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What's your draw?

#42
capncal said:
Is there a more annoying question when it comes to booking gigs?

We tell venues 50, but that's a lie. We've had shows where we do have 50 folks out, but those are lucky nights honestly. Booking new venues, they will always ask, what's your draw.

When booking out of town bands to play with us, they always ask, what's your draw?

There are two schools of thought employed in my band currently. Our singer doesn't care if there's anyone at the shows, and I pretty much don't either. We try to book cool venues, with cool bands and leave it to the rock gods. If you rock it, they will come kind of attitude.

Our guitarist is our go-getter. He books the shows, admins the facebook page, makes the flyers, networks, etc. He demands we all pound the pavement to get heads out to our shows.

All that is important and I think it's also important to find a balance. On any given Friday or Saturday there's a lot going on in our town. (Louisville, Ky) And we have to let ppl know about our shows. Facebooks, local publications, local radio when we can get it, web radio, flyers at coffee shops, etc.

What is your draw? And how do you get ppl out? Does the leave it to the rock gods idealogy work for anyone?

Just looking for suggestions to increase our draw!
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Im TOTALLY with you on this one. My band in the Chicago area usually pulls anywhere from 5 to 50 peeps. Me and the drummer and most of the time the singer, are of the opinion that if we get a lot of people, great, if not, its not the end of the world and well try yo get em next time. Our guitarist is totally the guy that is like, "ask your kids freinds, ask your co-workers, ask your grandparents, get people out there!!". And I get it, I know the more that show, the more exposure, the more chance you have to get noticed. But I am a firm believer in putting my nose to the grinstone and rockin as hard as you can and eventually you will get noticed by the right people. But then you never know how youre going to get noticed. If you ever do. Its a hard thing to do, get people out. Especially when you live in the burbs and all your shows are in the city downtown.
 
#43
With my main band, we pull in at least 400 to each gig. Our last couple of shows had 700 plus. We do our own ticket sales, so we know exactly how many come through the door accurately. On top of that, we're the only band playing. It's pretty nice to play to a mini-sea of faces night after night.
But, we do have a uniquie show that we do as well, so we draw people of all types - young metal heads, middle aged "fine arts" people, theatre goers of all ages etc., so our marketing can hit so many people easily, it's somewhat easy to get a good draw.
 
#44
Selta said:
With my main band, we pull in at least 400 to each gig. Our last couple of shows had 700 plus. We do our own ticket sales, so we know exactly how many come through the door accurately. On top of that, we're the only band playing. It's pretty nice to play to a mini-sea of faces night after night.
But, we do have a uniquie show that we do as well, so we draw people of all types - young metal heads, middle aged "fine arts" people, theatre goers of all ages etc., so our marketing can hit so many people easily, it's somewhat easy to get a good draw.
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Curiosity peaked. What's your show?
 
#45
KeddyLee said:
Curiosity peaked. What's your show?
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Link is in my sig, but here it is as well in case you have sigs disabled: www.HeavyMetalOpera.com

Basically, we're a Heavy Metal band performing an original opera. We have speaking actors on stage along with aerialists, fire dancing, Japanese fan dancer, the Seattle Knights (another troupe I'm a part of) doing live steel mideval combat telling/acting the story as we perform the album. I may be biased, but I think it's a pretty original idea to the extent that we do it, and is well worth the price of admission. We've had people come internationally (and I don't mean from Canada) to see our show before even, which was crazy.

Edit: You can download our album for free from the website, but it doesn't really get you the "whole Ara'Kus experience". We want people to come to the show. You can look at pictures though and get a small idea of what you'd see in person.
 
#52
When owners ask me this I ask what their rep for quality bands is.

If a place has a rep for quality live music, the band doesn't need a "draw". It never hurts however, and if you are good and have been around for more than a minute, you will have something of a "draw" even without trying to.

If you are booking out of your local area, it is vital that the club has a "draw" of it's own.

Asking about a bar band's "draw" is a bargaining tool. It's like talking down the condition of a used car to get a better price.

You still want to do your pre show legwork and due diligence, but in the end if you are playing in a place with a rep for crappy bands...
 
#53
I tell them, "We have just over 200 likes on Facebook...we won't bring them all, but we'll get a few down here." They're usually satisfied with that answer.

Most of the bar owners around here are smart enough to know that if they aren't paying for one of the top regional acts around here, whatever band they book isn't going to pack the place solely based on the music.
 
#54
I've been with my cover band going on 3 years. The first couple years, we were playing dive bars an hour from home. On a good night we'd have maybe 10-15 show up (but usually less than that, sometimes only a few). Typically, the venues had no built-in crowd. Since a local bar near my house recently started booking bands again, we've had solid turnouts for our first two gigs there -- 50 the first time (pretty full room and dance floor), and 30 or so last night (even with a bad snow storm brewing). We're getting great feedback from the manager and staff...bottom line is that we're making them money. What's starting to bug me a bit is that 85-90% of the people we draw are friends of mine. While that's great for me, it tells me the other guys aren't effectively getting the word out. I'm not liking the pressure that I'm feeling to fill ALL of the seats. Like it or not, the scene around here is not great for classic rock cover bands so we have to be willing to pull our weight. I do feel an obligation to the venue to bring them some business.

I'm realizing it's a big advantage if your band mates have large circles of supportive friends. Three of the guys in my band are in between jobs (so no friends at work, etc), and two of them are new to the area. Two of the guys are brothers and share the same circle of friends. The guitar player never draws more than 1 or 2 people. Not a good recipe to draw a crowd. If I ever get involved with another band, one of the first things I'm going to ask is what their draw looks like. Ironic, isn't it?
 
#56
invader3k said:
I tell them, "We have just over 200 likes on Facebook...we won't bring them all, but we'll get a few down here." They're usually satisfied with that answer.

Most of the bar owners around here are smart enough to know that if they aren't paying for one of the top regional acts around here, whatever band they book isn't going to pack the place solely based on the music.
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We have 436 Likes on facebook. Every show, I invite all 1,970 of my friends.

That's what makes it so funny when 12 people show up.

I love when my event has 45 "going," and 75 "maybe," and 12 people show up.

It teaches us to enjoy the deliciousness of life.
 
#57
Over the last 35 years, I have played to as few as 2 people (due to a major snow storm) and as many as 25,000 at large outdoor festivals. I am currently involved in 2 bands. One is original rock and the other is a tribute. Each band averages about 250 people per night.
 
#58
One thing to consider is in this day & age of DUI laws getting people to "follow" you any real distance from home can be tricky, if not dangerous (though DD's are more common than ever, thank god). So whats just as important is the bar/club known for good entertainment & then keeping their regulars happy. So when asked I try to give an honest draw # & then explain the above. Basically telling them we will do the best we can to keep people there & spending $.
 
#59
Kmonk said:
. I am currently involved in 2 bands. One is original rock and the other is a tribute. Each band averages about 250 people per night.
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You are sayin that your originals band get as much draw as
your tribute bad? Wow, must be one hell of a good originals band. Do you guys have a website or sound cloud?
I would like to give it a listen as I am always looking for good new music to listen to.
 
#60
Bullitt5135 said:
What's starting to bug me a bit is that 85-90% of the people we draw are friends of mine. While that's great for me, it tells me the other guys aren't effectively getting the word out.
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Some people have an active social life, lots of drinking buddies, large groups of friends who frequent bars. Others are family-stay-at-home types.

If a band needs a bass player, I'm their guy. If they need me to also bring a bunch of bar customers, I'm not.
 

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