Cancellation Question

[mr3lions]

I was booked this weekend at a local winery, a place where I have played several times before.

Got a text last week saying they had to cancel due to a private booking bringing in their own entertainment.

no problem , thanks for the heads up.

Today on Facebook I see they have someone else booked in the slot I was supposed to play inviting everyone to their patio.

Do I:

-Ignore it and suck it up

-send a polite email asking if everything is ok or is there is something I need to correct for future gigs

---drive out to the venue on the day to see what's going on- not creating a scene just out for a drive

 

As I said I've played here before and they seem to like me. I don't want to burn bridges but I am interested in what went wrong

 

Advice please?

[Bob Dey]

One good thing about going thru an agent is that the venue manager will tell the agent what they don't like about a musician. Then the agent will tell the muso what improvements should be considered.

 

So, If you can get the manager to tell you the truth, it might be helpful to you. I know it's a blow to the ego and I would be pissed that I was lied to! But if you can find out the truth without getting emotional about that's what I would do. OTOH, there's a chance that it doesn't have anything to do with you. Try not to take it personally. They might have also canceled anyone else they had booked for that date.

[daddymack]

I would go with the polite approach...indignation never won a gig.

It may well be that they wanted to try out a new act, and their availability was limited. There could be a number of plausible rationales, but don't be pushy, just ask nicely...don't plead or whine.

[Notes_Norton]

Me? I'd sneak in to see what replaced me. I wouldn't make a scene, but if I went back there, I'd get a contract. I'd explain that I got cancelled and I had turned down gigs for that same date, so I lost money on that cancellation, thus the need for a contract.

 

I probably wouldn't make a scene because chances are I still wouldn't get paid for the cancellation, and could not see any business advantage of dong so.

 

But then this would all depend on the venue, how much I knew the person who canceled me, and a number of other factors.

 

Think long term career options.

 

Notes

[daddymack]

... but if I went back there, I'd get a contract. I'd explain that I got cancelled and I had turned down gigs for that same date, so I lost money on that cancellation

 

Notes

a good approach, but a double edged sword...you tell them you lost money because you turned down gigs for the date they cancelled, they may say 'fine, go play there...'

 

Typically I try to negotiate a 'cancellation policy if the gig is booked well in advance, like no fee if you drop me more than 2 weeks in advance, a 50% pay if you drop me less than two weeks. This has actually worked both ways though, when the venue has found some lunkhead who will play for free...

 

 

[mr3lions]

I must say 24 hours later my pride has healed considerably. I'm just going to chalk it up to experience. No one does contracts around here.

 

Onward

 

 

[capitalist]

^^^ Good for you! Although, if it is convenient, you could do a drive by to see how many vehicles are in the parking lot.

[pogo97]

The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget.

Thomas Szasz

 

[Notes_Norton]

Then I tell them the problem is after I turned down the gig they hired someone else.

 

And I stress, I size up the person before I decide what to tell him or her.

 

On non-commercial gigs, which much of what we do is, I collect a deposit. If I've done a person or condominium grI generally don't return it if cancelled. Of course, if the host had a heart attack or something, I'll give the money back figuring they need it more than me.

 

If I've done a person, condo, country club or whatever enough times, I skip the deposit. But I send a contract anyway because it verifies that we both agree on the date and time. This eliminates, "Oh I though the date was the 19th, not the 9th."

 

For commercial gigs, I rarely use a contract, unless I've been cancelled for what I consider a lame reason, and that is extremely rare. I played 25 years at a yacht club without a contract, I'm going on 11 at a marina without one, and if any commercial manager seems up-and-up, I'll go in without one and take the chance.

[Notes_Norton]

And if the parking lot is full, sneak inside to see what is packing the room.

[daddymack]

or, if you are feeling threatened/vindictive...you could torch some of the cars in teh lot...

[mr3lions]

"or, if you are feeling threatened/vindictive...you could torch some of the cars in teh lot... "

 

Finally some USEFUL advice!

 

 

[daddymack]

sorry, that's my NYC upbringing coming through...

[Mikeo]

I must say 24 hours later my pride has healed considerably. I'm just going to chalk it up to experience. No one does contracts around here.

 

Onward

 

 

 

There ya go.

 

 

[skmarshall]

OK, mr3lions, I'm hooked... did you go by the venue to see what the winery put in your spot?

[mr3lions]

I didn't go back.

It's a 45 minute drive and that's not worth my time to get upset over.

looking back I've narrowed it down to them actually having a large group coming to the open patio and the group wanting this guy or the new guy saying it's my first time book me for free. Both of these situations are out of my control.

Funny thing is, the night I was bitching about losing that gig I scored two more gigs elsewhere.

 

A lot of this comes down to perspective it seems. When iiwas upset my wife suggested we take the dogs for a walk to calm down. while we were walking the dogs around the neighborhood we bumped into some friends, they kept talking about how many gigs I've been playing recently. so I guess I should be celebrating the victories rather than morning the losses.

[Mikeo]

One of the restaurants that I used to play at doubled books. Both the other guy and I showed up just about the same time. His drive was about 45 minutes and my drive was about 15 minutes, He suggested we could split the gig. I wasn't too concerned, it was really snowing hard that and I'm sure it would have been an early wrap-up. I gave him the gig. It wasn't that night, but about a month later he slide off the road with his car and was killed. The bartender called me up and asked if I could fill in the gaps for the rest of the year.

 

 

 

[Notes_Norton]

I was double-booked at a Yacht Club that I had been playing at for about 15 years a couple of times per month. The other band showed up first and was half set up when we arrived, the manager apologized, wrote a check for our pay, and gave us the night off. We played there for another 5 years. In all that time we never had so much as a contract.

 

He retired, a new manager came in, and as often happens, he had his favorite bands and we never went back. After about 20 years, it's far that the new guy wanted to make changes.

 

But a yacht club one town north started booking us and that took up the slack.

 

We just roll with the tide and do the best we can.

 

Insights and incites by Notes

[senorblues]

He retired, a new manager came in, and as often happens, he had his favorite bands and we never went back.

 

Insights and incites by Notes

 

I have to wonder how often bookings are determined by who the manager "Likes". What's that got to do with it?! Does a new act have the potential to increase or at least maintain his net ring for the night? What other criterion is there?

 

I confess I've benefited from this. I got my first solo gig because she loved my handful of Leon Russell covers. So What!

[mr3lions]

Biggest positive out of this entire experience... My first two page thread 😎

[Notes_Norton]

Manager tastes are often personal. I've both won and lost gigs because of that.

 

Great managers and owners are different, they often care more about the audience than their own personal tastes.

[Shaster]

Responding to the manager comments.... I too have won and lost gigs based on the manager. I lost a tedious gig this year, because the General Manager didn't like me, although the manager really did. I have a great steady gig, because the manager really likes me, but again I almost lost it because the GM's wife thought I was too mellow (it was a mellow night and warranted a calmer approach).

 

I played another venue where the manager liked me, a new manager came in and I was immediately dumped. Almost two years later, the same manager that dumped me, is booking me again (once or twice a month) and saying, "here comes the Bluesman"... Even though I play very little blues, he's figured out a way to brand me in his mind so he's fine with it all. That and the fact that his crowd is an average of 55 years of age, and are weary of JB, SM and The Weeknd.

 

Yep in a hotel, you have the staff, the manager, the F&B manager and then the GM. If they all like you, you're good to go, but it just takes one person in power that doesn't like you, to lose the gig. And don't count the staff out. I've told the story of the staff at one place that bugged management to reinstate the live music that had been dropped. Eventually management listened. That room is a five shift a week gig now.