Booking Two Venues In Close Proximity The Same Weekend

[wheresgrant3]

This weekend we played two venues that compete head to head against each other. Distance between these venues: 12 miles and about a 17 minute drive. There used to be a day when we were conscious of booking a venue next door to the one we played the night before. Or even the next town over before receiving the wrath of a venue owner. In these troubled times that proximity marker has moved to 20-25 miles out for us. LOL

 

To give some context to this story I'll give the details surround the venues we're talking about. Venue X-A 30 year old successful restaurant that decided a few years ago to get into the 'nightclub game'. Has invested over $ 6-figures for a top-notch venue. Venue Y- a newly opened 15,000 sq ft multi-million dollar resturant/bar/nightclub complex that has become the 'black hole' for club patrons this summer. We book all three (another competing venue a few miles away), in rotation, and all three have been on any summer (current or previous) the BIG summer destination. Of course the new place is the new king of the block and is putting a hurting on the other two. In terms of our summer draw we've been doing fairly well. Attendence is down at the older establishments but we haven't had any dead nights. In fact for the record we're still the top regular draw at all three locations... and have been for years. Other bands are getting killed though. At Venue Y they are playing in front of hundreds of people but the other two venues they are playing to nobody.

 

For the record, we're as conscious as we can be when we fill our calendar for competing venues. We're usually booking 7-10 months out and trying to fit in competing venues, with out of state agent gigs, private parties and higher paid weddings is a challenge. They fit together like puzzle pieces. This particular weekend Venues X & Y were booked Friday and Saturday. Friday night at Venue Y was the expected blowout. Filled to capacity (800 people) by 10:30pm... a 45 minute line to get in at midnight. It was what we live for in this band... playing to a spectacular crowd.

 

We knew there would be some dust up over this booking because Venue X was Sat night and we had heard that they cut the band at midnight. Because of an awkward load in/parking situation at Venue X we decided to meet the next morning at noon and load in. We were hoping the owner was not there so early... but no such luck. It was almost like he was lying in wait.

 

To be fair I respect this guy a lot. He takes great personal pride in his business. He is very hands on and doesn't let a thing go unnoticed. It's a family business and he goes the extra mile to make sure his guests are accomodated for. He's also a tough negotiator and also plays the "but we're friends' card constantly. My bandmates and I joke because he will call and ask to buy us a 'cup of coffee'... ie: that's code for 'Business is tough, let me bust your balls a little'. In four years and several meetings we have yet to have that cup of coffee. But I digress... we get to the venue that morning and sure enough he is there. A little agitated that the previous night was a disaster and he has his most expensive band loading in just after playing the venue that destroyed him. Our manager asked him how business was: bad move... he launched into a 15 minute schpeal about the perils of being a small business owner... he's an 'underdog'. This guy has been around for 30+ years and is noted for being a ruthless competitor. But today he's the 'underdog'. His first words after confirming there were 20 people there the previous night(about 15 of which said "Let's go see Nuts In A Blender at Venue Y" at 10:30pm) he launches into a semi demand... "You guys CAN'T book here the same weekend you are booked at Venue Y".

 

Really? He was clearly leaning toward the fact that we had 'blown our load' at the new popular venue the previous night and would be loading blanks for his room that night. He added that our shows this summer had been down in attendance and that he couldn't afford to have more nights when he lost money. Our manager chimed in immediate and asked... "Wait a minute... You lose money on us? We certainly don't want to continue this booking relationship if you are losing business on the night we're..." The owner immediately cut him off... "Ohhhhh no, I'm not saying you that you guys are costing me money or I'm losing business on the nights you play... but you have to admit that your attendance is way down from last summer ." OK fair enough. The last few years we were drawing 400-500 people on the nights we played... this summer 200-300. But wasn't that across the board? We countered with "So is business down with all the bands this season or just us? Is it across the board or just our band". He admitted that his entire business was down... the restaurant was serving less dinners... the bar was doing less business... the weekend nightclub was having a rough years... and yes ALL of the bands were doing badly... and in fact we were still his best draw by a long shot. This led into his real beef: We were booking at the other venue.. he felt preferentially. HE felt that our numbers were down with him because we were giving the other venue the 'better nights'. LOL

 

 

 

We had to end this conversation... it was hot, we were tired and we still had to load in. We explained, with all due respect, we appreciate what he was going through... but the only solution we would consider is to not book his venue then IF the situation of booking the same weekend ever arose again. It's wasn't an issue of loyalty. If we have to choose, we're choosing a venue that doesn't see a problem with the situation. We added that he books several bands that we compete directly for in terms of style and 'draw'. Some on the very same weekends that we are booked on. How would he feel if we said to him "you can't book Band X on the same weekends we play because they play the same songs as us and your venue can't support two party bands on the same weekend". We indeed have another weekend in October where both rooms are booked the same weekend... this time the Friday and Sat night swapped. We suggested that maybe we should rebook that date with him or consider canceling it altogether. It wasn't the answer he was looking for at all but he had painted himself into a corner. He sheepishly said well we should see how this night turned out and make the decision to keep or rebook.

