Hi, I am Lauren and I started booking the PCMH about a month ago. I have been a promoter, talent buyer and concert music marketer for 8 years in Portland. When the State Theatre was opened the company I worked for had the exclusive booking rights there as well. Just wanted to give you a bit about who I am before I started in. I have a bit of experience doing this. You’re welcome for the OK GO show and LA Riots. F****** great shows.
Getting indie bands, or any amazing national touring band for that matter, to come to Portland is not easy. You don’t just make a wishlist and then close your eyes and POOF, it happens. Let’s face it: Portland is not Boston. Portland is a tertiary market that just so happens to be in the middle of two of the most popular cities for touring bands – Boston and Montreal. So when we are lucky enough to get great bands to stop by they are either 1) the very few who actually know that Portland is a cool city to stop and play in because of our thriving music scene or 2) they are making some gas $$ on their way to Montreal or Boston.
This isn’t a large city with a population of a million. It’s a town with a population of 65,000. We can’t afford to get most of the bands you mention, though it would be great if we could. We are trying our best – though I think you might be shocked to hear the average gross of what a band pulls in for one show in NYC or Boston. It’s nothing anyone can touch in Maine. Not even close.
And it also involves conditioning people to actually PAY MORE THAN $12 FOR A TICKET without complaining. It costs a lot of money to put on one show: talent and support fees, rider requirements, production expenses, sound and lights, etc. All of this contributes to a higher ticket price. It takes time for people to get used to the fact that if they want to see a great and talented band, they are going to have to drop some cash. Most real music fans know this, but we are few and far between right now.
Not that I think it’s impossible to get indie rock bands through here, it’s just that, plain and simply, most of the bands who pass on my offers do so because it’s not cost effective for them. But aren’t we lucky to be getting the bands that actually do want to come through Portland? I think so. And don’t fret, there is more to come…it’s just never going to be like Boston.
I don’t want to toot my own horn, but I will. I have, or what I think to be, amazing music taste. I have booked Sonic Youth, Modest Mouse, Interpol and Sigur Ros at the State; Beth Orton, Atmosphere and Amos Lee at The Asylum; Mason Jennings, Andrew Bird, Dead Meadow, and The Fiery Furnaces at SPACE; Kathleen Edwards, Animal Collective, Clinic and The Decemberists at The Big Easy – these are just to name a few of the shows that I have been honored to bring to town. (Oh, and BTW, do you know how many people bought tickets to the Animal Collective show? 25. And to Clinic? 32. So then we wonder why they don’t come back.)
Just sayin’….I know who to get and how to get them here, it’s really up to them if they want to come. And some just don’t. But don’t fret, we’re working on more and I think you will see some artists you really like coming through this year. Trust me.
Anyway, just wanted to let you know that we are doing our best to keep the calendar as diversified as possible.
I appreciate what YOU do for the music community and scene here in Portland. Keep up the discussion and blog! I like it, it’s healthy.
Thanks,
Lauren
Everyone should thank Lauren for the amazing job she has been doing for Portland’s music community. Too often event programmers like her have gone unnoticed and have been unappreciated. I think now we should feel safe about PCMH’s future in the hands of people like her.
