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Should I take this gig?

Macch5

Macch5

Nov 8, 2014
84
63
50
Hudson Valley
#1
Not sure if I should agree to this gig. I started playing this venue(a bar with some light food) I played there a few times a year with three different groups, two of which I booked and the other group I’m more of a hired gun. None of the shows ever brought a lot of people to the venue and the owner let us know it was an issue and I eventually stopped reaching out to book that venue. They switched locations and moved from right in town to just out of town. The owner then reached out to me to book shows with the two bands I had booked before. We played one show with the first band and it was a very low turnout during a stormy night, but out of that low turnout a high percentage the people that came were friends of ours. Anyway after this show the owner cancels the second show with the other band stating she was worried we would not bring enough people. She gave me a week and a half notice. That was over the summer.
I just got a text from the guy who I play for as a hired gun asking about what’s dates I’m free to play at that place over the next couple of months. I don’t know if I should give it another shot or just tell him to find someone else. Frankly i could use the cash but I was also pretty annoyed that she cancelled on us after she booked us.
 
#2
Macch5 said:
I just got a text from the guy who I play for as a hired gun asking about what’s dates I’m free to play at that place over the next couple of months. I don’t know if I should give it another shot or just tell him to find someone else. Frankly i could use the cash but I was also pretty annoyed that she cancelled on us after she booked us.
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I would take the gig(s). As a “hired gun”, it’s not your responsibility to promote the band and fill the venue (but it’s nice if you do what you can). And, you can use the cash. ;)
 
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#7
getrhythm said:
Maybe warn the BL that the place has cancelled you before and see if the BL will guarantee your pay either way since you're a 'hired gun'.
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You should take it.

It's not like the bar owner could just point to the OP and say "I'm paying everyone but him" so his hired gun fee shouldn't be an issue, but maybe warn the BL how they are about expecting the band to bring the crowd, if he's never played there before.

Curious... Does the bar do any promotions other than some flyers hanging up in the bar a few weeks prior or putting the bands name on an A-frame chalkboard outside the door on the night of the show?
 
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#9
I agree with others here that say take the gig and get paid. Sometimes it's the venue, sometimes the location but if you don't give it a shot for a couple of months you won't know.

We started a new regular gig about three years ago. First time we got about 20 people but by our fourth date we were around 150 people. Three years on and it's a steady 200-230 every gig.

Other gigs didn't fare so well. We tried a bar venue for months and didn't really get any serious numbers. We spoke to the owner about just letting it go or trying something else and he agreed.

Doesn't always work but you can't really tell from the outset, you just have to see how it goes.
 
#10
Slater said:
I would take the gig(s). As a “hired gun”, it’s not your responsibility to promote the band and fill the venue (but it’s nice if you do what you can). And, you can use the cash. ;)
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Right out of the gate :) .

I can't handle that kind of situation any more. Only if I'm getting paid with a guarantee. Playing to an empty bar, hoping they're going to pay, hoping they aren't going to cancel... Unless you REALLY want to play just for fun, it ain't worth it, IMO.
 
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#12
Macch5 said:
Not sure if I should agree to this gig. I started playing this venue(a bar with some light food) I played there a few times a year with three different groups, two of which I booked and the other group I’m more of a hired gun. None of the shows ever brought a lot of people to the venue and the owner let us know it was an issue and I eventually stopped reaching out to book that venue. They switched locations and moved from right in town to just out of town. The owner then reached out to me to book shows with the two bands I had booked before. We played one show with the first band and it was a very low turnout during a stormy night, but out of that low turnout a high percentage the people that came were friends of ours. Anyway after this show the owner cancels the second show with the other band stating she was worried we would not bring enough people. She gave me a week and a half notice. That was over the summer.
I just got a text from the guy who I play for as a hired gun asking about what’s dates I’m free to play at that place over the next couple of months. I don’t know if I should give it another shot or just tell him to find someone else. Frankly i could use the cash but I was also pretty annoyed that she cancelled on us after she booked us.
Click to expand...
Play it and get your money. If a crowd shows up, great. If a crowd doesn't show up, it's not your problem and the bar owner will probably be cancelling this other band you're a hired gun in soon enough. I suspect that the crowd situation is not going to be much different from your other experiences there. Bars have their regulars, and bands have their followers. If a bar is relying on a band's followers and not the bar's regulars, they're in trouble as a business anyway. Most bands don't have enough followers to make or break a night for a bar, it's the bar's regulars that are going to make a difference.

