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Gig - too good to be true?

O

oniman7

Jun 1, 2010
2,490
10
Saint Augustine, Florida
#1
So my drummer tells me about this gig he's found that sounds amazing. His girlfriend (the singer's cousin) played in a band that played at this place twice. Here is what he sent to us


":GUYSSS! ok so i went over to danielles today, and she told me back when she was playing in a band the only place they played at(which was twice)a place called cemetery rock. THIS PLACE is amazing!
-Its bigger than freebird ( Place we play at locally, one of the best )
-bands have restaurant quality food for them personally for little to no cost depending on the night
-they have a great system for loading in equipment
-we DONT have to sell tickets
-its packed every night
-We get paid $250 to $500 EACH. Thats $1250-$2500 for one night! :DD
and the guy who owns the place came to our gainesville show"



She has played their twice, and all of it was true both times. The guy apparently only books bands he "thinks can make it big", no tickets are sold, the place is packed everytime, and there's a ludicrous pay amount. Also, there's no website, the place doesn't exist on Facebook/MySpace/ReverbNation (and they don't have a website), and the guy only talks to the drummer's girlfriend by personal E-mail. I trust her fully, however, and she's been there. He'll be in contact with us shortly.


I just cannot figure this out. How is it that a place with seemingly no presence, no advertising, and no ticket sales pack a venue that I assume holds 500 or 600 people (referencing Freebird, the other venue) and pay bands over $1,000 each.

Oh yeah, we're an original rock band.

Granted, it's about an hour away from us, so it's an entirely different scene. Maybe they have more of a local advertising presence.


I'll keep an open mind. We'd likely do it for low pay just to expand our presence a bit.


But it seems too good to be true, almost too dangerous. How could it work? Have a local "record label" there to prey on the bands? That would make sense.



Or maybe this place does draw 500-600 people and everybody makes great money and I'm just cynical.
 
#10
bluewine said:
What part of the country are you in and what club in this economy packs in 500 on week nights?
Click to expand...

We're not! That's the weird part. We live near Jacksonville, Florida. This venue is either in Yulee, which is about 15 minutes south of Georgia, or is physically in South Georgia.


Given the location, it's possible it's the only venue for miles... that could help a little bit. Also, I think it will be on weekends.
 
#12
Is this a new venue? If so, play the gig, have fun, network, and make some coin...but don't expect the place to be there in six months. New venues often pop up. They get huge patronage at the onset because they're the new place. Then, the owners bite off more than they can chew - often paying a ton of money for entertainment - and are bankrupt a few months down the road.

If the venue's been around for years, then hell yeah! (and yes, there are venues that good...they just don't exist out in the sticks)
 
#14
If I remember correctly, the OP is still in high school.

I was in a pretty good band in high school. If I got paid a nickel for every piece of BS that I was fed by people who could get us gigs, recording contracts, hook us up with celebrities, etc, I'd have retired from the music business at 18 and I'd still be living off my nickels.

The lesson I learned? VERIFY EVERYTHING!

What did I wish I did? Befriend an older and more experienced musician in my area that was willing to impart their wisdom much sooner.
 
#17
Searches in every conceivable format come up with nada, zip, zilch. Although it does appear that the southland is very haunted, and cemeteries are popular. The closest approximation even approaching an underground word-of-mouth club would be Swayze's in Marrietta, GA, and even THEY have sort of a website.

So I'm crying foul. It'd be interesting to see how it pans out, though.
 
#19
phatbass said:
And the topless boot-scooting show between sets probably doesn't hurt...
Click to expand...

And that right there should be the red flag.

If you're not finding the name out there either for music or adult entertainment then it's something that's being done under the table and likely outside the range of the law.

I was going to say if you're in high school this could be a bad thing...but hell...you're playing in a place with booze, topless women and you're under 18 so if anything happens you'll be treated as a juvenile.

Go for it!!!!
 

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