Venue "forgot" to comp our food

[Wesley R]

I'd have a civil discussion with whoever booked the gig.

 

[BlueTalon]

That kinda grinds my gears a bit. I despise having to pay for food on a gig. I'll go as far as to eat beforehand (if possible) or have a quick high protein snack on the way to the venue. Bands should never have to pay for food!

I keep a can of Campbell's chunky soup in my car, just in case.

 

[Stewie]

Did a gig where the guy in our band who booked it said free beer and dinner. Can't blame the brewery for this one, they didn't even have bags of chips. Good thing I brought a couple sandwiches , I think our harp player might have actually died if I hadn't given him a PB&J

 

[azureblue]

assuming that the comp would show up at the register, or the bartender / server was not informed, let this one go. But next gig, first re- confirm the comps with the owner, and ask him what happened? Maybe the word didn't get down to the front line. Ask him if it still goes for the next gig. Then, Before you set up, make sure it is clear with the bartender etc., what the comps are. Yo don't need to do something silly like refuse to play, but if they staff doesn't have the message, they should finf out. and you wait until they get the word. I played this place once where the owner promised one amount, but the bartender, who paid the band had a lower amount. That was really sticky. Singer was ready to drive to the owner's house and wake him up...

So, Once again - get it in Writing, even if it is just "band will play and the band will get $xx at the end of the gig in cash."

 

[JamesDeGrandis]

Played a new house last night, a bar that just opened recently. Big place, seems like they're investing in doing things right, nice stage, in-house sound guy - good spot for us overall.

One thing sticking in my craw afterwards, though. The compensation was supposed to be $500 for the band plus food and two drinks comped.

At the end of the night we get a tab. I got mozz sticks and one beer, which at the rather inflated prices at this place comes to $17. The singer explains that the owner forgot our comps so we have to pay it. $20 with a nominal tip.

I'm doing quick arithmetic in my head. As a 4-piece, my share of the pay is $125, and should have been a total of $145 compensation with the food and drink comped. But with that getting deducted rather than added, now it's $105. So by "forgetting" to comp the band tab, the owner effectively just cut our compensation by about a third - would have been more for my bandmates who ordered actual dinner and the allotted two drinks.

As I said, it's a good room and I'd like to play more dates there, so I don't want to raise too much of a fuss, but doing this on our first gig in the place is putting the owner on my "do not trust" list.

Am I overreacting, have you guys seen similar, or what do y'all make of it?

Just go back to Milly's ...

 

[roller]

 

[Killing Floor]

Next time just tear down the dressing room and start a fire.

 

[Mastermold]

Played a new house last night, a bar that just opened recently. Big place, seems like they're investing in doing things right, nice stage, in-house sound guy - good spot for us overall.

One thing sticking in my craw afterwards, though. The compensation was supposed to be $500 for the band plus food and two drinks comped.

At the end of the night we get a tab. I got mozz sticks and one beer, which at the rather inflated prices at this place comes to $17. The singer explains that the owner forgot our comps so we have to pay it. $20 with a nominal tip.

I'm doing quick arithmetic in my head. As a 4-piece, my share of the pay is $125, and should have been a total of $145 compensation with the food and drink comped. But with that getting deducted rather than added, now it's $105. So by "forgetting" to comp the band tab, the owner effectively just cut our compensation by about a third - would have been more for my bandmates who ordered actual dinner and the allotted two drinks.

As I said, it's a good room and I'd like to play more dates there, so I don't want to raise too much of a fuss, but doing this on our first gig in the place is putting the owner on my "do not trust" list.

Am I overreacting, have you guys seen similar, or what do y'all make of it?

Sounds like a case of miscommunication most likely. I'd give them a chance to make it right.

 

[Mastermold]

....
Another room I played once was just reopening under new management. The bartender said we would get drink tickets but the manager was off looking for them. While waiting for the tickets she mentioned the old management had beenlosing money comping drinks. She said the last band to play before the place changed hands had run up a drink tab of almost $500. I asked her large the band was and she told me it was a trio

My band used to have a regular gig at an Irish pub where the owner stopped including our bar tab plus the cash he was paying us. It wasn't a $500 tab but usually about half that, and he said it was just getting to be too much for him. We respected that, he has to make money.

 

[LBS-bass]

There's no excuse for drinks not being comped, the profit margin on beverage sales is pretty huge. A $500 tab isn't costing the bar anywhere near $500.

 

[juggahnaught]

Did you keep the receipt?

If so, take it to the owner and politely explain what happened. It may have been an honest mistake and I would take it in good faith - you can say that they can add it back to the next gig payment.

