Members MartinC Posted May 20, 2007 Members Share Posted May 20, 2007 Food and gigs go together. My first gig ever when I was 17 I got no money but I did get a chicken dinner. Over the years I've played in many restaurants and they usually give you food at some level. Some let you have whatever you want. Some, you get to choose from part of the menu, others just give you whatever they want. We do a of bitching here about the crap musicians have to put up with, but the food is often a positive perk that affords many of us to eat really well for free. Here's one of my best food gigs: We played a rehearsal dinner for a wedding. It was at a privately owned winery in Napa, CA The father of the bride was a famous political figure. They set us a table during a break and gave us filet mignon, prawns, and their own wine, which was incredible. After the gig, we complemented the host on the quality of his wine. He went and got the six or seven bottles that were opened, but still half full and gave them to us. It was a beautiful night to be drinking wine in that valley. Maybe my best one nighter eating gig ever.So, what are your best/worst food gig stories? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bigfatmonkeyboy Posted May 20, 2007 Members Share Posted May 20, 2007 Got booked to play a xmas party in a very nice hotel - a bit odd as we are not really as functions type band, more a bar and club rock band. Got taken for dinner there by the guy booking us - i only wanted to go and see what the venue was like, where we'd be playing. On the night, we got fed a full xmas dinner, courtesy of the company (employees paid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitar Centaur Posted May 20, 2007 Members Share Posted May 20, 2007 I can't eat before or during a gig. I'll hiccup and belch in the middle of singing a song if I do. I usually go to Dennys afterwards, and pig out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fingerpicker Posted May 20, 2007 Members Share Posted May 20, 2007 Late night at Denny's=buying larger pants Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mr.Hanky Posted May 20, 2007 Members Share Posted May 20, 2007 I can't eat before or during a gig. I'll hiccup and belch in the middle of singing a song if I do.I usually go to Dennys afterwards, and pig out. I'm all over that. Seems like a band ritual with us, after a gig or if we ever go on the road we always seek out the most god awful food and have at it. Waffle House, White Castle, Denny's, Cracker Barrel, are all favorite stops for us. Not to mention just about every diner in the state, there is nothing like some disco fries after a gig. Nightmare food!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitar Centaur Posted May 20, 2007 Members Share Posted May 20, 2007 Late night at Denny's=buying larger pants Not if you exercise regularly.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stype Posted May 20, 2007 Members Share Posted May 20, 2007 My band got booked once to play a halloween show at a polish society club in town. The kielbasa there....was amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Scafeets Posted May 20, 2007 Members Share Posted May 20, 2007 One of the perks of corporate gigs. OTOH, I don't think I'd take the stuff they sell at the bars we play for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted May 20, 2007 Members Share Posted May 20, 2007 I do a lot of gigs at a local mediterranean restaurant/winery, and also one out of town....I eat very well! Last night I had a Cajun/tiger shrimp pizza. Sometimes I have the lamb kebob, sometimes pork medallions....mmmmmmm! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ChordGirl Posted May 20, 2007 Members Share Posted May 20, 2007 We got to eat the filet at one of the weddings we played last summer. It really wasn't that good. The other wedding party told us if we wanted to eat we could, but it was $100/plate that would come out of our pay. Very few places we play offer us food anymore. I think that's because there's usually 5 or 6 of us to feed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Matter-Eater Lad Posted May 20, 2007 Members Share Posted May 20, 2007 Food and gigs go together? News to me. I never thought of it that way.I always eat something light before I leave. There's nothing worse than a full stomach when you are onstage. Just weighs you down. Makes you want to sleep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bassred Posted May 21, 2007 Members Share Posted May 21, 2007 Seems that back east a meal was included in the rate, you might not get free drinks all night, but you got a burger or some chickenfingers. On the west side it seems that you hae to puul teeth in some of these places just to get comped drinks or waters.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators BATCAT Posted May 21, 2007 Moderators Share Posted May 21, 2007 I have noticed it's kinda rare for venues I play in Seattle, SF, LA to feed bands- at best you get a bit of a discount- but when I play the smaller towns I seem to get more perks. There's a place I played in Belllingham that gives the bands half-off food, and I had sashimi-grade seared ahi tuna, potato gnocci, and grilled vegetables for like $6. It was un{censored}inbelievably good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GibsonGeek Posted May 21, 2007 Members Share Posted May 21, 2007 Last New Year's Eve, my band played at a nice upscale restaurant. I felt like a fish outta water. The place was full, no more reservations available, and everyone was in suits and ties and whatnot. We LOOK like a rock band (longish colored hair, tattoos, black nail polish, whatever), so I was a bit uncomfy. They treated and paid us very well, and we behaved well. They had a long table set up for us in the restaurant, and it was for a party of 12, which worked out nicely - 4 band members, 4 guests/dates, 4 crew members. "Anything you want" was the deal. I think everyone's plates were in the $40-70 range, plus lots of appetizers... and booze. I don't remember what I ordered, but I'm sure it was good. PLUS, they had these 3-foot tall tubes of beer, with a tap at the bottom. Holds 8 beers. We drank one in the bar while waiting for our table, and they put one on our dinner table, and later I had my own sitting next to me onstage. Good times. Also, it was funny to look around and see all these rich husbands sneaking peeks at our rock-chick dates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fishmanrod Posted May 21, 2007 Members Share Posted May 21, 2007 Naw, I never get fed. The ONLY time I recall was at a place called Yogy's, as in the bear. The owner was this HUGE First Nations guy and when we said we were going to grab something after setup he said no way I'll feed you. Best corn beef on rye and fries I'd had in some time, and I am the conoseur on CB on Rye. Of course, 2 hours later he was drunk out of his head SCREAMING for us to get back up on stage you lazy white *()^%*^)! 