The first gig you ever played - what was it like?

[Terry Allan Hall]

Originally posted by Stupid Boy Well, I understand the point that musicians eager to play for fun rather than profit screw over the working musician. I think it's an act of ego to demand a profit for every show you play, but I'll concede the point on that one. No, it's just a business, like any other. Where I'm from, the band to venue ratio is such that about four or five bands get about 95% of the gigs. It is absolutely impossible for a start up band or a band that isn't much good but enjoys playing to get a paying show. It's utterly rediculous for a band like mine (still in it's infancy) to expect to get paid anything more than a very small amount. Pretty much the bands that are getting paid are the only ones getting shows in the first place. Could it be that your band is NOT looking at ALL the potential gigs out there? Bars/clubs are only a tiny fraction (and as a rule, the worst paying fraction at that!)...I play several times a week, making excellent money, but I haven't played in a bar in about 4 years, and the poor pay relative to what I earn (averaging $25/hourly, counting driving/set-up/tear-down, as well as playing time) is only one reason. I'll wager most club owners feel like they're getting anally raped without lube as well. For some perspective on how much a band actually brings in; a band I know played a show at a venue that pays a percentage of ticket sales. they made 75 cents each. If business is that bad for that bar, live music won't help 'em...better management might, though. Obviously, the venue is NOT advertising effectively and/or giving the public a reason to patronize their venue over the others in that area. I like to play music for the simple reason that I like to play music. Anyone who became a musician for the money is grossly misguided. I think that a fans response is infinitely better at determining the value of my music than some guys money. Well, that a great way to stay amateur, certainly. Should you ever aspire to be a professional, may I respectfully suggest you read up on the business of music, to get some perspective.

 

[miles to go]

Originally posted by brassic I didn't want to get involved in all this sniping, but I have to comment. Very few bands on the "just for fun" tip have this sort of luxury, and you're not helping your case at all with the "I'm alright jack, so screw you" attitude that the above statement conveys (no offense). My ex is senior engineer at a big-name studio and although he would do freebies if I asked him, I wouldn't dream of it. In fact, if I'm hooking him up with a gig, I do my best to make sure he gets paid the best rate possible. It's not fair to ask him to give away what he otherwise spends up to 80 hours of his week doing for a living. Anyway, this thread has just deteriorated into a load of bickering. You all agreed on the point that playing for free for charity or a friend's private bash was cool, but giving freebies to promoters otherwise making a bomb isn't, so can't you all just leave it at that? Or at least start separate thread about it?

 

 

I guess we well and truly derailed you thread. Sorry for my involvement in that.

 

As for the original subject: My first gig, outside of school band recitals and the like, was at age 15. Some friends of the family were involved with putting on a charity race for kids, and we were hired as the entertainment. I thought it went pretty well at the time, but listening to the tape years later tells a different story.

[BlueStrat]

Originally posted by miles to go I guess we well and truly derailed you thread. Sorry for my involvement in that. As for the original subject: My first gig, outside of school band recitals and the like, was at age 15. Some friends of the family were involved with putting on a charity race for kids, and we were hired as the entertainment. I thought it went pretty well at the time, but listening to the tape years later tells a different story.

 

 

My first gig was at age 16, at a talent show, playing and singing "Machine Gun Kelly" ( a James Taylor song) solo on my acoustic guitar in front of about 800 people. I was a nervous wreck. My fist band gig was also at age 16, where we played for 8 hours for a dirt bike club banquet in a grange hall for two hundred bucks. The hours were bad enough, but we only knew about 20 songs, so we played them over, and over, and over, and over...and the people wouldn't leave, and nobody told us we could quit after four hours. We were so green, we thought we had to play until everyone left.

[Tele Vision]

Originally posted by brassic I didn't want to get involved in all this sniping, but I have to comment. Very few bands on the "just for fun" tip have this sort of luxury, and you're not helping your case at all with the "I'm alright jack, so screw you" attitude that the above statement conveys (no offense). My ex is senior engineer at a big-name studio and although he would do freebies if I asked him, I wouldn't dream of it. In fact, if I'm hooking him up with a gig, I do my best to make sure he gets paid the best rate possible. It's not fair to ask him to give away what he otherwise spends up to 80 hours of his week doing for a living. Anyway, this thread has just deteriorated into a load of bickering. You all agreed on the point that playing for free for charity or a friend's private bash was cool, but giving freebies to promoters otherwise making a bomb isn't, so can't you all just leave it at that? Or at least start separate thread about it?

 

 

I play music for a living. I don't have a "day job". I'll play for free for fun, like sitting in with a friends' band for a set, but I'll never work for free. We've walked on booked shows over a CDN$300 discrepancy in pay before. I'd rather not work than devalue the band and industry, and demean myself.

 

Imagine your boss asking you one morning if you wouldn't mind working for half your regular salary that day.

[guitarmonster]

My first real show was several months back and we opened for Molly Hatchet! We jammed for a month or two, had about three serious (sort of) rehearsals, two of our members were drunk and couldn't be found at two minutes to sound check, we had no active monitors and couldn't hear a thing, played about five songs and forgot most of the words. It was great!