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Booked With Bands Waaaaay Off Genre...

#22
My experience with this was always pretty good. While we might have seemed out of place with all the death metal bands before us, the crowds usually got REALLY into us during the first song when they realized we:

A) could rock as hard as the previous bands
B) could groove way more than any of the previous bands
C) had great melody
D) had great harmony
E) could put on an entertaining show without the nooses and masks and other spectacle.

We always left those shows with new fans.
 
#23
We played with some experimental shoegaze bands last week...in a couple weeks we'll be playing with some gnarly death metal-esque groups.

I know that not everyone will like that we're different than the headliners, but I like to think it does us a GREAT service to play with bands that are a little out of our scope. Let's us play to a wider audience and, ya never know, someone might end up liking your sound!

I say go for it, but totally own the **** and pretend like you have every reason to be there.
 
#24
doom-sad.jpg
 
#25
lol, doom guys, we should all understand what hes saying. try being a doom band on a tough guy hardcore show and see how their fans react. or a doom band at some tech metal show. im not saying put 4 bands that sound the same on the same bill, but theres a reason Lionel Richie and Slayer havent done a world tour together.
 
#27
Please know, I am not knocking the genre at all. I respect music, period. I have my likes and dislikes, but have always been respectful.. We are just out there doing our thing, just like them.

I spent my time in speed metal bands, progressive speed metal, black metal, and doom if you will, etc.. Ah the good old "Abacinator" days. :bassist:

You make a good point, I see how both bands would feel it. You obviously want to play with bands that are similar, with fans that have similar tastes etc.

I am just surprised, if they listened (they did, right?? LOL) to our stuff and then to theirs, am I missing something?

:confused:

JoeVictim said:
Us Doom bands don't like it anymore then you do. Trust me. Our second gig was with a bluesy, acoustic act. Imagine, We play with amps that look more like we are trying to build some pyramids, and the next band is using a reso guit, upright bass, etc. They kicked total ass, but to go from drone to borderline bluegrass was kinda like the Roman legion marching full force on some peaceful monks. (btw, the band we played with has two sets that they do, one is more doom than the other. you never know which version you are going to get, like Bad Brains did with punk/reggae)

I think it's because Doom bands are so hard to book anything with, they just throw us onto whatever is "underground" or "indie" or "bluesy". We aren't really "metal" because people like to associate fast with metal, and we aren't just rock (we have drone parts, fuzz walls, prerecorded sound samples and other things). Looks like we are getting booked with Crust bands, metal bands, punk bands, grunge bands, all kinds of whatever.

Don't worry about it too much. If you are bringing people and everyone leaves after you play, the venue SHOULD get the hint. Good luck to you!
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#28
my band has had this happen a couple times at the same venue. they booked a hiphop artist, country rock, and our band (prog metal) for the same gig. The next time they had a hard rock, poprock and then us. but it brought out different folks and they all seemed to like us
 
#30
DanBass said:
I will preface this by saying we are a meld of the Cure, Joy Division and Morrissey, and have had flattering comaprisons to The Editors.

So, we have a show this weekend, and I went on the site and there are only two bands on the bill. US and a doom metal, GWAResque band. :eyebrow:

Really??

Look, I like everything from Rage to Vivaldi, The Temps to Slayer. So the music doesn't bother me. The match does.

Is the booking person an idiot??? With all the bands around couldn't there be a better match from a genre standpoint?? Isn't that their job to at least match as closely as possible???

I'll play anywhere at anytime, but at 43 I am seriously saying F this. They can't find another doom black metal act to fill our slot with four days notice on a Friday night???

Anyone ever run into this crap?? Did you cancel and say hell with it?
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Don't cancel.

Worst case, some people wont be into what you're playing.

However, doom fans are pretty open-minded, in my experience, and lots of them like tons of other music, too. You might make a few new fans.

And even if you don't, you will have showed up and played, like you said you would.

Canceling would make your band look like flakes, as well as being kinda unfair to the other band.
 