 

This Saturday night he had the biggest night he had the entire summer. Over 500 through the door. It was pure mayhem on the dance floor. I had seen people that I hadn't seen out in 3-4 years. Bachelor parties, bachelorette parties, birthday girls. For us it was one of the best gigs of the entire summer.... for more than just the crowd. We'll call it sweet justice. In between sets we chuckled about the "dead night" we were having. Privately trading comments like "Sucks that nobody showed up." "I guess we can't possibly have a good Friday AND Saturday night." "Since there is no one here, maybe we should cut the night short and cut him a break on pay" We've been doing things at this level year after year for several year now... if there is one thing I can say about this band is never bet against us!. You'd better believe that we will use the fact that his best nights of this summer was once again the nights we were booked! We're due to discuss pay on the next go around and he's put us in perfect position to bump a few $hundred$.

 

Sure enough at the end of the night the owner approached our manager, paid him and coyly said "listen, that thing we talked about earlier... I think we can make this work... Let's just avoid this situation if we can... I mean we're both trying to run a business." And then he added "and we're still friends right?"

[Chicken Monkey]

It sounds like you all need to line up some out-of-town work. My group doesn't draw very well, and it's still mostly friends/family, so we try to be out of town at for at least every other show so as not to wear out our hometown crowd.

[pickinatit]

And I'd bear in mind that the jury might be out on the new venue. Might be that it's just the new, hot place to go this summer. That may die down in time or it might not. Just seems to me that the not booking them both the same weekend just makes better sense for everybody concerned. Also, I'm not sure that I would push the envelope on the venue owner that has done right by you for a long time to bank on a more unknown future with the newer venue. There ought to be a way to make both parties happy.

[mstreck]

We have two nearby local venues that we play and always try to schedule them weeks apart. One is a small dock bar that is very cozy and the other is a large-scale "party complex". The larger venue has grown to the point where we almost couldn't find a parking space on Saturday (we had the night off so we were making rounds). Easily over 100 cars parked outside. They had a band inside but 90% of the people were at the new outside section that houses the tiki bar/volleyball court/DJ dance deck. They've asked us to stop playing the smaller venue, but we won't. Many other bands have. Strike One for the smaller venue's business.

 

The smaller venue has moved to DJs on Saturdays and when they have bands, they are paid the door (except us, but we're their top drawing band so they pay us what the larger venue pays us). They are starting to cater to the Mexican-American population with "Gran Baile" nights, which is a smart move because they really have nowhere else to go - and the place gets PACKED. However, that is pushing everyone else over to the larger venue on those nights. Many people haven't been going back. Strike Two.

 

In October, we are playing the larger venue one week and playing the smaller venue's Halloween Party the following week. I dropped the ball on that one - didn't pay attention to the locations for those dates. We're always told that we are the smaller venue's saving grace, but I don't think we did them any favors by scheduling that way. I'm really hoping that's not Strike Three. We really like playing there.

 

On a related note, there used to be third venue very close to the dock bar until a few months ago. They catered to bands (great stage and PA setup) but were only open Thur - Sat. They did fairly well until the "party complex" opened up. Then they moved to DJs to save money and then closed for good. Really, if they would have opened the dormant restaurant part and built up their business by being open all week, they could have buried the smaller dock bar that was REALLY struggling at the time.

[bnelly428]

You guys have a unique situation where 1. 17 miles is considered "close" lol and 2. you draw pretty much wherever you go now due to the solid following you've built over 8+ years IIRC.

 

It goes to show you that money, beyond anything, talks. You did your part, and like many bar owners, they're looking for a deal before you even start working.

 

We have played 2 venues same weekend less than 2 miles apart... We won't ever do that again. It is my fault, but when we get offered a gig, we aren't in the position to turn it down for these factors.... Although with rumblings of a few places cancelling bands next year and others not doing well, even though we had planned to cut back gigs per month next year, we probably won't have a choice /shrug.

