I think if SB were getting more gigs, more often, and selling more tickets that gigs, then NDV might not have taken up the offer to tour with Cirque. I'm sure he's having fun touring with Cirque, but to be honest, it's probably because it pays a lot more than doing shows for 300 people with SB. It's a sad truth that many prog bands just can't pack houses or tour very much, especially in the US, the Beard's very own home country, just because the costs of touring end up putting bands behind instead of ahead due to a lack of ticket sales.
I know many fans "say" they would see them, but when ticket prices come up and many of us fans don't have the money for them, it's a downer for the bands who take the time and money to tour. It's easier in Europe since a lot of the traveling is by bus, but here in the US, much of it is by plane since distances are much greater between gigs, so it gets costly.
I'm sure if SB could tour the US and make a profit, they would, but when the opportunity came for NDV to tour with Cirque, I'm sure he saw it as a chance to make more money, especially since it may have seemed that SB weren't likely to tour any time soon. Unfortunately, the chance for SB to tour this summer came up and NDV was tied down, so through a series of unfortunate circumstances, NDV couldn't make the shows and a replacement had to be made, and I'm sure Alan/Ryo/Dave/Jimmy thanked Nick for letting them go on with Ted so they could tour. I know it sucks, it would have been like if Genesis just released Duke and Phil Collins couldn't tour with them, so they got another guy. You get a good album out after a couple not-so-great ones, and you can't even tour the new music as much as you'd like, but shows come up, so you deal with it. It's win-win for everyone, really.
I really hope NDV's stint with Cirque ends next year, so they can finally tour for the X album, properly. However, if it's not in the financial cards to do so, then I'd rather see them record SB11!
-Marc.
Topic: Spock's Beard (Read 148462 times)
