Members summit111 Posted May 11, 2012 Members Share Posted May 11, 2012 My Brothers, Local Marina owner's been trying to book us for weekend afternoon music at his dock. We've several openings this summer and conversation goes like this: Band: We'd love to play at your place, as your crowd likes our style of dance music. Our fee is $750. Owner: Great, but can you play for $600 this once to see how the crowd reacts? We'll pass the hat also and you can have that also. Next time I can increase your pay. Band: Agreed - We play the gig, owner has a big crowd, he sings several songs with the band, slips a note in the piano players pocket with dates of two more gigs. We also hold over for an additional hour at his request and he pays us $100 more. He mentioned he made good money that day. Crowd requests us back. Band confirming the future gigs next day: We had a great time and will play the gigs you requested, but can you do us a favor if possible? Our normal fee is $750, and we played for $600. If you can swing it, can you up the fee to $700? If not, we'll still play for $600. Owner: Will check with my wife, so call me tomorrow. Band next day: Just confirming the next two gigs! Is your husband near the phone? Owners wife: He's busy right now, but we're canceling you. He'll call later. Hangs up. Never heard from the prick later. Wow, what a dick! What the frick happened? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tim_7string Posted May 11, 2012 Members Share Posted May 11, 2012 Could be anything. Maybe they forgot to pay their license fees or taxes on something and are too short on cash at the moment. Maybe they only want to pay $600 tops and leave the bonus at their discretion. Maybe it's just the wife that doesn't want you back. I would try to ask the owner what's up, but most of the time, I just don't bother. If I get a vibe from someone even when they act like my band is still in the running for future gigs ny saying things like, "Yeah, I'll give you a call if something opens up" or "Oh no, we're just kinda busy right now and I'm not sure what's going on in the future," I'll just move on.. People that say those things just don't want to outright turn you down, just in case they might need you in the future, but for some reason they definitely don't want you now. I decided to stop bothering with calling that particular club. As I said in another thread, I'll only play places that actually like our band. If that means we have holes in our schedule, so be it. Find another place and keep smiling! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jwlussow Posted May 11, 2012 Members Share Posted May 11, 2012 We've been cancelled because one of the people we brought to the gig said something to one of the waitresses that offended her. She was the daughter of the owner. We had a great night. A few hundred people there having a great time. Made a great bonus and were not asked back because of one of our asshole friends (nice guy but he does tend to be a jerk when he drinks) said something that pissed off the waitress. Maybe it wasn't the band that got you cancelled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FitchFY Posted May 11, 2012 Members Share Posted May 11, 2012 This does not compute... guy loved you, wife hated you? There's something behind the scenes here clearly occuring. Don't sweat it, and be REALLY nice to the guy when you follow-up, but I'd certainly follow up. Laugh it off and be like "hey, wha' happened?!?" in a Fred Willard/ A Mighty Wind kind of reaction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted May 11, 2012 Members Share Posted May 11, 2012 They might have had time to go over the books and realize they didn't make what they thought they did, and then with the added asked-for price combined with possible expenses he's got coming up (building maintenance, quarterly tax payment, price increases somewhere, maybe a debt collection or a lawsuit, who knows? ) maybe they decided they jumped the gun and he feels awkward and embarrassed about it. Just a possibility. Another possibility is that he made a financial decision without consulting his wife first and she got pissed off, which would be where I'd bet my money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nchangin Posted May 11, 2012 Members Share Posted May 11, 2012 I second this, be NICE don't take it personally, it's business and you do not have a contract unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jeff42 Posted May 11, 2012 Members Share Posted May 11, 2012 It happens... but follow up and be courteous and professional. Also If you are willing to... let them know you will go in for $600 again. Maybe the $750 price tag is what put him off. I know a bar owner that wouldn't book us until we agreed to him knocking us down $25 from our asking price. Yep.. happened recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wheresgrant3 Posted May 11, 2012 Members Share Posted May 11, 2012 Nothing personal... small gig, they aren't used to book entertainment maybe? Who knows what came up. Unexpected expenses... etc. I