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A-Clubs, B-Circuit, etc..
- Thread starter ericw
- Start date
Around here, it don't mean squat. Lots of bands playing the "A" clubs around if you ask them. IMO though, there are only 3 "A" clubs in Dallas at least in the country scene. (all the other type clubs are MUCH smaller) They all seat 1500+, have national acts come through on a regular basis, and have great in house production. They also all have house bands so I don't know where all these other "A" club bands are playing.
Could you be more specific? If I go into a club, or think of a club I've been, how do I know if it would be an "A" or "B" or... are there "C" clubs? Double D clubs? 
I come from a theatre background, so I know that Theatres are rated in a similar fashion here in Canada by ACTRA, and I've worked in A Houses, and F houses and everything in between.
In Winnipeg we use the A-circuit, B-Circuit terms.
Here A-Circuit loosely refers to the best paying 5 bars/clubs/casino in the city that are booked by the same agency.
The B-Circuit includes many bars/clubs/venues that don't pay as well as the A-Circuit.
Here A-Circuit loosely refers to the best paying 5 bars/clubs/casino in the city that are booked by the same agency.
The B-Circuit includes many bars/clubs/venues that don't pay as well as the A-Circuit.
That's part of it. But also to get into those 5 bars you pretty much have to sell your soul to Mustang Sally and her partner the Brown Eyed Girl. Basically the A-circuit in our city wants pretty generic bands. God forbid you throw in something as radical as say Higher Ground by the Chili Peppers. lol
They don't like taking chances according to the booking agency we use. The have a rotation of 4 or 5 bands they are happy with and don't care to venture outside of that.
I agree that the A-Circuit here mostly books Classic Rock bands with the exceptions of Cowboys & Whiskey Dix (country rock) and Jaguars (rock, country rock, R&B, dance pop). Silverados and Palamino are the classic rock bars.
Brown eyed girl is definitely A-Circuit material and Mustang Sally is heard more often on the B-Circuit. They play Brown eyed girl on the B-Circuit too. Bryan Adams and Bon Jovi are very common A-Circuit fodder.
By the way, I work with your drummer's girlfriend.
The 5 piece band I am in is classic rock and some newer rock. We keep getting shut out of the "A" clubs. Seems that having no country in our sets holds us back. And there won't be any either. We also do a few non-A-list covers that go over well but probably the A circuit bookers don't know what to make of them.
Drummer - Bill?
or Dale? (he's married but what do I know) or from my last band Todd? lol
which ones are the a and b......last time i was at the zoo it was "amateur tattoo covered /lesbo/wear your street clothes stripper night.....to think that that johnny winter actually played in there....downtown seems to be nothing but gang/wannabe gang morons,and all those singer/guitar acts with recorded back up tracks leave me wanting to flee the provinceThe 5 piece band I am in is classic rock and some newer rock. We keep getting shut out of the "A" clubs. Seems that having no country in our sets holds us back. And there won't be any either. We also do a few non-A-list covers that go over well but probably the A circuit bookers don't know what to make of them.
Drummer - Bill?
Is the Golden Nugget still around up there? A dude named Stan used to own the one in Win. and another in T-bay. I had large fun doing those gigs back in the day.
......memory fades but i'm thinking that it might be the golden oak you mean.....unless it's one of those name change every year deals
It's not an "official" rating system - it's all pretty subjective.
Generally, if a club is a desirable place to go in the evening, and lots more people want to get in than the place can hold, and admission policy is strict, it's an A list place.
Generally, if a club is a desirable place to go in the evening, and lots more people want to get in than the place can hold, and admission policy is strict, it's an A list place.
these days its a question of money......for a regular guy clubbing is expensive,for dope dealers,it's not so big a deal..... that crowd tends to keep normal people away too,as there is a fair amount of violence
It wasn't part of the chain from vegas. I don't remember any gambling machines. They had a cool, long haired bartender named Herman though.
We did maybe 4 gigs at each club before the nazi BS at the border got to be too much to deal with. I can't imagine how bad it would be these days. Too bad really. I loved the folks I met up there. I don't see why they gotta put armed goons between us.
We did maybe 4 gigs at each club before the nazi BS at the border got to be too much to deal with. I can't imagine how bad it would be these days. Too bad really. I loved the folks I met up there. I don't see why they gotta put armed goons between us.
The 5 piece band I am in is classic rock and some newer rock. We keep getting shut out of the "A" clubs. Seems that having no country in our sets holds us back. And there won't be any either. We also do a few non-A-list covers that go over well but probably the A circuit bookers don't know what to make of them.
Drummer - Bill?
Even a good classic rock band can have trouble breaking in to the A-Circuit here. My brother has played the A-Circuit in Winnipeg for 20 years (Hawg Wylde and Velocity) and his take on it is below.
It helps to:
- be younger
- to have a few "Jonas brothers" or a hot chick in the band
- all the classic rock songs should be very dancable (you can get away with 2-3 waltz slow songs)
- there should be 2-3 good background vocalists
- having a member that has previously been in a A-Circuit band and is known to Morris Agency & bar managers
My co-worker is Bill's gf.
drawing a blank....unless it's a room that's part of a hotel kind of thing....back in the day the hotels had a near monopoly as the law required accommodation and/or food service for liquor licenses
