How To Get An 11-Piece German Marching Techno Band On Tour In The U.S.

Meute before playing a "guerilla gig," which the band likes to do.
 – Meute before playing a “guerilla gig,” which the band likes to do.
This one took place in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

There aren’t a lot of German acts that can pull off a U.S. tour, but marching techno band Meute is one of them. Their second stateside trek, “Meute Live,” includes performances at Coachella and iconic venues like Chicago’s House of Blues.
Meute getting close with the audience in Detroit.
Jennifer Schmid – Meute getting close with the audience in Detroit.
The show took place Oct. 13, 2019, on the band’s last visit to the U.S.

Meute break all genre rules with their fusion of brass band sounds and techno, all made using only acoustic instruments. They have crafted viral hits, sold out clubs, and garnered props from electronic music pioneers Dixon and Laurent Garnier, as well as airplay on BBC Radio 1 amongst many other stations. Right now, Meute are building excitement around their long-awaited new album, Taumel, set to arrive on the band’s own label Tumult later this year.

UTA’s Christian Bernhardt, who represents the band in North and South America, told Pollstar, “Our interest in signing artists often comes from the simple desire to want to see and experience their live show for ourselves. after watching some of Meute’s videos circulating on YouTube, we knew that this group was special and that we needed to be involved in helping them succeed.”
Fellow music agent at UTA Adam Ogushwitz added, “While booking tours for such a large act comes with some obvious struggles, those challenges actually make it more exciting and rewarding when all of the strategic development and execution pay off.”
Meute’s U.S. tour kicks off March 23 at Royale in Boston and closes with the shows at Coachella’s second weekend, April 22-24. The 11-piece phenomenon from Hamburg will also visit Chicago, New York, Montreal, Toronto, Detroit, San Diego, Las Vegas, Seattle, Portland, Denver and more. 
The crowd at electronic music temple SAT in Montreal.
 – The crowd at electronic music temple SAT in Montreal.
Meute play a different rhythm than any marching band you’ve hear of.

The U.S. run of “Meute Live” sits between a long list of European dates. Most of the dates, especially the German gigs, had been pushed back to later in the year at press time. 

It’s the second North American trek for Meute, who first toured the U.S. in October 2019. That run kicked off at Washington D.C.’s U Street Music Hall and closed with a sold-out night at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. Other sold-out shows included Brooklyn Bowl in Brooklyn, N.Y., (880 tickets sold and $15,000 grossed, according to Pollstar’s Boxoffice); Bottom Lounge in Chicago and The Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, as well as two gigs in Canada – SAT in Montreal and Adelaide Hall in Toronto.
It takes a lot to bring an 11-piece marching band from Germany over to the States, with or without the added logistical challenges of coronavirus. Pollstar asked trumpeter and band founder Thomas Burhorn how they pulled it off. He said the band and team purchased P-1 (band) and P-1S (crew) visas, which are only valid for one year. According to Burhorn, the process “is quite expensive and time-consuming. Alternatively, there is the O visa, which is valid for three years, but costs much more and is even harder to get.”
Meute performing at a sold out Brooklyn Bowl in New York.
 – Meute performing at a sold out Brooklyn Bowl in New York.
The band will be back on tour in the U.S. in March.

The costs for the visas amount to around $10,000, “that includes legal fees of our agent, the normal visa costs, express fees, etc. for 16 people,” Burhorn explained. “We have to add the costs for the appointments at the embassy. Since it is very expensive to make these appointments,

it is advisable to let it run through an agency, as well. Costs here about €300 per person. In addition, there are the travel costs for the interview appointments [at the embassy], which are only possible in Berlin and Munich. So, I’m estimating all amounts to roughly $15,000 for the visa process alone. 
“The carnet comes on top of that. It is about $1,000 and it takes a huge amount of time to get it done by an agency and approved by the Chamber of Commerce and by the customs inspection.”
Burhorn said that while it was easy enough booking the band members’ flights through a regular travel agency, it was quite hard to find nightliner companies on site for the duration of the tour. All of this is time consuming, of course. 
“For the tour in October 2019 we already started with the first steps a year in advance. Today, everything is going a bit faster, but we are already starting to plan another run for May/June 2023 in North America. Especially with the visas, it is worthwhile to start in time to save the express costs, which amount to almost $3,000 in our case, and we have unfortunately not managed to save these costs.
“Besides involving our booking agency, the travel agency, the carnet agency and the visa agency, there is also work to do for the Meute management to provide all kind of proofs like letters of recommendations and a huge amount of recent press reviews and festival flyers to get the visa. And as soon as all this is done, our tour manager Kirsten [Söhl] can start to prepare the production for the venues on site.”