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Madison gear GTG
- Thread starter Rugaar
- Start date
Hey any of my new found friends want to check out my band tomorrow, we'll be playing on the Capitol Square on the corner of Pinckney and Main Streets, in front of the Capitol as part of Downtown Madison Inc's Lunchtime Live noontime concert series. We're playing noon-1pm. We're going to have a young monster sax guy playing with us.
Should be fun.
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Should be fun.
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Hey thanks for the heads up. I'll head down there if I can. Depends on how far behind I am. If I can't make it good luck.
Ok I specifically wanted input from my new friends about how, where, to book gigs for my band.
I didn't grow up here in Madison, and haven't gigged regularly for a long time (although we've done a couple of gigs) so I'm pretty out of touch with what are norms and what kind of places would be a good fit for us.
Some background. We are a 5 piece band - bass, guitar, drums, keys and female vocalist/percussion. In addition to our female singer our guitarist also does about half the vocal leads and our drummer adds some background help. We play mainly r&b/soul music from the 60's and 70's. A lot of Stax, Atlantic, Motown, etc. Basically good music to dance to.
So what I'd like to know is (in your opinion)
1. Which local clubs would be the most receptive to our style of music?
2. Who should be approached (and how)?
3. What can we expect in financial terms?
4. What is the norm for # and duration of sets?
5. Which (if any) of the clubs offer PA and someone to run the PA?
General experience, advice, suggestions are also appreciated.
I didn't grow up here in Madison, and haven't gigged regularly for a long time (although we've done a couple of gigs) so I'm pretty out of touch with what are norms and what kind of places would be a good fit for us.
Some background. We are a 5 piece band - bass, guitar, drums, keys and female vocalist/percussion. In addition to our female singer our guitarist also does about half the vocal leads and our drummer adds some background help. We play mainly r&b/soul music from the 60's and 70's. A lot of Stax, Atlantic, Motown, etc. Basically good music to dance to.
So what I'd like to know is (in your opinion)
1. Which local clubs would be the most receptive to our style of music?
2. Who should be approached (and how)?
3. What can we expect in financial terms?
4. What is the norm for # and duration of sets?
5. Which (if any) of the clubs offer PA and someone to run the PA?
General experience, advice, suggestions are also appreciated.
Thanks. There are several oldies bands but none (as far as I know) really focus on soul music. Never the less, I would guess that club/bars that tend to cater to an older crowd would be the best places to start with.
+1 to everything watspan wrote. I feel very fortunate to not have to do any booking in the band I've played in for 10 years. Everything I've heard about it is bad.
There are lots of places to play, but getting in them is no easy task. Just off the top of my head, clubs which may fit your style might include:
Brink Lounge
West Side Club
Hody's
Rex's Innkeeper
Firehouse in Mt. Horeb
Christy's Landing
Badger Bowl (only uses an agent)
Roadhouse
Riley's Tavern
We've only played at the Firehouse (ask for Leo) and Rex's (ask for Rex before noon on any given day). Rex had a sh!tfit when he discovered an empty can of Busch beer next to one of our PA speakers from set up earlier in the day on a Saturday saying, "I don't sell Busch in a can - you can't do that!" Haven't been invited back there since, even though we packed the place. I think we got $500 there.
Leo at the Firehouse is a good guy, but the crowds are sparce there and he has cut way back on bands opting instead for karaoke. He's also been known to toss bands out midway through the night if they don't listen to when he says turn down, or don't play songs with cuss words. But we got $400 there I think.
At one point or another, I've tried to get us in the other places without success, though admittedly I could have been more persistent. But it's not like we have to play 4 times a month. In fact, we've pretty much cut back to once a month which is fine with us. But I used the direct method, calling and asking for the person who books the bands. Be ready to mail a demo disk and have some additional info for them or even meet with them.
We've always been a two-20 min break band, but as far as I know, there is no norm. Only place I know of that offers an in-house PA is the Dry Bean and they are usually going with regional or out of town bands. Watspan is right, Madison is tough, but be persistent. However, we're really down on the whole bar scene in general and we've put all our marbles into Gigmasters and it's working well for us in terms of better, higher paying gigs.
Good luck, man.
Brink Lounge
West Side Club
Hody's
Rex's Innkeeper
Firehouse in Mt. Horeb
Christy's Landing
Badger Bowl (only uses an agent)
Roadhouse
Riley's Tavern
We've only played at the Firehouse (ask for Leo) and Rex's (ask for Rex before noon on any given day). Rex had a sh!tfit when he discovered an empty can of Busch beer next to one of our PA speakers from set up earlier in the day on a Saturday saying, "I don't sell Busch in a can - you can't do that!" Haven't been invited back there since, even though we packed the place. I think we got $500 there.
Leo at the Firehouse is a good guy, but the crowds are sparce there and he has cut way back on bands opting instead for karaoke. He's also been known to toss bands out midway through the night if they don't listen to when he says turn down, or don't play songs with cuss words. But we got $400 there I think.
At one point or another, I've tried to get us in the other places without success, though admittedly I could have been more persistent. But it's not like we have to play 4 times a month. In fact, we've pretty much cut back to once a month which is fine with us. But I used the direct method, calling and asking for the person who books the bands. Be ready to mail a demo disk and have some additional info for them or even meet with them.
We've always been a two-20 min break band, but as far as I know, there is no norm. Only place I know of that offers an in-house PA is the Dry Bean and they are usually going with regional or out of town bands. Watspan is right, Madison is tough, but be persistent. However, we're really down on the whole bar scene in general and we've put all our marbles into Gigmasters and it's working well for us in terms of better, higher paying gigs.
Good luck, man.
Jeff or Pedro - you mind? I deleted most of my pms yesterday and I'd rather not re-type all that. Thanks.
