What would you do?

[burdizzos]

This will be the second gig we've thrown at them for free.

 

I have no problem with that and I'd really like to work with them in the future for mutual benefit, but it doesn't look lik ethat's going to be the case.

[burdizzos]

 

Hey. As a backup. I'd recommend you look into renting a flat trailer. Kinda like those landscaper trailers. Get something that COULD function as a stage, just in case. Then get four lengths of 4x4 posts, with T-nuts installed in the end, to make quick floor jacks. Use T-nuts for 3/8" threads, and have four 3" long 3/8" carriage bolts. Dirt cheap to make, and will give you a bounce-free stage.

 

 

{censored} that, I'll just set up on the ground. There's no way I'm going to sink any more time or money into this.

 

If we routinely played outdoor gigs where we'd benefit from a stage, I'd build something, but not for this {censored}.

[lokidecat]

fire your band's manager.

 

hire someone with a clue

 

do the gig

 

rock it out

[burdizzos]

fire your band's manager. hire someone with a clue do the gig rock it out

 

 

 

The booking guy is the singer/guitarist.

 

[Bryan316]

ALLRIGHT! Let's hear it for singers who are allowed to be in charge of ANYTHING!

 

 

 

*crickets*

[J the D]

A lot of grief can be avoided by developing a standard rider for your band that can be given to anyone engaging your services. Then they have what you need in writing. A simple contract for services also eliminates a lot of problems.

[burdizzos]

 

A lot of grief can be avoided by developing a standard rider for your band that can be given to anyone engaging your services. Then they have what you need in writing. A simple contract for services also eliminates a lot of problems.

 

 

 

I couldn't agree more. I really would like to start running this thing like a buisness, but it isn't my bus to drive.

 

If we get where we want to be, the band should make nearly $100k next year. We will clear around $40k this year. There is no reason for us to continue with the amateur hack routine. There is serious cash involved here and the best way to maximize that income is to incorporate and start acting like professionals.

[ThudMaker]

....but without proper preparation, it's a disaster waiting to happen.

That's the frustrating thing right there. Perhaps the event organizer is used to location type stuff where they pull the van up and press play. Maybe they don't understand electrical needs, equipment setup, etc. I have to assume as detail oriented as you seem to be that this was already covered. Good luck, Burdi. It could end up being lots of fun, too.

[Zeromus-X]

The power is my biggest concern. For all I know they're going to run 500 feet of extension cord from the arena to the parking lot and we'll be running 3,000W of PA and a full light rig off five 100' 18-gauge extension cords plugged end-to-end laying on hot concrete until it melts.

 

I use an electronic kick drum, so I can't even say power isn't a concern of mine as the drummer. If my {censored} gets fried, I'm screwed, and all of a sudden my paying gigs become a huge {censored}ing problem. We're booked 2-3 times a week and destroying equipment to accomodate a free show is not top on my list of {censored} to do this weekend.

[burdizzos]

I'm not really worried about power or damaging our equipment.

 

We can run our entire rig on an 18 gauge extension cord without melting it, but if that's what they have for us, I will make an issue of it.

[burdizzos]

Well, it turned out to not be horrible.

 

The weather was beautiful.

 

The crowd didn't seem to give much of a crap that we were there, for the most part. There might have been 100 or so people that lingered around outside after the doors opened to watch the band.

 

It might have helped get some festival type gigs with the country music station, but who the {censored} knows. Those people make their living talking {censored}.

 

We only played for an hour and a half.

 

I was home before 9:30.

[JeffBass]

I was going to say, "I'm sorry but it sounds ridiculous to me, tell them to piss off" but it seems I'm too late!!

[Thunderbroom]

Glad to hear it went okay.

 

I mentioned a while that a booking agent wanted to represent us (not one of the local Chicago jags). They complained about our image and our lack of a professional picture. We've just been ignoring them. Last week they contacted us to play a gig sponsored by a small country station for free. We've decided to tell them to piss off. We've done fine on our own and they've yet to deliver a decent gig despite their claims to be representing some major Nashville acts.

[MikeMess]

Well, it turned out to not be horrible. The weather was beautiful. The crowd didn't seem to give much of a crap that we were there, for the most part. There might have been 100 or so people that lingered around outside after the doors opened to watch the band. It might have helped get some festival type gigs with the country music station, but who the {censored} knows. Those people make their living talking {censored}. We only played for an hour and a half. I was home before 9:30.

 

 

You can't build us up like that and then say "it turned out to not be horrible". What happened? Did the radio station do anything for you guys?

