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Club Owner Gripe....

R

Reverend G-Money

Aug 13, 2001
1,125
4
51
San Diego, CA
www.devices.tv
#1
OK, get this.. we agreed to help one of our friends by fillin in for a slot tonight that they had open. We agreed to this last friday. Now, this was with the headlining band, not the club. We find out today that the headliner cancelled yesterday and now club has "put the show on our backs" as the booking guy told us. My singer has been coming down with something since the weekend and he's missed the last 2 days of work and can't even talk. So, this morning we were gonna cancel, find out the headliner cancelled and we're told that it would be "very bad for us to cancel, and future shows are at risk too".

Ok, now maybe i'm wrong about being upset, but we were never even on the bill as far as the club knows and now the headliner who cancelled yesterday gets off scot-free. and if we cancel it's gonna hurt us? WE WERE NEVER OFFICIALLY ON THE BILL. This is a club we headline once a month (for about 4 years now) and pack the hell out of... We've had no chance to really even advertise and we were told by the headliner "no worries, it's not a big deal, thanks for helping us" ... Was anything indicated to them that by cancelling the day before that they were gonna have consequences? NO. how can this be? am i wrong for being slightly miffed at the club owners? do tell....
 
#2
ok, so now we are told that we "have to show up or face not being able to play there again" ... and that we should "just do an instrumental" set.. ***?!?!?! I mean c'mon, we don't play "instrumental" tunes and i can't understand their reasoning. we've been playing this club for freakin years, and they are one of our better venues to play at. We weren't even getting paid for tonight! if this continues to be the way they want to deal with it, i might have us try an "experimental" set with us just banging on our instruments. grrrr.... It wasn't even our show and we got asked to help out. talks are still in the works, but i think this is totally f&#%*d.
 
#3
Sounds like you got the raw end of the deal there for sure... keep a dialogue open with the club and see if they can eventually understand the situation. If worse comes to worse, you could do the instrumental thing with no advertising... the club would have no right to complain.

Or, you could just remind them they aren't paying you for the show so they have no right to complain there either.
 
#4
As an SD-based band, I'm curious which venu this is ... I know the Cramps pulled off their show this Friday at Cane's, but I don't think that's who you're talking about.

Either way, pretty crappy that they're putting the pressure on you guys to play b/c the headliner put them in a bad position. I understand from the venu's POV they need bands for the show. And it sucks that your good deed to your friend by stepping in to help them out is now putting your head on the block for future shows at a place you get to play regularly and always bring a crowd. I hate when people make power plays...
 
#5
OK, so here's the deal... we didn't play last night, we got a band at the last minute to cover us, and my singer is downright sick as f#$%!!! They said that we "satisfied their requirements" and that things were cool. But, i'm still very skeptical of what's gonna happen in the future based on the comments made by the club.

I did some research as well and the club had no idea we were on the bill until the headliner cancelled. They told the club we were filling their slot, not that we were filling for an opener who had previously cancelled. The club was under the impression we were covering the night for them.. Those bastages...

oh yeah.. ambolina it was Blind Melons in PB..
 
#7
RicPlaya said:
I wouldn't play there again if they have that attitude. Is it the only club in town or something?
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Nah, this is San Diego, there's clubs all over. But in the Pacific Beach area this is the only real "rock" club. Everything else plays dance music, dj's, stuff like that.. I've been playing here for 13 years with different bands and have had similar issues, but nothing like this. Again though after researching and seeing what happened it was the other band to blame. They made it seem like we took their spot and that we were covering their nite so they wouldn't have any repercussions..
 
#8
Reverend G-Money said:
Nah, this is San Diego, there's clubs all over. But in the Pacific Beach area this is the only real "rock" club. Everything else plays dance music, dj's, stuff like that.. I've been playing here for 13 years with different bands and have had similar issues, but nothing like this. Again though after researching and seeing what happened it was the other band to blame. They made it seem like we took their spot and that we were covering their nite so they wouldn't have any repercussions..
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It seems like all thet cared about is having any band there to play that night?
 
#9
RicPlaya said:
It seems like all thet cared about is having any band there to play that night?
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bingo. they were really good to bands up until about 5-6 years ago when they went under new ownership. They have the highest cover charge, and the most expensive drinks out of any place on Garnet ave. (the main drag with all the bars)..... they don't do anything to promote music besides the listings they run in a couple of local mags. no drink specials, nothing to entice people to come in. people would really honestly rather wait in line for an hour (at a club less than a block away) to pay no cover charge and less for drinks. It's all college kids on the weekends out here.. it's a mess..
 
