retroBlog

well, who knew The New Cars would still be around touring after last year’s string of under attended shows. with low ticket and CD sales i would have thought that The News Cars were long gone and done with by now. surprisingly they are now out on the road for another spin. i’ve got mixed feelings about the whole thing and i have to say a lot of it has to do with their crummy (mis)management.
problem #1 - they didn’t get their CD released until the band was well into their summer tour last year. … without a new product to push, the New Cars just felt like an old has-been nostalgia act.
problem #2 - management priced tickets a bit too high especially those meet and greet packages. that was a big turn off for fans and concert goers.
problem #3 - after cutting the summer tour short (due to Elliot Easton’s injury) the group lost all the momentum they had going for them and they weren’t able to gain any of it back by the time they got back on the road in the winter.
problem #4 - management failed to promote the winter tour so attendance was even worse than before. most fans weren’t even aware The New Cars were even out on the road in Nov and Dec.
problem #5 - at this point it seems that there’s not much promotion behind this summer’s tour as well. no press about the tour and no buzz on the ‘net about the group.
problem #6 - The New Cars’ bassist Kasim Sulton is currently touring with Meatloaf so he won’t be available this summer. There’s absolutely nothing about his replacement on the official website (as of 10May07).
problem #7 - The New Cars is simply a lame name for a band. a bit of a hinderance from the get go i must say. talent like Elliot Easton and Todd Rundgren deserve better than this. the lack of promotion and not really having any new material to support is just bad news all around.

and what’s even more confusing is that Todd Rundgren just recently completed a successful short tour of the east coast with Tony Levin, Jerry Marotta and Jesse Gress. I think at this point going out as “Todd Rundgren” is a better career decision than being a member of a dead project called the New Cars. you know, it was a fun experience for one summer but it really feels like they are overstaying their welcome. time for Todd, Elliot, Greg and Prairie to move on to something else. don’t get me wrong, if they end up in my neck of the wood (unfortunately the tour isn’t coming anywhere close to where i live) I’d go out and support the band since I’m a fan of Todd’s but in general, I really don’t see the point of Todd being involved with this anymore.

go see them while you can. from the look of things, they ain’t going to be around for much longer…

Fri 05/11/07 Kinder, LA Grand Casino Coushatta
Sat 05/12/07 Cypress Gardens, FL Cypress Gardens
Mon 05/14/07 Prior Lake, MN Mystic Lake Casino
Fri 06/22/07 Napavine, WA Napavine Amphitheater
Sat 06/23/07 Walla Walla, WA TBA
Sun 06/24/07 Tulalip, WA Tulalip Amphitheatre
Thu 06/28/07 Agoura Hills, CA Canyon Club
Fri 06/29/07 Coarsegold, CA Half Dome Chukchansi Casino
Wed 07/04/07 Lenox, MA Tanglewood
Sat 07/07/07 Milwaukee, WI Summerfest
Sun 07/08/07 Muskegon, MI Heritage Park
Tue 07/10/07 Lansing, MI Adado Riverfront Park
Wed 07/11/07 Rama, ON Casino Rama
Fri 07/13/07 Walker, MN Moondance Jam
Thu 07/19/07 Cadott, WI Rock Fest
Sat 07/21/07 Stillwater, MN Town Square Park
Thu 07/26/07 Stamford, CT Stamford Park Green
Sun 07/29/07 Saint Louis, MO Scottrade Center
Thu 08/02/07 Westbury, NY North Fork Theatre At Westbury
Sat 08/04/07 Greenville, WI Lions Park
Tue 08/07/07 Vancouver, WA Clark County Fairgrounds
Sat 08/18/07 Sparta, WI Fort McCoy Army Base
Wed 08/29/07 Shawnee, OK Firelake Casino
Thu 08/30/07 Lincoln, NE Nebraska State Fair
Sat 09/01/07 Rockford, IL Davis Memorial Park
Sun 09/02/07 Clarkston, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre

Tags: Todd Rundgren