The Extreme Tour is a real organization. I first encountered them myself when they came to my city to do community events in the park downtown. It took awhile to figure out that they were a Christian thing. These events were mostly community events. There were all kinds of people in attendance, and plenty of agencies taking part that were not affiliated with any church. It was just a big party to bring the community together.
At the end of the event, there was a mention of the beliefs of the organizers, and all the acts were "clean", but I don't know that even all the performers were necessarily religious. (I don't think they all were.) I later traveled with a band and did a few of their shows. It was definitely a different kind of experience. Not a typical gig.
We played in the middle of a housing project for a show like the English Village complex this other guy mocks. The point was to take a positive event to people that were having a hard time. I guess the other reviewer didn't understand that.
Not all the events were huge, but they definitely weren't "busking". These were organized events, and they were mostly to decent attendances or better.
And the insane accusation that the organizers are trying to "make a quick buck" just proves the guy doesn't know what he's talking about. The events are free. The staff, all the way up, are all unpaid vollunteers. Contrary to the report, artists DO NOT PAY to be on the tour! I know we didn't!
Yes, there was an insignificant application fee. But being a charitable thing, there aren't an overwhelming number of artists applying I don't think. (I think I heard it was about 700 the year I went). The organization provides food and lodging and stuff. I assume that's where the app fees go. That, or the background checks. I know they had to do them for all the artists that apply before they even know if they can take then. That likely costs more than the app fee.
I had a great time and actually found it inspiring to be part of helping with them. It's sad that someone can anonymously attack them like the other review here. Especially when it's obvious they didn't do any of the events. You shouldn't be able to review something you haven't been a part of. And if you wanted to see pictures or videos of events, there are quite a few on their site. Those are user submitted, I think, so you can see what people who participated posted themselves.
That's what I think, anyway. I thought I might as well add my voice. At last I've been on it!
You don't go around bad mouthing Christian Organizations without expecting retaliation.
even ones who are shady
The Short Version:
This company makes money off of farming application fees to sign up for thier tour.
then the artists who make it past the long and exclusive elemination process play junk shows for free under the blanket of a Religious Non Profit.
The long version:
I have already seen that somebody has posted the email exchange with The Extreme Tour with all of the various pitches they give to try and squeeze money out of artists previously so I will just go over that quickly to make sure everyone is caught up.
The organization finds bands on social media pages (reverbnation, bandcamp etc.) and asks them if they want to go on a tour they are setting up. Doing a quick Facebook search can show you dozens of hopefuls thinking that they have finally gotten a chance for rock stardom. I can only assume they send out thousands of these emails.
Of course there is an application fee to apply for the tour (that they asked you if you would be on) of 15 dollars. Not much really. But when you ask every band you can find an email for; that money can add up.
of course that's not all
Then you are looking at about 6 tiers of elimination; most of which involve continuous pitches for other services and additional charges they provide on this tour. They do offer tour support of travel and lodging, but only to their "top tier" performers who make it through the lengthy selection process. I have yet to find an account of a top tier performer that was not in their employ.
For the lucky suckers who finally get to be on their tour. They will be playing in church basements and public parks for no pay. I reviewed all of the "tour dates" on their 2015 Midwest tour.
Some don’t appear to even exist.
Most of the rest I couldn’t find a single ad, video or promotion for that show.
When I do find videos of performances they are shaky cellphone cameras showing bands playing to no crowds in public places.
This is not a tour you pay to go on. You can save your money and just go play in the park for free.
My personal favorite is one which is a place called English Village in my hometown of Springfield Mo.
There is no venue of any kind called English village in Springfield Mo. nor was there ever.
It’s an apartment complex. So either they lied outright, or their "international tour" played in an apartment complex.
Essentially you are paying them to drive around and busk in parking lots.
Again, you can do that for free.
Look folks. It’s not just that it’s a bad gig. Which it totally is. No musician in their right mind should do that. Its not good exposure and there are way better ways to get your foot in the door.
That is lousy but it isn’t criminal
It’s that this is presented like a Christian Missionary by a company filed as a religious nonprofit.
I don’t think that is illegal either but it d**n well should be.
It is definitely sad that musicians jump on the chance to go on the road, and they get involved with shady deals like this, which bleed them dry while all the time offering them some promise of a greater opportunity. That is its own problem
It is abominable when someone uses Christian sentiment as a way to make a quick buck off the aspiration to use art to do good.