Most people going to a bar are going there to have a good time, not to see a particular band. They don't care who is playing, as long as whoever is playing provides good music and they have a good time. And it takes more than just a decent band to provide a good time. It takes a good atmosphere, good service, good employees, good food, decent drink prices, etc... of which most of is out of your control. About all you can do is provide good music and be entertaining while doing it. The rest is really up to the bar owner to provide.

Last winter I watched a friend as a bar owner, and another friend as a musician, suffer through some of the worst nights I've ever seen in a bar. And I suffered through it with them, sometimes as a customer, and sometimes as one of the musicians playing. It wasn't the music, it wasn't the service, the atmosphere, or the prices. It was a couple of things, weather for one, and it was just a bad time for bars period last winter around here. Then spring came, and it's been a rocking good time every week there since. I suspect things will slow back down after New Years and we'll see another lull until spring.
 
#13
...not having an audience is a big downer for me. None of us are The Beatles or Led Zeppelin, so I can't imagine flyers doing much... if you just want the payday, take the gig... but I don't think I would...
 
#14
My band's goal is to net three new friends at every gig. Even great friends can’t show up at every gig. Inform the BL of what you know about the manager. That’s all you can do. The manager must understand that your band cannot guarantee anything but a good show. Promotion of her event is primarily her duty. Your people will come if they can. But you’ll entertain the hell out of her regulars.

Sometimes I’ll take a gig for the adventure of it. That may be the case here.

It’s showbiz—local showbiz. Forget about guarantees.
 
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#16
Macch5 said:
I play for as a hired gun asking about what’s dates I’m free to play at that place over the next couple of months.
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A gig is a gig. I would take it. It's not like you have talked your way back in there despite previous "fails to launch". You're just the hired bass player. Be hired. Submit your invoice. Collect your payment.

Macch5 said:
I was also pretty annoyed that she cancelled on us after she booked us.
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I am pretty annoyed about lots of things regarding gigs. I hide it well. Extremely well. I get hired. I submit my invoice. I collect my pa..... you get where I'm at. In fact I would go as far as saying that hiding being annoyed about things in general gets me hired more than my playing, which is absolutely nothing special.
 
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#17
Do the gig, let the bandleader know what is probably going to happen next, and collect your pay. Just like most everyone else here said.

I have dealt with venue owners like this, always small timers. They will never acknowledge that the problem is their venue. This year, had an owner like this try to weasel out of paying us what he’d agreed to, saying he wouldn’t book us again unless we refunded half our paycheck, as not enough people had shown up. We told him what he could do with that idea, called our booking agent the next day and told him we were blacklisting the guy. Our agent was a bit shocked (it almost always is the other way around) but said OK. I think we were the last band to play there that got paid anything at all; they’ve now gone to a six night per week regimen of “jam nights”, which is reducing his customer flow quite a bit more. But hey, he’s not having to pay the “bands”.
 
#18
If you’re a hired gun then the band you’re being hired to play with is the gig, not the place you’ll be playing at.

I’d take the gig.

And if you’re irked with the venue for whatever reason, that’s between you and the venue. I wouldn’t try to drag the band that’s hiring you into it. The fact your other band got canceled for lack of draw has nothing to do with this band or how many people they may be able to pull in. So I’d say nothing and just play the gig.

Just my 2¢.
 
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#20
bumperbass said:
I'm with Joe on this one. No more "you bring 150 people with you" gigs for me.
Something's wrong with the place if it can't stand on it's own two feet......clean....decent food....bathrooms without feces on the floor, etc. lol
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Yeah, in principle, completely agree with this (and with Joe). HOWEVER, unlike 20-30 years ago, at the lower levels (bars, restaurants) there simply are FAR fewer places that have a built in, music-appreciating clientele. It sucks, because as us old guys remember, it didnt used to be that way. There were PAYING bar gigs, 7 nights a week at some places, 80s and before.

No longer the case. You do have to work with the business owner, to some extent. Reality. Until you get to the level of gigs that Joe is at.
 
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