A big %&$# you to the Canadian government!

"Holy shit!" I said to myself as the e-mail came back. The date was open. They'd put it on hold 'til we signed a contract. Hurray!! Our first show in Canada! We'd be playing in Montreal, a magical city that boasts a beautiful night life and metal fans who like clean vocals. It was an amazing feeling. I felt accomplished.

Then this happened.

New fees for international touring musicians entering Canada

THANKS, CANADIAN GOVERNMENT. In a nutshell, they raised the cost of band members entering Canada, which means it costs$450 PER PERSON to play. I have a four piece band, so it's almost two thousand bucks to play a show that might make us a hundred bucks. Ahahahahahahanonononono. Thanks, Canada, for robbing our Canadian fans of the chance to see us near them. Thanks for sucking the life out of the local clubs who get American bands in there. From what I've heard, this is all part of some scheme to try and get Canada to promote more Canadian musicians.

Hey, I'm all for promoting locals. But don't forget that traveling musicians often help boost attendance to local performances! Playing with bands from Europe has helped us immensely. I can't imagine what it would be like if we couldn't have bands like Primal Fear or Doro come to the US, bands that are (despite their fame and history) considered "small" in our area. I doubt pop stars are gonna have a problem paying these fees, but smaller musicians? DIY bands trying to make it in a market that largely rejects them? This isn't gonna go well for us, and now it's likely we'll have to cancel our plans.

Sigh.