Would You Drive 6+ hours for $300?!

[Saetia]

If we take 6 people with most of our equipment (5 piece drum kit in cases, hardware, cymbal case, 6 hardshells, my 6 space rack, 2 three space racks, Crate Blue Voodoo 120 and Peavey 6505+, Framus 412, Marshal 1960b, Henry 8x8, blankets, pillows, backpacks, TV / 360 or ps2 in homebuilt rack), merch and we get 12-14 mpg in a huge Chevy C-20 (Large sized 7 passenger with fold down bench). It's a lot of stuff to fit in there, but we've done it enough that we can do it and get 6 people comfortable enough to still stretch a bit and sleep.

We take the trailer on anything more than a weekend and add two more 412's (Marshall 1960 A, soon to be Emperor and Crate Blue Voodoo soon to be Emperor) as well as another Crate Blue Voodoo 120 and Peavey XXL with more food essentials, more merch, bags stay in van, everything in rubber maids and we get between 10 and 12 mpg... (less in the mountains).

Our van has 106,000 miles and is well maintained. Just something to gauge for gas.

-Benny

p.s. With reliable transportation I'd do it in a heartbeat. College shows are fun, usually pay well and most always have high attendence, we're getting $500 next weekend for 3 hour round trip to UW Oshkosh to play for 30 minutes....

[txbasschik]

Originally Posted by jaywa

Well and that's the other thing with the OP's gig... was that $300 even guaranteed? How do they know they weren't gonna get there and it would be, "oh, we didn't have the gate we thought we'd get, so we can give you gas money and that's it. So sorry."

That exact thing has happened to me. We drove three hours out to this itty-bitty little town near Fredericksburg, TX. We'd been promised $300, and we figured we go ahead and do the gig because it was being advertised on radio, and there was to be a big fish fry along with, which would bring lots of people. As we drove west, we heard our band's name on the radio station out there, over and over. We thought, hey, this will be great!

So, we get there. Its 105F and as dry as old bones, with a wind whipping up dust. The people showed up, ate the fish, and *left* just as we were setting up. The host had to call up her personal friends just to get a crowd for us. Thirty people.

The host didn't make the money she expected, so she only paid us $150.

I ended up in the hole on that gig. It cost me more to go play it than I made back.

Never again. If I have to leave the immediate Austin area to play for you, you're going to pay me adequately, and it will be in a legal contract that you will do so. Period. End of story. I will never be someone's sucker like that again.

Cherie

[Brad Johnson]

Originally Posted by mothmonsterman

what the hell else do you have to do that day?

and what ever happened to "for the hell of it"?

I think Cherie's story is a good example of what happened to it. Especially when it doesn't start out for the hell of it. If spending money to play is okay, cool. For most people it isn't.

[txbasschik]

Originally Posted by Brad Johnson

I think Cherie's story is a good example of what happened to it. Especially when it doesn't start out for the hell of it. If spending money to play is okay, cool. For most people it isn't.

Ahhhh, yes. "For The He11 Of It".

That's fine if you are just down the road. Not so if you are driving a long way and spending money that you *need* to make back!

People who drive a long way to play just for fun or just for exposure must be able to afford to do that. Most of us, however, can't.

Cherie

[Relic]

Originally Posted by txbasschik

Ahhhh, yes. "For The He11 Of It".

That's fine if you are just down the road. Not so if you are driving a long way and spending money that you *need* to make back!

People who drive a long way to play just for fun or just for exposure must be able to afford to do that. Most of us, however, can't.

Cherie

Maybe it depends upon age, etc. When I was younger and unattached I would do something like that for nothing more than the adventure of it all. Road trip!?? Pile in the van boys, let's go! WOOHOO!
We even made it as far as LA (from NJ) for gigs that paid peanuts.
I wouldn't do it now though, unless as I mentioned earlier, there were some amazing circumstances behind the gig aside from $.

[Mojo-Man]

Originally Posted by CapnSev

If $300 was my cut? Yeah, I'd probably do it, depending on the circumstances.

+1
I've done it before?