Need some tips on getting gigs

[Mutant Corn]

I know there's a thread on this, but we're a bit different. I play in a christian band(think Skillet), and we're really serious about it...as in most of us plan on making a career out of this. Problem is, there's no place to play. Being a christian band means that all bars, and most clubs and venues are out of the question, leaving mostly churches to play at where the crowd is usually 15-30 preteens and a few older folks that sit in the pews and stare blankly. We're not that kind of band....we like to at least make some people jump.

I doubt there's many people here who've been through this but if there's anyone here we're in desperate need of better gigs.

[sevenyearsdown]

I don't have experience with the christian part of your post, but...back in my early days of punk bands and all ages shows we used to rent halls, lodges, etc. and get a bunch of bands together. Charge a couple of bucks at the door, rent a PA if nobody has one, and put on a show. If you can get a couple of bands together that can draw enough young people out, you can break even....and get to put on a show the way you want it.

I've seen bands do stuff in Indy record stores & skate parks too. Skate parks have a built in audience which is nice. Don't know if you're oppose to those venues? Good luck with everything.

[Scionreality]

I get the stand against bars, clubs, and what happens in them, but out of curiosity: why not play them anyway? It's hard reach people who need reached while avoiding the places they where they are.

If that question is considered "trolling" then please ignore it.

+1 to the multiple bands renting a hall idea. And a show at a skate park would be pretty sweet.

Best of luck.

[gb2]

well, I think, there's nothing special in your situation. why can't you play the places other bands in your local area use to play? because you're "christian"? come on... there's rarely a thing as unimportant to your music style as the fact which religion you belong to.
just do it like the other bands:
- get your set together
- get a myspace page
- make friends with local bands
- play shows with them
- and afterwards make with friends with the bar owner.
and then repeat. it's just as simple as that.

[L.A. Moore]

Back when I did DIY shows I booked Christian punk bands and such. Get together with some other christian bands and do as stated above. DIY shows are a great way to get out and get an audiance.

When you set up shows contact local churches to get the word out to their youth that you are spreading the word. If you build it up they will follow.

As far as bars / cluds look at bands like POD, Zao, or Evanescence they have their beliefs and still rock and roll.

Hope this helps.

[jimmy rocket]

I used to play in a band with other Christians, and most (if not all) of our music had Christian themes, but we felt that it was actually a pretty important part of our calling to play in bars, clubs and venues where other "Christian" bands wouldn't go. I'm not sure where Christianity as a religion would be if Jesus hadn't been compassionate to some individuals and gone to some places that the religious leaders of his day considered unclean, or if Paul hadn't spent some time in unsavory places in Ephesus or Corinth.

Point is, if you're staying out of these places as a protest against them and those who frequent them, then you're missing an important opportunity. God loves all of creation deeply and through Jesus teaches us to do the same. That said, there are some destructive lifestyle choices that you would do better avoiding, but I have never believed that there are people you should avoid.

We also used to play a lot of gigs at open air festivals and lodges etc... as part of multi band nights. Play everywhere you can, love everyone you can.

[Mutant Corn]

Well, you guys are right, we shouldn't be scared to play in bars and such...thank you for the encouragement.

The reason for it was that around here, if there's a show with bands near our age, it's almost certainly a metalfest...mostly screaming, some random Atreyu covers...you know the drill. (not that I'm against it) Most of the places we really wouldn't mind playing, but I didn't really think they would want to bring us in. Was I wrong?

I like that idea of renting out a place...we'd have to really look hard for bands, but I think we could pull it off. Is it hard to get everything organized? We have a PA rated for 500 people..

[Slax]

Originally Posted by Mutant Corn

Well, you guys are right, we shouldn't be scared to play in bars and such...thank you for the encouragement.

The reason for it was that around here, if there's a show with bands near our age, it's almost certainly a metalfest...mostly screaming, some random Atreyu covers...you know the drill. (not that I'm against it) Most of the places we really wouldn't mind playing, but I didn't really think they would want to bring us in. Was I wrong?

I like that idea of renting out a place...we'd have to really look hard for bands, but I think we could pull it off. Is it hard to get everything organized? We have a PA rated for 500 people..

I was in a ska band for a few years... we played w/ metal bands at bar shows quite often. (Even if we were the only "not metal" band.) It doesn't hurt to ask, and some people might even still dig what you're playing.

[bassgruvn]

+3
I would have to agree with Mr Rocket. I play in a blues group, at my church and in a Christian Rock band (think Third Day).
The Church only gig is Exactly as you stated, a few pre teens and 5 old people staring at you. Point is you are preaching to the choir, you need to get the word out to places where there is no light.
There is no reason you should not play in these places, the college band from my church played at the Whiskey on Sunset about a year ago, they ROCKED the house. Mgr asked em back the next week.
Spread the word

[Jordan]

Originally Posted by Mutant Corn

Well, you guys are right, we shouldn't be scared to play in bars and such...thank you for the encouragement.

All sorts of different bands play at the venues around here. The music and audience may be hippies one night and hells angels the next, all at the same venue.

The main thing is to make it a point to book along side bands that work with your sound. If the club doesn't usually book Christian bands, then they may not know what band(s) to pair you with. In this case, you may have to take matters into your own hands. Create a working relationship with a few bands where you complement each other stylistically, and then see if you can book together. Pitch it to the club owner as a theme that works for a certain group of people who like music, but may be offended by such and such. And promise to advertise to all the people who would be interested in such a show. It may help to pitch that there is an untapped market for this.