would be pissed if he didn't return the call and then filled your afternoon slot with a succession of bands. But doing an experimental one off... it's almost like booking a private party, and in this case the party was canceled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wheresgrant3 Posted May 11, 2012 Members Share Posted May 11, 2012 It happens... but follow up and be courteous and professional. Also If you are willing to... let them know you will go in for $600 again. Maybe the $750 price tag is what put him off. I know a bar owner that wouldn't book us until we agreed to him knocking us down $25 from our asking price. Yep.. happened recently. The economy is tough. Think about it... for a bar/resturaunt to pay any band $400, 500, 600 for four hours alot of product has to be sold. A barowner we used to book with stopped having entertainment all together and he now closes at midnight. He said to book a band to keep 25-30 people past midnight was just not profitable. Closing at midnight he saves on utilities, overhead, and has to buy less product. Bars/nightclubs that don't serve food will stay open until the crack of noon if they have to to squeeze that last dollar from someone's wallet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MartinC Posted May 11, 2012 Members Share Posted May 11, 2012 Maybe she doesn't like her husband's singing..................Maybe she thinks he needs to be tending to business instead of jamming with the band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members summit111 Posted May 12, 2012 Author Members Share Posted May 12, 2012 My Brothers, Here's the deal! Before I called them back, I checked with a couple of bands that play there. They book two bands each weekend for the entire summer. Ownership tends to be cheap, $3-400 max per band, so we're on top of the food chain. One other band gets $1500, but they're a giant draw. Owners wife wears the pants. Was super nice calling back the husband, "Hey guys, just checking on our dates, I believe $600 was the deal!" Husband: OK, what dates again? Yes, you're booked. $600 right? Band: Yep, $600 plus pass the hat for an additional hour if needed. We're really happy to play for you, sorry for the misunderstanding! Phone disconnecteed on my cell, and called back immediately, wife answers. Wife: Yea, bad weather causing phone problems. OK, everything set for June and August. See y'all then! Band: OK, good luck this weekend, sorry for MY MISTAKE! See y'all later.... Wow, and remember, this place is shown on History Channels "Swamp People" Strange folks to deal with, but all is good in Cajun Country, as they treated us like kings the last time we played there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted May 18, 2012 Members Share Posted May 18, 2012 This does not compute... guy loved you, wife hated you? There's something behind the scenes here clearly occuring. Don't sweat it, and be REALLY nice to the guy when you follow-up, but I'd certainly follow up. Laugh it off and be like "hey, wha' happened?!?" in a Fred Willard/ A Mighty Wind kind of reaction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ChiroVette Posted May 18, 2012 Members Share Posted May 18, 2012 Summit111, it could be that they were waffling about your band because of the extra cash but when you followed up and offered the $600 they computed and found it worth their while. This is only a guess, of course as there is only so much info in your post. Still, glad things worked out for you!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kramerguy Posted May 18, 2012 Members Share Posted May 18, 2012 A while back, I was in a female fronted cover band and the whole act was pretty much her strutting around in sexy outfits and "engaging" the customers with no too over-the-top dancing, etc.. and it was hugely successful (she really could sing too!). But we played this one place, a very popular hotspot, and we packed it like sardines.. I mean it was the most capacity-per-venue I've ever played, and the crowd went nuts for us. It was the first of three dates we had scheduled there. We got told at the end of the night that our next two dates were canceled. No reason was given. Turns out that the female bartender who had a LOT of say with band bookings didn't care much for losing the amount attention she was used to.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OldGuitarPlayer Posted May 23, 2012 Members Share Posted May 23, 2012 I am kind of new to this part of the forum and I am amazed at how many bands on here are able to dictate their "fee" to venue owners/managers. The way it works here is the venue tells you what they pay. If you don't like it someone else will. I sure would love to play a one night gig for $750 however that is a pipe dream were I live. Especially for a cover band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted May 23, 2012 Members Share Posted May 23, 2012 I am kind of new to this part of the forum and I am amazed at how many bands on here are able to dictate their "fee" to venue owners/managers. The way it works here is the venue tells you what they pay. If you don't like it someone else will. I sure would love to play a one night gig for $750 however that is a pipe dream were I live. Especially for a cover band. Our price for a gig is $1600. We had one gig fall through, I think because of the price, but it's the first in recent memory. That's our price, if you want us to play, that's awesome, and it's going to be a blast!! If it's too much, that's perfectly fine as well, no hard feelings at all. Halloween & NYE are $2500. