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Experience taught me to be happy if I can get in advance info for:There are seven bits of info I need to book a gig, and I add them to the calendar. And you can’t really do a booking without knowing so it’s totally normal reasonable to share these with the client/agent when confirming a booking. Then share it with the rest of the people in the band.
1. Date
2. Venue (with address)
3. Load in time
4. Set times (approximate is fine)
5. Dress code
6. Gear
7. Pay
8. Set lists (with keys - not generally something I discuss with clients in detail but the others in the band need to know!!)
For a bonus, you can even get parking and access details.
Keeps stress low and avoids mishaps if everyone has this info. And… it’s all in the calendar so the wife can see whatever info she’d like - which is generally… none of the above!
Nice checklist. I’d include staging areas for unloading and parking arrangements with the load-in time.There are seven bits of info I need to book a gig, and I add them to the calendar. And you can’t really do a booking without knowing so it’s totally normal reasonable to share these with the client/agent when confirming a booking. Then share it with the rest of the people in the band.
1. Date
2. Venue (with address)
3. Load in time
4. Set times (approximate is fine)
5. Dress code
6. Gear
7. Pay
8. Set lists (with keys - not generally something I discuss with clients in detail but the others in the band need to know!!)
For a bonus, you can even get parking and access details.
Keeps stress low and avoids mishaps if everyone has this info. And… it’s all in the calendar so the wife can see whatever info she’d like - which is generally… none of the above!
It's OK, though. I'm not a big fan of hanging out where she works, either - HS teacher."What time do you start playing?" is a good one.
All I know is I gotta be there at [insert absurdly early load-in time], other than that I have NO IDEA![]()
Relatable.
At some point after I transitioned from pro to hobbyist I decided to stop sending out invites, and just share a public calendar with anyone who shows an interest in future gigs. Makes it easier for people to opt out if they're no longer interested, or to stay up to date in case of changes/cancellations.
So now I occasionally have someone tell me "I see you're playing this and that on Friday", and I'm slowly learning to actually check my calendar before blurting out "Well that's news to me!" only to discover that they know my schedule better than I do![]()
It's great when your partner takes an interest, mine usually comes to gigs. We do have to coordinate things since we share our 1 car.