Offered a Good Friday slot...

geoff_in_nc · #1 03-20-2011, 10:13 PM

Long story short we're a cover band just trying to get out there, don't have much experience booking and so forth, and have been offered a night at a fairly small local bar... on Good Friday.

I've got some real concerns that nobody is going to be going out on Good Friday and we'll end up getting squat from the door.

Anybody have any input on whether or not that date is probably going to just stink in general?

Jason P Bass · #2 03-20-2011, 11:05 PM

Not a great night, but IMO the people going to the bar on most Fridays are not too worried about observing Good Friday.

If you're looking for a show, bring it big time and do what you can. Definitely don't turn it down because it's Good Friday.

prd004 · #3 03-20-2011, 11:07 PM

You gotta take what you can get until you've esyablished yourself enough to get better gigs. No one starts at the top.

QORC · #4 03-21-2011, 05:07 AM

OMG...nobody will be there.

I remember doing on of those one year...we were so excited. at a big place...nice stage...

9 people were there, 3 of whom were wives and 2 of whom were some of the staff who got off work.

refbassist · #5 03-21-2011, 05:32 AM

as a gigging musician you have to get used to play to any number of audience whether it's just the bar staff or a stadium full of them.

Plays_For_Dog · #6 03-21-2011, 05:34 AM

It's experience. It's free drinks. It's playing music. Have fun. Every musician has played to an empty bar. Just go and have a good time with your bandmates. If the bar likes you, they will invite you back. Most likely the return visit will be a busier night. It's all about networking and getting a good reputation in your scene.

bluewine · #7 03-21-2011, 08:13 AM

These guys are right, this is a tough business.I have seen national acts pulling 15 people for shows.

You have to start at the bottom. All of us struggle with turn out for shows.

Steve · #8 03-21-2011, 10:12 AM

The bar I work at will be SRO on Good Friday. As it will be all Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday.

MatticusMania · #9 03-21-2011, 01:50 PM

Is Good Friday really that hard to draw people on? I never knew...

Good Friday this year also happens to be Earth Day, now you'll have twice as hard a time pulling in peeps!

ric stave · #10 03-21-2011, 02:17 PM

Last year we played a show on the day after - the Sat night before Easter - THAT was a bad night to play...... I think Good Friday should be OK - it's a holiday weekend, many people have off on Friday, but the next morning isn't a biggy family-wise and such.

Gearhead17 · #11 03-23-2011, 01:14 PM

The night will probably be terrible for attendance. Might want to talk to the owner or whomever about your concerns. Let him know that you will play it anyway for a chance to play there again in the future - if he likes your band. Maybe even take slightly less pay because you do not want to screw him over on the first show. It's your call, but be upfront and honest right away. Don't promise 100's of people and only show up with 10.

Gearhead17 · #12 03-23-2011, 05:24 PM

I might as well eat my words.....I just got a Good Friday show myself. Luckily it is at a TOP NAME bar in the Suburbs and we are opening for a VERY POPULAR cover band. I guess this situation is the exception to the rule of playing on Good Friday. It should be a good night....

At those "empty room shows" sometimes the best thing to do is kick back a few drinks, joke with the band, do a few shots and just have fun on stage. Of course, all within reason and getting way too drunk to play is never a good idea; buzzed is more fun!!

oldbassplayergu · #13 03-23-2011, 06:26 PM

huh? good friday a bad night? never heard that before. oh but don't play on all saints day. dead as a door nail.

walterw · #14 03-24-2011, 08:20 PM

+1

avoid the days after halloween, st. paddy's, and especially new year's eve. those are all "amateur nights", so the day after is always "national hangover day".

(got re-taught this lesson last friday, march 18th, when the always-packed bar we play was a ghost town.)

MatticusMania · #15 03-25-2011, 02:31 PM

Played on the 19th, at a little coffee shop, not a venue with its own draw, and we packed the place!

its turbo time · #16 03-28-2011, 10:16 PM

i just realized we have a Good Friday gig as well.

I called a girl I know who works at the bar and she told me that, "everyone at this bar is going to hell so I don't think Good Friday will hurt attendance" lol.

MNAirHead · #17 03-29-2011, 06:56 AM

My hunch would be to offer the bar a deal and do it stripped down and acoustic