Making The Best 4 Hour Bar Gig

[troy mcclure]

The typical bar expects the entertainment to be about 20% - 30% of their costs. You do $10k in 4 hrs in bar, they should pay your band $2000 - $3000. A fancy yuppie cougar bar maybe be able to do those numbers but not a typical venue I am use to playing. They get 4x markup on bottled beer but can take a $5 bottle of shelf vodka and get $40-50 out of it. A $500 band only has to bring in an extra $750 or so to make it worth having you there.

 

[Ben Noblit]

My band is first and foremost an original band, but we bleed into the cover world in order to make more money. When we have 3-4 hour gigs, we usually do our first set completely original, for our following who enjoys our artistic ability. As the night gets later, and the crowd starts to transition from the "appreciate original music" to the "get drunk and have fun" types, we mix in more and more covers. Our last set is usually entirely covers.

We rehearse extensively, and put a great deal of effort into our appearance and stage show. We drink with the audience, dance with them, have them get up and sing with us, and generally try to deliver a good time.

 

[kikstand454]

Hate to breathe new life into this zombie thread..... but reading through this really was insightful and right on time for me. My band is playing our first three night stint at four hours a piece next weekend.

thanks for the thread blue.