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THIS Is Why We Play Cheezy Songs....


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I felt the need to make up for the stark 'crowdless' daytime vids I posted a few days ago, so here's a few quick clips from a 60's themed party we played a few weeks back.

 

'Stang, Dynamite, Shout, Don't Stop Believin'....all the standards are here...

 

Audio is atrocious, but you get the idea...

 

[video=youtube;41ctA0sMxrk]

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Wow, that party is crazy! What was that party for? and is that mostly your following? I'm just amazed at the amount of people in that little place.

 

 

Yeah, that was a crazy fun party. No, we don't have a following. This was for a private organization who held their annual conference in Reno. It was a big convention space at a casino. They had a huge sound system with different sets of speakers set up on delay as you went further back down the room. It was a lot of fun.

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That you like what you're doing and have doing it. That's what it's all about.
:thu:

Hey man, just admit it. You live in a big city that caters to the rich!

 

WE don't have those opportunities withing 500 miles of here, BELIEVE IT!!!!! Closest thing to that might be playing Bogarts up in Cinci, but {censored}, that chandelier cost more coin than probably Bogart's spent on their entire sound system!

 

Count yourself fortunate to live in an area that has those opportunities! Your band is good but you need to understand that you have opportunities that most of us will never see!

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Hey man, just admit it. You live in a big city that caters to the rich!


WE don't have those opportunities withing 500 miles of here, BELIEVE IT!!!!! Closest thing to that might be playing Bogarts up in Cinci, but {censored}, that chandelier cost more coin than probably Bogart's spent on their entire sound system!


Count yourself fortunate to live in an area that has those opportunities! Your band is good but you need to understand that you have opportunities that most of us will never see!

 

 

 

 

What's there to admit? Dave lives in a resort area. The club pay is low but they are establishing themselves in a private market which is not always easy to do. This was a corporate event in Reno (and honestly have you been to Reno? I have... it could be called the "Saddest Little Casino Town in America"). The opportunity came to play for alot of people. His band got hired. I could see the same opportunity like this Orlando, Vegas, New Orleans... any market that attracts large conferences. Louisville may be on the skirts of Appalachia but it has several corporations based there... Humana Health, KFC/PizzaHut/Taco Bell, Kindred Health Care, Brown & Forman. The difference between Louisville and reno is that no one is going to willingly hold a company meeting in Louisville unless they are based there.

 

I hate to pull the Google card... this band is based in Indy IN... 2 hours from Louisville, and they are quoting $1500-6800 rate and have a client that includes the Indianapolis Colts and Indiana Pacers in their client list. I bet there is a band or a few bands in most every medium-large market getting top bookings. Those opportunities may not be that often, but when someone needs a band, someone's got to play the gig.

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What's there to admit? Dave lives in a resort area.

 

Yeah, but the way he lectures some of us that don't would make you think he doesn't. That's all I'm saying.

 

Pull the Google card all you want bro! I'm sure the agency that band is with isn't the same agency that handles this area. I've been in a band that plays for THE agency around here. I know how it works. In fact, 3 of the 5 guys in my new band have all been with Triangle Talent at one point or another (punch that one into Google).

 

So don't think for a second I'm some disgruntled hack that doesn't know how to move up the ladder. Like I said, there's one agency in this town that handles all the "A" rooms (which still don't pay {censored}, you're actually better off being non-exclusive but they try and bully you into an exclusive deal! {censored}, the guy that took my place in Logan Street Band came over from an agency band and he's making FAR more cash playing non-agency bands 8 times a month, like I used to do).

 

So yeah, what I'm doing now is kinda taking the gloves off a little and dropping names so y'all will know I'm real. Still here to learn. Still respect your experience. But ya gotta know, dig?

 

Hell, Pawnshop Guitar does okay with casino and regional gigs if you wanna go there. I know one of the guys in that band....But they ain't playing a room like THAT. I don't care what you say about that casino town, it's gonna be more well funded than some damn riverboat up in Indiana, at least for the most part!

