Pro's & Con's of being the house band

[ned911]

Been asked to be the house band every Friday night at a local bar. What are the pro's and con's of taking on this gig.

 

1 Con is we loose the ability to book other venues on Friday's or full weekend gigs.

[B Money]

plus you have a gig EVERY friday night. I don't know about you, but I like to have a couple weekends off every month to do other things...go out to dinner, movies, socialize with friends, or just hang out at home.

My band used to have a standing gig one friday every month at a bar, and even that got to be a drag. Playing the same songs to the same people looking at the same 4 walls really got boring after awhile.

[2manband]

yeah, but on the other hand, you've got a gig EVERY Friday night- if your intent is to play out as much as possible, or to play at least once or twice a week, this gig will go a long way toward filling out your schedule, and (hopefully) your pockets.

 

Personally, I don't think I'd take it, but there are a lot of bands out there with different goals/priorities than mine that would jump on it.

[ned911]

We are trying to be booked 2 weekends a month. The other interesting issue will be that our drummer is in the National Guard and has duty 1 weekend a month.

 

Most likely won't take the gig (we are already booked once a month in this bar) but thought it would make an interesting discussion.

[fastplant]

Around here, being the house band is more of a scam. It locks you into that club and the club usually takes advantage of the band. Respectable bands around here always turn down the "offer."

[Beachbum]

 

Originally posted by ned911 Been asked to be the house band every Friday night at a local bar. What are the pro's and con's of taking on this gig. 1 Con is we loose the ability to book other venues on Friday's or full weekend gigs.

 

 

I guess it depends on how much you want the business and what the terms are.

 

It's great to be able to count on steady income if the $$ are right.

[rickkreuzer]

We've always tried to avoid being the "house band" because we felt we'd stagnate. Now, I'm starting to change my opinion after watching other successful clubs in town having the same good band in there week after week. I think the key to their success is that they keep working and practicing and learning new material. In fact, some of them haven't stagnated in the least bit.

 

At this point, I'm starting to look for a house job. Currently, we have about 3 clubs we can play at whenever we want for as long as we want. However, none of these would be the place I'd want to park.

[Outrider]

I have some friends who took a house band gig where the crowd was good, the following built up, they got treated & paid very well, and they became monster musicians because of the time & effort they put into it. They were there for years.

 

HOWEVER...the bar was (as many are) a giant, dysfunctional soap opera of illegal substances, lies, and personal drama. Once they got wrapped up in its everyday life, they couldn't get out. Ended badly...broken band, friendships, & relationships. Addiction & arrests. It was one of those worst-case-possible scenarios.

 

I like playing in bars, but because I don't hang out in them otherwise, I don't want to be locked into it every week. I might sign up for a couple weekends a month for a while, though, if the situation was right. Nice place to visit, but I wouldn't wanna live there.

[Roy Brooks]

I spent nearly five years playing two to five nights a week with the same band in the same bar. The owner of the bar was also the band leader. His wife sang. And their son played bass and harmonica.

Although it was a steady gig and I was glad to be playing every single week I was actually kind of relieved when the club finally closed. Way too much of the same old thing. The very last time I saw them or played with them was the last night the club was open.

[Tedster]

I was in a "house band" for a little over a year in the 80s.

 

Pros...a gig every week.

 

Cons...same drunks night after night. Have to really try to keep your setlist fresh or you will most assuredly stagnate...moreso than if you're playing a lot of different clubs. And the "such and such mile radius" clause...watch out for it. Some bar owners that hire house bands don't want you playing another club (if you find yourself with the odd week off) within, say, a 50 mile radius of where you're at.

 

I'd do a house gig, but for absolutely no longer than a year.

[dcooper830]

I have been playing in a local hotel bar in a house band situation for the last 3 years.

 

One thing I loved about it was there was no set up or tear down (unlesss we played out somewhere else.. which we did every so often).

 

I would just walk in with my guitar.. plug it in and go.

