Pleasant Surprise from a club

iamoldschool · #1 02-17-2010, 07:16 PM

This past Saturday night, my band played a Valentines party at a local Elks club. It had been planned for months and the club had been advertising it to it's members in their newsletter. As it turned out, there were several things against us such as:

1) a bitter cold night (I know - it's Feburary!)
2) TN - KY basketball game on TV @ 9 pm
3) NASCAR truck race on TV
4) Olympics on TV

The above factors all combined to give us a net attendance at the Valentines dance of 37 paid admissions. The nice thing about it? The club kicked in $200 because they were embarrassed about the low turnout and we were playing for the door. I thought this was a very noble act and a good sign that those in attendance really liked the band. Not the usual treatment we've come to expect from other clubs. I'm hoping they ask us back.

Ubersheist · #2 02-17-2010, 07:43 PM

Good to hear. It's pretty rare to have that at a club!

We had a nice thing like that happen at a club out in Reno. I'll even name 'em: The Treehouse Lounge. We worked our butts off in promoting the show, and then we worked our butts off keepin' the 5-6 people that showed up happy and drinking. The owner appreciated it, and threw in a few bucks out of his pocket as a 'thank you.' Stand up guy!

plankspanker13 · #3 02-17-2010, 08:22 PM

It's tough out there in gig-land. Savvy club-owners and managers know a good band when they experience one, and look to maintain good relationships for the (hopefully) better days ahead.

Sahm · #4 02-17-2010, 08:32 PM

It make sense to me. I've played a Fraternal Order of Eagles that were pretty much the same way. Those semi-private clubs care more about their reputation, because they're member driven, so they all are a part of it. It reflects on them personally how outsiders, like a band, perceives them, so they are careful not to burn bridges.

Richland123 · #5 02-17-2010, 10:39 PM

Most of the bar type venues I book (51% of all gigs &
71% of our bar gigs) are private clubs for a number of positive reasons. The remainder of our gigs are festivals, private events, and other venues. The biggest plus is that they do not go out of business in a few years as most normal nightclubs do. Also, they are required by law to operate as non-profit organizations and have to spend their income on activities, events, their building maintence, utility bills, employees, members, and normal business operations. The private club circuit in our region have kept us busy the last few years in the terrible economy.

iamoldschool · #6 02-18-2010, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richland123

The biggest plus is that they do not go out of business in a few years as most normal nightclubs do.

Agreed. In fact, I played this same Elks club in the first gigging band I was in back in the '80s. Back then, it was a much more vital club with huge attendance to any big event(such as a Valentine's Dance). They have a nice ballroom that has huge sound and is a pleasure to play. Whether it's the economy or local LEO's targeting patrons at closing time, they just don't get the turnout they once did. It's really a positive sign to me that they are intent upon getting more members to attend their functions by making sure the band made decent money and would be willing to come back for a subsequent event. The 4 of us took $96 each, which isn't a ton of money, but sure beats the $46 it would have been with only the door.