POP/CULTURE: Price of gas good for bands?

By David Burke | Thursday, July 03, 2008

An entertainment columnist at a fellow Lee Enterprises newspaper recently blogged about an idea that’s got me thinking on both sides of the fence.

The idea: With gasoline prices as high as they are these days — flirting with $4 a gallon even in Iowa, where the price is generally lower than across the river  — now is the time for good local bands to step up and be noticed.

The thinking behind this idea: Music fans with expendable money aren’t going to be going to as many big-ticket concerts, at least shows that require them to drive long distances.

With a need to be entertained and cash left in their wallets, they’ll be seeking more diversions locally.

 I don’t know if I’m entirely ready to accept this idea. If you’re a fan — a big fan — of an act and want to go see it in Chicago, not even paying $4.69 a gallon (the highest price for fuel in the Windy City’s downtown, according to a Web site) is going to stand in your way.

But if you want to be entertained for a night without taking out a bank loan, there’s plenty to do in our own neighborhood. The spectrum of music choices in the Quad-Cities is widening, with parts of just about every genre covered by nightclubs and other performance venues.

On the opposite side of the “high gas prices are good for bands” coin are the groups who feel like they have to perform out of town to begin getting a reputation as a “regional band.”

Several acts that I’m aware of from the Quad-Cities regularly perform in Des Moines, Dubuque, Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids and Burlington, Iowa, for example, or go to Sterling-Rock Falls, Rockford and Peoria, Ill.

And it’s going to cost more for them to fuel up a truck, a bus or a couple of cars than it will take for you to put gas in the tank of one vehicle.

 Those bands who feel like they have to be on the road, at least a little bit out of town, can stay around our neighborhood a bit more to perform.

And the potential fans who think they have to hit the road to find quality entertainment can be pleasantly surprised to discover the big city-worthy talent we have here.

Maybe my colleague’s suggestions aren’t so off the mark after all.