Kind of a crappy gig last night

[zillo]

Had a gig at a little club 45 or so minutes from our home town last night...first (and probably last) time we played there, or even in the area. Nice set up. The venue provided the pa and a sound guy.

We played well ( recorded the performance), our usual mixture of old country and hippie faux country covers, grateful dead, allman brothers, electrified folk tunes, & r&b. The sound guy did a great job..we've never sounded better.

We pulled into the lot two hours before the gig, and the lot was empty, and it never got much better. We had a few peeps show up ( only six or so), and then maybe 10 or 15 other folks showed up. The place was DEAD, although those that were there were up and dancing and drinking.

The owners hated us. It's a place that, I think, is trying to build a rep as a classic "heavier" rock venue, and I don't think that we met their expectations. I imagine if we'd brought 100 folks with us, maybe that wouldn't have mattered. Man, we did something to irritate them.

Never really had that response from the venue before, and it kind of bites. Just a bad fit, I guess.

Anybody else ever have a plain old crappy gig?

[Winfred]

Just a bad fit. Don't read anymore into it than that. Did the owners know what kind of music you play? Maybe see a song list beforehand? That usually clears things up before you finalize a gig.

If they wanna be a rock club, that's great. But they need to let every band know that up front. And every band needs to give the owners a set list and demo songs, so everyone's on the same page.

Edit: I was in a band, long ago, that got thrown out of a country bar for playing Southern Rock. The owner came over after the second set, paid us 2/3rds of the money (no contract) and told us to pack up. No hard feelings (after a few minutes), it just didn't work. Both parties were at fault, us and the owner. We figured Southern Rock would work, but nope, they were hardcore, old school country.

[Astreaux]

Originally Posted by Winfred

Just a bad fit. Don't read anymore into it than that. Did the owners know what kind of music you play? Maybe see a song list beforehand? That usually clears things up before you finalize a gig.

If they wanna be a rock club, that's great. But they need to let every band know that up front. And every band needs to give the owners a set list and demo songs, so everyone's on the same page.

+1 Absolutely. Set expectations up front. Saves a lot of headaches later...

[smogg]

Yep, bad fit is all it is. But, I have to ask...
Why would a rock bar book a country band? and/or
Why would a country band book a rock club?
"What we have here is a failure to communicate..."

[jaywa]

Were you playing for the door or was your pay guaranteed?

Did you have any trouble getting paid?

Reminds me of a gig in my first cover band some 22 years ago... But in reverse. Played this little redneck dive in northwest Indiana and got the owner all riled up cause we were doing Zeppelin and Billy Squier and he wanted old school country. Was supposed to be a two night deal but he cancelled our 2nd night and it was all we could do to get paid for the 1st.

Oh well.

[Mushroo]

Originally Posted by zillo

We had a few peeps show up ( only six or so)... I imagine if we'd brought 100 folks with us, maybe that wouldn't have mattered.

That's the music biz for you.

[Astreaux]

Originally Posted by jaywa

Were you playing for the door or was your pay guaranteed?

Did you have any trouble getting paid?

Reminds me of a gig in my first cover band some 22 years ago... But in reverse. Played this little redneck dive in northwest Indiana and got the owner all riled up cause we were doing Zeppelin and Billy Squier and he wanted old school country. Was supposed to be a two night deal but he cancelled our 2nd night and it was all we could do to get paid for the 1st.

Oh well.

Did he want BOTH kinds of music? Country AND western?

[dtripoli]

You almost qualified for item #1 & 4 on the "Seasoned Musician" check list:
#1. You have to have played to an empty room
#4. Played a wrong genre gig i.e, metal band at a jazz club, country band at an R&B club

Seasoned Musician's Check list

[jaywa]

Originally Posted by Astreaux

Did he want BOTH kinds of music? Country AND western?

Yes he did. And we DID have to pay for the beer. Plus he took off pay to give to the house soundman AND the doorman (2 separate people).

As I recall I made $10 on that gig.

[Astreaux]

Originally Posted by jaywa

Yes he did. And we DID have to pay for the beer. Plus he took off pay to give to the house soundman AND the doorman (2 separate people).

As I recall I made $10 on that gig.

Bob's Country Bunker? Chicken wire in front of the stage per chance?

[hrodbert696]

To the OP - I'm curious how it was communicated that the management hated you. Did they walk up to you and say you suck, or refuse to pay you, or was it just a chilly attitude, or what?

EDIT: Reminds me of a story from a guy I used to play with. He had a fairly heavy, grunge-type band in the 90s, AIC and that kind of stuff. They got hired to play a gig at a place that was much more dance/pop type of crowd, total mismatch. But they took the gig, played their regular set, and watched the crowd just empty out of the place. The management came over, all smiles, paid them their full fee with no questions and hired them to come back next week. They found out later that the bar had become the favorite hangout of some Korean gang or something and the management wanted a band that would drive the gangstas away. Apparently it worked.

