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Hitting venues for gigs -cold walk in

Jimmy4string

Jimmy4string

Sep 6, 2006
3,936
9,910
Austin Texas
#1
It is that time. We got our 26 songs and even a banner. I am very good at talking to people and already talked to a couple of guys over beers about playing their venues and they were keen. Of course that may have been beer talk :) Now i want to follow up with them and looking for your experience and advice.
Do you normally ask what the gig is paying immediatly? do you ask if they have house PA and sound guy as well?
Funny this one place I walked up to the door guy and asked who i talk to about booking our band he was like "JC there behind the bar". So i walked up and was like "Hey JC" and ordered a beer and he acted like he knew me already :) I was like "our band is looking to play at your venue" and he was like "Play anytime you like" LOL
Anyway sorry if there are already lots of threads on this i just couldnt locate them.
Thanks
 
#2
Rule #1 ... if you expect to get paid, expect to name a price. To do this you need to know what each member expects to earn per show. Of course you need to find about sound reinforcement and it's expected you'd ask .... if we supply our own sound man we charge for that extra man. There's no need to tell the venue $xxx per man, just the bottom line Venue two above sounds like a freebie ... "sure any time you like". He's gonna "do you a favor" in his mind..
 
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#4
Be ready to define what type of band you are and what you play. It's rough going in cold and they ask "what kind of band is it?" and you say, "well... we play a lot of stuff... some classic rock... and there's a few country tunes... and some modern stuff too..." Have that line down cold so you can sell the band as a concept. Also, if they don't know you, have something to show them. Get a video and bring it in on a tablet or phone to show them that you can actually play. Also, be persistent. You may not get a booking on the first visit. Go back a third time and they may give you something, since at least you've shown you're serious.
 
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#6
How long do you plan on playing with 26 songs? Most bar gigs we play are at least 3 hours and some are 4 hours, if you are playing covers you will need more songs, now if your are a jam band that would not be a problem.
Have a price to give them--on a cold call I give them a high price and they will counter with, well we pay bands x amount and then we settle on a price. Have something to give them, a business card with your social media links on it works.
The old saying "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" works-- keep going back and asking until they give you a shot.
 
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#7
In the good old days with two sets of material you could open for another band on a weekday night. My first gig was that - and then the other band didn't show so we played our two sets twice and exactly one person noticed LOL.

Truth is most bands stall out at two sets. One way to keep going is to play parties with another band for free - or open for free for a tribute band. Paid gigs with two sets are unlikely.
 
#9
hrodbert696 said:
Be ready to define what type of band you are and what you play. It's rough going in cold and they ask "what kind of band is it?" and you say, "well... we play a lot of stuff... some classic rock... and there's a few country tunes... and some modern stuff too..." Have that line down cold so you can sell the band as a concept.
Click to expand...
I don't disagree with anything you've posted. But all of us know there's only ONE question on a venue/bar owner's mind ... "how many people can you bring?". ;) Be prepared to answer this, too.
 
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#10
"how many people can you bring?"

Yup. As musicians, we (rightfully) care a lot about how good the band sounds. While that's definitely one important aspect of a band, think of that as meeting a minimum requirement, not an ultimate goal.

Venue owners aren't really interested in booking the best sounding band; they're selling a product. Like it or not, as a band you're assistant alcohol salespeople. If you can help them sell appreciably more drinks (by bringing more patrons) than they normally would, you'll get lots of repeat bookings.

While that may seem harsh, it makes sense. Bar owners aren't concert promoters nor event planners. If the bar averages $2000 with OK-sounding Band A but makes $500 with awesome-sounding Band B, you know who'll be asked back.

If they can sell more drinks on Poetry Slam night, then brush up your Shakespeare!
 
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#11
FWIW, you're going to need a minimum of 15 songs for every hour you're expecting to play. And I'd probably recommend you have closer to 20 just to be on the safe side - or if you have to wrap up a particular song or two quickly because they arn't going over too well with the crowd. (It happens.) At least from my experience.

Some bands try to stretch songs to get by. Or do some filling in with stage banter between songs. (Note: skip the banter unless the crowd knows your band really well - and genuinely appreciates it. Because it gets old pretty fast.) Your audience will pick up pretty quickly if a song is running longer than it should be. Or if it's obvious you're stalling. And they'll tend to leave if you start doing that. Something the venue management is going to notice. Not a good thing if you want to be invited back.

When in doubt, always be over prepared. And if you're absolutely sure and not in doubt...well...better be over-prepared anyway.

Luck! :thumbsup:
 
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#13
You’ll need more songs.
Venues want video.
Don’t annoy them at a busy time. Not just when the bar is busy, but when stock is being delivered, or they’re doing the bookwork.

Know what the going rate is and don’t feel ashamed to ask for money or decline cheap gigs. Once you leave the basement, entertainment is a service you deserve to be compensated for. Ask for what you expect people to think you are worth. Do you want to be Fender or Squier?


I’ve never done it myself, but our new singer is absolute gold as far as this goes. We’ve been (or the BL has said he was) hitting venues around town for a while. We just got a new singer who is a bit of a people-person and asked if there were any venues she should contact. We gave her a list and told her our fee was a few hundred bucks more than we usually get, so she could bargain a bit and still break even. Within a week she gave us list of dates, with 4 new venues at the higher price. Not the best singer we’ve had, but definitely the best singer we’ve had.
 
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#14
Easy there champions! :)
we are planning on playing 65\150 songs but we have 28 now -up from 26 already.
I understand the importance of about 16 songs per hour but we want to get started booking for weeks\month out. Really not interested on advice on how many songs. Just really the advice on cold walking in and talking to bar owner. Good stuff submitted already. Thanks.
:bassist:
 
#19
26 songs wont last a normal 4 hour gig. You will need almost twice that. I'm going to recap what others have said.
Be able to describe you band and what you play.
Be able to reply to how many people can you draw and how you go about attracting a crowd, Facebook, web page, other social media, etc. Also ask the owner what advertising he does and what you can you supply in the way of posters, links, etc. to help his advertising.
Don't ask what he pays, tell him what you charge. Remember, to him you are a business expense. It would be like the beer vendor asking how much he pays for beer.
Don't ask him when you can play. The way to handle "the close" is to pull out your calendar and say, "We have the 5th, the 19th, and the 20th open. Which works best for you." When you say this, have your pen or finger, if it is an electronic calendar, ready to write it in. In sales, that is called the assumed close. It works well.
Now, if he says, "I'll get back to you." Ask when. If he doesn't get back to you by the day he said he would, go back and see him again.
Also, follow up. If he books you, be sure to email him and thank him. If he doesn't, email him and thank him for the time he spent with you. The get back in touch a couple of weeks later.
Booking your band is a sales job. It is like every other sales job. You are selling a product to a consumer and you want the consumer to believe using your product is to his benefit.
 
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#20
For us a four hour gig is three sets of 16 songs each with two 20 minute breaks.

It takes persistence. You can't just stop in, drop off a CD and expect them to call you. The biggest challenge is catching the person that does the booking at the venue. Either the staff covers for the booker and claim they aren't there, or they really aren't.
 
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