I did go to The Extreme Tour Nashville Callback Meeting
I have been invited to apply for the last several years too. I wasn't selected for the first few times either, but I did go to the Callback Meeting they held for finalists in Nashville. I had a lot of questions I wanted answered so I made the trip. I have to admit. That series of meetings was far beyond what I ever expected! The organization laid out their purpose and made it clear how they do their selections. They gave us info about how the tour works and it all became much clearer. It's definitely a unique thing they have going. I don't know any other tour like it. For one thing, it's a tour of free community events, not ticketed shows. It's a sort of "do gooder" deal. Cool idea that draws a lot of people, but often placed in tough neighborhoods. Probably not for everyone. I was also shocked to find out that every single staff are completely unpaid volunteers who do this as a charitable thing. Including the famous people they had helping them! People like Head from the band Korn, Ricky Skaggs, Tom Jackson, guys from Capitol and Warner, etc! I never would have known so many folks were involved. I know I was disappointed to apply each year and not get picked in the end. But I gotta say it was worth it just to have gone to their meetings and meet this people who are now helping us even though we weren't picked for the roster. I don't know if it's everyone's experience, but we have been invited every year we applied. I wish we had gone the first time. I'm glad we finally did go. I have applied again already. I know they try to get everyone involved eventually. I hope this year we make it. But if nothing else, it's worth it for their "objective" meeting.
I have been contacted by them maybe 6 or 7 times in the past 3 to 4 years. Here is my take. I don't have anything against this and that fact that they are a Christian organization is way cool. However, the truth is that you have to pay at 15 dollars fee every time you apply and your chances are seldom to none. 15 bucks is nothing, not the end of the world. But, the selection process is tedious and very long. Also, they wont take NO for an answer. I applied 3 times, paid te fee 3 times and was never offered anything, so decided that I just wouldnt waste and my money doing it. However, I was bombarded with emails asking me to re-apply. I finally had to contact a manager asking him to please remove me from his list and to please stop sending me emails and they finally did until today when I received another email from them. Look, if someone wants to continue paying the fees and applying every year its cool, it might work for some people but it does not work for everyone. The fact that you have to invest money and time so many times and not get offered anything to me is plain lame.
I think they should revisit their process and only contact people one or 2 times. Its just a waste of time to me. Maybe other bands have fun doing it and actually like and thats great, you got selected so you had that opportunity . Others are continuing to pay the fee and nothing. Not good business. If we say NO its NO. That should be respected and our emails should be removed.
The Extreme Tour Reviews
Extreme Tour is a real thing after all!
The Extreme Tour is a real organization. I first encountered them myself when they came to my city to do community events in the park downtown. It took awhile to figure out that they were a Christian thing. These events were mostly community events. There were all kinds of people in attendance, and plenty of agencies taking part that were not affiliated with any church. It was just a big party to bring the community together.
At the end of the event, there was a mention of the beliefs of the organizers, and all the acts were "clean", but I don't know that even all the performers were necessarily religious. (I don't think they all were.) I later traveled with a band and did a few of their shows. It was definitely a different kind of experience. Not a typical gig.
We played in the middle of a housing project for a show like the English Village complex this other guy mocks. The point was to take a positive event to people that were having a hard time. I guess the other reviewer didn't understand that.
Not all the events were huge, but they definitely weren't "busking". These were organized events, and they were mostly to decent attendances or better.
And the insane accusation that the organizers are trying to "make a quick buck" just proves the guy doesn't know what he's talking about. The events are free. The staff, all the way up, are all unpaid vollunteers. Contrary to the report, artists DO NOT PAY to be on the tour! I know we didn't!
Yes, there was an insignificant application fee. But being a charitable thing, there aren't an overwhelming number of artists applying I don't think. (I think I heard it was about 700 the year I went). The organization provides food and lodging and stuff. I assume that's where the app fees go. That, or the background checks. I know they had to do them for all the artists that apply before they even know if they can take then. That likely costs more than the app fee.
I had a great time and actually found it inspiring to be part of helping with them. It's sad that someone can anonymously attack them like the other review here. Especially when it's obvious they didn't do any of the events. You shouldn't be able to review something you haven't been a part of. And if you wanted to see pictures or videos of events, there are quite a few on their site. Those are user submitted, I think, so you can see what people who participated posted themselves.
That's what I think, anyway. I thought I might as well add my voice. At last I've been on it!
You don't go around bad mouthing Christian Organizations without expecting retaliation.
even ones who are shady
The Short Version:
This company makes money off of farming application fees to sign up for thier tour.
then the artists who make it past the long and exclusive elemination process play junk shows for free under the blanket of a Religious Non Profit.
The long version:
I have already seen that somebody has posted the email exchange with The Extreme Tour with all of the various pitches they give to try and squeeze money out of artists previously so I will just go over that quickly to make sure everyone is caught up.
The organization finds bands on social media pages (reverbnation, bandcamp etc.) and asks them if they want to go on a tour they are setting up. Doing a quick Facebook search can show you dozens of hopefuls thinking that they have finally gotten a chance for rock stardom. I can only assume they send out thousands of these emails.
