Metal Anarchy

During an appearance on the Stupid And Contagious Podcast, Candlebox’s Kevin Martin discussed the band’s upcoming plans. Notably, the group have now decided to continue after announcing a farewell tour three years ago.

Martin said the following:

“I was done [in 2023]. We were putting out the record and we were going out with 3 DOORS DOWN, and I really wanted to focus on my family and my relationship with my wife and son more, and I was also releasing this bourbon and I wanted to focus on it. And I just kind of felt like I was done with this music business. And then the minute you say that, your value becomes tenfold. An then I was asked to go out with BUSH, and, of course, Gavin [Rossdale, BUSH frontman] and I have been friends since the ’90s, and I was, like, ‘I can’t pass up on that.’ And it was [also] with Jerry Cantrell [on the bill]. And then it kind of all kickstarted again. And my wife’s, like, ‘Look, you know you’re not done with this.’ And then Pete’s [original CANDLEBOX guitarist Peter Klett], like, ‘Hey, man, I’d like to come back.’ So, yes, it’s now — we’re calling it the ‘We Can’t Quit You, Babe’ tour. I mean, fucking RAINBOW said they were retiring. So did THE WHO, KISS…”

He continued when asked about future live shows:

“Yeah, we have rehearsals starting in February. We’re only doing a short spring run, because Pete and I are working on a new record. So, that spring run will be short and sweet, but we’re working on a big summer thing and a fall tour. We’re also doing South America. I think we’re working on Europe for ’27, depending on how the record does, all that sort of stuff. [We’ll] keep ourselves busy.”

He also discussed how touring has changed over the years:

“It’s a hell of a lot harder. It’s a hell of a lot more expensive. Certainly with socials and social media and stuff, it’s difficult because there are expectations, I think, that fans have of the bands. I mean, back in the day, CANDLEBOX was the most faceless rock and roll band out of Seattle. So it was easy to play a show and go out and watch the opening band and nobody knew who we were. Now your face is all over everything and people can reach out and say, ‘Oh, my uncle’s a huge fan.’ And, ‘I met you guys through this person’ and ‘You’re not coming to my town. Why not?’ That that kind of stuff… Everybody asks that, and it’s, like, you live in a tiny little town in the middle of Iowa. Nobody goes there because it’s the most difficult place to get to and it’s incredibly expensive to get there. And it’s not that we don’t want to — we would love to. If we could afford to hit 70,000 cities in the United States in one year, we would, but the odds are stacked against you. But other than that, it’s really just the expense of being a touring band. It’s so financially unbalanced now. A tour bus, for example. If you’re in a 2010 tour bus, let’s say. That’s 15 years old — a 15-year-old tour bus that probably hasn’t been very well taken care of or upgraded or anything like that. It should be about $500 a day, but what you end up paying is about $1,500 a day for that bus. That doesn’t include the driver, that doesn’t include the fuel. So you’re looking at a bus that’s 15 years old that’s gonna cost you $2,200 a day. The cost of hotels is $350 a night, [plus] taxes, insurance. I mean, my daily nut to tour is $22,000. That’s a day what I have to pay to tour. And the merchandise isn’t cheap. To print a shirt is about $12 to $15. That’s why t-shirts at shows are $40 and $50 and $60 because it’s like retail markup. You’ve gotta make a hundred percent markup. And it’s not gonna get any easier as long as Trump’s in office, with tariffs.”

[via Blabbermouth]