The main problem here is that most bars make their money primarily off of selling alcohol, and many of the people going to see a Christian band are likely to specifically avoid drinking. You could suggest $5 colas and promise to encourage the audience to support the venue by buying Pepsi.

Also, many clubs don't want to take a risk hiring new bands because they are afraid they won't get good turnout. Another strategy, if you are not afraid to do some serious organizing work, is to organize a hodgepodge of bands for a "music festival" night. There is a fellow here who puts on a monthly show at a well known local music bar by personally organzing 8 or 10 bands to play short sets. The way to pitch this to the club to guarantee it makes money is to assert that since each band is small, they will each bring a small to medium hand full of friends and family who are there to support them regardless of how good they are. If 8 bands each bring in 15 people, that's over a hundred people, not counting regulars and walk ins.

Jordan

[sevenyearsdown]

What about christian youth group type of events?

[jimmy rocket]

Originally Posted by sevenyearsdown

What about christian youth group type of events?

That's actually a really good idea as well to build a fan base. Now that I'm mostly retired from the touring band scene I'm a youth minister at a pretty big church in North Carolina. About two weeks ago all of the area youth groups put on a benefit show for the local food bank. We invited local bands to play, and in the end there were probably 150 - 200 people there.

[Mutant Corn]

Originally Posted by jimmy rocket

That's actually a really good idea as well to build a fan base. Now that I'm mostly retired from the touring band scene I'm a youth minister at a pretty big church in North Carolina. About two weeks ago all of the area youth groups put on a benefit show for the local food bank. We invited local bands to play, and in the end there were probably 150 - 200 people there.

I like this idea...was it hard to get them all together?

[jimmy rocket]

Originally Posted by Mutant Corn

I like this idea...was it hard to get them all together?

no, not really. There was at least one student band in each of the youth groups, and they all had friends who were in bands. Word got around pretty quickly. One of the churches even bought pizza and soda to give out to the audience. The trick is finding a church to host it.

[Lucas G]

man, i would imagine playing in that type of band is totally a double-edged sword. on one hand you totally have a built in audience and on the other you have a whole group of people who will immediately write you off. best of luck either way!

[OtterOnBass]

It depends on your music, of course, and who the target audience is.

Some alternate ideas on playing for Christians:
Camps/retreats, youth groups, church events like picnics, opening for touring Christian bands, Christian school events, anywhere church and youth meet.

Do you know any small-time Christian bands in your area? Find a myspace page with their scheduled venues to see where to play, or even a band outside your area for more general ideas.

I help out with the junior-high group at my church, and the winter camp always has an awesome band (different ones all the time). We've had one of the bands come to the church twice on their 'tour'. With some other guys from the church, we've got a band that plays at special functions for the church, like the 5k run they hosted. There's a Christian dance club for teens in town as well, and as lame as that seems, they have consistently great music coming through there.

[drcool]

I am also in a Christian band and we are just starting to do more and more gigs in our city. Here is some of the stuff we are doing this summer. Maybe it will give you some ideas of some venues you can play:

- This last Wednesday we did an outreach concert for our church's youth ministry. We encouraged the kids to invite their friends and also invited some of the younger people in the church. In the end we had about 100 people there and it was a blast. We got some great opportunities to share the gospel with some of the people there and overall the concert was very well received. Maybe you can talk to some local churches and play for their groups? Or find some church that would want to host something like this and invite a bunch of different youth ministries.

- In June we are doing a concert at a summer camp for a couple differnet youth groups. There will be 3 different churches with kids there and should be about 250 people total. Talk to some local churches and see if they do youth camps in the summer and see if you can play for them. Or talk to the camps directly and see what they can offer.

- In July we are doing a concert at a local coffee shop that has a room that holds about 150 people for concerts. It is pretty much one of the only venues in town for stuff that size and is usually booked 6 months in advance. We know the owners pretty well so they were able to hook us up. So try to find venues like this, hang out at them semi-regularly, get in good with the people that work there, etc. and see what they can do. They have also offered us some opening gigs for some touring Christian bands that we will be doing soon also so opportunities like this will come up from those relationships also.

- At the end of July we are doing a big outreach concert in the big local park. We partnered up with a big church in the area and they wanted us to play for this outreach event. The park is a big downtown park with lots of walking traffic so along with the people from the church we will be getting a lot of passers by also. Start building some good relationships with youth pastors, outreach pastors, college pastors, etc. in your area and that will open the door for stuff like this.

- Our local minor league baseball team has a couple "church nights" every year and we are gonna be playing after the game on August 1st. We won't be playing on the field but out by the entryway after the game is over. There are usually 2000-3000 or so people at the games so this will be a great opportunity for us to get some exposure (and they are paying us very well). Call up some of your local minor league teams and see if they do any church nights and offer to play for them.

- In early September we will be going about 90 miles south to a local college town. A good friend of ours has a coffee shop/movie theater there and puts on a kind of back to school outdoor festival. He brings in some pretty big name bands to play (The Afters, Bryan Duncan, and a few others). We played at his coffee shop last fall and he really liked us and invited us to come down and play at this festival so this will be some more good exposure. The guy who puts this on is an amazing acoustic guitarist who has played all over the world and he used to go to our church when he was in town here and a couple of us in the band became good friends with him. So it pays to network with other musicians. Find out who is at your church, what other Christian musicians are in your area, etc. and do some networking. This can lead to good things.

So even thought you might not want to play at bars (we aren't opposed to that at all but there really isn't too much in the way of live music bars around here) there can still be plenty of opportunities out there.