Godsmack Claim They've Never Made Money Touring Europe

Godsmack recently canceled a South American tour due to lack of ticket sales, but in a recent interview with Australia's Metal Roos, drummer Shannon Larkin delved a little bit deeper in breaking down why it is so hard for the band to tour internationally. In fact, he went so far as to state that the band has never made money while touring Europe despite having been there "15 times or whatever."

During the discussion, the subject turned to touring with the Metal Roos host asking Larkin if the band had plans to tour Australia in support of their Lighting Up the Sky album. After explaining that no plans were on the books as of yet, Larkin offered insight on how difficult it is for the band to tour internationally, especially when it comes to presenting the show that they want for audiences.

"Can we afford to come," pondered Larkin, adding, "It sucks for us because we're here. We're big in America. We're an American band. The radio loves us here. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't be a big band. And we didn't really have the success worldwide that we have here."

He then elaborated on the band's live mindset, "People pay these exorbitant ticket prices and when they come to see us, we have a big show. And we blow shit up with pyro and we have video screens. And there might be lasers that night. We have moving drum risers — all this shit that's part of us and it's been us. Then we go to England and play, or Australia and play, and we've got a rag behind us and a drum set," alluding to the cost that plays into bringing full production overseas.

"It's not a crutch — we still went and we do it — but we never had the growth to where we were big enough, say in Australia, to come there and present what we do, like us live, this badass show that we've always done and that's as much a part of us as our instruments. We perform and we love to do it. And so we're proud of it and we have a lot of pride there. And so sometimes it feels like they're not getting what we are because we can't afford to bring all that shit," he adds, revealing their international touring conundrum.

"We've got 20-some people on the road crew. It's rooms and flights — it's crazy how much it costs to tour the world, especially now after all this bullshit pandemic bullshit," continued the drummer. "Touring Europe ... You're literally losing money. And we did it. We'd do it anyway."

"I'll say this right here — we've never made money in Europe ever. Period," revealed Larkin. "And we've been there 15 times or whatever. We keep going back because we have a cult following where we can draw a couple of thousand people in these rooms, and we love to play for 'em, but there's never been a moment where we can say, 'Here's what we are.'" See the full discussion with Metal Roos below.

Just this past week, Godsmack canceled their planned South American tour dates, alerting fans, "We are saddened by this as we've been trying for so long to make this work, but due to the lack of ticket sales, we simply can't find a way to fund this tour at this time. Please know we've tried everything we could to make it work, but it has now gone beyond our control. We love and appreciate out fans and will remain optimistic that we will play for your country one day. Until then, our deepest apologies."

That said, as Larkin noted, the band has always had a strong base in America and they'll be hitting the road in May with I Prevail. You can get your tickets here.