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Playing Sundays at a dive bar... (small rant)

#22
DWBass said:
Nah! While it's only 1 hour of your time....it's not paying so therefore, I would not do it. I do not play for beer!
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More like 3-4 hours. Find parking, Set-up, spend 30 mins dialing in the sound (no soundguy), play for an hour, break it all back down. Nor do i want to have to pay for parking 2 blocks away either.
 
#23
gustobassman said:
It's hard to describe what a real DIVE this bar is. It's not in a convenient location, literally has no foot traffic in the area and usually gets the thumbs down in general.
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I understand as a lot of us TBer's have played in places like this. But you guys probably need to practice anyways so just look at it as free reheasal space. In a month or two go start looking for higher quality gigs.
Just sayin.
 
#24
I can't BELIEVE how many are saying do this crap no pay gig. They are already rehearsing. All that fuss for a 1hr set is RIDICULOUS. They are offering NOTHING. Downtime is worth a lot more than nothing, and it is not your responsibility to resurrect this guy's dog of a business. Nor is it your responsibility to provide rocknroll fantasy time for guys that couldn't be bothered to maintain the hobby/avocation for most of a decade.

YOU give up Sundays, wear and tear on your gear, your body, and your relationships, in return for a glorified rehearsal, which is what you are already doing in somebody's basement in the first place.

The club gives up making no money on Sunday.

Say you do it, and you actually get something going for the venue, then what? Is he all the sudden gonna start paying you? To make it worth his while, you'd have to be drawing a lot of cash into the register. A good rule of thumb for a little club is that the band can't cost more than about 1/3 of the gross for the night. There is of course grey area, and every club is different, but if your band is getting $500-600, you pretty much need to put at least $1500 in their till. So, using that ratio, to get a measly $200 for all that heavy lifting and giving up your Sundays, he needs to have an increase of about $600 in the bucket. Is there even any chance of that happening? Doesn't sound like it.

My advice would be to do the 5/5 gig happily, and don't forget to put out a tip jar. Address your fellas as frankly as you can, and use this angle that you've already stated: "The guys that haven't been gigging for the last 8 years want this more than anything, and i can see their point. For me its not worth it."
 
#25
Stewie26 said:
I understand as a lot of us TBer's have played in places like this. But you guys probably need to practice anyways so just look at it as free reheasal space. In a month or two go start looking for higher quality gigs.
Just sayin.
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I understand that. Not discounting your point at all. We usually practice sunday mornings and that's because thats what time i could commit to them in my schedule. For me to give up one of my weekend days to play a crap bar for no pay every weekend is not something i want to do. We already have a free spot to rehearse anyway.
 
#26
If it was me, I'd do it. But I'm young ad eager, so ymmv ;)
Pragmatically speaking, I'd agree to the 5/5 gig and one more. Ask the owner for food instead of beer if you're concerned about drinking. Get your buddies to show up and promote a bunch, and put out that tip jar. If it goes well, you'll hopefully be invited back. If not, you have a gig under your belt and more concrete reasons to say no next time.
 
#27
Bar owner knows you're a new band, and you have no basis from which to negotiate. Agree with him to do the gig for a month, then to reevaluate pay based on the results you and he each get.

At that point you and he both know that you'll start getting paid or the gig will end. Either way, the decision will come from an educated place.
 
#28
gustobassman said:
So by this reasoning am i being to harsh with the guys by telling them i don't want to do it? Or, that I'm not going to do it? The guys that haven't been gigging for the last 8 years want this more than anything, and i can see their point. For me its not worth it.
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Being that youre busy with other bands and such, I could see why you would not want to do this.
I could also see how, if I hadnt been gigging for a while, I would take the opportunity to get some free beer and rehearsal time.

Since its not worth it to you, Id decline.

Though, it seems from some other peoples suggestions, that youre band could potentially turn this opportunity into something of more value for your band.
 
#30
There's Sunday April 28 and then 5 May which is a Sunday this year - I lived in san Diego and Lost Angeles and I get the CDM Big Day thing.

So do the 28th - like you said, you have to dial in the sound. Take good notes. The 28th is your dress rehearsal for 5 May. Get the taco shop next door in on the deal - if you can't sell beer and tacos on CDM in San Diego they need to find a new line of work.

So there you go - you get your "Hudson Bay Start" on gigging setup, sound check, and teardown a week before it matters. You do CDM and see how everybody reacts.

If the bar and the taco shop do landoffice business, you work out a paying deal. If there's no money in it for anyone, you've still got your setup, teardown, and soundcheck notes for when the real gigs come along.

I get the downside. I'm suggesting there may be something to be gained from doing this exactly _twice_. After that, the free music deal is off the table.
 
#32
This is a no brainer for the bar owner. He knows people people don't go to his bar on sundays so he figures maybe a live band will bring in some people. It costs him next to nothing - free beer for what, 4 or 5 guys over a couple hours - maybe $20-30? Ask him if he's willing to do anything else to promote the bar and your shows. Ads, Facebook page, drink specials? My guess is probably not.

If you were a brand new band, not regrouping, and you didn't have a lot of time to rehearse, you could treat this as a rehearsal gig. But since you are rehearsing and feel confident you could get other gigs, makes no sense to me. Maybe you can get a few of your friends/fans to come out but that won't last long if it's not a place they would want to go to anyway. Save those friend/fan outreaches for venues/shows that matter.

Sounds like your bandmates don't gig much and are just itching to play live anywhere.
 
#33
WJGreer said:
Bar owner knows you're a new band, and you have no basis from which to negotiate. Agree with him to do the gig for a month, then to reevaluate pay based on the results you and he each get.

At that point you and he both know that you'll start getting paid or the gig will end. Either way, the decision will come from an educated place.
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Not a new band in that sense. We gigged solidly for about 5 years from 1999-2004. Many big shows, music in surf vids, "New" in the sense that we havent gigged in in 8 years, yes.
 
#37
I did a similiar gig for around 2 months on a weekday evening. Parking was convenient, setup a breeze & we had no other rehearsal space available so it was good practice playing in front of a few drunks. I have 2 kids so giving up every Sunday to play in a dive bar with a long load in would be a definite no for me. I would try it out once if you really like playing with these guys & hopefully they will see the error of this decision.
 
#39
Find your replacement first and let them have their fun. i bet that timeslot is very convenient for them.

You grew at a different rate then them. Move on but help them to keep doing what they are enjoying. Negativity could kill their whole vibe.
 

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