Im not gonna let this idea die, just working on other stuff at the moment.
If youd like to help out or share contacts later on email me at datathrash@gmail.com

This is a good deal!

I can book shows here in Lexington, KY. Lexington has a great music scene since there isn't much to do besides go out, jam and get fucked up. I'm on board for this. I even have a venue that I'm in good with and that has decent sound equipment and doesn't take money away from the ticket sales. (They just take bar sales.)

About 79% of the shows I set up on my tour were me calling up friends and asking them to book me, with their band or at their venue with other bands, I didn't bother trying to set up chip-only shows in every towne (saving that for places like MS and NY). I ended up doing a lot of death metal shows to [mostly] a pretty good reception, even if they didn't really move around or anything they pretty much stared me down the whole time, as did the people in the back pretending like they didn't want to be there.

Not to say we should all play death metal shows all the time, but if you can call your musicgenre something other than "chiptune," try finding local bands/artists/DJ's that sound even somewhat close to that genre and get in touch with them.

To do what you're trying to do, Arnie, would be awesome, but it basically comes down to establishing a relationship with a promoter or venue in every city you're trying to hit, and not much else. We could all pool our resources and try to map something out, but there will be holes to fill most likely.

This already has a lot of the data I'm looking for (well the calendar does) --
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/vie … NGJwOXc6MQ

An expansion and streamlining of that would probably be the best thing.

let me just add one other detail regarding touring...

i've gotten so many emails that are like "i'm going on tour in 2 weeks, can i play in rochester?" two weeks is nowhere near enough time for me to set something up for you. if you're doing a tour of a decent length, you've got to plan this months in advance.

on the flip side, i've also gotten emails that say "i'm going on tour in february of 2013, can i play in rochester?" i guess it's good that they're planning ahead but there's such a thing as too much advance notice. there's no way i can confirm a show that's happening next year because i have no idea what's going on that far in advance.

i'd say 3 to even 4 months is the best amount of time. but i've been able to hook stuff up on 2 months notice too.

possibly unrelated to the discussion, but i wanted to add it.

Just add some info about the west coast:
Thanks to the dudes at X-Bit, Seattle chipmusic shows have been pretty fantastic. A usual crowd of ~60 people show up and new people discover it each time. I've been doing some stuff 30 minutes south in Tacoma called Circuits Ole. It's the first saturday of every month and it's at a giant barcade with a full stage, PA, beer, and a pretty alright crowd
let me know whenever you need any washington help !

These are words of wisdom and they deserve to make it to the next page.

Yes. 

So essentially what most conventional bands try to do. We're open to that here in Wilmington.

*taking notes*

this is probably the truth for a majority of artists, and there are a number of reasons why. One is that honestly, I think the days when new artists could survive on tour without heavy marketing or a huge following are basically over: at this point, media consumption is done mostly online, until there becomes a social element (girls, friends, cred, etc) to it. I cant tell you how many bands/artists that I thought were HUGE (online) I have seen play in *Boston* for 20-30 people, never mind whatever small-town turnouts might be.

However, we have done some (very?) successful shows in areas without an established show series via one very simple technique: introduce a social element. The reason people buy tickets to Blip isn't just to see acts, its to hang out with all their online friends and reinforce "chiptune culture". They are buying themselves into a scene. Our most successful shows have been along the same lines. Its not about "omg I am touring pay me", its "we are bringing the chiptune party to you and your friends". We find out where local peeps want to go venue-wise, we have local chip talent featured / an open mic for n00bz, we get local modders or chip/related merch vendor types involved AND we well publicize it with local media.

People will GLADY pay money to come out for an event that reinforces and enhances their social niche. Hell, I would, and do. From my perspective, thats the exact reason that videogame bands like Protomen and Powerglove are as successful as they are (or abstracted slightly further, any popular band really): people are going out to see and hang out with other people in their tribe.

So perhaps take that into consideration for future touring events (not you specifically dan, im talking everybody chip here). Its a bit more complicated, but not really THAT bad, and in the end is considerably better for everybody: artists, fans and "scene".

Excellent point (and point taken).

There may be some misunderstanding going on here, though.
I'm not suggesting that we somehow start up a twice monthly chip showcase in a bunch of different cities since that would be nightmarish and largely pointless.
I'm hoping to figure out a general path that chip dudes who want to go on the road can follow that will already have possible show and lodging locations mapped out along with who from the scene is available for support at each stop.  Ideally we could map out a "circuit" like this for East and West coast at least.
The possible show locations wouldn't necessarily be chip events.  Just bars/clubs/etc that are open to booking chip acts along with their regulars.

Does that make more sense now?

Touring is essentially a huge depressing money pit unless you do it extremely right.  Unless you're drawing people into shows like Anamanaguchi (you aren't), you're not going to survive unless you're an opener for a bigger draw.

My last tour had VERY FEW chip scene people show up, like 3 or less.  And one of them was paid to be there.  I realize the ticket prices weren't exactly $5 and some people were going to see me play at blip a week later, but holy crap that should be your wake up call to how many people might actually show up to these things.

Have you heard of a band by the name of Anamanaguchi?