let me re-phrase...
as someone not in the NE, ohio is a much shorter drive than brahlington. so, for those of us in the rest of the country, its GREAT to see them FINALLY playing bigger gigs outside of the NE!
as a fan, you must want them to grow their fan base, and this is exactly how they do it. rather than playing for the same folks who have a choice of 150ish shows a year to see in new england, play to those of us who haven\'t had a gig in our state in a year or more and are hungry for it.
the reason attendance is down at toads is because they\'ve been playing there multiple times a year for ten-ish years now, as opposed to playnig gigs in the southeast or northwest or the plains to people who haven\'t had localish a show in years... oversaturation. its hard to expand a fanbase without expanding their touring area.
is playing ohio on a friday night halloween the best idea ever? who kows. but is the band playing big gigs outside of the northeast a phenomenal thing for the band to do? most certainly.