the gorgon is, sadly, correct.
Most promoters who want to put on the small-to-mid size US and internation acts know that they can usually get away with one South date (which is always London) and if they need to do a South West date they can easily and quickly rely on either the Bristol or Oxford Academy venues to put the bands on.
In my experience, although I really like the venue, Oxford can be a bit of a let-down for live music. The Academy is over the otherside of town from the Uni and, other than the student population, there doesn't seem to be much interest in live music in the town - even though they're fortunate enough to have several big shows a week going on there (I have a feeling that's why they tend to be empty a lot of the time, there's too many events chasing too few people/pounds).
Trouble is, booking agents are a unique breed and work in mysterious ways. They almost always get paid a percentage of the band's fee for each show, which the promoter agrees before any tickets are sold, and so doesn't really care if the band plays to a tiny audience as only the promoter and the audience suffer because of it (although bands obviously do sell less merchandise than they otherwise might). You'd think that bands would eventually get sick of playing the same venues to the same small crowds, but I think a lot of international bands don't realise what's happening and just think that's the level of their popularity.
