Members elsongs Posted August 31, 2009 Members Share Posted August 31, 2009 My band played a gig last Friday...the house was filled to capacity (small place, 100 people), there were three bands; we got the wildest response and most people dancing, and even one person even pulled me aside and told me, while lugging my gear out at the end of the night, "Don't tell the other bands, but I thought you guys were the best!" Most of the crowd was there for the other bands, but we got the greatest response. So what's the problem? We had a mailing list clipboard...no one bothered to fill it out. We clearly played a great show, but the in-show promotion was pretty much fail. What did we do wrong? Or do people just expect short-term entertainment, and forget about it later on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members riottron Posted August 31, 2009 Members Share Posted August 31, 2009 Take the board to them, meet the fans and then ask them to put their myspace/email so you can keep in touch. When money was better it was nice to keep a pocket full of stickers or something else to hand out but just talking with them for a minute will gain you a fan. If it seems the talk is going long and you need to talk to more people just let them know you need to go and thank everyone else and you will email them for the next show so you can hang out again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members elsongs Posted August 31, 2009 Author Members Share Posted August 31, 2009 Thanks, good advice...but we all have gear to pack up :( Especially me, I brought 3 keyboards, 2 stands, a submixer and a drum machine/sampler to the show...Then the next act goes on and everyone's attention span is gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members B Money Posted August 31, 2009 Members Share Posted August 31, 2009 We clearly played a great show, but the in-show promotion was pretty much fail. What did we do wrong? Or do people just expect short-term entertainment, and forget about it later on? I think this is a large portion of any audience, but there are always a few folks in the crowd that you can turn into fans. But you gotta get out there and press the flesh, introduce yourself to a some people that seemed to be enjoying the band and ask if they'd like to be on your mailing list. As you experienced, very few people are going to go out of their way to contact you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GCDEF Posted August 31, 2009 Members Share Posted August 31, 2009 You need to bring a friend or two to work the crowd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members musicmanmu Posted August 31, 2009 Members Share Posted August 31, 2009 You need to bring a friend or two to work the crowd. This +1,000. Give a buddy a couple of beers to work the crowd. Better yet, a hot female friend, girlfriend or wife is even better. My fiancee is my band's biggest booster. She befriends other hot chicks in the bar and brings them into the fold, which attracts more hot chicks, and more dudes, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jeff42 Posted August 31, 2009 Members Share Posted August 31, 2009 This +1,000.Give a buddy a couple of beers to work the crowd. Better yet, a hot female friend, girlfriend or wife is even better.My fiancee is my band's biggest booster. She befriends other hot chicks in the bar and brings them into the fold, which attracts more hot chicks, and more dudes, of course. +1042! we have a few band friends and one member's wife that does this for us. it works! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members riottron Posted August 31, 2009 Members Share Posted August 31, 2009 yeah girls can work well but there is nothing like the band talking to the crowd. *to OP, wait till after everything is down and start talking to them. They havent forgot you in that short of time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted August 31, 2009 Members Share Posted August 31, 2009 This +1,000.Give a buddy a couple of beers to work the crowd. Better yet, a hot female friend, girlfriend or wife is even better.My fiancee is my band's biggest booster. She befriends other hot chicks in the bar and brings them into the fold, which attracts more hot chicks, and more dudes, of course. Exactly what I was going to say. In one band, we had the drummer's 22 year old daughter and a friend walk around through the crowd with an e-letter sign up sheet and CDs and T-shirts for sale. It worked great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SunRaFan Posted August 31, 2009 Members Share Posted August 31, 2009 How old was the crowd? For the under 30 crowd, many of those people are going to be on a social networking site. They aren't going to sign a mailing list, because they will just connect with you online through whichever site they use if they are interested. My last band never bothered to bring an email list to gigs, and we had a very large number of online contacts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members elsongs Posted August 31, 2009 Author Members Share Posted August 31, 2009 How old was the crowd? For the under 30 crowd, many of those people are going to be on a social networking site. They aren't going to sign a mailing list, because they will just connect with you online through whichever site they use if they are interested. My last band never bothered to bring an email list to gigs, and we had a very large number of online contacts. Most was under 30, some in their 30s and 40s (that was our crowd ) I did bring up the fact that we're on Facebook and Twitter, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members elsongs Posted August 31, 2009 Author Members Share Posted August 31, 2009 yeah girls can work well but there is nothing like the band talking to the crowd. *to OP, wait till after everything is down and start talking to them. They havent forgot you in that short of time Thanks. That's also a good way to put people to work. I always get people who ask "Hey, put me on the guest list!" Which is lame if they're just gonna see the show for free and that's it. If we put them on the list, and they work for us getting some promotion, then that's worth it. We've done that in the past, I just totally forgot about it this time since I was too focused on the performance, where to set up gear on such a small stage, etc, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted August 31, 2009 Moderators Share Posted August 31, 2009 Now play the same venue and kill again. And again. Soon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tele-vania65000 Posted August 31, 2009 Members Share Posted August 31, 2009 Now play the same venue and kill again. And again. Soon... You may even get your OWN gig. Three bands on the bill, eh? Must have been a great paying gig, I mean "show." