Interesting Audio A Tidbit...

[ajyouthguy]

I read the following this morning on CT's website:

Soon-to-retire youth-group staple Audio Adrenaline will finish up the rest of its winter and spring touring commitments without longtime members Ben Cissell and Tyler Burkum. The group, which will rejoin MercyMe on the Coming Up to Breathe Tour February 16, has tapped former AudioA guitarist Brian McSweeney and ex-Bleach drummer Jared Byers to replace them. Both Cissell and Burkum will be back for the band's final concert in Honolulu.

...anyone have any idea why these two are not touring with them? both had been in the band a LONG time, so it surprises me to not have them on the last legs of the band's life, although i knew I've seen Tyler playing with Mat Kearney a lot lately. also, isn't Brian McSweeney the guy who was in Seven Day Jesus, then a mainstream band called Matthew? I'm not a big AA fan, but i know plenty about them over the years, and Tyler had been pretty much the 'other voice' in the band for a long time, so i guess this news surprised me a little bit.

[dgp11776]

Tyler had already committed to touring with Mat Kearney before the spring leg was decided upon.  Also, Ben had already taken a job somewhere and given a start date.

[ajyouthguy]

yeah, i read on another site that they both already had prior commitments before it was decided there would be another final leg of the tour.  i just thought it was kinda odd, even a little sad, that those two weren't gonna be a part of the finality of the group, except for the very last concert.

edit: ok, i had confirmed for me by a friend who is very close to Audio A that Tyler had already agreed to play with Mat Kearney, and that Ben is now the outreach director for Rocketown club in Nashville, which I confirmed off of Rocketown's website.

i also am very intrigued by Brian McSweeney playing with them, though.

[danny316]

Is this Audio Adrenaline or the Eagles? I really don't see why AA should stretch out the farewell tour for so long, and changing band members at this part of the game just sounds cheap.

If we weren't talking about such a "youth ministry"-oriented band, I'd be assuming they needed money for a divorce settlement or some other such thing.

[murlough23]

Is this Audio Adrenaline or the Eagles? I really don't see why AA should stretch out the farewell tour for so long, and changing band members at this part of the game just sounds cheap.

If we weren't talking about such a "youth ministry"-oriented band, I'd be assuming they needed money for a divorce settlement or some other such thing.

Think about it this way. Your band's breaking up, you're gonna need to find new work, and you don't want to have to sit around and wait for tour dates to be planned that might never happen at all before you can start bringing home a paycheck again. So you get a job and/or make other commitments, then your band plans their final tour because they do want the fans to have one last chance to see them live (which  think fans of any band slated to break up soon would appreciate).

I'm not a big Audio A fan, but I admire their willingness to go through with this despite having a few members missing. Honestly I don't think they're gonna rake in a ton of money from this tour - I suppose it must be somewhat profitable or they'd never have convinced everyone who has to get involved in this sort of thing to book the shows. But I doubt they'll get rich off of it or anything. It's simply one last chance to do what they've enjoyed doing for several years.

NP: "Do Yourself a Favor", Robert Randolph & the Family Band

[danny316]

I'm pretty sure that's what it was last year. Now it's just a never-ending farewell tour, which makes all of the snippy comparisons accurate. It's too bad I don't like enough "classic rock" to have more bands to compare this too.

[murlough23]

I'm pretty sure that's what it was last year. Now it's just a never-ending farewell tour, which makes all of the snippy comparisons accurate. It's too bad I don't like enough "classic rock" to have more bands to compare this too.

Looks to me like it has an end date.

You just want to criticize them because you already don't like the band. I don't like the band much any more either, but I don't see that as cause to criticize everything they do. (If we want to criticize them, let's start with noting how utterly adult contemporary they've become and how touring with MercyMe is a dead giveaway.)

Those classic rock bands had a huge enough fandom and could charge exorbitant enough ticket prices to make lots of money on never-ending tours like that. Audio A... come on, get real, this is a rock tour in the CCM world for a band whose popularity and critical acclaim has been on the decline for a few years now. Plus Audio A isn't even the headliner (the tour's named after MercyMe's album). There are much better ways to make one last quick buck off of your hapless fans if that's really what you're setting out to do.

And hell, even if they are just trying to make money off of the band one last time, as long as the ticket prices aren't exorbitant (you have to figure this amount before all of the TicketBastard surcharges and whatever else that doesn't actually go to the performers), who cares? If I were running a business and decided to close it down because I wanted to move onto other things, I'd continue to sell whatever I had left if people were interested in buying it at a fair price.

If they go through all this hoopla and then have a reunion a few years down the road, then maybe the Eagles comparison would be apt.

