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Wait...what?

GuiTuber

GuiTuber

Feb 19, 2015
381
494
67
San Antonio, TX
#1
So, we show up to our weekly Friday night gig and we were told that we won't be performing there anymore. Seems new management doesn't want to provide entertainment for their customers.

Little background...

We're just starting out. The group used to be two people, then a percussionist was added. Back in May, I was asked to join, as a guitarist. In Oct/Nov, we added another guitarist and I moved to bass.

The venue is a burrito/taco restaurant. You get to build your own burrito/taco/bowl. They sell beer and margaritas. They have indoor seating and a patio area. The stage is on the patio.

When the group started there, it was every other Friday. Right around the time we got the other guitarist, we started doing every Friday. Our compensation was free food and drink. For now, we were ok with that as the whole thing has been a learning experience for us. From the songs we play to how we play them to sound management.

With the colder weather, we've been playing inside, unplugged. There was no real place to play so we'd just move a table against the wall and set up in a corner. Playing outside, when the weather was warmer, there would hardly be anybody eating outside. Truth be told, there were hardly any customers. The restaurant wasn't that old either, though it is a second location to a very popular one.

The combination of playing inside and finally get our sound down (songs, not sound), resulted in more and more people showing up on Friday nights and they were staying, for the most part. We had returning customers just to hear us play. We were looking forward to the warmer weather so we could get back outside, plug in and have room for more people. Sadly, that won't be happening.

Since we are new to this gigging stuff, anyone have any suggestions for finding new venues? Obviously, there's the typical canvasing effort, but I'm looking for something outside the box, as it were. Also, what would be a good starting fee for a group of 5?
 
#2
You never know for sure what's up. Sometimes you get venue management that keeps inviting a band back because the management likes them, regardless of whether the band is actually good for business. Conversely, sometimes a venue will drop you even though you're good for business just because they decide not to like you, for no apparent reason. Sometimes one customer complaining about the noise gets their attention and causes them to overlook all the people that love you. Sometimes you have an "off" night when you're not at your best and they get it stuck in their head that you suck. You just can't put all your eggs in one basket relying on one venue for gigs.

There's no real shortcut to finding new venues. Pound the pavement. See what places are booking bands that play your type of music, or have the kind of clientele that liked your music, and target them. Be persistent.

Rate of pay is what you're willing to accept and what the market will bear. For a 3-4 hour bar gig, 9-12:30 pm or whatever, $100 a man is the standard - same as it was in the 70s, and it goes a lot less far these days, but that's how it is. Well-established cover bands in well-established clubs can do better, but sounds like that's not you right now. A lot of bands have to settle for less, especially if you're splitting it five ways. I've played a restaurant gig, I think it was 90 minutes or so, for $35 and a sandwich.
 
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#4
Thanks for the info, hrod.

Last week there was a time when there was nowhere to sit for the customers to eat. That was a first. We wondered if someone complained and it struck a chord with the new manager.

We've been playing inside for the last month and a half and it was just in the last 2-3 weeks that more people were showing up. Maybe it was coincidence. Maybe people are starting to discover the restaurant. The location is really bad. It's a wonder anyone ever finds it. Plus, there's a bar (with live music) next door and a larger cowboy bar/dance hall across the parking lot.

As for looking for other places, I didn't know if there were alternative methods bands would use to get a foot in the door.

samson3382 said:
Maybe they were just sick of feeding you.:D
Click to expand...

That may not be far off the truth. A previous manager wanted to start tracking our consumption with gift cards, or some such stuff. To be honest, not all of us eat sometimes. Only three of us will drink beer and even then if we have four it was a good night. I figure the average night cost them $100, retail. That's cheap entertainment.
 
#5
Are you playing originals or covers? Originals seems to be much harder to sell to a venue.

