Is Your Band Established?

[DWBass]

Originally Posted by Phalex

Why is that interesting? Does every club in TN supply PA?

Most of the clubs in my area do not have PA's for band use. Many do have DJ systems in place and we have 'tapped' into a couple but we always bring our own PA. Only a minute few have a 'stage' and those that do, they are extremely small.

[bluewine]

Originally Posted by DWBass

Most of the clubs in my area do not have PA's for band use. Many do have DJ systems in place and we have 'tapped' into a couple but we always bring our own PA. Only a minute few have a 'stage' and those that do, they are extremely small.

Same in Milwaukee, there are no cover clubs that provide PA. A few of the originals clubs have decent PA support.

I'm not sure if owning a pa makes you established. However owning a pa when your in a cover band could help you become established.

Blue

blue

[pacojas]

our band is new, but becoming very known through the 'vine. we get calls from large club owners looking for good openers with great back-lines. we also have a great horn section who i believe places us above the heap. if and when we become established it will be primarily because of our BL. this kid(23), is tireless in the persuit of work. in four short months we have become "that" band.

we have the gear, the sound, and broad appeal. we cover a wide demographic age-wise with 8 members between 22 to 57 years old. we are bold and dominating. if and when we become established, it will make perfect sense why!

[bluewine]

For a young, unknown band, working with an agency could be a good idea in helping you become established.

As you know, Many clubs will only talk to booking agents, not band members.

Blue

[JimmyM]

My band doesn't own a PA, has no intentions of ever getting one, and yet we work a lot more than most bands I know of around here. If we need PA, we rent, otherwise the venue supplies it.

[Marial]

1.What does established band mean to you or how would you define it.

An established band is one that plays where/when it wants to. An established band is one that venues will contact for available dates. An established band has a dependable audience.

2.Is your band established.

Yes. We were part of a sold-out bill just this past Saturday and we were asked to play a show in April by the best venue for country/alt-country in town, which we've also sold out.

3.Do you want your band to be established.

Who wouldn't?

4.If your band is established, how did it happen.

Equal parts tireless networking on the part of our BL and great performances.

5.What does being established bring to a band, what are the advantages.

You get to be more in control of your destiny, almost zero crap gigs, an end to weeknight gigs, you make more money... There's no real downside that I can come up with at the moment.

6.How does a band become established, what is a criteria for being established.

See answers to 1 and 4.

Edited to add: I'm in an originals band. We play maybe two cover songs a set, maybe two out of fourteen songs. I was in another band for seven years and I would say it was semi-established. We didn't have to play weeknights, but our audience remained pretty small.

[jmattbassplaya]

Originally Posted by Phalex

Why is that interesting? Does every club in TN supply PA?

As unlikely as it sounds, pretty much every dedicated music venue that I've played in TN has had a PA Some bars that have live music (from time to time) might not have a PA, but we're talking about places where a straight vocal PA will be more than adequate.

[zachoff]

1. Established is you're on the short list to open for nationals and/or called regularly for nights of original music.

2. Not established yet. Just formed a couple months ago.

3. Yup, I'd love to open for nationals. It'd be fun.

4. Not happening yet.

5. Advantages are meeting people and the local community knowing your band and music.

6. Pay your dues gaining recognition through being openers and playing on crap nights. Most of all you need to write good music and play fun shows.

[RustyAxe]

People know the band; we have a regular following; people seek us out, we don't solicit gigs anymore. We have a steady lineup, competent subs when needed. We have a huge repertoire (100's of songs). We don't work for free, ever. We have the majority of the year booked by the end of January. Yep, we're established.

[jmattbassplaya]

Originally Posted by Marial

You get to be more in control of your destiny, almost zero crap gigs, an end to weeknight gigs, you make more money... There's no real downside that I can come up with at the moment.

The one downside I see is that once you become better known in an area, people somewhat begin to expect things from you. Your friends in other local bands will start asking for gigs, out of town groups will begin hitting you up for gigs, people might be more inclined to ask to borrow your gear since you're physically seen on the scene more often, you might start having conflicting gig offers and will have to turn people down, etc...

[Marial]

There is a a fair amount of gear sharing anyway, it just makes things easier at gigs for everyone concerned. It helps that I know pretty much all the other bass players in the 'scene' and know none of them are going to mistreat my amp. We've definitely had to turn people/venues down due to conflicts, though.

[RustyAxe]

Originally Posted by jmattbassplaya

The one downside I see is that once you become better known in an area, people somewhat begin to expect things from you. Your friends in other local bands will start asking for gigs, out of town groups will begin hitting you up for gigs, people might be more inclined to ask to borrow your gear since you're physically seen on the scene more often, you might start having conflicting gig offers and will have to turn people down, etc...

How is this a problem ... I learned the word "No!" at a very, very early age.

[4001]

Originally Posted by bluewine

These are bands or the guys that can book "Shank Hall" pack the place at 10.00 a head. My band can't do that.

blue

Define "pack the place" at Shank Hall.
How many people does it take to "pack" the place?

Just wondering...

[bluewine]

Originally Posted by 4001

Define "pack the place" at Shank Hall.
How many people does it take to "pack" the place?

Just wondering...

Not sure, how many people it holds, it used to be one of the cooler small venues in town and they booked decent nationals. I saw Stanley Clarke there. And it's referenced in the "Spinal Tap " movie. Tap actually played there after the movie. It used to be called Teddy's years ago,

I would say packed at 10.00 a pop your looking at 2 grand max.

Blue

[Phalex]

Originally Posted by jmattbassplaya

As unlikely as it sounds, pretty much every dedicated music venue that I've played in TN has had a PA Some bars that have live music (from time to time) might not have a PA, but we're talking about places where a straight vocal PA will be more than adequate.

Man! If a cover band in my area doesn't have a PA system, there are a total of 2 bars and 1 casino that you can gig at.

The places that make you sell tickets and don't pay for squat supply a PA system, but I really hate those gigs.

[bluewine]

I can't really think of a down side to being established unless to many bookings start to interfere with your family situation.

Blue

[zachoff]

Originally Posted by Phalex

The places that make you sell tickets and don't pay for squat supply a PA system, but I really hate those gigs.

I absolutely don't play shows that require the band sell tickets. Junk.

[lustersilk]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

My band doesn't own a PA, has no intentions of ever getting one.

Out of curiosity, what do you do for rehearsals?

[jmattbassplaya]

Originally Posted by Phalex

Man! If a cover band in my area doesn't have a PA system, there are a total of 2 bars and 1 casino that you can gig at.

The places that make you sell tickets and don't pay for squat supply a PA system, but I really hate those gigs.

Haha, yeah. After reading some other PA threads on TB I have come to the conclusion that I've been a bit spoiled in these regards.

[4001]

Pretty hard to get 'established' when just over 500 days have elapsed since our first gig and we will be playing our seventh gig in a month from now.
A year and a half since we formed and seven gigs.

Now, that's progress!