Another chapter in the Canada-US break up: To tour or not to tour? 

Every spring, summer tours and concert dates spring up like so many flowers, delighting music fans who eagerly grab their credit cards to get tickets to see their favourite bands. But for Canadian bands, and their American fans, this year isn’t like all that came before. 

For a number of reasons, many Canadian bands are skipping the lower 48 this year. Maybe it’s due to the politics of the current administration; maybe it’s because of the high cost of touring visas; maybe it’s something else altogether. 

On Friday, March 28, Dwayne Gretzky announced the postponement of a show at the Town Ballroom in Buffalo a week later. In a statement emailed by the Ballroom, the band promises to reschedule but said the show was postponed “due to the current uncertain border situation.” No further explanation was given, but in truth, nothing more needed to be said. 

Two weeks later, on April 11, Bells Larsen canceled an upcoming US tour. 

“I received an email on Tuesday from the American Federation of Musicians stating that I am no longer able to apply for a visa because US Immigration now only recognizes identification that corresponds with one’s assigned sex at birth. To put it super plainly, because I’m trans (and have an M on my passport), I can’t tour in the States. I hesitate to include a ‘right now’ or an ‘anymore’ at the end of my previous sentence because — in this sociopolitical climate – I truly don’t know phrasing holds more truth. The irony of this announcement falling exactly two weeks before the release of my album, which is about my transition, is not lost on me,” he said. 

The decision was forced but they had been debating the US tour for weeks anyway, he said. “The accumulation of border horror stories + worried check-in texts from loved ones + increasingly troublesome updates on the news and on official government websites with regards to travel precautions has resulted in a plethora of nightmares and anxiety. If random people are getting randomly questioned/stopped/detained at borders, how can I – as someone wanting to make money abroad by exhibiting my lived experience as a trans person – expect to pass go and get out of jail free? Before I heard about the policy, my plan was to tour with harm reduction in mind. ‘Yes, I’m doing something that has the potential to be risky and dangerous,’ I thought, ‘but I’m going about it in the safest way possible.’… After chatting with two immigration lawyers this week and then getting that email from the AFM, it’s clear to me that there is no way to move forward here.” 

Larsen included a call for support for other Canadian musicians. With the summer touring season quickly approaching, “I feel like it’s really easy to get lost in the sauce of the music industry. As much as possible, let’s go to each other’s shows, check in on each other and keep each other in the know about travel regulations so we can all make informed decisions in order to protect ourselves,” they said, before issuing a reminder to vote in Canada’s upcoming federal elections later this month. 

Safety for crew keeps the Wilderness in Canada

The issue of safety also is a main concern for The Wilderness, a Kingston, Ontario-based band that just celebrated its 10-year anniversary and has played a number of shows in the States in recent years. 

“Even as a group of straight-looking cis white dudes, the fact that we’re capital C Canadian makes us feel uneasy, let along the women in our crew who don’t want to go at all, and what that means for us – and I imagine many other indie bands – is that we’re having to rethink how we do touring from top to bottom,” the band said in a statement provided to this writer. 

Touring the United States, where singer Jonas Lewis-Anthony lived for a time (in Virginia) and keyboardist Liam Neale is from, can be a lucrative, appealing alternative compared to traveling across Canada, they said. “If you can figure out the visa stuff, playing in the US has arguably made touring Canada more economically viable for Canadian bands. If we’re being honest, though, the scary part is going to the US at all. Even under normal circumstances, figuring out the visa process is difficult; you need your dates booked in advance, a comprehensive list of all your gear, stacks of paperwork, a wad of cash and absolute certainty you’re not getting turned around at the border for missing something, lest you doom your music career forever (or worse, have to drive back across the country for nothing). 

“Now, with the political climate of the US, none of us feel good going there. We’re seeing women’s rights be rolled back, flagrant hate speech against queer folks, trans folks and immigrants, weaponized surveillance capitalism and a rash wave of hyper nationalism as if it’s somehow both 1939 and 1812.” 

Skipping the States

Kasador, another Kingston-based band, just kicked off a tour for their new EP in Toronto on Thursday night. Last year alone, the band played in Buffalo a handful of times, a city that has become more supportive and friendly with a strong relationship at newer streaming radio station BTPM The Bridge (the BTPM standing for Buffalo Toronto Public Media, the NPR and PBS-anchored broadcaster). 

At least for this leg of the tour, there is no Buffalo date, and there probably won’t be one anytime soon. 

“I wish there was a Buffalo-specific visa we could get,” said singer Cameron Wyatt. (The argument for Western New York and Southern Ontario being essentially the same place, considering our long history of enjoying each other’s radio and TV stations, not to mention concert access and shopping options, is the stuff of legend and could fill a book.) 

He also cited the high cost of touring visas and the increasing frustration with the current administration’s weird obsession with turning the entirety of Canada into part of the United States.

Wyatt, along with bassist Boris Baker, said conversations within the band on the topic of touring are not focused on the US at all, but instead other markets where artists are more valued and appreciated rather than just the flavour of the week. 

“I have reservations about music culture in America,” Baker said. “I’m not convinced the majority of people in America like to discover new bands or even like going out for the love of music whereas in Europe I feel like it’s, ‘What do you want to do tonight? I want to go watch live music.’ … Bands that actually break in Europe can always go back and have dedicated fans whereas in America, you almost have to just ride this wave to the top and as soon as you’re noton that wave up, you’re old news.” 

Wyatt agrees. “From what I’ve seen and what I hear from a lot of other bands, that is the case. It’s too bad because, obviously, there’s a ton of great fans and good venues and scenes and other musicians, but it just feels impossible (to gain traction in the States). Especially as a smaller non-American band, there’s just so many roadblocks.” 

The OBGMs see the States as an important option

Among the bands contacted for this article, one is bucking the trend of steering away from the US and instead working to make an impression. Last week, the OBGMs announced a run of shows in the US, including a festival in Pennsylvania and stops in Buffalo, Baltimore, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston and upstate New York.

“We’re targeting the States more than we ever have now,” says Denz McFarlane, the Toronto-based band’s singer. “When it comes to scaling a music business, our sound does not fit our country, so we kind of have to find a home somewhere else. Separately, there are just not that many Canadians, so the places to tour are much less and come with less industry clout associated to it. Within a 12-hour drive, I wouldn’t be able to leave my province going west, and there aren’t really major cities going east outside of Montreal. But going to the States, (we) can go to Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Buffalo, NYC, markets that are more receptive to use and that our existing market values more than home. When we announce or sell out a tour in NYC or DC, the industry in Toronto pays more attention than us selling 250 tickets in Guelph or Hamilton.” 

It’s still not the ideal situation, McFarlane says. “Donald’s actions are significantly impacting our dollar. But we don’t really have a choice. Our dream can’t live in Canada so we need our friends in the US. The fact that we have to pay a few grand for a visa is wild and I wish it was like how it is for US musicians. They can come up here real cheap.”