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Members not making gigs

#121
Slaphound said:
Thanks I agree. What to charge? I told you what these bar owners ask.
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You said you’ve done a few gigs like this, and that you have a following. A bar owner should be able to be told:
- how many of your fans usually come out to see you
- how many drinks and how many dinners each of them usually buy over the course of the night

In return, the bar owner should tell you:
- how many drinks and dinners they sell per night with no entertainment booked
- how many drinks and dinners they sell on nights with a band playing
- what their budget is for entertainment on the night in question

Be aware that if you are the first to throw a number out that you can’t support, you probably will lose. So it’s good to have those answers immediately available for the stuff you will tell them. Even better to know the answers to the questions you need to ask them in advance. If you aren’t going to the place in question, ordering a couple of drinks and a meal (if they sell food), and determining approximately the answers to those questions before you go for the booking, you’re making mistakes that the bar owner can and will exploit.

BTW, a receipt for your meal goes a long way towards getting an accurate, supportable answer to those questions during pay negotiation.
 
#122
Provided that you checked schedules before booking the gigs, you have two choices:

1) Replace him now.

2) Tell him that the next time he doesn't show up, he will be replaced.

I think that's all the options you have. If you never checked schedules, then you need to start doing so before booking - and then review the two choices.
 
#125
Slaphound said:
Folks. I find myself in a bad spot right now. I am the bassist and band manager of my band. I've been playing with the Singer/guitarist for about 8 years and we have been part of a few bands that we put together over that time. We are a 4 piece band and one member (the second guitar/backing vox) has allowed me to book a gig and then only to tell me that he 'mistakenly' made travel plans over the weekend of the gig. He did it last year and he did it again this year.
I book the gigs with my face and my contact and no one else's. We play awfully cheap and for free. With 5 gigs lined up from now until the end of August, I find myself having a very hard time swallowing this. I feel personally betrayed and very hurt. I feel that this one guy could give a &*#k about anyone else. You don't do this twice. I am this close to cancelling the rest of them and maybe even letting the whole thing crash.

I don't know if I'm just being pissy about it or if my feelings are warranted. My actions going forward may be too drastic or maybe just what needs to be done. The other half of this partnership (remember. me and the guitarist/vocalist have been doing this together for the last 9 years) feels like we should do the gig without the other guy, just the 3 of us(includes the drummer). I don't want to. I feel this is a 4 piece band and we play in front of an audience as a 4 piece. Thats it. My partner obviously thinks this is nothing to worry about and doesn't want to change anything. Play the gig. Don't look for another guitarist.
Anyone have a thought as to what I should do? I have decided that I'ts best for me to cancel the gig he isn't going to be at but maybe I should entertain some thoughts about this from the Talkbass community first.
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If you are playing for free and asking people to work for free, don’t expect to be high on the priority list. Other than that, you stiff a gig, or otherwise just don’t show = fired.
 
#126
QweziRider said:
That's the difference between a hobby and those of us making our living at this. It's not a case of "eff 'em", it's that we don't allocate time to commit to something that doesn't pay.
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Yeah I get it but 1. I got the idea that this was a hobby for the OP and 2. If you're a part of a "thing" and the BL books the gig you don't get to pick and choose the gigs you're going to play based on the pay ..do you? Does a pro do that?

In my sitch, we played a gig and the guys were suprised when I paid them! Our bar tab probbaly exceeded the gig take. In 4/5 of our case we really don't care. I put gig money in a separate place so I can buy more stuff. :)
 
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#127
3Liter said:
Yeah I get it but 1. I got the idea that this was a hobby for the OP and 2. If you're a part of a "thing" and the BL books the gig you don't get to pick and choose the gigs you're going to play based on the pay ..do you? Does a pro do that?
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Depends on the gig. But yes, pros do miss gigs occasionally.
 
#131
Today we will get together as a trio. All three of us understand that we are going to try to do this project as a trio and lets see how it works. We have until July 20 before our next gig. If a new guy needs to come in, then we will get at it. I haven't spoken to the person of this discussion. I have not had a need to and if he reaches out to ask if we are practicing today, I'm just going to tell him that we are getting ready to play as a trio because our next gig is the one he is missing. Then, as a group, we can decide how this is going forward. I'm glad I didn't become destructive in anyway. LOL
 
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#132
Pilgrim said:
Provided that you checked schedules before booking the gigs, you have two choices:

1) Replace him now.

2) Tell him that the next time he doesn't show up, he will be replaced.

I think that's all the options you have. If you never checked schedules, then you need to start doing so before booking - and then review the two choices.
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No. I always check schedules. I understand that part. I'd never expect someone to play if they have another thing to do and I couldn't hold anything against anyone who had previous plans and I didn't check first. So that's not an issue.
 
#133
arbiterusa said:
When someone does this, they are literally stealing money from people who do it for a living. To say I agree would be an understatement.
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Not only are they not "literally stealing" (good ged do people misuse literally) - they aren't even figuratively stealing.

Steal: take (another person's property) without permission or legal right.

It's the VENUES gig, not musicians "doing it for a living" - and they are welcome to give it to whomever they like.

If musicians "doing it for a living" can't provide a better value add than folks doing it for free - they deserve to go bankrupt and quit "doing it for a living".
 
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#136
aborgman said:
If musicians "doing it for a living" can't provide a better value add than folks doing it for free - they deserve to go bankrupt and quit "doing it for a living".
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This part deserves repeating. No one is entitled to a gig just because they made the choice to pursue music as a livelihood. Some people still don't get that music is unlike just about any other profession in that there are plenty of people who will do it purely for their enjoyment. Some of those people are as good as any pro.
 
#139
lermgalieu said:
I guess that’s one of the differences between us.
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"Normal job" is his day job. You would pass on a 2x pay raise? Let's assume it all checks out and it's basically you will do a similar job, just at twice the pay.

I'd be less likely to do that with a musical endeavor because it's a side gig for me and I have the luxury of a good regular job to make the music gigs mostly a tax nuisance.
 

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