[wheresgrant3]

It goes to show you that money, beyond anything, talks. You did your part, and like many bar owners, they're looking for a deal before you even start working. .

 

Pretty much... as I said, he was lying in wait... this was not an immediate concern over the night, it was an opportunity for him to have something over us. We've been booking with him for over four years, and he hasn't given us any preferential treatment over the years. He was looking to use this as a negotiating point to 'take things away'. Although he usually treats us with kid gloves he's also known for playing hardball with other bands and as such, a few no longer book there mostly in disagreements in pay. As I said, I generally like the guy, and I respect his business (not his tactics) but the reason why his number are down at his venue has little to do with us. It's the way he is managing his business in the midst of this recession. His drink prices are through the roof... he offers no specials, pretty much top shelf booze and charges a premium for it. As such people make plans to go there based on the local entertainment choices. We actually lose following by playing there, especially if we're up against a similar style band at a competing venue. People outright tell us to have a good gig, they're going to see Y-band at Y-venue see us the next gig. We don't get mad at them and throw down a loyalty card. We've spoke to him about this before, not trying to get to deep into the issue, merely offering some suggestions. We're not about to tell him how to run his business. At the same point if our following states they hate when we book there because it costs so much to drink well then we have to be concerned with that as well. He's admitted as such that he frequently finds empty beer cans and liquor bottles in the parking lot on weekend. Um... isn't that a sign that you should yield a little on pricing?

 

We play 7-10 times a month. As for playing out of town (btw that 'town' for us now encompasses three large counties), we have an agent and play out of town (as far as Boston) 90-250 miles away 12-15 x's times a year. It just so happened that the days these venues had open fell of the same weekend. Remember, we booked this in January not April or May. Playing out of town doesn't solve anything for us really. In fact it compounds the problem. We're bound by the agent's clubs availability at that point. Since we're out of the area we don't get a choice on the gigs offered, we merely get a date, take it or leave it. In fact I believe an earlier 'agent booking is what caused these two venue dates to fall on the same weekend. With local venues they are calling us, we're not calling them. There is some flexibility in booking, but as we offered to Venue X's owner "If there's a chance we have to book both X & Y on the very same weekend are you stating you'd prefer not to have the booking at all? Skip the booking and move on to the next month". We laid that out for him and he insinuated that no, he doesn't want us to cancel him... he would rather us NOT book the competing venue.

 

Now we do have a local venue where we've had an exclusive booking with for nearly four years now. They pay us an extra $300 on top of our guarantee to not book any other venues in town... and we have honored that. He has also thrown us a bonus or two on exceptional nights outside of the Thanksgiving Eve and other built in club holidays. But Venue-X owner is not offering that and would certainly not consider it. And even in his case I wouldn't recommend it... for his sake or ours. We're not greedy, and we want everyone to win. But the second we start to accommodate one club owner over his perception of loyalty is the second we've thrown away the model that has made us successful in the first place. You never know which venues will be booking bands in 2-3 years or even if they will still be in business. If you start building alliances that conflict with your own business goals you're really putting the power in the hands of the club owner. As I said... it's not about loyalty, it's about business. And you can be friendly in business... but friendship stays out of the 'negotiation' process. The second you use friendship as a weapon or tool to negotiate terms is the second the friendship no longer exists. After all 'friends' don't take away... they give right?

[kmart]

My opinion:

 

You're benefitting from the fact that you DO draw, but...I honestly feel the venue owner from night 2 (venue Y) was 100% right to be concerned (and then translate that into unhappiness with you):

 

Because YOU (not a comparable band, or copy-cat band, but YOU) chose to play, in essence, across the street the night before at venue X, you created a situation where it was POSSIBLE that you were taking clientele/business away from venue Y.

 

You honestly believe that not a single person could/would think "I really want to go see NIAB this weekend. I can go Friday OR Saturday...I'll go Friday."? You just cost Venue Y that person for the night, period.

 

Unless Venue Y was booked to capacity for the bulk of the night, and also unless you feel absolutely 100% certain that that it was never in doubt that it would be booked to cpacity...you're doing Venue Y a disservice by booking at the competition on the same weekend in my book.

 

Stagger those gigs by 2 weeks...and it's not an issue at all. But back-to-back?

Yeah, I'd have been pissed at you as well.

 

But I certainly wouldn't have been lying in wait for you at load-in: around here, you book gigs that close date-wise in directly competing venues, and you'll receive a call from at least one of them (likely both) probably a couple weeks out telling you to choose one or the other.

