Venue "forgot" to comp our food

[JonathanPDX]

This story reminds me of a gig from a few years ago:

I got called from a very amateur local dude who would sometimes find his way into crap bar gigs. He sucked but we all have bills to pay, so every now and then he'd call and I'd show up to walk the bass for a few hours. On the phone he says the gig pays "at least" $100 and they'll cover dinner and drinks, too.

I drive out to the venue and meet the drummer, who is another sub, and we both acknowledge it's a poopy gig but we are pros. The drummer also confirms with the singer before we play that dinner is covered. We play a couple hours of bad music and mostly drive all the patrons away except for the singer's friends. After we pack up our gear the drummer orders some food, I get a snack, and we hang out to talk shop while the singer gets ready to leave surprisingly fast. He hands me, I think it was $40, and says "Sorry but that's all they paid me."

I'm pissed, and now regretting not ordering at least a good meal to get something out of the gig. The drummer is pissed too so he takes off.

As I'm loading up to leave, still fuming, the bartender comes up with a receipt and asks if I'm the guy to talk to about the band tab. I said "The guy who booked the gig left, I'm just on my way out, but there shouldn't be a tab because everything was comped." She says "No, we never comp food for bands. You guys have a tab here of about $50 and somebody has to settle it up before you all leave. Otherwise it comes out of MY pay."

And that's the story of how I wound up paying $10 of my own money just to play a crap gig for free.

 

[beaglesandbass]

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

Like others said, I don't think it's a huge deal. Mistakes happen, especially at new places. However I don't like not getting what was agreed upon, so I'd probably start a gentle conversation with "hey just so you know..."

 

[hbarcat]

In every band I've played in for the past 30 years, I've insisted on having a simple service agreement that gets signed by the the venue before we even bring in any gear. There is a portion of the contract that specifically states whether or not food or drinks are provided.

Doing this protects the venue as well as the band because the contract also describes the band's obligations. The main purpose is to prevent misunderstandings from either party from happening in the 1st place. People notoriously get confused or forget details with verbal agreements, though it's usually an honest mistake.

I got tired of being screwed by venues in my early years, but since I started using service agreements, I've never been short changed.

*******************************


If anyone is interested, this is a sample of what my band uses:

PERFORMANCE AGREEMENT

The band QUAGMIRE shall perform for
client ________________________________
at location ___________________________
date ________
time start ______ time end _______
Band fee total __________
Band shall play # sets ____ mins/set_____
Band will arrive at time _________
for setup and sound check

Band shall provide the following:
PA/FOH Yes __ No __
Other (describe)
________________________________________
________________________________________
________________________________________
Client shall provide the following:
PA/FOH Yes __ No __
sound tech Yes __ No __
food Yes __ No __ beverage Yes __ No __
specifics ______________________________
Other (describe)
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________

Terms and Conditions:

-- Venue must provide a stage area for band to perform that has adequate room for all musicians and their equipment and is safe for band members and patrons.

-- There must be access to reliable, clean power that is 1800 watts/15 amps or more.

-- If show is outdoors, adverse weather may delay or cancel performance. In that event, band is due the full fee.

-- Client shall designate 1 person to be liason with the band. Band will not accept alterations to performance agreement or take additional instructions from anyone but this person.

Name of liason _______________________

-- A 20% deposit is required 3 days before performance date unless waived. Deposit waived Yes __ No __

-- Balance due upon completion of performance. Cash only. Payment may only be made directly to designated band leader.

Name of designated band leader _________________

Band signature ___________________
Date __________

Client signature ___________________
Date __________

 

[Ric5]

The Blues Brothers - "They want us to pay for the beer we drank" - YouTube

 

[SLO Surfer]

If it was the actual agreement, the owner can easily fix it. If your singer was mistaken about the agreement, he can cover your tab.

 

[togril]

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?

It seems that the devaluation of musicians of all standards and genres, including schooled classical musicians continues along with a general erosion in value of the arts. So, no. Ask politely to have the problem rectified. What? you're not worth it? I see. (of COURSE you are - but I am making a point). Only you can decide what to do - it DOES sound like a verbal contract gone a bit wrong. but if they are paying $500, you know they are likely making enough pay you this. This absolutely needs discussion - to ascertain if it is going to be a "no I never said that" situation on the owners behalf.
If it DOES go that way, then you really have some discussions to make. If they "Forgot" why have they not contacted you to rectify the situation?
I have worked in the "arts" (CG/Animation/Digital VFX for Feature films and Games) for 20 years - it was my career. I decided who I would give my time to, who I would help out. Because I considered myself a professional, I worked extremely hard for many years to get where I was, and sacrificed much sometimes.
The amount of "do it for exposure" do it for free requests I had from lazy people who were ignorant perhaps of what's involved, but also wanted "something for nothing" became larger each year. Now it is Endemic. As is making a profit by any way possible. As if it is a "right".
We - the creators, those who have taken bold and often very scary steps out of the norm, sacrificing security and the things "expected " of us (by others) we, have to stop this erosion.
So go and politely ask what the problem was and will you be compensated for this, as it meant the you DID NOT receive the correct reimbursement for your profession.
Good Luck, and please let us know the outcome.
BE POLITE AND KEEP YOUR BODY AND FACE RELAXED: REMEMBER - IT MAY BE PERFECTLY INNOCENT
(soz, I can be bothered to correct those caps locks) xx

