A weekly Friday gig too burdensome?

[LiveMusic]

I am in good now with a bar owner and he has offered a weekly after-work gig for me with band. Say, 5:30pm to 8:30pm. (Then he almost always has another band starting about 10pm.) Pay is not great but it's not the worst I've seen either. Good news is he doesn't really care when we do it. I could pick any day of the week. But as for draw and making him happy long-term (and maybe more moola), Friday or Saturday would be better than Mon, Tue, Wed. (Thu is not available.)

 

But... I got to thinking about committing to a weekly Friday gig. I don't think I would do this Saturday at all unless pay is great. I was thinking about asking him about doing three out of four or "first three Fridays of the month" or something.

 

Any thoughts on this? Every week, even if the pay is good... I'm not too keen even at that at such a commitment. That sure would cramp your style.

 

Although, he's flexible. I could probably take off any week when needed.

 

I have no idea how a Friday after-work party will go but we'll try it.

[fastplant]

If the pay was good, I'd do it.

[zookie]

Last summer I did a weekly Tuesday night gig. It was a nice experience. You get very comfortable with a space after a couple of weeks.

 

Hate to state the obvious, but nothing lasts forever. Committing to a weekly gig rarely means committing for more than X weeks.

 

I would jump at a Friday regular gig, with the understanding that you may have another obligation once in a while.

[Beachbum]

It went great for me, I loved it. Lasted nearly a year until the bar was sold.

 

I did it every Friday like clockwork, it was a show people could depend on, and they knew it would be there every Friday.

 

I hope you have as much with your show as I did with mine. Good job.

[jackcheez]

If your band doesn't play out a lot it could be a great opportunity to tighten up. A gig is worth 5 rehearsals. If you do already play out a lot regularly...whatever.

[Rand-O-Monium]

Play,Dammit!

 

You get paid & still are done early enough to go out & do something.

[mrcpro]

I started a gig every Thurs. that I thought might go a couple of months or so. I ended up doing it for 3 1/2 years. Then I did another one that went almost as long. Both jobs ended when the rooms changed hands... one to a demolition crew...

 

They forced me to expand my songlist so I wasn't repeating myself as much, a good thing. You will see the same people over and over, those who make it part of their routine. This is not as bad as it sounds... I kinda like it.

 

I'm always moving around on weekends, mostly because that's the way clubs want it these days, so it's nice to have a regular room where people know they can always find you. I just started another Thurs. last month... we'll see how long this one goes.

 

Give it a try.

[elbow]

If your schedule allows it, I would say do it.

 

With kids and all, my schedule would not allow a Friday night, week in and week out.. at least not without some griping.

 

I do shows regularly, but always have to keep a schedule handy for me to refer to

[Frank Prince]

 

Originally posted by LiveMusic I am in good now with a bar owner and he has offered a weekly after-work gig for me with band. Say, 5:30pm to 8:30pm. (Then he almost always has another band starting about 10pm.) Pay is not great but it's not the worst I've seen either. Good news is he doesn't really care when we do it. I could pick any day of the week. But as for draw and making him happy long-term (and maybe more moola), Friday or Saturday would be better than Mon, Tue, Wed. (Thu is not available.) But... I got to thinking about committing to a weekly Friday gig. I don't think I would do this Saturday at all unless pay is great. I was thinking about asking him about doing three out of four or "first three Fridays of the month" or something. Any thoughts on this? Every week, even if the pay is good... I'm not too keen even at that at such a commitment. That sure would cramp your style. Although, he's flexible. I could probably take off any week when needed. I have no idea how a Friday after-work party will go but we'll try it.

 

I did one of those for a year about 15 years ago. It was a blast. We called it the Friday Afternoon Club. Played 5:30 - 7:30 efvery Friday. The pay was OK, $25-30, but not bad for 2 hours of play.

 

The conditions were great:

I'd show up with my gear about 20 minutes before the gig started and set up, no rehearsals, 2 45-50 minute sets.

I was second guitar, so basically I just followed what the other guys were doing and played solos when called on (most songs). The material was mostly old blues and 60s-70s classic rock (Cream, Creedence, Dead). We did our own versions, a lot of extended jams, and we developed a regular crowd who dug the {censored} out of us.

[Roy Brooks]

Dude, play those gigs.

[Blackwatch]

Yeah....I'd do it in a heartbeat... with the understanding that there will be some times that you wish you didn't have to do it...

[Jiggs]

 

Originally posted by Roy Brooks Dude, play those gigs.

 

 

^^ what he said.

[Outkaster]

I did this four 3.5 years on Wednesday nights. The advantage for a band is you get tight but it can become a job because you are always anchored to that club. Now we do it every other week so it is not bad but the crowd is a little smaller.

[BlueStrat]

I did a house gig for awhile-at first it was cool because you didn't have to look for work, but after awhile it became a ball and chain. I would always have friends invite us to the lake for a weekend, or to go to Seattle to a Mariners game, or other fun stuff that I had to turn down. Summers here are short, so I decided not to ever tie myself down again.

 

I can't speak to doing a "happy hour" gig regularly, as I've only done a couple, but I didn't care much for them. I'm probably not the guy to ask. Mostly ithe crowd was construction guys getting off work, and the logistics -getting off work early, setting up, doing the gig, getting out-were all a pain in the ass, especially to play for a bunch of dudes who didn't give a {censored} if there as a band or not.

[dblair]

Take it, then all you need is a couple of other clubs for an every Thursday and Every Saturday. Then you'll be set. Do it until something better paying comes along. Get your band tight and established. Once other clubs know your playing regularly you will have more cred and they will be more willing to hire you and pay you better.

[LiveMusic]

Okay, first gig is booked for week after next. If it goes well, I can have whatever I want for a regular gig.

 

Question now is would you think that a every-other-Friday would do better or one every Friday? Like 1st & 3rd Fridays.

 

In other words, is weekly too much? (Plus, if you do it every other week, you'd have freedom for other stuff. If it would draw significantly better twice a month versus four, that might be the way to go. Thanks for comments.

[bonscottvocals]

Depends on the place. If it's a tourist place, then yeah, you'd get a different crowd each week w/out having to travel to a lot of different clubs. If there's a regular crowd, prepare to learn a lot of stuff. I had to learn 500 tunes, and I still had people who wanted more. It was a local bar with the same people week after week.

[Outrider]

A regular gig can be a fun way to get better and build your set, but it has to balance out with your life. My family travels too much on weekends to do every Friday, and I'd hate being tied to that.

 

My Tuesdays, however.... Hell, I'm always around on Tuesdays. Mondays, wednesdays, Thursdays too.

 

If you're gonna take the gig, do it weekly for as long as you are enjoying it. You'll become a regular fixture and folks will remember/recognize you from that.

 

Good luck!