[wheresgrant3]

 

You honestly believe that not a single person could/would think "I really want to go see NIAB this weekend. I can go Friday OR Saturday...I'll go Friday."? You just cost Venue Y that person for the night, period. Unless Venue Y was booked to capacity for the bulk of the night, and also unless you feel absolutely 100% certain that that it was never in doubt that it would be booked to cpacity...you're doing Venue Y a disservice by booking at the competition on the same weekend in my book. Stagger those gigs by 2 weeks...and it's not an issue at all. But back-to-back? Yeah, I'd have been pissed at you as well.

 

 

I don't disagree with anything that you are saying. In a perfect world we would never have two competing venues line up back to back. But when you are a popular band and you're in a small market EVERY venue is a competing venue. We have bars that get pissed at is for playing 20-25 miles away. This is a pretty rural area and people think of nothing than to drive 30-45 minutes to a venue. For us to completely ensure that we would never book these rooms (and 2-3 other comparable venues) back to back we would have to book each 8-12 weeks out. Here's the catch... they don't want to wait that long. They want us every single month. Some rooms to the point that we have to pull back for them... not book so frequently because we sense that we are burning out the room. Again we gave him the option to 'opt out' the next time this occurs. He didn't want that at all... he wants us to cancel the larger venue... and frankly they don't have any problems with our calendar. To be fair I get his concerns... if he pragmatic about this he would have let the night play out (or as you said called weeks in advance) and then hammered us if the turnout was poor. Instead, he lost his advantage. It's the second time he bet against us. The 1st time was a few years ago when we had a member change and that former member got in his ear about the 'quality' of the band slipping. He asked us to take a cut. We resisted. He had a terrific summer with us.

 

I think in more than eight years of being an established band that we are completely confident of our ability to draw both Friday and Saturday nights. We've been doing this for years. Keep in mind a dead night in a large venue is less than 50 people for us. Could I gaurantee with complete certainty that booking both rooms did not hamper his night in any way? Of course not. But isn't ironic that he did the best numbers of any single night since July 2010... ironically a night we played as well. My point is where do you draw the line geographically between two clubs that considers themselves competition. The third venue I mentioned is less than a half mile down from the Friday night venue. We played there the week before. Of course it's not back to back but neither seemed to hamper our attendence in any of the three venues. In fact, in terms of turnout and crowd intesity I'd say they were the three best gigs of the summer for us.

 

In my eyes honestly... we brought more people than we have been on a regular Saturday. We had a fair amount of repeaters that were at both shows. As I said previously the newer venue is a destination all on it's own. People were not ready to spend another at the same venue... but they were prepared to spend another night with the same band. They choose to see us at the Friday night venue... and then made plans to see us Saturday night as well. I'm sure many people picked Saturday night just for the fact that they could get a babysitter on that night instead of Friday. And our draw is way beyond the family, friends, names and faces of the people that we recognize. That's the product of working so hard in a market for so many years. You don't know everyone... but they know who you are.

 

I don't disagree with what you are saying at all... he was well in his right to be concerned or even pissed. Using it as a negotiating point, before seeing the end result was a hand that was poorly played, in my opinion.

[rangefinder]

OK I'm not gonna read all this... but my initial response is "tough titties" if a venue complains that I took away their business. I mean, I'm *happy* I took their business, if I'm playing somewhere else.

 

If it's MY problem because I don't think I'll draw both nights and that might hurt my reputation, well, that's MY problem and my business decision.

 

Otherwise, if they want to pay me NOT to play nearby, e.g. some sort of exclusivity clause, fine. Pony up the cash. Or if they want to book me two nights in a row, great. It's on.

 

Around here, I've seen the top bands play two nights in a row in the same venue on prime weekends e.g. Halloween.

 

Am I missing something?

[MikeyParent]

 

You're benefitting from the fact that you DO draw, but...I honestly feel the venue owner from night 2 (venue Y) was 100% right to be concerned (and then translate that into unhappiness with you): Because YOU (not a comparable band, or copy-cat band, but YOU) chose to play, in essence, across the street the night before at venue X, you created a situation where it was POSSIBLE that you were taking clientele/business away from venue Y. You honestly believe that not a single person could/would think "I really want to go see NIAB this weekend. I can go Friday OR Saturday...I'll go Friday."? You just cost Venue Y that person for the night, period.

 

I see your point... but some food for thought - given that choice, if the patrons choose the other venue over his, whose to blame? The Band?

