Franz Ferdinand, Death Cab on double date

By Jill Kipnis

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) – A tour package with rock acts
Franz Ferdinand and Death Cab for Cutie was, simply, meant to
be.

Both groups were looking to tour this spring as follow-ups
to major-market fall outings, and both wanted to play midsize
venues to help build audiences.

When the bands’ respective booking agents realized the acts
had similar game plans, the idea to pair them instantly came to
mind.

The package, which features supporting act the Cribs on
select dates, kicks off March 22 at the Memorial Coliseum in
Portland, Ore., and runs through April 28 at the Pacific
Coliseum in Vancouver.

“Everybody was just so into the idea,” says Trey Many,
Death Cab for Cutie’s agent at Seattle-based Aero Booking. “The
acts have a lot of fans in common, but they each have the
potential to gain a lot of new fans as well with this package.”

Franz Ferdinand’s fall tour grossed more than $907,000 and
was attended by about 30,000 people, according to Billboard
Boxscore.

The band’s prior outing in 2004 — which featured 18
sellouts for 21 shows — grossed more than $656,000 and was
attended by nearly 37,000 people.

Death Cab for Cutie’s fall tour grossed almost $1.2 million
and was attended by more than 50,000 people. Nineteen out of
its 20 shows were sellouts.

The group’s 2004 trek grossed about $480,000 and drew
nearly 26,000 attendees.

Many says Death Cab for Cutie already had a spring tour
routed prior to pairing with Franz Ferdinand. Ultimately, Many
and Franz Ferdinand’s agent, Marty Diamond of Little Big Man
Booking in New York, slightly tweaked the dates to accommodate
common goals.

“We wanted to make the tour as intimate as possible,” Many
says. “This package is too big for a lot of theaters, but it’s
not quite right for a full-scale arena show. We looked at each
band’s history in a variety of markets, including secondary and
tertiary ones, to determine what venues would work and what was
available.”

The agents also wanted to keep ticket prices low and offer
general admission seating whenever possible.

“We didn’t want to double the price even though it’s double
the headliners,” Many says. “I think the lowest price is about
$28, but the highest is only $40. We also wanted the fans to
get up close to the stage, and in most cases, we have a GA
(general admission) floor.”

The bands will be taking advantage of the fact that each
will be working a new single — the second from their
respective 2005 releases — this spring.

Franz Ferdinand’s “You Could Have It So Much Better” (Epic)
has sold 309,000 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and
debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

Death Cab for Cutie’s “Plans” (Atlantic) debuted at No. 4
on The Billboard 200 and has sold 580,000 units.

Reuters/Billboard