Booking woes

pima1234

pima1234

Fractal Fanatic
A gig isn't booked until, at the very least, you have a signed contract.

Even then... (small claims court isn't worth it, right?!)

Anyone here play wineries? Anyone here get jerked around by them about the pay?

Michigan has a ton of them... Apparently, none of them have any money for live music. Oh, wait... "We found someone to play Friday for $100". Okay then. Good luck.

Tips for booking?

Are there any sure bets (or best bets) these days?

I think many of us have read the various threads on The Gear Page about issues with bar owners. The craigslist posts from bar owners about gigging musicians have been enlightening, for sure.

The difficulty is partially that venues want professional musicians, but then apparently don't realize their value.

/rant... for now
 
Someone once told me that a contract does one thing. It sets expectations. It doesn't guarantee that you'll get compensated if things go wrong. In fact, in the normal run of things, you wouldn't want to. The bar business runs on tight margins and rotating staff. We get one or two gigs cancelled each year. The reasons are usually: 1. change of manager, 2. live music isn't bringing in enough customers to cover the cost. Trying to recover compensation from the bar isn't going to help. The bar will be less likely to take the risk on booking a band, and your band in particular. Yes, there are bars who try to take advantage of this. Word soon gets around as TGP and other threads show.

We deal with the first problem by delivering advertising posters to the bar five or six weeks before the gig. If a new manager comes in after that then the posters are up on his walls, his customers know we are coming, and he knows we are coming unless he contacts us. If the manager has already changed then it gives us a chance to re-sell the gig. We had one example earlier this year where the new manager had booked another act. When we turned up with posters he cancelled the other act.

We deal with the second problem by putting on a good show, choosing material which customers know but other bands generally don't play, and by not being too loud. If the staff can't hear the customers' order, or customers can't speak to each other, then we are not helping.
 
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