Advice for New Bands playing at bars.

[Mysterytrain]

Feel free to add to this...

So, here's some friendly advice for any new young band out there just getting started...

Have a checklist for your show so you don't forget anything. ie. all cables, mic stands, extra strings, duc tape etc.

No kidding on this one. If you are getting paid "the door" try to have a friend to be your door man.

Promote your own gig. Very few bars will ever do more than adding you to the marquee or the chalkboard in the bar. Remember, it's your fault if no one shows up.

When you leave, don't leave the stage a mess. Someone has to clean up the beer bottles, ashtrays, dead batteries and other garbage. If they clean it they'll be thinking of you the whole time.

Be careful not to take any of the stage gear that belongs to the bar. If you accidentally take something return it asap.

In my opinion, don't promote a gig that you are playing at a different bar by announcing from the stage. Try having a schedule together to hand out.


Any other ideas?

[joltinjeff]

Feel free to add to this...

So, here's some friendly advice for any new young band out there just getting started...

Have a checklist for your show so you don't forget anything. ie. all cables, mic stands, extra strings, duc tape etc.

No kidding on this one. If you are getting paid "the door" try to have a friend to be your door man.

Promote your own gig. Very few bars will ever do more than adding you to the marquee or the chalkboard in the bar. Remember, it's your fault if no one shows up.

When you leave, don't leave the stage a mess. Someone has to clean up the beer bottles, ashtrays, dead batteries and other garbage. If they clean it they'll be thinking of you the whole time.

Be careful not to take any of the stage gear that belongs to the bar. If you accidentally take something return it asap.

In my opinion, don't promote a gig that you are playing at a different bar by announcing from the stage. Try having a schedule together to hand out.


Any other ideas?

Remember to give the bartender/waitresses some love and thank the bar for having you....showing the bar love seems to be always a good thing. Also, if you are an opening band, give the other band some love and treat their equipment (if you use it) with respect.....and try not to be assholes....

[Jasaoke]

Thanks Dan! Although I must partially disagree that it's "your fault if no one shows up". If it is part of the agreement between venue and performer, then yes. However, many venues hire "bands" to play certain hours on a certain night. Most bands are not in the business of venue promotion. I would employ dramatically different tactics if I were hired to fill a club with people, rather than provide quality entertainment. The two often go hand in hand, but I don't think it is fair to blame a band for a slow night.

[felix'apprentice]

i have a question - how do you get yourself established with bars? some bars are so picky. i guess its all part of payin dues.

and i agree about the slow nights thing too, i've seen great bands playin for a few people and mostly chairs on nights. and i've seen lots of great talent get skipped over because they arent playing in areas like altoona etc etc. just something i've noticed.

- kayla.

[ToonaRockGuy]

Here's a couple more for ya.

-Don't abuse the free booze. Most bars will offer you free water, juice, soda, and draft if you're in the band. Don't go up and grab 4 pitchers between every set. Keep it within reason, and TIP EVEN IF YOU'RE GETTING FREE BEER. A good singer buddy of mine taught me to find the head barkeep as soon as you walk in the door and tip them $20 right off the bat. You'll be amazed how kickass your service is.

-Language. Saying "fuck" every other word in between songs may sound cool to you. Trust me, it's not. Keep the breaks short and sweet with a minimum of talking. People are paying to see you play music, not to hear how you fucking rocked this fucking chick out in the fucking alley the other fucking night during fucking band practice while your fucking guitar player was fucking tuning his fucking axe.

[mjb]

don't leave your bag of beans sticking up out of your shirt pocket.

[floodcitybrass]

Do not be in the mentality that "It is all about you."

It is about the patrons and the place that hired you.

Keep these priorities straight.

It may take some time but good things will come.

[Mysterytrain]

don't leave your bag of beans sticking up out of your shirt pocket.

Hahahahaa.... not good!

[Jones]

Here's a couple more for ya.

-Don't abuse the free booze. Most bars will offer you free water, juice, soda, and draft if you're in the band. Don't go up and grab 4 pitchers between every set. Keep it within reason, and TIP EVEN IF YOU'RE GETTING FREE BEER. A good singer buddy of mine taught me to find the head barkeep as soon as you walk in the door and tip them $20 right off the bat. You'll be amazed how kickass your service is.

