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worst....gig....ever

#21
One time I played at a place that almost completely empty. I was playing and looking at the door and then suddenly saw and new customer entering and I thought "Ah, here comes the wave of new customers!". All it was was a guy buying a six-pack. We've all had a few gigs like this. The trick is to find places that have a lot of walk-ins and find a way to hold them.
 
#22
I've found that if you are playing in smaller cities attendance at the bar can be effected by things like having a monster truck rally or fair going on the same night. In smaller towns people tend to go to the "special events" ie fairs or monster truck rallys iso going to the bar to see a band no matter how good the band is.
You need to have enough gigs under your belt as a band to know that it's not your musicianship that is keeping people away. Sometimes you will play somewhere where no one likes you ie blues band in a sports bar - doesn't mind the band is bad just means you're playing for the wrong people. You can't make everyone happy but try to appeal to the majority when it comes to cover bands so you'll get asked back.. my two cents....
 
#25
Sports bar are IMO the worse place for a band to play., I played a few were we had a good response but overall most are people eating, drinking, watching TV or tryin to chase tail. They also cater to an older crowd who just drink, eat and leave. Look for music venues or clubs that cater to the blues or draw a music room experience.

Like I have always said I would rather play in front of 20 people enjoying the show than 100 ignoring it.
 
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#26
You need to be exceptionally good and/or entertaining and better than staying home and just watching Netflix, and persistent and stubborn to the point of being delusional. Oh and a bit lucky and very tactical about when and where you play. And work really hard to promote yourself and network within a scene, be it other musicians, bikers, college kids, artistes. Piece of cake, right? At least it's a fun journey, I've only had a few bands really do well and most flounder and flop, but I've enjoyed it all.
 
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#28
Uh ..
Maybe not THE worst but last Friday I played a pickup gig at a rock/sports bar with what was a kinda bluesy lounge type band, note to self don't do it again!

My main gig IS with blues bands, in the literal home of the blues Memphis. It's a very competitive scene, so to keep working both bands I play with play very non-traditional "blues" one is very much jam band style, the other very early 70s blues rock. Not my band ... But friends of mine, check out the Ghost Town Blues Band on YouTube to see how hot and crowd pleasing a blues band can be.
 
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#29
Not my own gig story, but for a while I was on a project with a singer/keys player, who had been in a heavy/grunge band back in the 90s, playing Social Distortion, that kind of stuff. They got booked into this bar that was not on their normal circuit, find a lot of Asian kids who seemed to want pop or hip hop. Not this band's thing at all, and when they played their set, the place just emptied out. They were really depressed about it, but the manager paid them with a smile and invited them to come back next week. They did. Same thing happened - the place emptied out, they played to crickets, and the management was pleased as punch.

Turns out this particular batch of Asian kids were a gang of drug dealers who had made this bar their ground zero and the management was looking for a way to get rid of them. My friend's band was just the thing he needed...
 
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#30
Bass_Pounder said:
What type of band (genre) was the band that packed the place ?

If another Blues Band, then go watch them and see what it is they are doing.

If NOT a Blues Band, then that might be your answer/
Click to expand...
+1

I once played at a bar that wanted to switch from country to blues. Surprise, we were the first blues band to play there. At first, the only people that stayed were the ones we brought. They hired us one Friday/Saturday a month and eventually we won over half the crowd and chased out the other half. I did get a drink thrown in my face by a drunk woman who didn't want to hear any 'sad' songs. I'm like, "Lady, this is a BLUES band!" :thumbsup:
 
#31
The band that packed the place was ......a blues band. I have been out to see them many times. They are the apex predators of blues in Tucson. The fact that they played this place is alarming because they should be doing much bigger things. The scene is so bad that the great whites are swimming in the water of the smaller fish like us.

Thank you for all your encouragement and support. We have been working hard on the music. There are places in town that would be better venues for us to play but it is very competitive. That leaves the places that depend on bands to bring their only customers in for the night. I am being persistent though. I have spent a lot of time handing out business cards and CD's. We played our first gig in December of 2014 and things are getting better. I am carefully studying the successful bands and trying to emulate what they are doing.
 
#32
Was in a 5 piece classic rock cover band. We were pretty average. Had about 100-150 people at most of our local gigs after only a couple months. Wait, why?

Well each member of the band had coworkers, family, and friends. One member in particular was heavily involved with his church, his kids' schools, and sports. Also he was well liked. He would send out an email with a home made flyer attachment to about 150-200 people every gig!

Clubs loved to book us bc we were easy to work with, played generic music everyone enjoyed, and brought a crowd of people even to an 8 o'clock gig on a Thursday.
 
#33
lfmn16 said:
+1

I once played at a bar that wanted to switch from country to blues. Surprise, we were the first blues band to play there. At first, the only people that stayed were the ones we brought. They hired us one Friday/Saturday a month and eventually we won over half the crowd and chased out the other half. I did get a drink thrown in my face by a drunk woman who didn't want to hear any 'sad' songs. I'm like, "Lady, this is a BLUES band!" :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

That is hilarious, she doesn't want to hear any sad songs, she wants to hear country!!!!!! No sad songs there...
 
#34
Been doing this now quite a while, and I'm starting to finally learn a few things. Off the top of my head, and in no particular order:
  • Best way to pack a bar is to have a lot of supportive friends.
  • The more popular the people in the band, the better you'll do.
  • If nobody in your band is the popular, extroverted, everybody loves em type people - find another band.
  • Musicianship is great, but will only take you so far.
  • The best cover band will consist of the best musicians, play the most requested songs (in their area), have the best looking people, the most stage presence, and the most friends.
  • Playing what people want to hear is important, but doesn't matter if nobody is coming to see you.
  • It is much better to attract women to shows, as they attract guys.
  • If you don't have a loyal following, it's best to do your best to only play places with built in crowds. Though that's tough.
  • If you want to start playing happening places you really need to figure out a way to get your friends support, and use that support in HAPPENING places. Not dives where it'll be only your friends who come.
  • If your band just plain sucks, and you have no crowd following you, get honest and again - find another band.
  • If all else fails, gimmicks (if good) sometimes actually work.
  • If after 10 gigs, most gigs are still going the way of the OP, then either major radical changes are needed, or it's best to just pack it in and move on. Unless of course you're all enjoying it regardless.
  • A lot of time can be wasted trying to turn a not happening band, into a happening one.
  • It's tough to be objective about your own band, but it's essential.
Gigging can be really depressing, or really fun. If it's depressing I've learned to sharpen my own skills, and move on. There are a lot of people out there to play with.
 
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#39
we've all been there ... repeatedly ... even with long time popular bands ...

Saturday i always thought of as more of a Date Night ... Friday was a night for drinking the week away ..!!

play your stuff ... have fun ... chat with the help ... they can make or break you at their club ...

i'd always go to nearby clubs and let folks know we where gonna be playing near by ... don't leave out the dancer bars ...!!! nothing like a few dancers to liven things up ..!! but the band will be buying their drinks !
 
#40
That's not the worst gig ever.

Play to a near empty room, only at load out to have the singer's stoopit-krunk wife confront the drummer about his illicit affair when he and his sex bunny go into the men's room together, turning into a curse-filled, almost-physical shouting altercation between said drummer, singer, and singer's drunk wife, while the rest of us awkwardly wind cables.... :whistle:

THAT was the worst gig ever. For me.
 

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