QUICK BIT OF ADVICE: get as many details about gigs as you can!

[Vito Corleone]

One thing we commonly do when we book a private event is find out as much about the audience as possible: how many people will be there? what's the age demographic breakdown going to be? what's the purpose of the event? etc. Although sometimes we don't do as much of this when gigs come through agencies because we just don't have the same degree of direct contact.

 

So we get booked for a gig we played last night through an agency and we don't really know that many details. The only thing we've been told is "ABSOLUTELY NO DISCO!" Which is OK, but I always wonder when we get requests like this---is this something specific to the event? Or maybe just a personal preference of the one dude in charge of finding the band?

 

So we ask the agent to find out more details about the gig and she comes back and tells us that we're playing a convention for utility company employees, and there will be about 300 people there, mostly between 30 and 50 and about 90% male. Now suddenly the "no disco!" request makes more sense! So we tailor the setlist to be a more classic rock "show" type set rather than dancing. The gig goes off great. Good fun crowd. Dancefloor full for pretty much the entire 2 hour set. Client is very pleased with the results. Our more-regular set would have likely flopped.

 

But the most noticeable feature was how impressed the agent was that we asked for the details. She says "wow...most bands don't go to the trouble to do that stuff. You guys seem really professional!" (our first gig for her agency.) And it was something we almost didn't bother to do because, again, we tend to just show up and play agency gig sometimes.

 

Lesson learned that we'll make sure to ALWAYS be more attentive to finding out the details. ESPECIALLY if other bands aren't doing it!

[dan88z]

I always ask that stuff.

 

My drummer booked a show, a private 60th birthday for a co worker of his. Reduced rate, etc, since it was a friend of his. What he failed to ask, since it was in a private club (Moose lodge or Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo or something like that), is whether the venue was non smoking. It wasn't, and when I asked why he didn't find that out he got pissy with me. I said this is why all the contact has to come thru me, because I know to ask that stuff! The venue made that room "non smoking" for the night. It didn't help much.

[StratGuy22]

Gigs are mostly booked by others. For me, on a technical side I always have them ask: Size of stage? Is there 50A power Can we use a hazer Stairs? Load in time Load out next day?

[nchangin]

I guess the bands that agent has booked in the past hasn't been shot at enough. Pretty important detail is to "know your customer"