Awkward Room

[ski219]

My modern country band plays this big place that has a good sized stage and a big mechanical bull pit right in front of it. Seems like it would be the prefect place for us except... The bull riding area kind of separates us from the crowd and discourages dancing. Also, the management insists bands set up in the afternoon, before dinner crowd. This requires an hour drive for a couple of our guys and then either killing time until we go on at 10PM or driving home and back again. The kicker is they have a great PA but don't let bands use it. They have a great lighting system and have a tech there running lights for us.

 

We played the last of 3 dates we had booked there Saturday night. They want us back but we are only going to accept if we can either set up later, use their PA or our singer suggested they put tables on the big stage area and we set up in a corner at a normal time with our PA. The last probably wouldn't work so well with the lighting system, but we think it would be a lot better for dancing.

 

The gig is easy for me as it is a 30 minute ride right up a fast highway and I just show up a half hour or so before showtime with my guitars and little amp.

 

Anyone drop a room for similar reasons...or work out a better plan with a club?

[RoadRanger]

If a venue requires you to set up six hours earlier than you normally would you have to charge 12-25 bux an hour times the number of you that have to get there early extra to make it worth your while. If I was one of those guys I'd expect that on top of my "cut" - if I owned the PA I'd expect a cut for that too.

[daddymack]

A lot will depend on what they are paying you already. You've done 3 gigs there, and put up with their requirement. If the money is good, and only a couple of guys have to cool their heels for a few hours...maybe ask that the house feed the guys that come to set up so it will take some of the P out of the ITA...usually a couple of comped meals is an easy fix. On the PA thing, did they explain why they don't share it with bands? Seems pretty dumb, unless they have their own sound crew that costs too much to bring in for bands...which sounds dumb too. I would definitely open that subject for discussion.

Otherwise, take the $, do the gig, and look for a room where the mechanical bull is not as important to the managers as the band is...is this place stuck in the 80s or whut?

[ski219]

They pay our regular bar rate and will be easy enough to replace. The PA is used just to play canned music and there is no sound tech. I don't know why they don't have bands use it. The co-band leaders own the PA and don't want any extra cut. I don't think feeding them would make up for the PITA factor. If they really want to keep us on their schedule maybe we can work out a deal for more $ and that can go to our PA owners.

 

I will say it was fun watching that girl with the short dress riding the bull!

[gtrrocker]

You're kind of answering your own question. Bring it to a vote and if enough folks don't want to do it, can it. The club doesn't see your music as important enough to compromise, so why fight it? They have a business model that works, so let them continue with someone else. Is it going to save your band to play there? No. Can you replace it easily? Yes. Is it a PITA? Yes. Do you make more $$ or get more exposure to something bigger there? No. Sounds to me like it's an easy decision. I'd tell them that we're coming in to set up at <insert reasonable time here> and we'll be ready to play on time. And that's if you want to put up with being separated from the crowd and no dancers. Let's face it, today's country music is the new dance pop, so you just removed 1/2 of the formula. Your crowd should look like this...