts.html

Re: Still no Chicago?
 

A grassroots effort might be more effective if it was aimed at demonstrating to one or more of the established local promoters that there's a solid interest in seeing the band. Bang is right about the promoter thing, though I know that at least for some artists it goes in both directions, with management contacting promoters they've worked with before to let them know the band will be touring in their region.

Re: Still no Chicago?
 

nothing til next year I fear... :( been waiting too