 

[StayLow]

Owner owes the band.

Someone from the band shows up and owner gives then at least the money owed, or sends a check. Bonus money for the trouble, if owner has any class.

No maybes or ambiguity. No long posts or replies required. Nothing to do with burning bridges, 2nd guessing, or chalking things up to whatever.

Super simple.

 

[2F/2F]

The time to have handled this would have been on the spot. I never would have handed them anything but a tip, and would not have paid or left the place until the situation was amended, or commitments to amend it were made. By forking over your cash, instead of enforcing the terms of the deal, you're effectively agreeing to the "updated" terms, and making any adjustments more difficult for all involved.

Bottom line, this started out being the venue's fault, but by the end of it, it was on your BL, for caving. He didn't T.C.B. on the spot, so now you're all probably going to just have to chalk it up as a loss. It's much easier, and creates much less tension, for an above-boards venue to fix this issue by not charging for food on the day of, than it is for them to fix it by making adjustments the day after. It certainly seems petty, annoying, and amateur to ask a booker/manage go back and try to fix this issue later, when you could have, and should have, dealt with it on the spot.

At this point, I'd be too embarrassed of my own spinelessness to contact the venue about the issue. I'd just call it a loss, and consider it a lesson learned about my BL.

 

[Don Hergert]

An agreement is an agreement. If it were me in the OP's situation, next gig I'd bring a sack lunch and a beer from home and sit near the front eating and drinking it.

(Of course, I don't drink, so I would bring a root beer.)

 

[ryan pate]

When this happens (IME it happens too often and I it's critical to not be a doormat to greedy shady people and their venues) We helped sell booze to thirsty customers and want some free booze and yummy Coconut Shrimp!
I wonder if they have seen how Ritchie Blackmore handled the promoters of California Jam in 1974....
"Have some ear splitting feedback, smashed Stratocasters, and a Marshall stack exploding into flames and thrown into the orchestra pit!! Sir! Now,A "Rock Tantrum" may be a bit over the top. Or perhaps it was an appropriate response. I don't know. I wasn't there, and I have no idea how much booze and fried cheese Deep Purple was promised....

 

[halcyo]

We almost always agree to a certain dollar amount of food/drink tab for the band. Most places we expect a $150 tab for food and drinks. If we go over that, we pay the difference. This way, even if the booking manager at the place only agreed to this via text or email, we can at least show them where they specifically agreed to it in the text or email. This way it's not just a lax "yea you can eat and drink some stuff and we'll comp it, I guess..."

P.S.- Charge more than $500 for a gig ya'll...you're worth more than that for your talent, energy, entertainment, and time!

 

[Hevy T]

I bet it's a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. Maybe the kitchen manager or wait staff didn't know it was to be comped. Like you said it is a new place, so staff presumably are also new

 

[DwaynieAD]

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...

This was my thought as well. They agreed they need to honor.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Likely miscommunication and we've had this happen from time to time. We just talked to the manager at that time. Trying to fix it later is almost futile.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

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

I like this idea

 

[gidbass]

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've had that happen before. Sorry to hear about that. I'd let it go this time personally as it probably is just an oversight or miscommunication.

Like others have already suggested, next time

1. Have BL confirm with their contact about the food comp as the gig is scheduled.
2. Verify with staff prior to start/as you set up.

Good Luck!

 

[Scarysharkface]

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 hate places that do that. I would rather know how much money I'm making that having food comped. It's really depressing when the food for the band is Sodexo sandwiches in boxes at a steak joint.

John

 

[39-Bassist]

Tell BL that from now on the band needs to have a copy of the contract for the booking of what is covered and then keep it with you during each show to have proof.
Very simple.

 

[pfern]

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?

Nice to hear that Manch is getting a new club! Last place I played there the place went down the Hip Hop/DJ path, and I'm not sure if they ever came back. It was a cool Irish pub/rock club before that. Is the Shaskeen still around?

 

[aguacateojos]

One lesson I learned from the band I recently quit - always agree to terms in writing, always have that easily accessible if a venue tries to change compensation.