My experience is that with covers, a large mix of people will stay, listen, and spend. With originals, one tends to see a much smaller segment of the population---customers who don't like the style will leave. Those who do attend may prefer products the venue doesn't do well. (For example, a younger crowd might prefer a variety craft beers and the venue can't compete with other venues.) And if management doesn't like the music, you have little hope.

Could this be a factor?
 
#6
There is a tiny dive bar I gig (for $)at on a rare occasion. The owner/manager just isn't into it. I can't believe the place is still open. Any night of the week there might be 2-3 cars there, if we play, packed house. We don't get drinks or a tab, and if anyone in the bar so much as looks away from their drink, he'll "clean it up".
He'll often do last call at midnight, and often shuts us down during our last set. Sometimes our last set is a freebie, or for tips.
Just bad management.
 
#7
Rick Auricchio said:
Are you playing originals or covers? Originals seems to be much harder to sell to a venue.

My experience is that with covers, a large mix of people will stay, listen, and spend. With originals, one tends to see a much smaller segment of the population---customers who don't like the style will leave. Those who do attend may prefer products the venue doesn't do well. (For example, a younger crowd might prefer a variety craft beers and the venue can't compete with other venues.) And if management doesn't like the music, you have little hope.

Could this be a factor?
Click to expand...

We do covers. Well known songs from the 60's on up. The place sells a lot of different kinds of beer, with a lot of specialty beers on tap.

This is like the 3rd or 4th manager they've had since we started last spring. I think the reason, every time, is the lack of sales. They just don't do as well as the other location, so they bring in somebody new to try to turn things around. Entertainment then becomes the whim of whoever is currently in charge.
 
#13
AltGrendel said:
If it's "all you can eat" and there isn't a lot of table turnover, they probably feel they're loosing money. May be a case of being too good for the venue.
Click to expand...

It's not all you can eat, but the inside is kinda small and we're taking away a tall table, that can seat 8-10 people, to play inside. However, the intent is for us to play on the patio where there's like 8-10 picnic-style tables. The weather has forced us inside.

They could have suspended our gig until the weather warmed up, which is actually what I was expecting. The previous manager was more than happy to accommodate us inside when it got too cold. He actually wanted us over at the other location but they have no room, inside or out.

We're thinking they might ask us back when the weather improves. In the meantime though, we will be scouting out other locations. In fact, we were at a place Friday night to watch a friend of ours play. It wouldn't be a regular gig as they have a pretty full calendar, but if they liked us, I'm sure we could return if we wanted to.
 
#18
There's no substitute for pounding the pavement and hitting up venues and their booking folks.
Getting gigs depends on the style of music you play and whether it's originals or cover music that's played.
Getting that first gig is the hardest.. you need to convince someone to let you play..
Many bands starting out will do that for free... or play at private parties, friends back yards, etc... getting the word out.
You have to work your way up, or join a band that's already established. It's not simple.

From personal experience - it's a REAK PITA. I ran my own band for 7 yrs.. I now let others in my current band do that part -- but, every weekend that I didn't have a gig, I was out in the bars/clubs finding out whom to talk to to get booked... checking venue lists, from wine bars to restaurants with patios to... you get the picture. It's work, a LOT work (+ brown nosing.. what we call networking, LOL) and you won't get much in the way of thanks from anyone for it.

Now, my current Cover band gets calls for bookings.. We're established enough in the area now and get to play most of the top venues (that didn't happen over night - 18 months of hard work has paid off). I just show up for the gigs..
 
#19
GuiTuber said:
We do covers. Well known songs from the 60's on up.
Click to expand...
So do we.
This is like the 3rd or 4th manager they've had since we started last spring. I think the reason, every time, is the lack of sales. They just don't do as well as the other location, so they bring in somebody new to try to turn things around. Entertainment then becomes the whim of whoever is currently in charge.
Click to expand...
It sounds like they aren't taking the time to see their changes show results. It can take weeks or months for the crowd to start frequenting a venue. A new manager takes several weeks or more to get to know the place, then he/she makes changes, then the owners get impatient and change horses.
 

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