Members semi_divine Posted December 10, 2003 Members Share Posted December 10, 2003 Do venues provide a PA system or is a PA system mandatory if u intend on performing live? And if they provide a PA system is it gonna be low quality? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GCDEF Posted December 10, 2003 Members Share Posted December 10, 2003 In my experience, it is rare for a club to provide a PA. The times that they have it has been pretty good, but I wouldn't plan on playing regularly unless you have your own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members abzurd Posted December 10, 2003 Members Share Posted December 10, 2003 Some do some don't. And it's not consistant around here. Some of the larger venues have nice systems and some, no system at all. Some off the "hole in the wall" places have passable "All Carvin" PA's and some have a powered mixer and 2 crappy speakers and call it a full PA. Chances are you're gonna have to provide your own PA sooner rather than later. Considering you haven't played out before you're, most likely, gonna start in venues with little to no PA. Best advice I can give is to hire out sound initially. Even if you are only making $250 and have to pay it ALL to the sound company. You'll work hard to get your first venue to allow you to play (for pay anyway). You have ONE chance to impress them. Remember your first show is also the one where EVERY friend, family member, and pet will be in attendance. You bring 100 people AND sound good, trust me, you'll jump right into the rotation at that venue. Just be sure to raise your rates when booking a second show. Our first gig we opened for another band. No pay, but no PA to mess with either. We brought EASILY 100 people ourselves, played for an hour. The bar broke an all time sales record that night. - We got a regular diet of gigs there until we outgrew the venue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Scodiddly Posted December 10, 2003 Members Share Posted December 10, 2003 It's called "advancing" a show. First time you play a particular venue you need to ask what they have, whether you have to pay for it, etc. If they don't have PA, you have to figure out what you need to hire or buy, and also see where the electrical outlets are located. If possible, ask other performers who have played there recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted December 10, 2003 CMS Author Share Posted December 10, 2003 Originally posted by Scodiddly It's called "advancing" a show. First time you play a particular venue you need to ask what they have, whether you have to pay for it, etc. If they don't have PA, you have to figure out what you need to hire or buy, and also see where the electrical outlets are located.If possible, ask other performers who have played there recently. Yup, nothing beats copying a working solution....catch a show or two in the venue and scope out what's being used if you like the sound. If it's a hired system, talk to the sound guy on a break, maybe you can hire them. For a first gig it's good to have a sound system you can count on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Old Steve Posted December 10, 2003 Members Share Posted December 10, 2003 Totally depends on the market, the type of music, and the clubs in your area. Washington DC is a big place, so I'm pretty sure you'll be able to find clubs that have their own sound systems and guys to run it. My advice: pick up the local music newspapers and such and figure out which bars host bands. You may even want to track what kind of music the bars generally have (you don't want to be the country band who played the punk club or vice versa). From this research, come up with a list of 'target clubs' where you think you could play. Some might even host 'showcase' nights where multiple bands play for exposure (exposure=free ). Anyway, once you have a target list together, go to each club to scope out the situation... Having a good PA gives you a ton of flexibility...you can play places that don't normally have bands, you can play parties, and you can choose to use your own good system over a crappy one that might be provided. If you don't have one, you can rent. I'm sure, however, that there MUST be some clubs in the DC area that have house systems and people to run them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators MrKnobs Posted December 10, 2003 Moderators Share Posted December 10, 2003 Virtually every club in Austin that regularly hosts live music has a house PA. Terry D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members flanc Posted December 10, 2003 Members Share Posted December 10, 2003 I've played in the mid-sized clubs around the Washington DC beltway as well as the Baltimore Beltway. By far most clubs I play do not provide the sound. Now if you step up to the clubs that have national acts (a few thousand seats). They have house sound. Admittedly, I've played very few gig's in DC proper...I hate the thought of finding parking for my truck and trailer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members moody Posted December 11, 2003 Members Share Posted December 11, 2003 This is not a hard and fast rule and I don't know if it applies outside my home state (Nsw australia). In general for regular weekend type bands, at originals venues PA's are usually provided, at covers venues Pa's are usually not provided. In the last 3 years of gigging with both types of band I've seen this vary once - for one gig of my original band we had to supply the pa. Of course, if the gigs are outdoors these rules go out the window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.