Fear Factory, etc. guitarist Dino Cazares was one of the growing number of artists to recently publicly voice his concerns on how the current state of the economy has severely impacted the touring industry. He was not alone in lamenting the current challenges artists are facing. Cazares revealed that Fear Factory were being forced to scale down to touring in a van amid their upcoming North American tour alongside Static-X, Dope and more.
That trek was booked roughly over a year in advance and the original budgeting obviously didn’t account for the new hurdles presented by the economic developments that have transpired since. Appearing recently on the ‘Vulgar Display Of Podcast‘, Cazares spoke at length about the matter:
“So much has changed in those couple of years, because look how much the economy has gotten really, really over the top, with gas and even availability on certain things, even drivers; just getting a driver, it’s hard. People really don’t understand the cost that goes into doing these tours.
Everything affects you, whether it’s venues taking a big cut of the merch sales to insane diesel and gas prices. A lot of people don’t realize that these buses take diesel, and diesel is more expensive than gas. So that adds up, when you’re spending eight hundred to a thousand dollars just to fill up a tank of a bus. People don’t realize the cost of all that. So it’s getting harder and harder.
It’s really kind of weird, because when we first booked the tour, the economy was much lower than now. And then we do these show contracts for ‘X’ amount of dollars, and all of a sudden we postpone the tour to a year or so later, and so much has changed. Now these contracts, it doesn’t match to where the economy is at now.
A lot of people don’t realize that either, that a lot has changed so much. I wish we can go back and renegotiate our contracts, but it’s too late — can’t do it. It is what it is. We’re just not gonna be making the money that we would normally make to do that tour, but we’re still gonna do it; we’re committed to it. We can’t wait to get back on the road and just play in front of all those people.”
Cazares further offered:
“I’m not the only one that really talks about that. There have been other people — Devin Townsend‘s been talking a lot about it; Dark Funeral and a few other bands as well, talking about what it’s like out there. Of course a lot of people who follow me who are fans of the band, they don’t really understand what it is, how it is out there.
But in a way, they should, because, obviously, gas prices affect everything. Food prices — food prices have gone insanely high. So people should be able to relate to it in that way. Speaking in the third person, if it’s hard for that person to pay rent or to buy food, imagine what it’s like for us to be out there touring. People have this misconception, just because you’re on the road, you’re making big bucks and you’re a rich guy. We are affected by it just as much as they are — as a matter of fact worse, ’cause we have more overhead.”
That trek is currently set to serve as the live debut of Fear Factory‘s as-yet unannounced new vocalist. Cazares opted to continue on with Fear Factory, enlisting he has described as a relative unknown to front the band. That lineup change follows the bitter departure of Burton C. Bell several years back.
Dates for the aforementioned tour with Static-X, Dope & Society 1 include:
02/25 San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
02/27 Portland, OR – Roseland
02/28 Seattle, WA – Showbox
03/01 Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theater
03/02 Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory
03/03 Boise, ID – Revolution Concert Hall
03/04 Reno, NV – Virginia Street Brewhouse
03/05 Sacramento, CA – Ace Of Spades
03/07 Phoenix, AZ – Van Buren (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/08 Albuquerque, NM – El Rey Theater (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/09 Oklahoma City, OK – Diamond Ballroom (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/10 Dallas, TX – House of Blues (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/11 San Antonio, TX – The Aztec Theater (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/12 Houston, TX – House Of Blues (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/14 Atlanta, GA – Buckhead Theater (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/15 Orlando, FL – Plaza Live (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/16 Charlotte, NC – Underground (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/17 Baltimore, MD – Soundstage (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/18 Philadelphia, PA – T.L.A. (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/19 New York, NY – Irving Plaza (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/21 Boston, MA – Big Night Live (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/22 New Haven, CT – Toad’s (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/23 Montreal, QC – Corona (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/24 Toronto, ON – Phoenix (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/25 Detroit, MI – St. Andrews Hall (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/26 Cleveland, OH – House Of Blues (feat. Twiztid)
03/28 Pittsburgh, PA – Roxian (feat. Twiztid)
03/29 Cincinnati, OH – Bogarts (feat. Twiztid)
03/30 Columbus, OH – The King of Clubs (feat. Twiztid)
03/31 Ft. Wayne, IN – The Clyde (feat. Mushroomhead)
04/01 Milwaukee, WI – The Rave (feat. Mushroomhead)
04/02 Green Bay, WI – Epic Event Center (feat. Mushroomhead)
04/04 Grand Rapids, MI – Intersection (feat. Mushroomhead)
04/05 St. Louis, MO – Del Mar Hall (feat. Twiztid)
04/06 Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue (feat. Twiztid)
04/07 Chicago, IL – House Of Blues (feat. Twiztid)
04/08 Minneapolis, MN – The Fillmore (feat. Twiztid)
04/09 Lincoln, NE – Bourbon Theater (feat. Twiztid)
04/11 Denver, CO – The Summit (feat. Twiztid)
04/13 Las Vegas, NH – House Of Blues (feat. Twiztid)
04/14 San Diego, CA – House Of Blues (feat. Twiztid)
04/15 Los Angeles, CA – Belasco Theater (feat. Twiztid)
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