[kmart]

 

I see your point... but some food for thought - given that choice, if the patrons choose the other venue over his, whose to blame? The Band?

 

 

 

 

The point is that the band & venues wouldn't/shouldn't ever put that choice in front of patrons in the first place, if they are ALL trying to run good businesses...

 

 

But to Grant's reply/his specific situation...

Well, when you can put your money where your mouth is and deliver big crowds despite the fact you played next door the previous night, I guess you get to make whatever calls you want to.

 

 

For me/my experience, it is absolutely something I avoid at all costs; every band I've ever been in, we try to allow at least 2 weeks between gigs where geography of the draw overlaps, and for sure in Chicago, I know many venues want 10 days or 2 weeks between gigs.

[rhino55]

Sounds like a good weekend. If you can draw that well 17 miles away two nights in a row. Why not try and do two nights in a row in the same club?

[Agitator]

Sounds like all's well that ends well, but I would make an effort to avoid that in the future. You could book based on seniority, based on the club's draw, based on who calls you first, or whatever, but even though it worked out this one time, there's no guarantee that you'll get lucky next time. You could try the same stunt again, and one night could stiff because of factors beyond your control, and you'd still get blamed for it. So you're covering your own ass as well.

 

Also, I would have been making those snide comments into the mic.

 

"Sorry to see such a sparse crowd tonight!"

[BATCAT]

 

For me/my experience, it is absolutely something I avoid at all costs; every band I've ever been in, we try to allow at least 2 weeks between gigs where geography of the draw overlaps, and for sure in Chicago, I know many venues want 10 days or 2 weeks between gigs.

 

 

Yeah, in my experience on the original band scene, that's pretty standard. Booking shows in the same market on the same weekend is a great way to not get asked back.

[jimiv]

Yeah, for us when we were booking clubs it was 4 weeks before coming back to the same area and I was a little uncomfortable with that.

[stevesherbert]

 

OK I'm not gonna read all this... but my initial response is "tough titties" if a venue complains that I took away their business. I mean, I'm *happy* I took their business, if I'm playing somewhere else. If it's MY problem because I don't think I'll draw both nights and that might hurt my reputation, well, that's MY problem and my business decision. Otherwise, if they want to pay me NOT to play nearby, e.g. some sort of exclusivity clause, fine. Pony up the cash. Or if they want to book me two nights in a row, great. It's on. Around here, I've seen the top bands play two nights in a row in the same venue on prime weekends e.g. Halloween. Am I missing something?

 

 

i agree with this ^. unless there is an explicit agreement not to play the place across the street on the same weekends, the bar owner has no expectation of "loyalty". have you EVER heard of a similar agreement done in the opposite way (the bar not being allowed to book similar bands)? business is business. a band is just as much a business as a bar.

 

something i wonder about is this: What percentage of people go out on Friday AND Saturday night to see bands? i love seeing bands, but 2 nights in a row is too much for me. IMO playing consecutive saturdays is more likely to "wear out" your fanbase than playing friday/saturday because much fewer people go out two nights in a row. usually, i don't sit around all week deciding whether to go out friday or saturday, it just happens one way or the other. i'm just as likely to go to bar X on saturday whether you're playing friday at bar Y or not.

 

the other thing i wonder about the OP is how much having YOUR band there contributed to the draw that night. usually bachelor(ette) parties are roving bands of drunkenness, so i doubt that they were there specifically to see YOU. what i'm saying is that you shouldn't get ahead of yourselves asking for pay raises from bar X. you might lead him to realize (mistakenly, like many bars do), that he could pay some "DJ" way less and still get the bachelor(ette) roving drunk crowds. i have no doubt that your band is solid and has a good fanbase, but unless there is widespread advertising (newspaper, posters, radio, internet) even well-known national acts don't draw well. how much advertising does bar X provide?

[TIMKEYS]

Down here quite a few acts have house gigs. The rest are on regular weekly rotations at different clubs throughout the week. Small musical community with long standing acts.

[wheresgrant3]

 

the other thing i wonder about the OP is how much having YOUR band there contributed to the draw that night. usually bachelor(ette) parties are roving bands of drunkenness, so i doubt that they were there specifically to see YOU. what i'm saying is that you shouldn't get ahead of yourselves asking for pay raises from bar X. you might lead him to realize (mistakenly, like many bars do), that he could pay some "DJ" way less and still get the bachelor(ette) roving drunk crowds. i have no doubt that your band is solid and has a good fanbase, but unless there is widespread advertising (newspaper, posters, radio, internet) even well-known national acts don't draw well. how much advertising does bar X provide?