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members riottron Posted September 1, 2009 Members Share Posted September 1, 2009 I know that alot of musicians use myspace/facebook etc as the only form of communication with their fans but I feel like this is why numbers are fewer at shows than in the past. -Yes, this is a fact. Nothing at all is better than personal human contact with your fans, I beg all of you to ask for email addys if not phone numbers and keep in contact with your fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LightingPimp Posted September 1, 2009 Members Share Posted September 1, 2009 via US Mail also ? We have never once asked for anyones email addy to send them anything , we simply let them know via our banner that we have myspace & Facebook . Our singer normally does it like this to make them pay attention. Singer: ok everyone when ya get home tonight , after the show and your sitting infront of your computer at 4 am in the morning in your underware talking to that guy from Dateline NBC and surfing midget porn. Take a minute to add us on myspace and look us up on facebook send us something silly and we will send ya something silly back. And while your at it make sure to take notes on the dates were playing next .. thanks everyone have a good night . I know if i was at a show and someone came upto me to from the band and wanted to get my email addy or phone number ( unless its a hot chick) and then not even would i give it to them . I get enough stuff in my inbox muchless some {censored} from a band thats going to be sending me things ... and if a band really asked for my number so they can call me to remind me that they have a show .. well i wouldnt like that any either:facepalm: I say offer them the option to remember your bands name enough to want to look you up or join your myspace / facebook pages cause if they cant remember your name to look you up they sure dont want you spammin the inbox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Devlin Posted September 1, 2009 Members Share Posted September 1, 2009 A friend's band got most of their "online" info on big stickers and stuck it to their equipment. Guitar, Bass Drum, etc. Having a friend work the crowd works really well though, I've done this on occasion for people and it's great to meet new people! You could alway ask the barman if you could have a break between bands (say 5mins+) and then you guys can go in and talk to people, hell just ask the next band... "Hey guys can we have a min to talk to the people before you start." Most people can be quite reasonable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted September 1, 2009 Members Share Posted September 1, 2009 via US Mail also ? We have never once asked for anyones email addy to send them anything , we simply let them know via our banner that we have myspace & Facebook . Our singer normally does it like this to make them pay attention. Singer: ok everyone when ya get home tonight , after the show and your sitting infront of your computer at 4 am in the morning in your underware talking to that guy from Dateline NBC and surfing midget porn. Take a minute to add us on myspace and look us up on facebook send us something silly and we will send ya something silly back. And while your at it make sure to take notes on the dates were playing next .. thanks everyone have a good night . I know if i was at a show and someone came upto me to from the band and wanted to get my email addy or phone number ( unless its a hot chick) and then not even would i give it to them . I get enough stuff in my inbox muchless some {censored} from a band thats going to be sending me things ... and if a band really asked for my number so they can call me to remind me that they have a show .. well i wouldnt like that any either:facepalm: I say offer them the option to remember your bands name enough to want to look you up or join your myspace / facebook pages cause if they cant remember your name to look you up they sure dont want you spammin the inbox I dunno....every myspace message I get shows up as an alert in my inbox anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pjrake Posted September 1, 2009 Members Share Posted September 1, 2009 we have a merch girl that's very good at getting emails and selling CD's during our show. it's not easy going up to strangers and asking them for something. you have to find someone that's good at it. -PJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LightingPimp Posted September 1, 2009 Members Share Posted September 1, 2009 I dunno....every myspace message I get shows up as an alert in my inbox anyway. Thats why i dont use my reg email for myspace / facebook I only know i have it there when i log in to one of them. But on the flip side of it , if you are getting them in your inbox that means you thought enough of that persons band etc to atleast join one of those pages to get that email in your inbox which proves my point that the band didnt need to solicit any emails at a show to start with :poke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Alex_SF Posted September 1, 2009 Members Share Posted September 1, 2009 Have some business cards printed up, if you haven't already for gig-booking purposes, with your myspace/facebook/website/etc. on them, and hand them out while working the room between sets. That gives people something tangible to remember you (and your facebook/myspace ID information) by when they wake up the next morning and empty out their pants pockets. 123print is very reasonably priced and fast, just to name one company that I've used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MikeyParent Posted September 16, 2009 Members Share Posted September 16, 2009 Have some business cards printed up, if you haven't already for gig-booking purposes, with your myspace/facebook/website/etc. on them, and hand them out while working the room between sets. That gives people something tangible to remember you (and your facebook/myspace ID information) by when they wake up the next morning and empty out their pants pockets.123print is very reasonably priced and fast, just to name one company that I've used. Ding Ding Ding! That's what we do and it has worked out great. Our contact info is on our biz cards (including website addy where they can click through to our facebook group). We hand them out to anyone who approaches us, we will put them on tables also. Our facebook group has over 400 members... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members williamgatesens Posted September 17, 2009 Members Share Posted September 17, 2009 Nothing at all is better than personal human contact with your fans, I beg all of you to ask for email addys if not phone numbers and keep in contact with your fans. bandmember: hey man its John from thatonebandfan: oh, hi!bandmember: so we have a show next week at the blanketyblank bar, you should go!fan: oh, ok thanksbandmember: so yea...fan: yea...bandmember: ...fan: well...bandmember: ok yea, gotta go, bye!fan: yea, bye unless it was a band that was somewhat big, i'd put a phone call like this on the same level as those calls i get from cooldude at guitar center calling me about the latest "sale" or calling to see how my last purchase worked out ugh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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