Assuming the festival contract doesn't specify exclusivity in the weeks surrounding (something that's actually quite common in my experience).
Regarding venues, being from a city with around 1 million people, it’s pretty much always a solvable problem. Theaters, movie theaters, music venues, gallerie, stadiums, rented stages... it is, in my experience, a very solvable problem. If it’s a big band, you throw money at the problem, if it’s a small gig, make something fun out of it. The concert only gets better if you put the act somewhere fun or unexpected. I’ve done shows in wine cellars, on ferries etc.
We're planning on working assistance to cover the venue/promoter costs as well. So given that the demand is high enough for the performer, I don't see why the venue would turn them down if they could present info like this.
Thanks for the feedback btw!
The pandemic has been brutal to traditional bands who play real instruments, but no way are they gone forever.
The railroad preceded the rise of the large, Sousa-style marching band, which also made use of the loudest instruments of the era(brass). After electric amplication set in you got an era of radio crooners and smaller-piece popular groups, which ultimately gravitated towards the now familar guitar-keys-drums arrangements by midcentury as the nascent rock band could fit that gear on a bus and get a wide timbral variety with use of amplification and effects without relearning the instruments. The guitar in particular has a good ergonomic profile while also being amenable to amplification and effects, hence the stereotype of the "travelling guitarist" coincides with its central role in large arena rock productions where a three or four-piece plays to an audience of tens or hundreds of thousands.
The laptop fits in with the trend by being even smaller, more portable, more flexible. It fills in nearly every need for back-up, so a solo act can sound as big as desired. And it can be used in its own right as a performance instrument, though computer keyboards aren't tremendously expressive interfaces in the way guitar strings are. (For that, there is always someone selling some kind of new controller interface idea. Though they have a habit of not sticking...)
Ok possibly you could use an amp simulator to replace some of the ancillary gear.
Also, love it or hate it, modern country music is extremely popular in parts of the US, and that's (mostly) traditional instruments as well.
And that's a very DJ-centric way of looking at. A DJ might be able to have an itinerary like Dublin -> Frankfurt -> Birmingham -> Prague but when it comes to a band and all their equipment, they generally would look for a route that minimises travel-time and cost.
DJs tour all day every day, and the current trend in pop music is to just release as many singles and eps and albums as possible (look at the rapper Future for instance). Not too familiar with Jazz but my impression is it’s mostly life on the road as well.
As a former promoter in the EU, I can attest we have many great shows in my city which begin basically with just an email with an offer and a date and then it’s off to the races. Roadpony fits perfectly. Hundreds, thousands, if not millions of artists across the world would kill for that email. Artists are insatiable when it comes to opportunities like this. Mind you, “rock bands” are a thing of the past. People just pack a laptop and thats it.
Futher, touring bands love to squeeze another gig in. Its basically free money. If you’re going to a festival, and theres a roadpony thing going on to have you play a venue that is local, of course you would just go do that as well.