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Is this gig even worth the effort?
- Thread starter Sergius Durante
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The show MUST go on.....especially originals band..but booking without discussion first?....id literally slap my guitarist for that....have them pay for gas, food, party favors and beer or I'm not doing it...lol
Have him walk to the gig, he might get the message... No but seriously, make him understand that this is not right.
This.
If you haven’t already given him permission to book gigs like this without asking, you’re under no obligation to do it. I would just remind him to make sure the sub for his gig can give him a ride. Depending on how indicative this is of his overall attitude and behavior, I might also tell him that the next time he pulls anything like this, one of us is leaving the band.
if, for some reason, I decided to do the gig instead, he’d still need to find a ride.
No, it's totally not worth it, IMHO.*
Sounds like my last band who did this to me (8 years ago.)
And then later this to me. (2 years ago.)
*Edit: unless you're single and there will definitely be a decent sized group of hot, single women there who are ready to sing along with the 3-5 songs you'll be playing. And they all live in a house together where your band will be crashing, ala the scene with the British guy in Love Actually who goes to Milwaukee, lol.
Sounds like my last band who did this to me (8 years ago.)
And then later this to me. (2 years ago.)
*Edit: unless you're single and there will definitely be a decent sized group of hot, single women there who are ready to sing along with the 3-5 songs you'll be playing. And they all live in a house together where your band will be crashing, ala the scene with the British guy in Love Actually who goes to Milwaukee, lol.
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The distance isn’t actually a deal breaker for me. I live in NC. Most of my out of town gigs are anywhere from 2-6 hours round trip, hell I even drive about 90 minutes each way to band rehearsal. What would bother me is a 30 minute set at a benefit show. Sounds like they have too many bands on it imo. I’d be fine with 45 minutes and a good amount of time planned between bands incase one runs over or takes too damn long getting off the stage but I don’t know about 30 minute set at a benefit. I’ve traveled that far to play a 30 minute set but it was stuff like driving halfway across the state to Charlotte to open for Nonpoint in front of more than a thousand people and we sold $900 in merch that night, But out of town benefits are really hit or miss especially if you don’t play the venue on a regular basis. It could be a complete waste of time. imo the whole putting 5-10 bands on a benefit show kind of sucks imo. I mean if you’re the one organizing the benefit all that does is tick off the bands and makes them not care. If they want to extend the benefit they can do so by having other attractions to raise money. Like we’ll have a car show or we’ll sell BBQ plates. Hell I played one last summer where they even brought out a rock climbing wall that was a good 30 feet tall.
Nope. And if you have had worse gig experiences, maybe look for a new band?
The furthest we've ever gone for a gig, any gig, was a 5-1/2 drive. And it was a benefit so there was no pay. It was to benefit one of my best friends that had had a major stroke. He had the stroke at around 7 in the morning. He collapsed on the spot and stayed there until his wife came home from work at 5:30. When I asked the guys in the band if they would be interested in doing this gig they all jumped right in. I was the organizer and after everything was paid for we put about $2,000 into his bill paying funds. That was 3 years ago and he hasn't gotten any better since then. He's still completely paralyzed on his left side. He had no insurance and didn't qualify for any kind of assistance. To this day his situation is still extremely bleak.
It's not worth the trouble. At least two things need to happen:
1. Guitarist pays travel costs - puts gas in the tank at a bare minimum.
2. From now on, no free gigs are done without full consensus of all band members.
If guitarist doesn't agree to these terms, don't do the gig. Our band plays benefits sometimes and other bands drop out at the last minute (maybe for this very reason). Other bands easily fill the void.
1. Guitarist pays travel costs - puts gas in the tank at a bare minimum.
2. From now on, no free gigs are done without full consensus of all band members.
If guitarist doesn't agree to these terms, don't do the gig. Our band plays benefits sometimes and other bands drop out at the last minute (maybe for this very reason). Other bands easily fill the void.
And the gas. You are the one providing the car and driving I assume.
“Worth the effort” is the key here. I once played a benefit for a child who needed a heart/lung transplant. After the gig, her mother, who was in tears, hugged us and thanked us profusely. It was worth every penny that I didn’t make, and I would do it again in a minute. But there are some events and/or fundraisers that I absolutely would not support. But I’m not so mercenary as to say that I would never play for free. I’ve done it many times.
they'll remember how you smell when you're pissed off. not the best impression for innocent animals. OTOH: your guitar player needs a whiff of that --- good luck!
I have played benefits (on 2 occasions in my 45 year career). Both were for causes that I felt passionate about...and I wasn't the one who booked them. But each member of the band was contacted for consensus, first.
I only played for "exposure" one time (when I was 18... MANY years ago) and was happy to do it UNTIL I watched one of the bands get paid at the end of the night. I never played again for "exposure" and at the age of 61...never will!
I would not only refuse to play the gig, I would tell the guitarist to find his own way to gigs from now on. It's all about each member's responsibility in and to the band.
I only played for "exposure" one time (when I was 18... MANY years ago) and was happy to do it UNTIL I watched one of the bands get paid at the end of the night. I never played again for "exposure" and at the age of 61...never will!
I would not only refuse to play the gig, I would tell the guitarist to find his own way to gigs from now on. It's all about each member's responsibility in and to the band.
Oh how I remember the car-less band members, the "exposure" gigs, and the long drives...
It's only worth it if you want something to laugh about years later, because it's not funny now...
Unless the other band/s are household names, absolutely no way! Don't care if they say 'promo' has been done, no pay, no play!
As a member of an original band I've done my share of "exposure" gigs. I get it. It's tough to gig material which is probably unfamiliar to people so you sometimes take what you can get. However, never once has anyone committed me to a gig without first checking my availability / willingness to perform, regardless of whether the gig is paid or unpaid, charity, or whatever. Committing without getting your buy-in first is just plain disrespectful of you and your time.
I'm curious to know just how many folks saying they'd never do an event like this as an originals project are in or have ever been in an originals project that is truly fully committed. Originals are a hard sell, so exposure and experience are a BIG deal to these kinds of projects. And exposure 2-3 hours away can be absolutely worthwhile if the venue isn't a complete, low-attendance dive. Promotion is expensive, and it's hard enough to punch above the noise floor in the fully committed originals world. You take what you can get and you build on it. If you're overly picky when opportunities come up, and get butthurt easy when they don't fit your ideals, then you might as well pack it in now. Buzz is buzz, and most of these people will be internet equipped, so their buzz will reach farther than it used to if you can get them buzzing. However, if you're not willing to put in a little road time, that buzz will be confined to a bubble around your hometown and that's it. If that's all you want, then fine... but to me it seems like a waste to write originals for my hometown and that's it. For me, if I'm putting in the effort to write originals (and back when I was), I'm going to be all-in. So, I want that buzz to be as big as possible, and would absolutely consider taking the gig if the venue's solid.
Food for thought: where would we all be today if Rush hadn't taken that poverty gig at the Laura Secord Secondary School in St. Catharines, ON over an hour away from Toronto back in 1974? Yeah it probably wasn't a benefit, but I'm betting it wasn't much above that and it sure wasn't the greatest gig in the world.
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