 

We were also able to rehearse there as well which was AWESOME.

 

I also like the steady money. It definitely paid my rent and then some.

 

But.. the hotel was sold last week and the new owners shut it down immediately. So we are out of that gig. Now we have no gigs lined up for the next month or two ... and I am less than broke!!

 

There is the stagnating issue.. the keeping the set list fresh issue.. and the bar soap opera issue. All those things definitely come into play in a situation like that.

[fishmanrod]

Agree with most of what has been said.

 

It's a question of priorities.

 

Will you otherwise have enough time as a band to rehearse, and persue other opportunities?

 

Make an agreement with the other members at what point you are going to cut and run. Consider it temporary no matter what., because it will be.

 

If you are a pro, try it. Good for chops, exposure, pay, experience.

 

If an amature, no way, you will not have the time and it will take the thing you love and make it hard, unhappy work.

 

My last house band gig was 6 weeks long and that was enough!

 

Cheers!

[Bandard]

"House Band" has always been to the advantage of the club. You're a house band until the house decides they don't want you anymore. No mutual decision. They love you when they're packed, and they'll dump you as soon as it's slow.

 

Sometimes it's like - do you want the title or the money? Is it an excuse to pay you less because you're working steady there?

 

They good thing always has been that you can work on new songs/practice while you're playing the gig - usually early in the evening when less people are there. If you're the "house band" the owner may cut you some slack to jam more and work out arrangements.

 

House Band may last 2 weeks, or 20 years depending on the mood and whim of the owner. I was in the House Band for all of one week. Everybody loved us, yabadadoo, and the second week, the owner calls us an hour before we're loading up to cancel. The bandleader gets pissed off at the owner and the steady gig is off.

[MDLMUSIC]

I'm currently in a semi-house band situation. I play the middle Saturdays each month in the lounge at a local club. In other words, I skip the first and last Saturdays. This is a pretty sweet deal since my Friday's are free to book gigs at other venues and so are the first and last Saturdays of each month.

 

This way I don't take myself out of circulation by only working at one place every weekend, but I also have a relatively steady gig.

[ned911]

I negotiated the deal as if we were getting booked as normal just for every Friday through the end of July.

 

Now I need to figure out how to minimize our PA so we don't lug so much stuff every week.

[BlueStrat]

It's a ball and chain. If it's your only job, it can be a good thing, job security an all that. If it's not your primary job, it quickly becomes little more than a second job. After a few weeks, your friends stop coming around, and you're left to entertaining obnoxious regulars. I tried it once, and it sucked the life out of me after about 4 months.

 

No thanks. If I'm going to take a second job, I'm going to get one that pays a hell of a lot more than that.

[squealie]

One of our bands was 'house-band' for a few months.

 

The 'house' was 6 hours away...

 

And it quickly became a chore.

 

If the scenario was right, I imagine it could work out well for everyone.... There are bands around here that drag the same ENORMOUS crowd around town...3 or 4 different bars...etc. In their case, I think they should BUY one of our many failing clubs and just set up shop.

[daddymack]

in the late 80s we had a houseband gig, every Saturday. At first, yeah, it was good for us to get a real chance t ohone our stage skills. Afer 3 months, it became an albatross around our necks.

The minuses:

As others have mentioned, you see the same 60% of the crowd everyweek.

You have to turn over new material every week.

You can't take a week off unless you can find someone to fill your slot that is acceptable to the club owner.

 

The pluses:

You really can build a local following, fairly quickly.

You can generate great local press.

You really do get to develop a great deal of 'stage smarts'.

You learn a lot of songs.

[spdolan]

I used to run an open mic nite every Monday. Man did it get to be a drag - college kids would come and hang while their {censored}ty buddies played, then leave when their buddy was done. Same faces, 4 walls, every week.

 

Not a good thing, in hindsight.

 

Be careful not to lock yourself in for too long - try it for a month and see if its something you like to do

 

Dolan