CHICAGOLAND: good venues for a band's first gig?

[slunk0132]

My band has been practicing a bunch, and doing an open mic with a great sound system for months, so we're fairly tight, have enough very-rehearsed music ready to kill about 45 minutes, and a bunch more songs we're working on tightening up.

 

We just finished up recording 4 songs, 3 of which will go on a demo we'll drop off at bars, give to everyone we know, etc. Also, they'll go on MySpace, Purevolume, and we're planning on getting our own web site as well.

 

However, I'm guessing it will be somewhat difficult for us to draw a large crowd (other than the friends we harass into coming), since we have not released any recordings or played any shows, other than open mic nights. Well, on a side note, the bassist and I are in another cover band together, and have gigged several times in the north suburbs, but I don't think that is applicable to my originals band.

 

But, we're trying to get a show, preferably in the city, around the North side since many of our potential audience members live in the area.

 

I was thinking of The Note, or Lilly's? We're even thinking of the Penny Road Pub in Barrington, since apparently it is not too difficult to book a show, although we'd probably draw a smaller crowd.

 

What's the best way to get on a bill with some other bands? We're friends with about 3 other gigging original bands, yet the genres are all quite different (we're folk rock/psychedelic/whatever, and our friends' bands are punk, prog, and pop, respectively). Are there any booking agencies, or something similar that could help our situation? thanks

[moleman]

It's a tough spot to be in, a new original band. My band has played out a couple times in the city, and luckily it's been at some of the nicer places (doubledoor, subterranean). We got the shows basically through persistence. Send them an electronic press kit (most places prefer them), and tell them you're willing to do weeknight shows for a cut of the door. They will likely match you up with other similar bands, and have you open and maybe do a half hour slot to start.

 

Most importantly, you have to follow up with them every couple weeks or so to stay on thier radar. They get so many requests for shows.

 

Penny Road is cool, they have a booking guy there you have to go through. We also played there as a relatively new band.

 

It's hard work doing the original band thing, but lucky for you downtown chicago caters more to original bands. The suburbs are much more coverband oriented.

 

Another route to go is to pick a venue, and see if they have promoter driven nights, where one promoter books the bands. Some promoters book say every monday at a club, and are always looking for bands.

Check out craigslist for their posts, a lot of times they'll be looking for bands to fill last minute slots, or other bands may be posting to find an opener last minute.

 

Good luck man!

[SanDiego333]

 

My band has been practicing a bunch, and doing an open mic with a great sound system for months, so we're fairly tight, have enough very-rehearsed music ready to kill about 45 minutes, and a bunch more songs we're working on tightening up. We just finished up recording 4 songs, 3 of which will go on a demo we'll drop off at bars, give to everyone we know, etc. Also, they'll go on MySpace, Purevolume, and we're planning on getting our own web site as well. However, I'm guessing it will be somewhat difficult for us to draw a large crowd (other than the friends we harass into coming), since we have not released any recordings or played any shows, other than open mic nights. Well, on a side note, the bassist and I are in another cover band together, and have gigged several times in the north suburbs, but I don't think that is applicable to my originals band. But, we're trying to get a show, preferably in the city, around the North side since many of our potential audience members live in the area. I was thinking of The Note, or Lilly's? We're even thinking of the Penny Road Pub in Barrington, since apparently it is not too difficult to book a show, although we'd probably draw a smaller crowd. What's the best way to get on a bill with some other bands? We're friends with about 3 other gigging original bands, yet the genres are all quite different (we're folk rock/psychedelic/whatever, and our friends' bands are punk, prog, and pop, respectively). Are there any booking agencies, or something similar that could help our situation? thanks

 

 

off topic, but just a quick note to say how nice it is to read a well-written post that pays some attention to spelling and style. That goes a long way towards looking professional. Good luck to you.

[slunk0132]

thanks for the replies. Moleman, what is the best format for an Electronic Press Kit? What is the required material?

[moleman]

The typical format that I've seen requested is with sonicbids. (www.sonicbids.com)

 

You put a bio, pictures, a few songs, your show schedule, where you've played, you can also put a stage plot, press reviews, etc. It has basically a template that you use. There is a monthly fee however, I think maybe $5 a month. One cool feature is that you can email the presskit out to up to 25 emails addresses at a time.

 

It really doesn't have a lot more info than a myspace site, but sometimes myspaces can look a little unprofessional with people leaving spam comments and "happy hump day" comments all over the place. Also, not all bookers may have a myspace account, so they couldn't access all of your content.

[killart]

Whtever it is, don't play the US Beer Company. They're STILL doing the same bull{censored} after years of bull{censored}. They say they're under new management/ownership, it's a lie. Say they have a new sound syste, lie! and it goes further,

 

Try Fiesta Cantina/Gojangle(NOT pay to play), Silvie's, the note. Subt

[Thisdougsforu]

We've been playing for about a year now together, in the St. Louis area, and it was(and is still) tough being a new original band. We've opened for some friends bands, and playing some crappy places. We decided to spend some money and get a few of our songs recorded by a really well known producer in the area, and it's helped A TON. That and yeah, we also use Sonicbids.

 

Good luck man!