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Yeah, but the way he lectures some of us that don't would make you think he doesn't. That's all I'm saying.


Pull the Google card all you want bro! I'm sure the agency that band is with isn't the same agency that handles this area. I've been in a band that plays for THE agency around here. I know how it works. In fact, 3 of the 5 guys in my new band have all been with Triangle Talent at one point or another (punch that one into Google).


So don't think for a second I'm some disgruntled hack that doesn't know how to move up the ladder. Like I said, there's one agency in this town that handles all the "A" rooms (which still don't pay {censored}, you're actually better off being non-exclusive but they try and bully you into an exclusive deal! {censored}, the guy that took my place in Logan Street Band came over from an agency band and he's making FAR more cash playing non-agency bands 8 times a month, like I used to do).


So yeah, what I'm doing now is kinda taking the gloves off a little and dropping names so y'all will know I'm real. Still here to learn. Still respect your experience. But ya gotta know, dig?


Hell, Pawnshop Guitar does okay with casino and regional gigs if you wanna go there. I know one of the guys in that band....But they ain't playing a room like THAT. I don't care what you say about that casino town, it's gonna be more well funded than some damn riverboat up in Indiana, at least for the most part!

 

 

 

I get what you are saying... I know Louisville isn't a vacation destination nor is it a casino town. I've been to Reno. It's not a rich town by any means. I think I know the Casino that this event was held... because there is 1-2 nice ones and a dozen of older, dilapidated ones. As Vegas has grown, Reno has dimmed. All I'm saying is that there are opportunities in every market.. large and small. Dave's worked hard with a focused band over a few years to get to that point. I'm sure there were opportunities like this a few years back when he had a different lineup and was hoping to scratch $400 to play a local casino. I remember when he joined this board, not all his bandmates were on the same page. Some are no longer with the band. His current mates are focused on getting higher paying opportunities, and this is an example of one of them. I'm sure that gig was originally a bid. And there were probably many that went after that business. In the end only one band can win the booking. It just takes time to gain traction.

 

For the record in my market there are no agents. Every market I witness with an agent controlling most of the opportunities, is a market where only one or two bands are getting the prime gigs, and the rest fight for the crumbs.

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Hey man, just admit it. You live in a big city that caters to the rich!

 

 

Actually no. I live in a little town of about 20,000 people. Reno is an hour away and mostly caters to a fairly low-rent clientele. At least compared to Las Vegas. But they do have a couple of nice hotels with some nice convention rooms and this organization held their annual 3-day event there. Most cities of any size have some sort of convention business. I'm not even sure who they were exactly. Some group who works with student councils in California or some such. They liked to party though. I would imagine some groups hold their annual events even in Louisville sometimes. And some probably hire bands for their after-dinner dance. It's a good market to look into to. You never know what's out there. These folks found us on Gigmasters, IIRC.

 

 

WE don't have those opportunities withing 500 miles of here, BELIEVE IT!!!!! Closest thing to that might be playing Bogarts up in Cinci, but {censored}, that chandelier cost more coin than probably Bogart's spent on their entire sound system!

 

 

You think some groups might hold their conventions in places like this?

 

http://www.northernkentuckycvb.com/meeting-planners/meeting-facilities/rivercenter-convention-package.aspx

 

 

Count yourself fortunate to live in an area that has those opportunities! Your band is good but you need to understand that you have opportunities that most of us will never see!

 

 

Most of our "opportunities" involve marketing the band well, being willing to travel (because there aren't that many gigs of the type we like to play locally---I've got to leave in an hour or so to do a 4 hour drive to play a wedding later today in Napa Valley and won't get back until tomorrow) and then being a good enough to deliver on the promises we make and know how to entertain the crowd.

 

But the truth is that we were just a band willing to travel to Reno that they found on the internet. They could have hired a lot of bands, so it was the marketing that sold it.

 

This crowd was easy. They were ready to go from the start. All we had to do was put the band in high gear and let 'er rip for 2 hours. And they had a great time, so we had a great time.

