Festival time

The other day I wrote a little about bands like Ratt and Skid Row and how if these bands tour here that they have to get three or four of them to make a package in order to draw a crowd for a summer tour. Another kind of summer gig that goes on are the festivals in Europe that seem to be getting more and more plentiful each summer. Something I find odd about these festivals is that there are some older American bands, normally heavier bands like power or speed metal bands that get to together for a reunion and they skip the states to go straight over to do the European festivals. Last Year Anthrax, Testament and Nuclear Assault all had reunion tours. Each band played just a couple of shows here in the states and then bam they were off to Europe. I can't say I blame them as a band like Nuclear Assault probably couldn't draw flies over here except maybe in the New York area, but they could be slapped onto a festival in Europe and play in front of a 1,000+ people. So anymore if older band who plays heavier music puts out an album in the spring or early summer, don't expect to see them playing here until fall because they will hit the festival circuit first.