-Language. Saying "fuck" every other word in between songs may sound cool to you. Trust me, it's not. Keep the breaks short and sweet with a minimum of talking. People are paying to see you play music, not to hear how you fucking rocked this fucking chick out in the fucking alley the other fucking night during fucking band practice while your fucking guitar player was fucking tuning his fucking axe.

Great advice. Free drinks or not, take care of the person that's serving you, right away, and you'll be good to go all night.

[bassist_25]

Study G.G. Allin. If you pay tribute to his stage act, you'll be gauranteed to be booked in all of the A list clubs every week. You won't even have to play Buckcherry covers.

[Colton]

Check out every single female ass that walks thru the door, just in case you suck and are not asked back.

[GoneForever]

Study G.G. Allin. If you pay tribute to his stage act, you'll be gauranteed to be booked in all of the A list clubs every week. You won't even have to play Buckcherry covers.

But no Buckcherry=no crowd.

[Flaw]

-just because your band has a show at a bar does NOT make you a rock star. When Monday comes around you still have to go back to work, so just have fun.

[KeithReynolds]

But no Buckcherry=no crowd.

Sad but mostly true. Add Nickelback to that list too. Any songs by those bands provoke the women on the dancefloor to do the infamous Pennsylvania Two Step.
That same dance is seen at any bar, during any show, and is the only dance the chicks seem know. Then they get into little groups and do the dance together. Usually beer is spilled at around this time, since theres no real rhythm to the dance. They usually bump into eachother quite a bit.

My advice to new bands: If you wanna have big crowds, listen to the radio for your setlist and what has been on the radio in the past. Thats all most people wanna hear when they go out. Of course, they could just turn on the radio at home, but who wants to do the PA Two Step alone in their house and spill beer on their own floor?

[Jasaoke]

Keith, I think you left out one crucial part... The Pa Two Step is frequently accompanied by a rousing I-Don't-Really-Know-The-Words chorus. or 2nd half of a verse. In either case, this is the perfect time to put Colton's advice into play.

[Lisa]

Great post!

The other tips I can think of:

If you have never been to the bar, make a trip there prior to the day of your first show. Make sure you know how to get there and how the place is set up.

If you are playing within a 20 mile radius of your hometown, bar owners like to get to know you as a local. If you don't come in and visit in your off time, they know you go somewhere else. They like local loyalty from the local band members.

If you schedule to play at a nearby bar more than you do theirs, screw you. They will stop calling.

[Jones]

Hmmm, think she's telling me I need to stop in soon?

[nakedtwister]

We are currently working on Blues versions of " Crazy Bitch ", " All Night Long", " Something In Your Mouth", and " She F*#kin' Hates Me", just to get the two people that love those songs to come to shows.

[Jones]

Unfortunately, if you want to please the general public, you usually have to play stuff you don't necessarily like a lot.

[Colton]

We are currently working on Blues versions of " Crazy Bitch ", " All Night Long", " Something In Your Mouth", and " She F*#kin' Hates Me", just to get the two people that love those songs to come to shows.

This was supposed to be a suprise... nice goin B... anyways, you forgot Brown Eyed Girl

[bassist_25]

I'm telling all of you that if you do the G.G. Allin bit, you'll be guaranteed gigs for the rest of your life! Media 5 will be knocking down your door to sign with them. Hmm...maybe I need to start a G.G. Allin tribute band.

In all seriousness, my words of advice, for what they're worth:

- Anytime someone tells you that you have to sell tickets, politely tell them before you walk away or hang up the phone that you don't pay to play and that promoters need to start doing their own fucking jobs*. Don't be suckered into the "exposure" carrot being held in front of you that opening for some D-list national band or playing a showcase is going to open up all of these doors of opportunity. In fact, anytime someone says, "exposure," chances are they're out to exploit you.