#10
Awww MAN!!! F$#%K Blind Melon's!

(I'm kidding, cause I play there too...) Were you talking with the owner or the booking guy for the club? If you were talking with the booking guy, then he was covering his ass by threatening you to play, because if he didn't find somebody to fill the slot, then HE would get his butt chewed. If if was the owner, then maybe he thought he could throw his weight around BECAUSE you've played there for so long.

Remember, Gus, as a band that has a strong draw there, you do have some power. You just need to be willing to walk away. If he's threatening you, you should be confident enough in yourself and your ability to succeed regardless of him, to just say, "Fine, We've got an email list of X,XXX,XXX people who will hear about how you dealt with us. There's about 10 clubs within 8 miles of you that would love to have us and our fans. Thanks for the years, but if you're going to disrespect us like this, then we'll take our business elsewhere."

Turn it back on him. It's HIS fault that HE didn't have a backup plan.

(other people will read this and think I'm an ass...but I've been playing this town for quite a bit and I understand the attitude)

The thing that sucks most is that your singer was sick. If he was healthy and you ended up playing the show, you would have saved the day and been the hero. Instead, you look like the a$$hole for no real reason, and that sucks.
 
#11
Yo Mo' Phat.. i talked to Jerry last night (i'm sure you know jerry :rolleyes: ) and he gave me the lowdown. I hadn't spoken to him yet regarding all of this and he told me that the headliner DID try to pin it on us and Melons ended up being cool with us cancelling out. My guitarist was the go-between on this one and it turns out Jerry was giving him a big pile of shiz trying to get him to dirty his drawers :smug:....

BUT on the other hand the headliner that cancelled (i'll give you a hint, rhymes with "boil"), said they had a family emergency and that someone had to fly out of town. NOT!!! Jerry is on their email list and they spammed him an invite to a show in LA for the night they cancelled..!! they messed up bad... not good..
 
#12
That'd be a tough call...screwing Jerry at B.M. or playing the Whisky?...hmmm...lemme think...

You should get on Phoyl's ass about saddling you with the responsibility to find a replacement. That's messed up. If YOU cancel a show, YOU find somebody to fill your slot...don't depend on your opener to do it. Bad Bizness.

ps. It's pretty bush league of them to not be honest with BM's about the opportunity. Of course they'd be caught in the lie.
 
#13
Mo'Phat said:
That'd be a tough call...screwing Jerry at B.M. or playing the Whisky?...hmmm...lemme think...

You should get on Phoyl's ass about saddling you with the responsibility to find a replacement. That's messed up. If YOU cancel a show, YOU find somebody to fill your slot...don't depend on your opener to do it. Bad Bizness.

ps. It's pretty bush league of them to not be honest with BM's about the opportunity. Of course they'd be caught in the lie.
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I did have a good laugh after i found out they did that.. and also, you're right it is only BM! But they went about it the wrong way man, really bad business. We even found a replacement for our set so we were cleared either way. They've had a lot of cancellations lately too. They kinda do it to themsleves, no?
 
#14
I've always tried to do business with respect for the other guy, regardless of the respect you might not get. If you keep screwing people on your way to the top, they won't be there on your way back down. I'm all about jumping on opportunities when they arise, but deal with it in such away that the guy you "screw over" ends up happy and excited for you.

Glad it turned out all right in the end.
 
#15
:eek:
Mo'Phat said:
I've always tried to do business with respect for the other guy, regardless of the respect you might not get. If you keep screwing people on your way to the top, they won't be there on your way back down. I'm all about jumping on opportunities when they arise, but deal with it in such away that the guy you "screw over" ends up happy and excited for you.

Glad it turned out all right in the end.
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No doubt!! we're playing there for the Cartel Clothing Thanksgiving party on Wednesday night around 10:00 if you're near P.B. It's with Wick and someone else. Check this out, we played with another "Wick" that was from michigan at Canes not too long ago and we brought scott from SD's Wick down to the show. he was PISSED. get a look at these guys... Invalid Link Removed .... when i saw them i didn't know whether i should carve my chest and feed on small children or kill myself.. they were OUT THERE!!! like Ministry meets Marylin Manson.. :eek:
 

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