For an original band that's still local, how frequently is too frequently to play a show in your city? Does this depend significantly on the size of the city? I ask because I'm in an original band that plays out an average of once or twice a month locally and once every month or two out of town typically and want opinions on over-saturation of a local market.
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How frequently is too frequently
- Thread starter AmieLouHat
- Start date
It depends on how many places have live music. I would play out as often as possible, we try to have at least one gig weekly. But there are quite a few bars/restaurants/clubs in the city and surrounding area. Most of the owners don't want us more than once a month at their particular establishment, but that's why there are plenty more to play.
As long as a place will have us, we'll play it.
As long as a place will have us, we'll play it.
As long as you are changing up the venues and the bands you are playing with, all is good. My band usually keeps the rule of 1 venue per month. The more shows you play, the more oppurtunities you will have to gain new fans. Period.
My band is in the same Boat. If it is in a big city it is not an issue. If there is a market for original music and venues for it we have played up to 3 times a month.
I would say 2x a month on average is best thou. As you know unlike coverbands originals bands have to get out more be seen and promote, go the extra mile so if the scene will allow it? Do it!
I would say 2x a month on average is best thou. As you know unlike coverbands originals bands have to get out more be seen and promote, go the extra mile so if the scene will allow it? Do it!
I voted "Once a week" is too often, but it also depends on your repertoire, and the amount of venues available. I imagine the "live music" audience is quite loyal to their favourite bar, so playing in different venues every weekend might not put you in front of the same audience for months.
I think it depends on the demand. What i tried to do in my first band was to play as many shows as possible to get better as a band. But, ultimately i found that about every 2 months was the sweet spot for getting the most people out.
If a band really wants to play out as much as possible I would get no-strings attached gigs at small venues and open for other bands. Or, play 30-100 miles away a couple times a month.
Save the heavy promotion for once every 1-2 months locally.
If a band really wants to play out as much as possible I would get no-strings attached gigs at small venues and open for other bands. Or, play 30-100 miles away a couple times a month.
Save the heavy promotion for once every 1-2 months locally.
It depends on your draw, the city, and the venue(s). We could play twice a week at different venues in the Tampa Bay area if we were so inclined, but we don't have the kind of draw that will sustain that type of schedule. The larger venues in the area put restrictions in place as well...I think for State Theatre in St Pete we were asked not to play anywhere else in St Pete within 3 weeks of our show. I have friends that play at the House Of Blues in Orlando, and they make you sign a contract stating you won't perform at other venues in Orlando for a few weeks...it was either 4 or 6 weeks...
Many of the bookers in Boston will not book you if you have a local show (Boston, Cambridge, Somerville) within two weeks either side of the gig you're trying to book. Of course, if you're big and can draw big every week, that rule sort of goes away.
You can never play too frequently if...
1) The venue is packed
2) The venue is making a lot more money than they'd make if you weren't there.
If you can accomplish both of these every night, then there's no such thing as too frequent. Stay thirsty, my friends.
1) The venue is packed
2) The venue is making a lot more money than they'd make if you weren't there.
If you can accomplish both of these every night, then there's no such thing as too frequent. Stay thirsty, my friends.
My last band was an 'all originals' band with about 6hrs of material. With that kind of pool to draw from,we could play a different show at the same place both Friday and Saturday..And as I live in a tourist area,there are a LOT of bars and most want a new act each night. I spent 4yrs with that group playing 50 +/- weekends per year,and an awful lot of mid-week coffee shops,all within 50 miles from home. This isn't typical,I know,but in the area I'm in we never became 'over-played' because there's a new batch of tourists coming in every day..
This is really the important question that needs to be asked. Some venues have built-in crowds that don't really go to many other places. In that regard, the entertainment is booked to keep people there and keep the reputation of it up as a happening night spot. For those types of places, oversaturing yourself is not as big of a problem. For instance, if you play a college bar one week and then play a townie bar a couple miles away two weeks later. However, if you have a following in an area (i.e., sizable group of people who will travel to see you within a certain geographic region) than more than once a month is running the risk of burnout and oversaturation.
Just IME and IMO.
I have to disagree. In the short term that's a good thing, but in the long term, if you oversaturate yourself, you'll burn yourself out. No matter how good a band is, people will eventually get sick of you if they see you too often. In those cases, it's really important to always stay on top of having new material and never "call in" your stage show. IME, bands, with house gigs eventually have to switch to new venues after a certain amount of time because they burn themselves at that particular venue.
Of course, there are exceptions (e.g., playing in a college town, which means a new set of seniors who turned 21 start hitting the bars and the old set of seniors graduate and move away, so you always have a fresh audience).
I agree that over exposure is a bad thing, I think if you're playing to the same crowd weekly at the same venue it does get old; if the band is playing a circuit of different clubs/bars/etc then you're more likely to play to a wider variety of people and as band popularity builds then fans will follow you guys from venue to venue.
I play in a tribute band and insist that we rotate around venues every few months...unfortunately for me, my band mates don't really like playing shows so we keep it to one per month, its consistent but takes longer to build popularity.
I play in a tribute band and insist that we rotate around venues every few months...unfortunately for me, my band mates don't really like playing shows so we keep it to one per month, its consistent but takes longer to build popularity.
