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Gig Pay

#41
modulusman said:
Yeah bar owners just love it when you bring your own beer.:rolleyes:
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Then they should comp the band. Seriously... this used to be a standard perk and now bar owners are getting all cheap about it. A couple beers per band member for the night is gonna break the bar? I really don't think so. I make it a point to tip the bar staff VERY WELL at places that comp the band on drinks... but if they're gonna charge me then I won't have any drinks there and nobody gets a dime.

Not that I would ever bring in my own and risk losing the relationship (I'd keep it in my car and drink there on breaks, LOL)... but this cracking down on the comps has been a big pet peeve of mine when bands are already routinely not getting paid what they're worth.
 
#42
modulusman said:
Yeah bar owners just love it when you bring your own beer.:rolleyes:
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We had a guitar player that used to do that.

A word to the wise:

If you bring a cooler of beer to the bar you're gigging at (A fabulously terrible idea) at least have the common sense to research what brands of beers they sell at that particular bar.

The bar owner was mighty pissed off when beer cans were discovered of a brand that was only served by the bottle by the establishment in question.

Luckily, the sound guy talks fast and thinks on his feet. A plausible explanation was produced.
 
#43
otis_thick said:
I started bringing a cooler years ago...I aint' paying what they want for drinks nor food!! If you are lucky enough to get a band room..have one of your band friends setup the table!!!
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Mixed bag on that one.

You work on-site, you're free to eat elsewhere on your break. Sometimes you can eat on-site, sometimes you can't. If I were to bring a cooler, I'd leave it outside and wouldn't bring it in.

Band room is a different story. If you get one of those, you could have a clause for catering in the band room. Who's to stop you from having a friend cater it. Especially if you put it in your rider.


But, I hear ya on the prices sometimes. Once we did a last minute gig for a place that said we'd get free food and the door. When we got to the place, they reneged on the deal and said they would only give us 20% off food. The drummer and I got pissed off, and walked across the street to the Taco Bell, brought the food in and ate tacos while we were setting up.
 
#46
Kenner said:
Originally Posted by zephyr_words
I've played smaller places where we've brought about 10 and larger places where we've had about 30-50 show up just for us.

Well...the 10 person show probably got the bar $250-300 in the till. Then after you subtract their costs of keeping the doors open, paying your band, paying employees, keeping booze on hand and paying insurance and utilities, they made about -$____ enter whatever number you want.


Not a shot on ya...just putting it perspective. Though, I'm pretty comfortable you have already thought of that.
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Well there are plenty of other people there. I'm just talking about people that just showed up just for us. 10 was the minimum, it's usually more in the 20 range. Even in the smallest bars I don't think we've played to a room of less than a constant 40.
 
#47
jaywa said:
Then they should comp the band. Seriously... this used to be a standard perk and now bar owners are getting all cheap about it. A couple beers per band member for the night is gonna break the bar? I really don't think so. I make it a point to tip the bar staff VERY WELL at places that comp the band on drinks... but if they're gonna charge me then I won't have any drinks there and nobody gets a dime.

Not that I would ever bring in my own and risk losing the relationship (I'd keep it in my car and drink there on breaks, LOL)... but this cracking down on the comps has been a big pet peeve of mine when bands are already routinely not getting paid what they're worth.
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I agree. I don't see why that isn't standard. The singer usually has none before or during the show, the guitarist maybe has one, the drummer a couple, for me it depends but usually more than anyone. Although, with how bar prices are around here that ends up being at least $40 which isn't anything close to their cost.
 
#48
zephyr_words said:
I agree. I don't see why that isn't standard. The singer usually has none before or during the show, the guitarist maybe has one, the drummer a couple, for me it depends but usually more than anyone. Although, with how bar prices are around here that ends up being at least $40 which isn't anything close to their cost.
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What happened around here (and I have been told as much), is that a couple of extremely hard-drinking bands pretty much ruined it for everyone. We're talking, multiple shots per player, per set. So OK, I get it that that runs into money but that's no reason for a bar to shut down the comps altogether. Just set a limit... seems simple enough.

Not to mention, when you understand the markup some of these places are making on beer and especially hard liquor, you realize a dozen freebies for the band over the course of the night isn't hurting the bar that bad.
 
#49
IMO, you should find a bottom line and stick with it. Also evaluate your market share. How many fans do you have? Can you bring people to a club based on your name alone. Then compare this too the other cover bands in your area. And you should be able to find an acceptable rate. Our band tends to charge more since we are a seven piece and can bring people on out name alone.

Another thing I would suggest is finding your venues. Take a year to try and test the waters at new venues, and then figure what places you do well at. That's what we are doing. I'm sure we won't play half the places next year as we did this year. And we have found a few choice places we do really well at to rotate.