- Don't fight with the in-house sound engineer. Don't ask for 18 different monitor mixes. Don't cry when the engineer asks you to turn down your dimed 120 watt all-tube Marshall because it's blowing away the front of house. They've probably been running live sound for 30 years for everyone from garage bands to national touring acts. You might be able to play, but your rig's ridiculous gain structure and smilie-face EQ is telling that you don't understand live sound reinforcement.

- To add to taking care of the wait staff, don't act like a pompous douche to the waitstaff. You're not a rockstar. You're playing a club in Central PA. The waitstaff are the owner's eyes and ears. Aside from the point of view that you should extend common decency to your fellow human beings, in my experience, the waitstaff has huge pull on who gets rebooked and who gets the can.

- Every musician who has played more than three gigs has, at some point in his or her career, played to a venue room consisting primarily of tables and chairs. Front people, if you find yourself in this situation (and you will at some point), please do not comment about it over the mic. It's unprofessional and shows lack of respect to the people who are out in the audience.

- When talking dollars and cents while booking a gig, try to avoid overly complicated deals that require an MBA in finance to understand (e.g., the club gets the first $250 made at the door, afterwards the band gets the next $500 plus a flat rate of $250, after which, the club gets 43.12% of every $1.15 made at the door while the band gets $1 from every drink sold to a person wearing a red or green shirt and the club gets $1 from every drink sold to a person wearing a blue or black shirt; the club and band split the $1 of every drink sold to anybody not wearing a red, green, blue, or black shirt, unless its someone wearing a dress, in which that case, the band makes 92% of that person's cover as long as they have not already made over $1200 at the door; in that case, 31.7% of that 92% goes to the United Way while the rest is put into a slush fund that both the band and club jointly own but cannot write checks out of until the amount made in drink sales for the year is at least 2/7 the amount of the GDP of Rawanda, etc.). It's a recipe for getting screwed. Make a simple deal. Always go for a flat rate when possible, even if the person booking you says that there is a big potential to make more by taking a door deal. If you are hiring production, always make sure that you have a minimum gurantee to cover your expenses, even if that means the band's pay is contingent on the door.

- If it really was a slow night, work with the club owner. Taking $50 less will be worth it in the long run to build a relationship with a good, honest club owner. Some club owners are not honest and will pull the "slow night" card when they're room was packed. Don't fall for that line.

- With that said, in my experience, most local club owners are good folk. There are a few bad apples. Do a little research and it won't be hard to figure out who they are.

- For the most part, this is a thankless job. Don't get discouraged if people don't automatically bow down and worship you. Don't get discouraged that most people couldn't give a damn about your art. Ultimately, you have to be in this gig because you love music for itself.

*Not a slam against all promoters, just the ones who pull the selling ticket crap. Organizers of many battle of the band type gigs fall into this category as well.

[KeithReynolds]

Theres so much Gold in Paul's post. +1 to everything you said dude!

[mjb]

Try not to let your drummer slam your fingers in the van door before a gig.

[Colton]

Try not to let your drummer slam your fingers in the van door before a gig.

About 10 years ago, pnEumatic was opening up for Lost Ledny in some place in johnstown (forget the name... wow, that whole line so far makes me feel old), and when we got there, we found out their drummer broke his arm skateboarding right before the gig. We got to play the entire night, which was cool, but don't let your drummer skateboard halfpipes before the gig. This means you Hawk.

[Hawk]

Try not to let your drummer slam your fingers in the van door before a gig.

About 10 years ago, pnEumatic was opening up for Lost Ledny in some place in johnstown (forget the name... wow, that whole line so far makes me feel old), and when we got there, we found out their drummer broke his arm skateboarding right before the gig. We got to play the entire night, which was cool, but don't let your drummer skateboard halfpipes before the gig. This means you Hawk.

I was invited to go see a rock band to which I was to audition for the following week. After their gig we all went out to eat. Someone (I don't remember who) shut the car door on my thumb. The door had to be opened to get my thumb out (left hand). It was my first rock band.

Then a trip to the Emergency where the doctor cut a hole in my thumb nail to release the pressure. I played in the school pep band a few days later, with a bandage.

BTW I got the job.