[danny316]

Looks to me like it has an end date.

You just want to criticize them because you already don't like the band.

What? I love Audio Adrenaline. I was just feeling nostalgic and pulling out Hit Parade the other day, in fact. I think most of Underdog holds up, and so do a few songs here and there from most of the other stuff I know from them. I'm pretty sure I like Lift and Worldwide more than anyone else on this board. Sure, I may have just decided to sell off Live Bootleg and Don't Censor Me Extended Play Remixes in another thread (shameless plug: http://www.thephorum.net/index.php?topic=3469.0), but I do still like quite a bit of their stuff, even if it is more of a guilty-pleasure thing sometimes.

Those classic rock bands had a huge enough fandom and could charge exorbitant enough ticket prices to make lots of money on never-ending tours like that. Audio A... come on, get real, this is a rock tour in the CCM world for a band whose popularity and critical acclaim has been on the decline for a few years now.

Their albums may be declining, but as far as I know, they're still one heck of a live band. Those kids know how to put on a rock show, even if they do have to do it with non-rocking material.

Plus Audio A isn't even the headliner (the tour's named after MercyMe's album). There are much better ways to make one last quick buck off of your hapless fans if that's really what you're setting out to do.

Wait - so their farewell tour so fans can have one last chance to see them isn't even their own tour? That's just sad.

And hell, even if they are just trying to make money off of the band one last time, as long as the ticket prices aren't exorbitant (you have to figure this amount before all of the TicketBastard surcharges and whatever else that doesn't actually go to the performers), who cares? If I were running a business and decided to close it down because I wanted to move onto other things, I'd continue to sell whatever I had left if people were interested in buying it at a fair price.

If they go through all this hoopla and then have a reunion a few years down the road, then maybe the Eagles comparison would be apt.

Maybe Eagles wasn't the right band to mention there, but it does seem like they've been having their final tour for a fairly long time. You get the idea.

[murlough23]

What? I love Audio Adrenaline. I was just feeling nostalgic and pulling out Hit Parade the other day, in fact. I think most of Underdog holds up, and so do a few songs here and there from most of the other stuff I know from them. I'm pretty sure I like Lift and Worldwide more than anyone else on this board. Sure, I may have just decided to sell off Live Bootleg and Don't Censor Me Extended Play Remixes in another thread (shameless plug: http://www.thephorum.net/index.php?topic=3469.0), but I do still like quite a bit of their stuff, even if it is more of a guilty-pleasure thing sometimes.

I'm honestly surprised to learn that you're still that fond of them, given that you're generally pretty critical of CCM, and Audio A is kind of a textbook example of where CCM has gone wrong in the 21st century.

So then why even stir up controversy where there is none regarding a band that you don't have any particular need to throw stones at?

Their albums may be declining, but as far as I know, they're still one heck of a live band. Those kids know how to put on a rock show, even if they do have to do it with non-rocking material.

I agree. All the more reason to give as many fans as realistically possible one last chance to see them.

Wait - so their farewell tour so fans can have one last chance to see them isn't even their own tour? That's just sad.

It is sad. If I were a fan of a band on their way out, I'd want to see them headline their final tour, not play a shortened set as someone else's opener or share co-billing or whatever else. (In all fairness, I have heard that MercyMe's shows are more rock-oriented. Whateevr the case, they still strike me as extremely bland and unimaginative - well, beyond that one song about imagining, anyway.)

But that's all the more reason to not accuse them of just doing more tour dates because of some hidden, private need for wads of cash. MercyMe extended the tour (unless the initial leg of their farewell tour wasn't with MM - but I thought it was), and presumably invited Audio A to come along. If Audio A wasn't even planning on that tour getting extended and a few members already had "real" jobs or other prior commitments, I think it's fine to tour with what's left of the band, even if they're definitely going to be lacking in the vocals department without urkum. Fans who want to see them one last time probably won't mind. I would live with it if I were still I fan and wanted to see them again.

Maybe Eagles wasn't the right band to mention there, but it does seem like they've been having their final tour for a fairly long time. You get the idea.

Some tours in general last a fairly long time. When did we hear about the breakup - middle of last year? That gives them time for a fall leg and a spring leg. Pretty normal by tour standards for fairly well-known rock bands.

I just don't like the automatic assumption on your part that the tour was extended because somebody is having personal problems and needs the cash. I'm not usually one to throw stones on the subject of gossip because I tend to dabble in it myself without fully realizing what I'm doing, but sheesh, you just totally made that up out of nowhere and now you want to pass the length of the tour off as evidence that somebody's got some shady and/or shameful personal stuff going on.

NP: "Speak to Me Gently", Future of Forestry