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Ghostland Observatory c’est Majestique !
Now the duo is preparing to take things to the next level with a new release, Robotique Majestique, and a full 2008 tour schedule.
The first leg of the trek kicks off February 29 at Austin Music Hall in the band’s hometown and, so far, is scheduled to drop in on clubs across the country through mid-April.Other destinations in GO’s sights include the Langerado Music Festival at the Big Cypress Seminole Reservation near Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (March 8), Webster Hall in New York City (March 28), the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, Ore. (April 3), Showbox at The Market in Seattle (April 4-5) and Music Box at the Henry Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles (April 18).
Tickets for a few shows are available at Ticketmaster.com.
Majestique, which is due February 26, is Ghostland Observatory’s third full-length release in two years.
In that short time, Turner and Behrens have gone from relative obscurity to drawing big crowds wherever they play. They’ve done it without the benefit of a manager or publicist, with virtually no press and very little radio airplay, and without following a traditional touring model.
And success didn’t come from 21st century sources like MySpace or YouTube either. So what’s the secret? The granddaddy of all marketing tools – word of mouth.
“It’s all about the point of attack,” Turner told Pollstar. “Picking certain places that you want to create a big boom in and letting those places spread – key places like Seattle, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and obviously our hometown.
“And then you kind of fill in the blanks in-between – the Midwest, the West Coast and the East Coast.”
Turner said he and Behrens feel they owe fans the best show they can give them, even if that means fewer dates. Of course, there’s some strategy there, too.
“When we bring our full production, you’re talking about a very expensive laser and light show. So when we tried to do small tours, we couldn’t take that type of show.
“I said, ‘I don’t want someone who pays for a ticket in one town to see a show with just a couple of lights and two guys on stage and the next city we play we have a full-blown laser show.’
“So we decided to just strip it down, fly in and do only big shows and let the buzz spread from that. That way whoever does get to see a show is blown away by the production and then as things progress, we’ll able to bring the full-blown production everywhere we go.”
With the new album and tour launching next month, fans are certain to be able to catch that full-blown production on a nearby stage in the coming months. –