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Well hell. NYE gig just crashed & burned


StratGuy22

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The local community center where we often play has been a real S-Show for the last few years. The person running it had NO clue what he was doing and was a major PITA. Things like we had to be out the night of the gig, because "if I have to come here tomorrow, that's another days rent" plus they nickel and dime everything. "Bathrooms are included, the kitchen, coat check, and bar are all extras" good things like that. 0CF93129-51CE-43A7-8EF6-FE3D631752EF.jpg Back in the day, you would pick the key up Friday from the girls house, and drop the key off on Sunday after you were done. Thankfully (and it's bad karma to appreciate this, but I do) the current incompetent guys is having health issues and has dropped out of the game. The people that have taken over temporarily are much more understanding and easy to work with. 0CF93129-51CE-43A7-8EF6-FE3D631752EF.jpg So we got booked along with another band for NYE. $2500, $500 deposit. We would provide the rig and we would trade sets with the other band. The hall has a 400 person capacity and it usually sells out on NYE. Here's the kicker. 0CF93129-51CE-43A7-8EF6-FE3D631752EF.jpg The girl organizing the event gets the ok and books the hall, we get the deposit, everything is good. . She goes down to put the deposit on the hall, lo and behold she gets a runaround. Turns out the hall has a verbal agreement on booking NYE with a company. No problem, get them down here with their deposit or they should forfeit the date. "We've been trying to contact them but there's no answer and no answering machine" this goes on for 6 weeks. SIX WEEKS.

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So the organizer had given up, she's not going to do the gig. I wish I knew who the other party was, because obviously I'd see if they need a band. She said we could keep the deposit and is really sorry. I said if we end up getting another booking for NYE then we will definitely refund it. It's getting a little late in the game though to have something come up. 0CF93129-51CE-43A7-8EF6-FE3D631752EF.jpg I've been doing some work the next town over about an hour away at their legion, providing sound for a few events. It's nice breaking into they market. My bass player, drummer and I have also gone to a few open mics there and everyone really likes what we do. I'm not even the "real" singer. I can hold my own, covering enough material for a couple solid hours on my own but our other lead singer is THE lead singer and frontman. 0CF93129-51CE-43A7-8EF6-FE3D631752EF.jpg I did sound on Saturday and the manager was really happy. He was asking about my band and how much we charge etc. I told him our regular rate of $1700, not the NYE $2500 rate. I let him know that we aren't really ever paid to bring the crowd, we are there to entertain the crowd, be it a wedding, Xmas party etc. 0CF93129-51CE-43A7-8EF6-FE3D631752EF.jpg Had a revelation just now. They liked what we've done as a 3 piece and have said they'd give us a solid 45 minutes when we want since we always make the drive. I want to save it to kinda showcase the band with our lead singer. So I'll have to find when the open mic will be on the Friday, and see if our singer can make it. (It would be a 4 hour trip for him, but I'm thinking he will want to do it, as we hopefully might get a gig out of it. There's another guy interested in us, again from the 3/5 of the band that's played there before, it would be awesome to get him to show up as well. He's also one of the music coordinators of the local music festival in the summer... But let's not get TOO ahead of ourselves.

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We things are getting interesting. Like I said the place was terribly managed. Now a new guy has taken over, he owns a catering company, and I think he's becoming the house caterer. He started Nov 1, and said he's cleared the slate. He does't care about verbal agreements, he sees a contract with a deposit ready to go, so that's what he's interested in honoring first. 0CF93129-51CE-43A7-8EF6-FE3D631752EF.jpg If she's no longer interested, then he wants to put on a NYE event, and he wants us as the band. He really likes us & what we do, so things are looking up. We should know soon if its on, get the deposit and we are good to go!

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Plan C. There's so many Xmas parties going on that the manager just doesn't feel like doing cleanup on Jan 1. So it's a no go. But now we are being hired for another venue, our local legion that holds 250. They figure, no meal, midnight lunch, $25/person. 200 people would be perfect. So that's a go. There is less headroom so I'll be working on the light show. This is what I've used in the past: 64E37EC7-2E9D-4874-A1D4-EEA2BB460A7C-1741-000001929895BD77.jpg I'm thinking of running all the wash lights along the top, and hang the spot duos, or maybe have the spot duos on the floor pointing up. Or maybe just keep it simple with the setup in that pic and in the video...