[burdizzos]

Here's where it gets retarded. I'm not entirely certain who brought this gig to us. It seems that our points of contact along the way were Old Dominion University reps since it was at the Ted Constant Convocation Center on the ODU campus.

 

Those tricks were all buy useless and had no idea what was involved with booking a band or what a band might need in order to play a show. So most of my complaints are on the band for not getting everything done in advance.

 

The radio didn't so {censored} for us. They didn't promote us as part of the event as the claimed they would. So we returned the favor by not really saying {censored} about them while we had a captive audience. Instead, we thanked all of the radio stations that were represented at the event.

 

The guy from the major country station was kind of a douche. Our singer/guitarist chatted him up a good bit while we were loading out, shockingly.

 

Who knows if it will turn into anything for us. I frankly don't give a {censored}.

 

It actually would have been a fun gig if proper planning had gone into it.

 

Anti-climactic, I know, but that's how things often work out.

[MikeMess]

Oh well, at least it wasn't epic fail. I know I get mad at the people that book shows for my bands when they don't get all the info.

[Kindness]

What would I do? I would've played it, been annoyed, made plans not to do that again. Forget about being professional, my hobbies are more organized than that.

[JeffBass]

After the gig I would have blown up the pickup truck stage with some good pyrotechnics! That would have made the radio station news.

[burdizzos]

 

After the gig I would have blown up the pickup truck stage with some good pyrotechnics! That would have made the radio station news.

 

 

 

There was no stage, pickup truck or otherwise. I'm not even certain that event organizers could put two trucks next to each other.

[dknBlue]

What a saga! What if anything can be (re)learned?

It's an all too common theme that we walk into a gig unprepared and end up working way too hard to get setup and start the gig on time. ~ ALLRIGHT! Let's hear it for singers who are allowed to be in charge of ANYTHING! ~ A lot of grief can be avoided by developing a standard rider for your band that can be given to anyone engaging your services. Then they have what you need in writing. A simple contract for services also eliminates a lot of problems. ~ The crowd didn't seem to give much of a crap that we were there, for the most part. There might have been 100 or so people that lingered around ~ I'm not entirely certain who brought this gig to us. The radio didn't do {censored} for us. They didn't promote us as part of the event as the claimed they would.

Been there, done that (as we all probably have.) I swore off freebies many moons ago, but still get cornered into 'em once in awhile. Usually by a singer/leader, where there's no stage, no time for setup/teardown, other bands & JQ Public walking right on the equipment (especially nice when they do that while you're playing!), the promised *free food* is inedible/gone, whoever the benefactors are don't even have the decency to show up or say thanks...

These days the abundant startup bands are all willing to do this & worse for free, so the cheap-asses who should be *buyers* all try to get Pros to do everything for free also.

Last one I did 10 months ago, and it'd better be THE last, was a 'walk for the cure' at the community college track. My best friend, the drummer, had to rush his wife into emergency surgery the night before for internal hemorrhaging due to a botched cervical cancer surgery. He showed up toting all 4 kids just barely in time to throw his kit up and jump behind it, it was 108 degrees where we played in the full sun, the kids hadn't eaten so my wife got 'em weiners (nobody even brought us water) and when it was all over the dumbass singer who booked it threw a fit at the drummer cause he was "almost LATE which would'a made us look UNPROFESSIONAL."

Did anybody from 'the cure' even talk to us, or him? Did any of the couple hundred people pay any attention to us at all?
Hell no.

His wife had nearly died that morning from what we were supposedly *benefitting* and nobody other than my wife & I even gave him a hug. 2 hours later (barely time to get the kids to a relative) we had to play that night's gig, after which the singer did sympathize. After working a 12 hour day and having been up more than 36 hours, his wife nearly dead and kids all stressed, singer/m*f'er didn't even apologize, or thank him for NOT blowing the gigs off.
He's an incredible drummer, could've called a sub in but it wouldn't have been the same. (BTW, despite it all he played his ass off at both gigs - and she's OK now.)

Having been a landlord & tradesman/subcontractor I know the value of ALWAYS getting a written agreement. Having a "standard contract & rider" even for freebies is a very good idea - and if the 'organizers' can't agree in time & adhere, walking away IS "Professional."

Plus it's a good idea to befriend somebody with a flatbed truck & have a big generator/power inverter...

[burdizzos]

This is the last time I will do something like this.

 

Every time I've done a charity gig, it's been a pain in the ass and I never leave the gig feeling like I had done some good.

 

You hit it right on the head with the statement about the number of upstarts that will work for free. I know of a few of them and that who we should recommend when asked to do a gig like that. Declining the gig due to a scheduling conflict, but sending the promoter in the direction of a band that will be more than happy to do the gig is a far better option, in my opinion.