Commercial Production Assessment: The "Making Friends" Tour
- 1. Mira McKee (mkm3475) Commercial Production Attendance & Assessment Due: April 15th , 2019 Written Assignment #1: The “Making Friends Tour” at Empire Imagine an evening with three talented, youthful, energetic bands at an exciting and fitting venue. The lights are a little too bright and the music is a little too loud but that’s perfect for the target audience for this event. A crowd of young alternative-listeners gather around the stage anxiously awaiting the musical acts promised for the night. Some of the people in the crowd are in groups of friends or couples but many are not, and at this show, that doesn’t matter. Those who come alone leave as part of a community and those who come as strangers leave as friends. The bands taking the stage tonight have genuine interactions, smiles, and conversations with the audience—they’re not just presenting, performing, or having a one-sided conversation; they’re interacting with the crowd and getting people involved in a way many artists couldn’t even begin to. On Saturday, March 2nd, I went to a concert just like this in the downtown Austin venue, Empire Control Room & Garage, that was part of the “Making Friends Tour.” It featured openers Arrested Youth (replaced by Twin XL on certain dates) and The Mowgli’s, and headliner Jukebox The Ghost. Jukebox The Ghost are a dynamic trio from Washington, D.C.. Their members Ben Thornewill, Tommy Siegel, and Jesse Kristen, though all claiming a different instrument (piano, guitar, and drums, respectively) come together in their sound and in their vocals; they produce beautiful harmonies and upbeat sounds that can keep a crowd entertained for hours. They have been a band for over 10 years, played over 1,000 shows across America, and opened for acts such as Ingrid Michaelson, Barenaked Ladies, and Ben Folds—and they’ve loved every moment of it. They’ve also performed on Conan, the Late Show with David Letterman, and the White Label Lounge, and they were featured in the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” movie. They describe themselves as “a mishmash of modern pop, retro vocals, and classic rock indulgence.” Needless to say, though they may seem like a small alternative band, their music is a force to be reckoned with, and any investment you make on a band like this would be a good one. This tour didn’t spur from JukeBox The Ghost’s fifth studio album release, “Off To The Races,” a 10-song album featuring multiple singles, but instead the inspired re-release as a deluxe edition: a 24-song album with new additions and acoustic renditions that fans everywhere loved. Though clearly an incredible band with a loyal fan base and a broad appeal, Jukebox the Ghost aren’t the only piece of this particular live performance. It’s called the “Making Friends Tour” for a reason! All three of the bands featured have a range of music that explores both the sad and the emotional, but also the uplifting and motivational, and it was a major theme of the night to encourage people to love and support the people around them. The two main bands performing on the stage are bands that have been in the music scene and spotlight for a while: Jukebox the Ghost has been around since 2003 and The Mowgli’s got started in 2010. That gives them both a time advantage (some long-time fans will be there to support a band that they’ve loved for upwards of two decades) and the possibility of “ageing in” and allowing new generations or cohorts of people to come to explore their music! By contrast, the first opener, Arrested Youth, is a much newer band, having only gotten started in 2017. These bands, though slightly different
- 2. Mira McKee (mkm3475) Commercial Production Attendance & Assessment Due: April 15th , 2019 genres (pop punk, upbeat indie, and alternative), do a good job of slightly overlapping their audiences. They are likely to attract a wider range of people because they cover a wider range of music than most concerts do (e.g. those with two indie openers and an indie main act). This is one of the reasons that this would be a good investment opportunity: not only do you capitalize on the popularity of Jukebox The Ghost, but you also get to combine the fans from the Mowgli’s and Arrested Youth as well and grow all three of those brands. According to Spotify, the combined monthly listeners for all three of these bands exceed 2 million people and their songs have gotten millions upon millions of streams! The Making Friends Tour scheduled 30 tour dates at many smallish venues—the appropriate size for a show like this (with acts with a fanbase like this). Empire was a good choice for them because the slightly cramped space allowed everyone to come join in and get closer to each other, literally and figuratively. Empire has a capacity of about 850 and with ticket prices of just under $30, this night of the tour alone produced over $23,000 in ticket sale revenue. Many of the shows were completely sold out. When asked to explain the name of the tour, The Mowgli’s lead singer said: “Well, we don’t really know Jukebox The Ghost but we’re sharing a bus with them, so we will literally be making friends with the other headliner, and hopefully, the name of the tour inspires our fans to do the same.” They kept this energy during the show and encouraged people to meet each other throughout the night. They also revealed to us how lucky they feel that they got to go on tour with such cool bands and actually make lifelong friends through this tour. Jukebox The Ghost signed with pop alternative label Cherrytree Records, a subsidiary of Interscope Records, in 2015. However, by 2016 they were no longer affiliated with each other. They felt that they didn’t just want to stick to the traditional schedule of releasing an album then going on tour then releasing an album then going on tour. They are now signed to label Yep Roc Records, but they don’t have much else when it comes to a creative team. They are ripe for a big producer, promoter, or record label to take them on and support their current and future success! The Making Friends Tour is just on stop on their long journey of promoting positivity and friendship with beautiful music, awesome energy, and incredible fans.