 

And---now the bragging bit---we knocked it out of the park for them. They wanted a band who would deliver a certain sort of party and we delivered it. THAT part we do very well.

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(and honestly have you been to Reno? I have... it could be called the "Saddest Little Casino Town in America").

 

:lol: Yeah, the pretty much sums it up. Reno didn't "upgrade" the way Vegas did in the 90s and then got their ass completely kicked by the proliferation of Indian gaming in California. The only thing it ever had going for it was it was a couple of hours drive from Sacramento and the SF bay area. Now there's half a dozen beautiful casinos within an hour of those places.

 

But convention business is something a lot of bands don't think about. But yet almost every city has some sort of convention center and draws some sort of convention business. This one was some sort of 'help the kids' non-profit venture I've never heard of. We played a fun party awhile back for a group called the California Seed Council. That's right. The organization you join if you're in the seed business in California. Paid well and was all older folks who wanted nothing but 60s and 70s music. Just the type of stuff so many musicians bitch that they can't find decent gigs playing anymore. But whoda thunk that the A) such a thing as the California Seed Council even exists B) that they have an annual convention C) that they'd want a band for it and D) that it would pay well and be fun to do?

 

I sure didn't. But there we were playing that gig and making a few grand for a couple of hours work while other bands--musically no worse than we are--were trudging it out down the street playing the same songs in the local pub for $500. And those bands had no idea the gig even happened. They don't get advertised. There's no flyers around town. No radio spots.

 

So my "preaching" here is that most bands probably don't know what's out there. But you gotta do the work. The old saying goes that "Luck is where Opportunity and Preperation Meet". That's true. But that's only half the story in this business. You also have to create (or at least find) the opportunities.

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Jeeezus...that's crazy!!!...what kind of drugs are those people on?!?!?!!!
:lol:
:lol:
:lol:

 

Just alcohol mostly. I think after three days of boring meetings they had to attend, they were all ready to cut loose. Plus whoever decided to make it a costume party was genius. Most everyone was dressed up in 60s hippy garb and that just added to the fun and allowed people to be a bit more wild than they might have been otherwise. There was a definiate Halloween feel to the whole thing.

Did you guys play
Land Of A 1000 Dances
? I could see that going over quite well at a gig like that.

 

No, we don't do that song, but I'm sure it would have killed!

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Thats awesome. Guess that's what you get playing in a large band though. I wont complain though, I like being a three piece.

 

 

me too. 3 piece in an intimate setting is where it's at for me these days.

 

...although feeling like a "rock star" at a big show ain't so bad neither...every once in a while.

 

That looks like it was a fun night, Guido!

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Judging by Wades "I'm the Bass Player" post he was fricken hammered when posting last night. Maybe we should give him a bye? lol

 

Tossin' it around with Wades is old hat around here. Isn't the first time he's posted the drunken rant. He knows it's all good with me. :thu:

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Looks like fun. Those kinds of songs can be a lot of fun when you have a bunch of people who are there to have a good time, and expect a little cheese in the music.

 

I've been to conferences with parties like that, it's a lot of fun when the band looks like they're enjoying themselves, when they're tight (nothing like a bad version of "Don't Stop Believin'," but you guys did it really well from what I could hear), and when no one is too worried about looking cool.

 

That said, I wouldn't want to play most of those songs unless I was in a situation like that, but I guess that's the point, isn't it? If my group gets to the point where we're booking stuff like you guys have going, we'll probably add in some of those numbers.

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If my group gets to the point where we're booking stuff like you guys have going, we'll probably add in some of those numbers.

 

 

Unfortunately, that's kind of a chicken and an egg kind of thing. You only want to play songs like that once you get the good gigs, but you have to play songs like that to get the good gigs in the first place. Unfortunately if you want to be a fun, sing-along party band, you have to suck it up and play some marginal gigs with those tunes in order to build a following and get into the good gigs. At least that's been my experience.

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