2 Promoters, 1 Pod

Routing a tour can be a dog-eat-dog world, riddled with "avails", "holds", "first pencils" and "challenges"... and that's just in "market one".

Venue boss, promoter and booking agent Ian Shaw is a man with his fingers in all the pies and he cuts through the jargon to explain how best to his bands from Brighton to Aberdeen without a ten-hour jaunt.

We also discuss the problems facing venues currently booked for tours that are unlikely to happen this winter, promoters who won't pay up and making Damnation dance for that exclusive debut album show. 

#damnationvs #ianshaw

For further info on Damnation Vs, or Damnation Festival visit:

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We go again, every Thursday morning.

Will Pig Destroyer make it to the UK this winter to headline a sold-out Damnation and if so, where else are they planning to play on a rare overseas venture?

Blake Harrison, the band's electronics maestro, tour manager, manager and social media voice joins Damnation Vs to lay out the 2021 plans for the US grindcore kings.

He also takes a trip down memory lane to revisit the band's first taste of Britain - and haggis - on tour in 2004, their previous Damnation show in 2012 and the Temples double-header in 2015. 

We go again, every Thursday morning.

ArcTanGent 2021 is cancelled.

Organiser James Scarlett explains why the decision was made, the fears about hosting events without government-backed insurance, the response from bands across the world and where the festival goes next.

Plans for an indoor event to mark the loss of 2,000 Trees and ATG this year, refreshing the line-ups for 2022 and the depth of talent emerging from the UK. 

We get in about it all.

We go again, every Thursday morning.

Andy Farrow, manager of Opeth, Devin Townsend, Paradise Lost, Katatonia, Bloodbath, Anathema and The Wildhearts, unpacks three decades of experience in an episode that digs deeeeeep into the business.

The importance of bands getting their master tapes back, licensing deals, filling in those PRS sheets, 'syncs' with gaming companies and, finally, an explanation of what 'publishing' actually means.

Pulling festival favours from Devin, setting up a merch company with Opeth, Zoom calls about Anathema's "indefinite hiatus" and his expectations of a domestic-focussed touring future for his bands.

There's some Terrorvision, Oceansize, Skindred, 65daysofstatic, Sons of Apollo, Anaal Nathrakh, Cult of Luna and Carcass chat thrown in for good measure.

And would he consider organising a seated Bloodbath show?

A masterclass in everything you didn't know about the metal business. 

We go again, every Thursday morning.

Stephen Moss, organiser of the UK's biggest black metal event, Incineration,  talks about having to postpone the festival for the second year.

The frustration of finally landing Emperor but not being able to go ahead with the show, the challenges of making sure bands with a dodgy pasts don't end up on the line-up and the acceptance of £100 parking fines and costly hotel rooms in the capital.

He also discusses co-founding his own agency, Echelon, last year and building a roster which already includes the likes of Incantation, A Pale Horse Named Death, Abigail Williams and Conan.

And the awkward, and sometimes costly, balance of playing the part of both agent and promoter for the same band.


#incineration #damnationvs

For further info on Damnation Vs, or Damnation Festival visit:

damnationversus.buzzsprout.com
damnationfestival.co.uk
facebook.com/damnationfestival
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twitter.com/damnationfest

*Please like, subscribe, comment and engage.

Thanks for listening, please give the show a follow and tell your mates! ;)

From the Big Apple, Pallbearer's Joseph D. Rowland joins Damnation Versus to discuss the band's sound engineer becoming a viral internet meme after the fire alarm sounded while he was behind the desk in his Speedos. 

His hopes for 2021, including hitting the road - and a return to Damnation - with Elder and Irist, his memories of a packed Bloodstock tent, almost missing their set at Hellfest and the possibility of special Sorrow and Extinction sets when the pandemic is under control.

The frustration of not being able to develop Forgotten Days in a live setting and having a "bunch" of new material already in the works if the immediate future isn't as bright as we'd all hope.

#pallbearer #damnationvs

For further info on Damnation Vs, or Damnation Festival visit:

damnationversus.buzzsprout.com
damnationfestival.co.uk
facebook.com/damnationfestival
instagram.com/damnationfestival
twitter.com/damnationfest

*Please like, subscribe, comment and engage.

Thanks for listening, please give the show a follow and tell your mates! ;)

Tom Taaffe - the hero responsible for Nails at Damnation - is this week's guest to discuss being a booking agent for the likes of Sleep, Exodus, Pallbearer, Higher Power, Every Time I Die, Loathe, Vein and... Vance Joy.

He discusses the imminent decisions facing the major summer festivals which could cost them  "millions of pounds" if they don't call it right, the shock of being dropped by bands who "fancy a change" and the love/hate tussle between promoters and agents.

And why getting the most money for a show isn't always the smartest move for an agent or their band.

Surprisingly candid. Brilliantly revealing. And at two hours and ten minutes, a Damnation Vs record-breaker.

We go again, every Thursday morning.

After releasing one of the best albums of 2020 - Phanerozoic II - as the pandemic brought touring to a standstill, The Ocean's Robin Staps spent his unexpected spare time at home writing the follow up. 

He also spent lockdown in Berlin growing his label, Pelagic Records, and his planning to take the label's live show, Pelagic Fest, to Norway and Holland.

As well as looking ahead to a future that WILL include the tour with pg.lost, Hypno5e and Svalbard - even if it needs bumped to 2022 - Robin also looks back over four appearances at Damnation, from the "intense" fourth stage in 2010 to headlining the Eyesore Merch Stage eight years later.

And yes, THAT balcony dive  that almost resulted in the festival being halted by venue management in 2015!

 For further info on Damnation Vs, or Damnation Festival visit:

damnationversus.buzzsprout.com
damnationfestival.co.uk
facebook.com/damnationfestival
instagram.com/damnationfestival
twitter.com/damnationfest

#damnationvs #theocean

Thanks for listening, please give the show a follow and tell your mates! ;)

Stepping into Myrkur's slot on the black metal stage at Hellfest, being commissioned to perform new music at Roadburn and storming Damnation with her electric cello, before introducing Venom Prison... Jo Quail is a unique talent causing a stir in the extreme scene.

She discusses all the above, touring with Winterfylleth, Mono, Caspian, the reception death metal fans have given her take on classical music and why we don't see more artists like her on our club circuit.

For further info on Damnation Vs, or Damnation Festival visit:

damnationversus.buzzsprout.com
damnationfestival.co.uk
facebook.com/damnationfestival
instagram.com/damnationfestival
twitter.com/damnationfest

#damnationvs #joquail

We go again, every Thursday morning.

Music streaming deals barely covering two pints a month, living in an "open prison" during the pandemic, no live shows for two more years, cancel culture, freedom of speech... and Mgła playing Damnation.

Primordial's Alan Averill is not a man you turn to for light-hearted banter.

Strap yourself in.

For further info on Damnation Vs, or Damnation Festival visit:

damnationversus.buzzsprout.com
damnationfestival.co.uk
facebook.com/damnationfestival
instagram.com/damnationfestival
twitter.com/damnationfest

#damnationvs #primordial

We go again, every Thursday morning.