5 minutes into our break. What a night. As to post gig eating, the only place that is open after we get her all packed up in our town is called Admirals. This place is the ultimate dirty, gritty, populated with weird people greasy spoon, run by a family of I think Greeks. Pappa must be 100 and he is ALWAYS there, the man never sleeps. You get a cheeseburger and fries for like $4.75, in a styrofoam box the size of a shoe box, the burger is nearly the size of your head, and the fries fill the box. All that AND the floor show of the odd and deranged at 4 AM. And we are usually half in the bag when we arrive, which makes it even funnier. At 4 am half in the bag, grease is your friend! Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roy Brooks Posted May 21, 2007 Members Share Posted May 21, 2007 Some of the best gigs I have played involved getting to eat incredibly well. On the other hand I have played a couple gigs where the food absolutely sucked bad enough that I was not going to eat it. Once was a wedding reception. They served some kind of nasty looking and tasting southern variant of nouvelle cuisine. Another time I played a gig at a club that was part of a seafood restaurant. We were going to eat off the buffet. But instead of letting us go through the buffet they made plates for us. And it was the grossest {censored} they had and was all mixed together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Alan Roberts Posted May 21, 2007 Members Share Posted May 21, 2007 I'd play here: http://www.keatonsoriginalbbq.com/history.htm for food, anytime! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rhat Posted May 21, 2007 Members Share Posted May 21, 2007 my old guitar player from a bazillion years ago got this thing going on taking turns to treat on eats after the gig. Old joe never lost track of whos turn it was to treat. He was a real nazi on keeping score. Fast foward 37 years. we had band reunion where we all got together and surprised the old drummer by showing up at her gig .....I found her by googling her on the net and found out she was back in a band.. and had a gig near us. So we book a table in the bar and proceed to pretty well eat the place out of good grub ,,, and ran up a pretty good bar bill. When i was time to pay the thing ,, i said to old joe ,,, hey joe ,, I hate to tell you this ,, but its your turn to treat ..... needless to say he didnt pick up the tab ,, but the whole band including the drummer laughed their ass off .... I guess its times like those that making getting old worth it lol. rat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members C JoGo Posted May 21, 2007 Members Share Posted May 21, 2007 We setup/sound check--then the clients always feeds us~ before the performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members J.Paul Posted May 21, 2007 Members Share Posted May 21, 2007 We are comped the buffet at casinos and it's always incredible. At venues w/out comps or days off I eat Nutrisystem.It travels well and doesn't require refrigeration, just warm it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members B Money Posted May 21, 2007 Members Share Posted May 21, 2007 I usually buy a 20 oz. bottle of Coke and a couple of Little Debby "Oatmeal Cream Pies" before a gig. Gun all that down before the last set gets me energized. Occasionally I'll stop at the Burger King drive through after the gig, it's gross and greasy and totally awesome when your starving at 3am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JBJ Posted May 21, 2007 Members Share Posted May 21, 2007 the only gig ive ever been fed at was a homer for our old singers uncles birthday. fairly wealthy guy. marks and sparks food all round, free beer the full night and he gave us cash at the end of the night despite our protests. we did that a couple of times actually. i'd still do it even though she's an ex girlfriend. shame the rest of the band hate her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tucktronix Posted May 21, 2007 Members Share Posted May 21, 2007 Some of the best food I've ever ate at a gig was at a country club in Geneva, NY during one of their annual parties. They had a buffet, with some of best tasting BBQ chicken, spicy green beans, rice pilaf, not to mention awesome prime rib. While we're on the subject of food, the Dinosaur BBQ here in town has always been my favorite venue to play in that regard. Everything on the menu is half price for band members and their BBQ is one of the best in town:thu: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kevin T Posted May 21, 2007 Members Share Posted May 21, 2007 Over the yrs I've had some excellent and some very bad. I generally dont like to eat before gigs but weddings are usually a 6-7 hr ordeal so if midway we get fed its usually appreicated.Best gig w/ food (bar none) was Bobby B's BBQ & Blues Sommervile NJ. You got only $100 total and tips but were fed the best BBQ/soul food imaginable:) and the crowd knew the Blues and get this, applauded good solos:thu: Kevin "Kevmo" T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members J.Paul Posted May 21, 2007 Members Share Posted May 21, 2007 When I played with Michael English , he had a preference for eating right before the show.Unusual for a singer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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