Is this is a sustainable career trajectory for the band?
I concur with all 'tDB are on fire right now...' posts recently, and think that Marlon seems like a great fit and is owed much of the credit for vibes being high currently. I'm wondering if the band is having the success they need to keep going. It seems very hard to be making it as a mid-tier touring act right now. For a while after streaming devestated the music sales category artists were doing well touring, especially jam bands because of the nature of their fan bases, merch sales etc. More recently the industry has shifted again with LiveNation and TicketMaster really extracting much of the profitability out of tours. Plus, I think the fan bases for band like tDB, Umphrey's, moe. etc. are just not seeing as many shows. I don't see nearly as many these days with a family and career of my own. I've run the numbers best I can, spoken to friends with some insider knowledge, and it seems like it is unlikely that the band is making very much money at all even at 75-100 shows per year. They may have been making $250-350k during the good years, maybe some bigger years with Camp Bisco success, but I wonder if they're making $100-150k p/yr that doesn't really support their lifestyles is it sustainable to continue playing and putting on shows. I'm not interested in whether people think $150k is a lot of money, reality is that it isn't if you live on Philly's mainline and have kids to raise. And I know Barber has other income sources. My curiosity is more about whether we think they're growing their fan base and having the kind of success touring that makes it sustainable for them to keep it up. I go to every show that I reasonably can, but it isn't 10/15/20 shows a yr anymore, maybe 2-3. B4L