Dive bars - how do they do it?

[Muttleybass]

Tax write off.

 

[MrLenny1]

I worked one that was 80 for capacity. Friday solo act, Sat. band. Sun Jam.
How can a small place do this & stay open?
Some private clubs have a monthly budget they spend for bands.
VFW's the same although it's low money and only 2or 4 people will hang with the band.
Gigging is certainly the worst I have seen in 30 years.

 

[waynobass]

A single martini at a bar costs as much as a whole bottle of vodka in the store 'round these parts.

A martini is made with gin. Though there is an abomination known as a "vodka martini."

 

[jimmydean]

A note for bands that play dive bars.......buy food and drinks and tip the staff really good , they gotta live too .

 

[Lance Bunyon]

I live on the cusp of NC and SC. Many of our dive bar gigs are gone (COVID) and we mostly play microbreweries. It's a great gig because it's early, family and dog oriented, and there's a new brewery popping up every month. I'm guessing the tap bill from one thirsty drinker pays each of us, because at $12 per yuppie IPA these people aren't shy about paying triple retail for craft beer.

The dive bar model doesn't work anymore. One of our venues now makes all its profit leasing it's volleyball courts (3) to a volleyball league. The butts are great but they ignore the crap out of us. Life has gotten very strange.

 

[Dorado Pulido]

Things must be different in Canada. Around here you're only getting $400 a night if the place is close to capacity and you're in good with the owner.

 

[Lance Bunyon]

The Gen Z legal drinking aged kids weren't raised on rock n roll. Even if they end up seated at tables in front of my band, they don't have any clue as to how to be an audience.
Before MADD, people drove drunk and filled roadhouses to the rafters. Then NAPSTER. Then streaming. People are super jaded with 75 inch TVs and endless streaming options. Why risk a DUI when you can stay at home drinking top shelf liquor and watch Kanye on your 75 inch TV?

 

[Lance Bunyon]

One last rant:. Some of the working class bars we used to work have been shut down by BMI/ASCAP. Due to the devastating non sales of record/CD/MP3s, these organizations now throttle mom and pop bars for playing cover tunes without licensing. And BMIASCAP is not letting them off the hook with an entry level licence, they want thousands per year for broke down dives whom hire and can barely pay bands like mine. Many of these businesses simply went under last year.
/End Rant

 

[pbass2]

A martini is made with gin. Though there is an abomination known as a "vodka martini."

Oh yeah, tell Bond, James Bond....

 

[mikewalker]

Things must be different in Canada. Around here you're only getting $400 a night if the place is close to capacity and you're in good with the owner.

those are CanadianDollarz ... CAD is more in line with the peso these day!s

 

[Swerve]

A lot of dives I used to play would offer us whole or partial payment in laundry detergent. They were clearly diversifying the revenue stream.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Anyone ever wonder how these little rinky dinky dive bars manage to fork out $400+ for a Friday night band despite an average draw of less than 12 heads? What is the motivation behind it? There's a dozen or so venues in my town that have bands every Friday or Saturday, sometimes both, they pay the going rate ($400-600 CAD for 4 hours with breaks) and... there might be a table or two eating at any given time and 4 or 5 regulars at the bar. We've played for nobody but the bartender at times (N.B. we don't suck but we ARE modern country) but the bar will gladly fork over the cash and book us again.

What's their deal? Money washing? Personal entertainment for staff? Do those regulars run up $500 bar tabs nightly?

My experience is there is a pretty stiff mark up on what they sell, but based on your number. IHave to agree that is pretty crazy

 

[Carl Hillman]

Anyone ever wonder how these little rinky dinky dive bars manage to fork out $400+ for a Friday night band despite an average draw of less than 12 heads? What is the motivation behind it? There's a dozen or so venues in my town that have bands every Friday or Saturday, sometimes both, they pay the going rate ($400-600 CAD for 4 hours with breaks) and... there might be a table or two eating at any given time and 4 or 5 regulars at the bar. We've played for nobody but the bartender at times (N.B. we don't suck but we ARE modern country) but the bar will gladly fork over the cash and book us again.

What's their deal? Money washing? Personal entertainment for staff? Do those regulars run up $500 bar tabs nightly?

Feds tie Nancy Whiskey Pub owners' bank records to criminal probe

Feds Raid Sixth Street Bars

Sources: Probe involves alleged money laundering

Bar owner convicted of money laundering

 

[Ggaa]

Most dives around here might pay 150-200 and tips, some tips only. By dive I mean small neighborhood bar you might not have set foot in (for safety)in the not too distant past.

 

[BigStringBender]

Plus they can write the pay out off as expense.

 

[ebo]

Some dive bars around here pay more than nicer clubs, go figure. They already pay the rent, the bartenders are mostly working on tips. If you don’t bring in you probably don’t deserve a slot but they do ok. I’ve seen some pretty horrible bands and think…how do they get gigs.

 

[basted]

I subbed in a band and I said to the guy who hired me that same question. There was not many people there and we were well paid for the night.
He said the bar was owned by businessmen who used it as a tax write off.

 

[Marley's Ghost]

Here in Central Fl even dive bars need live bands on Fri and Sat night to compete. And I've never played one that didn't have at least 25 people show up at some point.

 

[bigdaddybass12]

You could be like the blues brothers, have a $300 bar tab at a $200 gig!!

 

[2F/2F]

…eating…

Must not actually be a dive bar, then. Food? Bands? That’s positively upscale.