And don't forget to promote your band. It can only help. Take an ad out. Call a newspaper or radio station. That will help raise your rates. Reality is perception. If your band runs an ad on the radio, you should be able to raise your rates to clubs.
 
#50
TheVoiceless said:
And don't forget to promote your band. It can only help. Take an ad out. Call a newspaper or radio station. That will help raise your rates. Reality is perception. If your band runs an ad on the radio, you should be able to raise your rates to clubs.
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This seems almost archaic in today's Web-based society, but don't discount the value of good old fashioned business cards. You can get a bunch of them printed up for dirt cheap, and make sure every band member has some on their person at all times and especially on breaks. My former band snagged more than a few gigs just by dropping our cards on folks who approached us during breaks.

Include your band name, logo, some sort of descriptor of the style(s) of music you play, and a phone # and e-mail address of the person who handles your bookings. Also your band's Website and/or Facebook link. Like I said, business cards may seem old-school but they're cheap and they still work.
 
#51
out here in the boston area you have too many crappie bands to contend with that will work for free, 100 bucks is the standard club pay owners want you to fill the place. the bands that do well play it all ,depending on the venue you can make 500 to 700. i have worked with groups that were not that great that made good money because they had a good following. As a bassist you have to cover it all, i freelance around the area with many bands in order to keep busy, yea some people say you are whoreing your self but it is the only way to keep working. bottom line is you have to go into this line of work because you love it.
 
#52
jive1 said:
But, I hear ya on the prices sometimes. Once we did a last minute gig for a place that said we'd get free food and the door. When we got to the place, they reneged on the deal and said they would only give us 20% off food. The drummer and I got pissed off, and walked across the street to the Taco Bell, brought the food in and ate tacos while we were setting up.
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I toss a 20-piece McNugget in my gigbag.
 
#53
The more people you draw the more pay you get. If you show the bar owner that he makes money when your band plays you will get paid more. We always charge more the 2nd time we play somewhere after we have proven ourselves

We've recently had some of the local clubs offer us a small flat rate plus the door type of deal.

Last gig near Ellicott City we were only paid $200 from the bar - but we brought a crowd and walked out with almost $800 at the end of the night. It's low risk for them and paid well for us...win-win.
 
#54
robd said:
Last gig near Ellicott City we were only paid $200 from the bar - but we brought a crowd and walked out with almost $800 at the end of the night. It's low risk for them and paid well for us...win-win.
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Interesting. Is yours an originals or cover band? Cause in this area, a good cover band won't even load the trailer for less than $800 a night... and playing for the door is virtually unheard of as the bar is expected to cover the band's pay 100%. Now, if the band doesn't draw, they may not get hired back... but for one night at least they'll make a pretty decent sum.

It's very much a market thing and I'm guessing there's a lot more competition out in your area.
 
#55
We are a newer band - classic rock/hard rock covers. We just want to get out and get seen so we can develop a following that's not all friends. (Which is a little more difficult for us since we are not playing a lot of the standard songs the other bands are playing...no mustang sally here)

A lot of the bars around here are booked through December already. Many still pay a flat fee but this has been working for us to get our foot in the door. At this point I'd rather have a low paying night for the band and be able to play there again, than have the bar owner lose money on the band and never want us back
 
#56
Phalex said:
We had a guitar player that used to do that.

A word to the wise:

If you bring a cooler of beer to the bar you're gigging at (A fabulously terrible idea) at least have the common sense to research what brands of beers they sell at that particular bar.

The bar owner was mighty pissed off when beer cans were discovered of a brand that was only served by the bottle by the establishment in question.

Luckily, the sound guy talks fast and thinks on his feet. A plausible explanation was produced.
Click to expand...

Ok Ron, but you didn't share the magic with the rest of us. What plausible cover story was it?

- The drummer collects PBR cans for the 5 cent deposit?
- The singer only likes to gargle with Coors Light?
- They were left over from the last band from last night?

Enlighten us, oh multigigging hairybacked brother!
 
#58
Actually, beer cans carry a hefty .10 deposit in MI......

The sound guy said that he found a few empty cans in the parking lot, and didn't want the bar to get into any trouble over people drinking outside, so he was a nice guy and brought them in.

Not a bad excuse if you ask me.......
 
#59
Phalex said:
Actually, beer cans carry a hefty .10 deposit in MI......

The sound guy said that he found a few empty cans in the parking lot, and didn't want the bar to get into any trouble over people drinking outside, so he was a nice guy and brought them in.

Not a bad excuse if you ask me.......
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Stellar. Hope he got a bonus from your band that night. He earned it.
 
#60
RE: bringing in your own alcohol... In many states this is illegal and can cause the bar to lose it's liquor license. That will do wonders for your band's future. In years gone by I've been in bands that got their A$$ chewed out by the club owner/manager for this reason. And a couple of times we could never get back in the room. Even though we did good business for them.
Al
 

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