…Here’s Why

by Ryan Buynak

When you love a band, it can feel like a personal slight when they don't bring their tour to your neck of the woods. And if you live in Florida – especially South Florida – chances are your favorite band (exceptions apply) skips the state altogether or only stops in one city in the north.

Florida is a big ass state!

If you look at the myriad of tour dates coming out, most — if not all — are missing the lower 95% of Florida. Tampa is gross. Daytona doesn’t count. Sure, Orlando is moving up the cool ladder. St. Augustine and Jacksonville might as well be Georgia. But isn't South Florida the third-most populous area in America? Isn't it full of major cities? So why don’t bands come to South Florida? Well, we have a few questionable answers for you.

Geography

Planning and executing — or "routing" — a tour can be expensive, and getting to far-flung cities eats up extra time and money. The hassle of getting buses into and out of a peninsula like Florida scares many bands off, because you have to drive down, then backtrack and drive up the same way you came.

Perception

For all its hip neighborhoods and booming craft breweries, South Florida still isn't a mecca of cultural coolness. Sure, Miami is fun, but it is known more for babe beaches and neon nightlife with pulse-pounding dance music, not live music.

Jacksonville Doesn’t Count

If a band tours to Florida but stops short and only plays a northern location like Jacksonville or St. Augustine, can said band really say they toured the state of Florida? Going this route is like playing New York City and saying you tackled the entire state of New York. Fort Lauderdale to Jacksonville is at least a five hour drive. The markets are not the same.

Encore

Sure, whole states like Wyoming get skipped a lot, but Florida is sunny and filled with cities. Pearl Jam may make their way via the arena route, boomer bands like Graham Nash and co make the pilgrimage annually, and Pitbull is always somehow killing it in Miami, but unique and/or indie bands, like the Canadian indie rockers Tokyo Police Club for example, rarely come close to West Palm Beach. As summer approaches and the tour posters are pinned all over social media, it sucks (another reason) to live and linger in South Florida.