Of course there is an application fee to apply for the tour (that they asked you if you would be on) of 15 dollars. Not much really. But when you ask every band you can find an email for; that money can add up.
of course that's not all
Then you are looking at about 6 tiers of elimination; most of which involve continuous pitches for other services and additional charges they provide on this tour. They do offer tour support of travel and lodging, but only to their "top tier" performers who make it through the lengthy selection process. I have yet to find an account of a top tier performer that was not in their employ.
For the lucky suckers who finally get to be on their tour. They will be playing in church basements and public parks for no pay. I reviewed all of the "tour dates" on their 2015 Midwest tour.
Some don’t appear to even exist.
Most of the rest I couldn’t find a single ad, video or promotion for that show.
When I do find videos of performances they are shaky cellphone cameras showing bands playing to no crowds in public places.
This is not a tour you pay to go on. You can save your money and just go play in the park for free.
My personal favorite is one which is a place called English Village in my hometown of Springfield Mo.
There is no venue of any kind called English village in Springfield Mo. nor was there ever.
It’s an apartment complex. So either they lied outright, or their "international tour" played in an apartment complex.
Essentially you are paying them to drive around and busk in parking lots.
Again, you can do that for free.
Look folks. It’s not just that it’s a bad gig. Which it totally is. No musician in their right mind should do that. Its not good exposure and there are way better ways to get your foot in the door.
That is lousy but it isn’t criminal
It’s that this is presented like a Christian Missionary by a company filed as a religious nonprofit.
I don’t think that is illegal either but it d**n well should be.
It is definitely sad that musicians jump on the chance to go on the road, and they get involved with shady deals like this, which bleed them dry while all the time offering them some promise of a greater opportunity. That is its own problem
It is abominable when someone uses Christian sentiment as a way to make a quick buck off the aspiration to use art to do good.
I did go to The Extreme Tour Nashville Callback Meeting
I have been invited to apply for the last several years too. I wasn't selected for the first few times either, but I did go to the Callback Meeting they held for finalists in Nashville. I had a lot of questions I wanted answered so I made the trip. I have to admit. That series of meetings was far beyond what I ever expected! The organization laid out their purpose and made it clear how they do their selections. They gave us info about how the tour works and it all became much clearer. It's definitely a unique thing they have going. I don't know any other tour like it. For one thing, it's a tour of free community events, not ticketed shows. It's a sort of "do gooder" deal. Cool idea that draws a lot of people, but often placed in tough neighborhoods. Probably not for everyone. I was also shocked to find out that every single staff are completely unpaid volunteers who do this as a charitable thing. Including the famous people they had helping them! People like Head from the band Korn, Ricky Skaggs, Tom Jackson, guys from Capitol and Warner, etc! I never would have known so many folks were involved. I know I was disappointed to apply each year and not get picked in the end. But I gotta say it was worth it just to have gone to their meetings and meet this people who are now helping us even though we weren't picked for the roster. I don't know if it's everyone's experience, but we have been invited every year we applied. I wish we had gone the first time. I'm glad we finally did go. I have applied again already. I know they try to get everyone involved eventually. I hope this year we make it. But if nothing else, it's worth it for their "objective" meeting.
The Extreme Tour is Complete SCAM
Bands beware. Everything online about this company is shady. They reached out to us and tried to get a "donation" fee for their "501c3".
A little research online confirms everything I was concerned about.
These are not real Christians, they are scam artists.
If they were serious about your performance, they would pay you. End of story.
The Extreme Tour
I have been contacted by them maybe 6 or 7 times in the past 3 to 4 years. Here is my take. I don't have anything against this and that fact that they are a Christian organization is way cool. However, the truth is that you have to pay at 15 dollars fee every time you apply and your chances are seldom to none. 15 bucks is nothing, not the end of the world. But, the selection process is tedious and very long. Also, they wont take NO for an answer. I applied 3 times, paid te fee 3 times and was never offered anything, so decided that I just wouldnt waste and my money doing it. However, I was bombarded with emails asking me to re-apply. I finally had to contact a manager asking him to please remove me from his list and to please stop sending me emails and they finally did until today when I received another email from them. Look, if someone wants to continue paying the fees and applying every year its cool, it might work for some people but it does not work for everyone. The fact that you have to invest money and time so many times and not get offered anything to me is plain lame.
I think they should revisit their process and only contact people one or 2 times. Its just a waste of time to me. Maybe other bands have fun doing it and actually like and thats great, you got selected so you had that opportunity . Others are continuing to pay the fee and nothing. Not good business. If we say NO its NO. That should be respected and our emails should be removed.