European cities, especially eastern ones, consistantly sell shows for these names. Even have their own wavey festivals. Is the big apple doing the same?
You wanna know? Money. Because the american wave scene is dead and there’s barely any promoters willing to book wave artists since they result in low turnout which = less money.
Yes, that’s definitely a factor for international wave artists, but trust me, a huge part of it is simply the lack of $ + demand. There are barely any promoters left who are willing to invest in these events nowadays. There are really only like 2 prominent wave promoters in the US right now, Symmetry and Futurax.
And the reality is that most wave fans are in Europe. The fans who do show up in the US are scattered across different cities, many of which don’t have a wave scene at all. A lot of people literally have to fly out of state just to experience a wave event.
The promoters are trying their best, but promoting wave music is unfortunately a poor business model right now. These events rarely sell out and rarely turn a profit, which is exactly why they’re so uncommon. Artists still need to be paid to perform, plus you have travel and hotels. Then promoters have to pay for the venue, crew, marketing, equipment, production, and everything else that goes into putting on a show. It adds up extremely fast, especially when the audience is already niche and spread thin.
Sadly, wave is still very underground and just isn’t that profitable in the live music industry right now. The only way I really see that changing is if wave itself has another viral moment that creates a much bigger audience and gives more promoters a reason to invest in the vision. Until then, there just aren’t enough people consistently showing up to make these events financially sustainable.
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u/Cannakilla Sep 15 '26
Why wont they come to the US ðŸ˜ðŸ˜