 

 

Um... in this case, most everything. I'm not blowing smoke. In this area there are venue few venues that are destinations on to themselves. Draw is largely dependent on both the venue and the entertainment act. He had 40 people the previous night. He had more than 10x that on Saturday. Sure a random bachelor party may show... but most will plan around the fact that our band is there on that given night. That's why we are hired in the first place... Our gigs are more like event bookings.

 

 

The difference is that new venue. It's a behemouth. On a good night they turn 1000-1200 people through the door. On their best night it was over 5,000 people. People are traveling from 60 miles away to visit this place. We are booked 1'x per month and they want to book us twice a month (we won't do that but it's nice to be asked). This venue is a literal 'black hole' against any competing night life in a 15 mile radius. We guessed this place would be popular when it was first opened (we played the Grand Opening in January)... but no one could plan this when dates were booked 9 months ago. This venue hadn't even opened yet.

 

Again part of that is his own doing with his drink prices. Another contributing factor is that the new venues is along a waterfront with a string of bars and resturants in walking distance. The waterfront itself is a 'destination'. The challenge is to draw those crowds 12 miles inland to his bar. Granted he has put a ton of money into an outdoor stage, palm trees, sand, and expensive lighting. But that alone is not enough to draw people away from a popular waterfront. It's down a dark country road that's surrounded by local and state police barricks.

 

He does advertise, but then so do we. We we have a weekly commercial on air 20x's per week at the local alternative rock station during morning and afternoon commutes. We also produce weekly web video and have constant activity and outreach to people through Facebook and our website. We're partnered with Metromix-a regional nightlife events sites that covers most of our events. We also have local and national sponsorships with local radio, Budwieser and Jagermeister. In this area we are a heavyweight, a known nightlife commodity. Now we're still partnered with the venue owner to have the best possible night and I'll admit in the owners eyes it looks like a betrayal. In our eyes we are more than confident in our ability to draw on back to backs. For years we've done this... this should have been no different and it wasn't. But there is no question that the turnout is directly related to the band.

 

 

We have no plans in altering our relationship with this venue... this is just a bump in the road. Personally, as I said I empathize with this club owner, he has alot invested in this business and he has alot of extra overhead as a result. But we are really the last large draw his club supports. A few years back he was using agents to bring out of area talent. Now he has a smattering of local bands and us. If we were to lose this room we would easily replace it with 3-4 rooms that are waiting to get regular rotation on the calendar. Would they offer as nice an experience as playing this establishment... absolutely not. These would be dives that would pay a premium to get us in the door. If he lost us I'm not sure how much of a calendar he would have left. One band that traveled all the way from Brooklyn is no longer booked there over a dispute over pay. Two other bands I know have been downgraded in pay (code for: you are not drawing hence I can't pay you that). Another band was fired at the begining of the season. One semi-popular band is folding this fall due to kids and family responsibilities. He doesn't have much left. He's been doing pretty well with DJ's and honestly the venue is well suited toward dance music. I wouldn't be upset if he just decided to cancel bands all together and have DJ's only. I think the smart move would be to limit bands to just Saturday nights, and keep 4-5 bands on the roster. The rest really can't support his business.

[wheresgrant3]

 

. something i wonder about is this: What percentage of people go out on Friday AND Saturday night to see bands? i love seeing bands, but 2 nights in a row is too much for me. IMO playing consecutive saturdays is more likely to "wear out" your fanbase than playing friday/saturday because much fewer people go out two nights in a row. usually, i don't sit around all week deciding whether to go out friday or saturday, it just happens one way or the other. i'm just as likely to go to bar X on saturday whether you're playing friday at bar Y or not.

 

 

Something on the bigger spectrum to consider isn't really the percentage of people that come out to see a 'specific' band per say... but the percentage of people that want to be around 'other' people. And that is really the key to maximizing any draw. Sometimes the venue is the destination. For good cover bands: the band is the draw. For years we've fostered a celebratory, party atmosphere at our shows. The benefit is drawing people that would never think to go out a see another cover band. Why do people go to a dance club? To dance and meet people. They aren't thinking about watching a band perform. That's when you have them... you have to work hard to capture their attention and make them want to return. It's only musicians that care whether people are deeply into the music we play and 'how' we play it. For most general audiences in the crowd they just want to dance, hear some of their favorite songs and be around their friends. It may be shallow, but it's a business.