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OldGuitarPlayer Posted May 23, 2012 Members Share Posted May 23, 2012 Our price for a gig is $1600. We had one gig fall through, I think because of the price, but it's the first in recent memory. That's our price, if you want us to play, that's awesome, and it's going to be a blast!! If it's too much, that's perfectly fine as well, no hard feelings at all. Halloween & NYE are $2500. The only places here that would ever pay $2500 to see a cover band would be a corporate gig at a private location. No club or bar here would ever pay that... The most a good cover band makes here a night is $500 at a club or bar. When I say $500 that doesn't matter if it's a trio or an 11 piece band all you are going to get is $500. That being said the majority of my gigs are with an all acoustic old time, fiddle, and mandolin type group and we usually only play one hour festival type gigs and we do get paid well for those. Certainly not $2500 well though... My other band is a little blues trio...we really only play for fun and not for money. The acoustic group is my main working band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted May 23, 2012 Members Share Posted May 23, 2012 The only places here that would ever pay $2500 to see a cover band would be a corporate gig at a private location. No club or bar here would ever pay that... The most a good cover band makes here a night is $500 at a club or bar. When I say $500 that doesn't matter if it's a trio or an 11 piece band all you are going to get is $500. That being said the majority of my gigs are with an all acoustic old time, fiddle, and mandolin type group and we usually only play one hour festival type gigs and we do get paid well for those. Certainly not $2500 well though... My other band is a little blues trio...we really only play for fun and not for money. The acoustic group is my main working band. We don't play bars. Only private functions, parties, weddings, special events etc. If we play one set, personal instruments only, like part of a 2 or 3 band thing (like at a rodeo) then we get $750. I don't think the bars pay that well here. Or I should say bar. There's a cover band I'm doing sound for this sat. I'll ask them what they are getting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dave drums Posted May 23, 2012 Members Share Posted May 23, 2012 I won't do a local 4 hour gig for less than $100. per band member. Don't need to play that bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members summit111 Posted June 1, 2012 Author Members Share Posted June 1, 2012 My Brothers, The New Orleans de facto per man price is $200 per man per gig. Out in the Swamp country, it's $125 minimum per man. We all have day jobs and don't NEED the money, but we don't leave the studio for any less. We can play for free at home! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Blackbird 13 Posted June 1, 2012 Members Share Posted June 1, 2012 I am kind of new to this part of the forum and I am amazed at how many bands on here are able to dictate their "fee" to venue owners/managers. The way it works here is the venue tells you what they pay. If you don't like it someone else will. I sure would love to play a one night gig for $750 however that is a pipe dream were I live. Especially for a cover band. C'mon now. Would you start a plumbing company, and just say that the people who's pipes you fix can tell you what they're going to pay you? What about a computer repair business? Construction? Painting? Auto shop? ANY other specialized service? Remember.. all these fields require specialized training, a certain skill set, specialized tools, knowledge of your industry... and a band should be compensated likewise. The key to it is to offer a value for your money. If your band draws a big crowd, or makes it so sales are way higher than normal (i.e. KEEPS a crowd), than you have a valid reason to ask for more money for your services. Figure that a club or bar should be paying around 20 percent of it's nightly take to the band/DJ/KJ/poker guy/whatever else that's entertaining for the night. So if you're making $500 and the bar's making $2500.. there's nothing wrong with that. If you're making $500 and the bar's take is $8000 for the night... yeah, something's up. But my guess is that isn't the case, because for a bar to do nights like that, there has to be an investment in the first place! Just some points to ponder! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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