[obimark]

Sure have played one gig, where literally 3 people showed up, and two drunks, we played pretty good for the bartender and waitresses that night. (Basically the place was just dead, because they never advertised and they gave NOONe any reason to go there)

[Edward G.]

In the late-90s I played with a zydeco/cajun band for about half a year. The music was very popular in the DC area at the time. The money was good and gigs were plentiful, but it was because the supply of bands was limited to the number of qualified accordionists in the area, of which there were fewer than 10.

Then, actual Louisiana-based bands started demonstrating a willingness to travel long distances to cash in on the demand as well as to escape a worsening economy down there.

The band I was playing in rented a pavilion and put a gig/dance together and began publicizing it. Meanwhile, a local roots music establishment booked a well known zydeco act from Louisiana the same night as our thing. Our biggest fear came true. We got trounced. A couple of people showed up at our gig, heard us play a few tunes and went to the other show, which was where the action was. When we called it a night, after a set, there was one paying customer left, and we refunded her money.

We then all went to the other show, which not surprisingly was packed. The band just oozed authenticity.

Our takeaway was simple: why would anyone come to see a Maryland zydeco band, even a very good one, when they could catch one from Louisiana about 15 minutes away?

It seems like from that day forward, the local cajun/zydeco scene started to shrink for the local bands. Players who were born into the music became the competition, and it was their game in the first place.

[lbbc]

very few crappy gigs....I always asked for expectations up front. But crappy club owners...asking how many people we bring with us, complain about the economy when getting paid at the end of the night and cancel gigs (in advance) if they are having a "bad" week. Now only doing special events!

[zillo]

[quote=hrodbert696;13891900]To the OP - I'm curious how it was communicated that the management hated you. Did they walk up to you and say you suck, or refuse to pay you, or was it just a chilly attitude, or what?

Well, I'd say the chilly attitude best describes it, along with evil looks. When my wife looks at me like that, I know it's trouble. . We were playing for the door and a few pops, and they did pay as promised.

They were not unfair. I think that I've become used to having a decent performance, management is happy, and we (band and venue) develop a bit of a relationship. I may be a bit naive.

[Mushroo]

Well, their business lost money on the night because your band failed to attract an audience. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but if you want people to like you, helping them make lots of money is a tried-and-true technique. I'm not sure I agree with your theory the dirty looks were due to a musical mismatch; more likely it was the lack of $$$.

[zillo]

Originally Posted by Winfred

Just a bad fit. Don't read anymore into it than that. Did the owners know what kind of music you play? Maybe see a song list beforehand? That usually clears things up before you finalize a gig.

If they wanna be a rock club, that's great. But they need to let every band know that up front. And every band needs to give the owners a set list and demo songs, so everyone's on the same page.

Edit: I was in a band, long ago, that got thrown out of a country bar for playing Southern Rock. The owner came over after the second set, paid us 2/3rds of the money (no contract) and told us to pack up. No hard feelings (after a few minutes), it just didn't work. Both parties were at fault, us and the owner. We figured Southern Rock would work, but nope, they were hardcore, old school country.

I think this is it. We are a long way from being a country band, but probably further from being a heavy rock band. More of a bunch of old hippies playing the tunes we like and jamming out a bit.

The band talked some today, and we've learned the lesson that many of you are talking about. We to play as much as we can, and jump on stuff. It usually works out, but in the future. we're going to avoid this type of bad fit.

Live and learn

[dominic54321]

I had a gig with a hard rock cover band at a small bar on the NJ shore. The place was empty, maybe 3 people and 5 workers total. It was a really crappy night too, weather wise. It was a two hour drive one way. Well, after our first set of playing to absolutely nobody, Bon Jovi walked in with his wife and another couple. We casually introduced ourselves, etc. Well by the time we started our second set, the bar was PACKED! Thank god for text messages and cell phones! lol He wound up hanging out the entire night, about 3 hours til the bar closed. You just never know how the night is going to turn out.

[Vince Klortho]

Originally Posted by zillo

The owners hated us. ...

Anybody else ever have a plain old crappy gig?

I have had exactly the opposite kind of gig. I was in a band that played Grateful Dead and related music and we played at place called "The Long Branch Saloon." The crowd was a bunch of older rednecks and they hated us so we cut the night a bit short. The owner loved us and paid us the amount we agreed on though. We never played there again, fortunately.

[Steve Dallman]

More than I care to recall. The worst was in the 70's in my hard rock band, "Home Grown." We got hired for New Year's Eve at a nice club. The owner's wife hired us.

Little did we know that the owner and his wife were bitterly fighting. He wanted a polka band, as they always did for New Year's Eve. She hired us to stick it to him.

We got there and set up. As people came in, we saw that they were in their 60's and 70's.

We started playing and the owner came running into the room screaming, "What is this crap? I hired a polka band!"

It was not a good night. We did out best to please the elderly crowd, but most went elsewhere. We played for the employees...about 15 people, and they loved us.