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No doubt hey. Are we playing, are we not? First we were, then we weren't. Then we were, then we weren't, now we are. We know the people putting it on, if they sell 200 tickets then they will do alright. We are a town of 10,000 and we have a definite crowd. 30+ who aren't going to feel real comfortable in any of the 3 bars full of kids. 0CF93129-51CE-43A7-8EF6-FE3D631752EF.jpg There's another event planned, $65/ticket. Surf & Turf meal, and I believe a DJ for the dance. We will keep it simple, keep the price down. Probably doors at 8pm, band starts at 9, play until 2-ish. 4 solid sets. We will play Time Warp right after midnight. It will be a good time. Now we are getting the word out. Posters made etc. this town is SO last minute, you never know if an event will be awesome or not until the doors open. We will try to beat that, get tickets sold, and delivered to the people.

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Posters and tickets will be ready for tomorrow. So we are going on a blitz, talking to everyone we know. We don't have an Xmas party at work (well we do but no one goes, long story) so we are getting out talking to a bunch of guys at work. Even if we get 30 guys interested, that's 60 tickets if they come as couples. So we will be bringing tickets to work. It will sell out, these things usually do. Like I said its always last minute which makes it stressful for the people putting it on. 0CF93129-51CE-43A7-8EF6-FE3D631752EF.jpg We are also giving them a $500 discount. Smaller head count, and it's a last minute thing, so we are kinda chipping in as well. It will be $2,000 for the band instead of $2,500. At $25 a head, it would take 80 people to cover our take. I'd really like the band to sell those 80 tickets, basically covering ourselves. So we will see how it goes. 0CF93129-51CE-43A7-8EF6-FE3D631752EF.jpg Stoked though. It's always fun when we play! Like I said I'll keep the light rig simple, like in the pic. I'll set it up downstairs and go through all the scenes. I have a second truss set up in my basement so I just have to bring the lights downstairs. I hated moving those damn ST-182 stands from the garage to my basement to do programming so I ended up buying a whole other truss. One setup stays in the garage ready to go into the trailer and the other stays setup in the basement. It's all a write off anyway.

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It's going good. Our town is SO last minute. Usually you don't know if a gig is a blowout or a bust until the day of. That being said, there's only 22 tickets left! That's awesome for our town. 0CF93129-51CE-43A7-8EF6-FE3D631752EF.jpg The band has been paid, and we are good to go. I'm pretty stoked. This weekend I'm doing sound on Friday, Saturday I'll tear down and then set up my light rig to go over all the programming and make sure everything is the way I want it. Get a practice in with the guys and we will be good to go!! 0CF93129-51CE-43A7-8EF6-FE3D631752EF.jpg Also, the girl who tried to book us this year got ahold of me again. She wants to book us for Halloween and NYE next year. She's going to get on it and get all the paperwork and deposits done. 0CF93129-51CE-43A7-8EF6-FE3D631752EF.jpg The big hall can be divided into 1/3, so she wants to use the 1/3 for a haunted house and the 2/3 for the band/party. I'll help her out with some lighting for the haunted house. 0CF93129-51CE-43A7-8EF6-FE3D631752EF.jpg Then she wants to have a 2 day event. The Friday will be the haunted house and scary movies for kids (think Goonies Etc) then on Halloween she can ramp up the scary on the haunted house for adults and the party. She's got some good ideas and the dollars to pull it off.

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My NYE gig fail was this:

 

(Email) "Hey, man, we really NEED you to fill in for our NYE gig, can you let me know ASAP if you are available? You would be saving our asses!"

 

I respond within 5 minutes: "sure, I will do it, count me in"

 

2 minutes later: "Thanks, but our old guitarist is going to do it"

 

well.... F&*($&*(#.

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