In a new chat with American Songwriter, K.K. Downing discussed differences between European and American metal scenes.
“In Europe, people do save up and spend money on festivals to go and see 60 or 80 bands over a weekend,” the guitarist said. “Fortunately, we get to play to those people which is great. In Europe, we have literally hundreds of festivals now.”
He continued, “There’s so many it’s amazing, but I don’t see that in the States. I’m thinking if a big band comes around—AC/DC, Metallica, or whoever it might be—people would maybe save up for that one special occasion, as opposed to frequenting local theaters and clubs to see a lot of other bands.”
Accept’s Mark Tornillo also previously compared metal scenes in Europe and America. “Truly, [metal is] not as big here as it is in the rest of the world by any means,” the vocalist told Rockin’ Metal Revival in an interview, referring to America. “Europe, it’s still huge. South America, it’s huge. Japan, it’s huge. And it’s kind of not the main attraction here; it’s just not.”
Tornillo added, “I think it has more to do with the fact that the record companies don’t promote it properly. Nothing against ours — I mean, I love working with Napalm now. They’re really doing a great job for us, but in the mainstream, the big labels, they don’t promote metal.”
“They don’t… But they don’t promote it well enough. And I think if they did, kids would get into it. They’re more interested in selling Taylor Swift and hip-hop,” he also shared. “So it’s what it is. But heavy metal will always be there; it’s not going anywhere. It’s just underground again.”
“No trouble selling tickets in South America. No trouble selling tickets in Europe or anywhere else. So I think the United States is just not metal territory anymore. I don’t know why,” Tornillo explained why Accept doesn’t have sold-out shows in the U.S. in another interview.
K.K. Downing’s American tour with KK’s Priest just ended on October 12 in Monterrey, Mexico.