A lukewarm comeback attempt ended with Wig Wam being removed from his agency’s artist list. After the “Peacemaker” success, they are now represented by the concert giant All Things Live.
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“For someone who has had all the roles in this band, including poster hanging, it is incredibly liberating and wonderful to know that we are now FINALLY in the very, very best hands,” says Wig Wam vocalist Åge Sten “Glam »Nilsen (52) in a press release from All Things Live, which among other things brings Justin Bieber and Rammstein to Norway on a regular basis.
Nilsen told NRK Dagsrevyen last weekend that Wig Wams, now former booking agency United Stage, had removed the band from its artist list.
This as an example of how it was with the career before an inquiry from the United States turned everything upside down.
The success of the 12-year-old Wig Wam song “Do Ya Wanna Taste It” in the intro to the new American superhero series “Peacemaker” is so startling that the music industry magazine Billboard has now published a case about the breach between Wig Wam and United Stage.
– Lovely bunch
There, the agency’s booking manager, Jan Roger Andreassen, says that they were aware of Wig Wam’s agreement with the “Peacemaker” producers when they decided to drop the band.
“Usually a song in a TV series is less important for ticket sales and concert booking than many people think,” he writes in an email to Billboard.
– In this case, however, it may be different, he continues, with a wink emoji and an admission that the timing could have been better for United Stage.
In the Billboard article, Andreassen elaborates that booking was generally difficult in December, and that he did not manage to get the band the type of “resurrected” concerts they wanted.
To VG, Andreassen says that United Stage is brilliantly pleased that Wig Wam has now gone to the competitor All Things Live.
– I’m glad to see that the guys get a chance to follow up the interest around «Peacemaker». Wonderful bunch, and I wish them all the best!
Just before it slammed
According to Billboard, Wig Wam discovered that they were off the United Stage list on January 7, six days before HBO Max released the first three “Peacemaker” episodes.
– I saw it by chance, says Åge Sten Nilsen to VG.
– TNT was there, but we were gone! So I sent a little email and wondered what was going on, and got the answer that they would not spend more energy on the band.
–According to Nilsen, United Stage was interested in trying again with the band, when it began to dawn on what was going on.
That was not the case. The vocalist says that Wig Wam had a last meeting with the agency on Tuesday this week.
– In that meeting, we said that we had received many inquiries and that we wanted to start with blank sheets and not have this with us in our luggage.
United Stage says they do not want to comment on details in agreements and communication with the band.
Heavy comeback attempt
For its part, “Glam” says that he proposed to United Stage to book warm-up jobs with Wig Wam last autumn, which the agency should not have thought was a good idea.
– I understand that they have worked in headwinds. Sometimes it pays to have ice in your stomach, and it’s good to be honest that you do not have faith in the band, says Nilsen.
– We were in the process of finding alternative solutions. It’s amazing what you can do if you want to and bother.
–He says that the comeback attempt last year was “heavy” and characterized by headwinds.
– Then everything dies in the course of a year, and then the corona comes back again … It looked like we had to start rolling up our sleeves properly. Then this came and saved us!
Peanuts in proportion
In addition to a new booking agency, Wig Wam has now got a new manager, industry veteran Eivind Brydøy. An agreement with him was signed on Wednesday this week.
According to Nilsen, he has taken care of most of the managerial tasks for a number of years.
– I have been used to working 24/7, now I get the opportunity to push things over and “leave it to the professionals”. We’re damn relieved. We had a completely different situation and now have completely different cards on hand. Now I feel that we have a machinery in the back that is really geared.
Nilsen says that Wig Wam is now looking forward to playing their first US concerts ever, after having existed as a band for over 20 years.
–He also reports offers from “big bands” who want to take Wig Wam on tour.
– This is the biggest thing that has happened in my career, says Nilsen about the “Peacemaker” success.
The band’s breakthrough in the Melodi Grand Prix and then the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005 are “just peanuts” in relation to this, he believes.
– It was very important for us to break through there. But the size of this now I do not think we even know.
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