#31
RedMoses said:
This kinda Sh$t happens all the time in NYC when your delaing with lame pormoters who just want to make money with a high turn around, ive been there, we now make sure we know all the bands playing that evening before we committ to the show, we have also dealt with proper promoters and although they may require more ticket sales or whatever the case they always put together an evening of music rather than just fit as many bands as they can on the stage in one night.

You have to tear down, pack up, set up, tear down, pack up... for a 45 min set! and your friends and fans will not enjoy coming early for some crappy metal band and staying late for some even worse polka band, its a loose loose situation for everyone but the promoter who took the first 15 covers and gives you 30% of each on there after.

F it.
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45 minutes? How luxurious.
 
#33
beebassdude said:
lol, doom guys, we should all understand what hes saying. try being a doom band on a tough guy hardcore show and see how their fans react. or a doom band at some tech metal show. im not saying put 4 bands that sound the same on the same bill, but theres a reason Lionel Richie and Slayer havent done a world tour together.
Click to expand...

Eh, if they don't like you, you can always derive satisfaction from IRL trolling them.
 
#34
jmattbassplaya said:
IME, only bad bars or bookers do that. Sometimes it can't be helped, but all the best venues I've played at tend to match up styles with one another because it means the audience will be more likely to stick around and catch the other acts. When bands don't match up, you always see the crowd come and go in waves as the bands go on and off the stage.
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The same thing has been happening in Boston, and I'm sure most other cities. The end result is that people come to see one band and then leave. Bad for the bar. Bad for bands who are just starting out/trying to build a following. My current originals band has taken to booking all of our own shows as much as we can. We work with a promoter who we contact, and do the leg work for them contact bands (often recommendations for good draw, but often just word of mouth with other bands) to build a great show. The end result is a cohesive show where the audience is more likely to stick around and buy more drinks. We've made some great contacts up and down the east coast, and have played some great shows. We've also garnered a positive reputation with some really cool promoters/bar owners/bands that have helped us to re-book out of state gigs more often. The point is, in the face of lazy booking agents and/or disinterested bar owners, someone has to step up, and it's worked for us when we are the ones to do it.
 
#35
I appreciate all of the insight, for sure.

We're doing the show (I was out-voted.. haha) for all of the positive reasons mentioned above. Truth be told, I would have changed my vote after reading the comments here.

It just might be a good time.

Plus there are drink tickets that will get me some of the area's finest hoppy swill.

Sounds like a win-win. :p

Of course, after I hit "reply" to the above, I am reading some more neagtive posts.. DAMNNNNN. LOL

I guess we'll just do our thing and tahellwitit.
 
#36
If it's any consolation, one of my doom bands is playing a show soon, and we're the only doom band on the bill. The others are mainly punk, crust, and tech metal.

We're the openers. We're trying to entice people with a tailgate party/barbecue in the parking lot a couple hours before the show starts.
 
#37
JoeVictim said:
We aren't really "metal" because people like to associate fast with metal, and we aren't just rock (we have drone parts, fuzz walls, prerecorded sound samples and other things).
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Drone parts? Fuzz walls? I had never even heard of 'doom' but I think I'd like to check it out. :D

OP ... you're 43? Quit @!#$'n around with this doom thing and join a top 40/country act like every other old fart amateur musician. :hiding:
 
#39
I play in a band that gets a lot of comparisons to Joy Division, the Cure and the Editors too.

We were once booked for a birthday party gig. The one who's birthday it was, is a fan of our music (he booked us three times by now). All of the other bands that played that evening were black metalbands and his friends were a real metal crowd.

We ended up playing solely for the birthday boy and our own friends that showed up while his friends went off to play pool...

That said, we've also done bar gigs with a death metal band that consists of a bunch of super friendly guys. We always went for a drink with 'm afterwards and they seemed to like our music. The bar crowd didn't seem to mind the combination.

So I guess it's hard to predict how such gigs will turn out.
 

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