If not, it might be harder to deal with. You might just want to eat the loss and make sure that it doesn't happen again. You could bring it up in passing when you book a show again - "I wanted to double-check that the food is comped - we thought it was supposed to be, but on our last date we had to cover a tab".

Above all, be a professional about it. And keep your receipts.

 

[mcrawfordmusic]

That sounds like their problem to me, not yours. If that was the agreement, you should have refused to pay for F&B.

 

[kerrycares]

I much prefer cash over comp and I never drink on the gig.
My mentor taught me:
Be prompt
Be professional
Be paid
Be gone

Don't hassle the wait staff and eat before you leave home.

Avoid drama

 

[bolophonic]

I have heard tell of unlimited booze and unlimited menu selections from back in the day - before I got on the scene in the mid 1990s.

Then places went to a drink a set or one or two drinks a night, which I must admit is probably a good idea. (Along with confining food to the $15 sandwiches & not the $40 entrees.)

One place used to give us this pizza with just a few scrawny sprinkles of sausage. They tried to eliminate that & just make it a cheese pizza - the infamous "meat cut". The BL put his foot down and the owner relented.

LOL, they tried to dock you guys 17 pepperoni.

 

[bherman]

Let it go as an oversight this ttime (you're only talking about $20) but get it sorted out before next gig. We recently played a gig that was a crawfish boil, I forgot to ask about comping food. When I got there, I told the manager to hold the tab and I'd pay it. They did so well (large, hard-drinking crowd)that the owner came around and said to give the band whatever they wanted. Bottom line - be gracious and open, ifthe gig goes well they'l take care of you.

 

[whero]

Once played a Friday/Saturday nights gig at a ski field resort in Australia. It paid reasonable money and we were offered accommodation each night, food and drink each night up to a certain value (can't remember what $$ it was but it was enough to get a burger and chips and a couple of beers) and breakfast on the Saturday and Sunday mornings.

The bar food was really good quality. The breakfast was buffet style - not great, but OK, and decent quantities. But the accommodation was just the three of us sharing a big bunk room with eight other male resort staff. They were pretty a hard partying lot, and came and went at all hours. And there was some pretty loud snoring going on. I got maybe a total of three hours sleep across the two nights.

Anyway, back to the original topic: My assumption would be that, being a new place, there was a communication breakdown among their staff. Disappointing, but no big deal. If your band leader is the contact with the bar, I'd just mention it to them politely and, if you play there again, just have the BL clarify it with bar staff before anyone orders any food or drinks.

 

[Johnny Fingers]

Money talks.
Alcohol walks.

 

[DwaynieAD]

Forget to play your third set

 

[BlueTalon]

But the accommodation was just the three of us sharing a big bunk room with eight other male resort staff. They were pretty a hard partying lot, and came and went at all hours. And there was some pretty loud snoring going on. I got maybe a total of three hours sleep across the two nights.

I spent six years in the Navy, four and a half of those on a frigate, with 60 of us in a single crew compartment, and the bunks stacked three high. My sleep suffered until I started to wear foamy earplugs to bed. It made all the difference. That, and using a towel to block the remaining light that leaked through my bunk's curtain.

 

[mb94952]

Played a new house last night, a bar that just opened recently. Big place, seems like they're investing in doing things right, nice stage, in-house sound guy - good spot for us overall.

One thing sticking in my craw afterwards, though. The compensation was supposed to be $500 for the band plus food and two drinks comped.

At the end of the night we get a tab. I got mozz sticks and one beer, which at the rather inflated prices at this place comes to $17. The singer explains that the owner forgot our comps so we have to pay it. $20 with a nominal tip.

I'm doing quick arithmetic in my head. As a 4-piece, my share of the pay is $125, and should have been a total of $145 compensation with the food and drink comped. But with that getting deducted rather than added, now it's $105. So by "forgetting" to comp the band tab, the owner effectively just cut our compensation by about a third - would have been more for my bandmates who ordered actual dinner and the allotted two drinks.

As I said, it's a good room and I'd like to play more dates there, so I don't want to raise too much of a fuss, but doing this on our first gig in the place is putting the owner on my "do not trust" list.

Am I overreacting, have you guys seen similar, or what do y'all make of it?

I'd be pissed, too. It's the principle. I guarantee nobody else on the payroll got shafted. It has become accepted that musicians get paid next to nothing.

You think the club would ever keep a kitchen staff if they were treated like musicians ? It's as if they're testing you to see if you'll notice.

OR, it was an honest mistake...