getting people to a gig

Im sure this has been addressed in the past, but Im wondering how some of you guys get a crowd to your gigs.

I know that we shouldnt HAVE to provide an audience, but the sad reality is that sometimes the venue wants a guarantee of 30-50 people.

We have some decent word of mouth, and work Facebook pretty fiercely, but sometimes its tough to get people in the door. Once we get them in, we keep them, for sure, and if there is an opening band for us, we manage to mostly keep their crowd too, but is there some other avenue of promotion that you guys use? How do you deal with the venue owner who is looking for a crowd?

I know a lot of this is elementary, but we are right on the cusp of NOT needing to bring our own crowds, but need some good turnouts at the next few gigs to push us to that level.

Any tips?

Now-a-days, I'd be doin emails with flyers or even a youtube link. Also put stuff ast the local music store... Kidnapping at gunpoint wouldn't hurt either (just kidding:facepalm:)...

The 5-step formula is exceptionally simple:

1) Play music that people in general (not your close friends and family) will want to hear in the first place (I'm not specifically saying covers; I'm talking about making sure that your music goes beyond simply being listenable, and steps into being memorable, compelling, catchy, attention grabbing, interesting, etc. All at once.). This needs to be music that they'd WANT to hear AGAIN at some point.

2) Be EXCELLENT at presenting #1, again the performance of said music should be memorable, compelling, catchy, attention grabbing, interesting, etc.

3) Don't over-saturate with too many shows.

4) Don't under-saturate with too few shows.

5) Repeat.

Again, SIMPLE FORMULA.

Execution of the above is where most people fail, especially in steps 1 and 2; unfortunately, there are no short-cuts, quick fixes or step-by-step manuals for accomplishing those.

also get front guy with nice boobs and looks hot in a skirt.

Tell 'em you own a concrete company, then make them an offer they can't refuse.

Boobs are a definite plus, but not the moob kind.

We hit a run of doing a couple of shows per month and were getting some really good turn-outs, then we took a couple months off and it's been a little rough kick-starting the audience-showing-up thing. Kind of lost momentum. This falls into Step 4 of Kmart's Theory. I think because of this slump, we now run the risk of doing Step 3... throwing too many shows out there, trying to compensate for Step 4. Steady build-up seems to work better, even if it's a slow process.

I also agree with that 5-step plan. Good stuff.

As far as getting folks in the door, I'd say that good old advertising is the best way to get the word out to the masses.

Let's do a little "spit-balling" - To borrow a formula from one of my previous jobs: for every 20 people you tell about your show, 5 may be interested, and of the 5, one will actually come to your show. So theoretically, if you tell 1000 people about your show, you'll end up with 50 of them coming down.

So now, what's the best way of telling 1000 people (who fit your audience demographic)? Maybe stuff like small posters in the window of stores or restaurants that cater to your type of crowd. Ask the club owner if it would be ok to put little 5" x 7" mini-flyers on the tables for a few weeks before your gig. As Carm does, send out email blasts to all the contacts in your address book (personal address book, that is!). Make sure to get the gig listed in your local newspaper's events listings of the entertainment section. Put ads up on Craigslist everyday for 2 weeks leading up to your show. You know...stuff like that.

Of course, if you have the resources, you could take out an ad in the entertainment section of the local paper.

just some ideas for you to mull over.

We got in with the local radio guy who does a one-hour show every Saturday that caters to our specific audience. Sure, it's NPR and the guy might only have 50 listeners on a given week, but we have gotten a bunch of fans out of that. Every little bit helps.

1-5) Put on a great show.

6) Play music your target audience wants to hear.

7-9) Put on a great show.

10) Play it well.

If you're having trouble getting exposure...find a DJ in town that is on a station that plays your style of music. Pay him to show up unaffiliated with the radio station...have him M/C, do prizes, games and so on...between sets - in some cases you'll get some radio exposure by name-dropping/venue-dropping on the air.

That can get the ball started. Doing 1-5 consistently (and changing it up!!!) is the key to getting a following.

There are people in town who aren't that good, that have a great following and will pack out any venue in town - which gets them booked at whatever price they want...damn near...lol

There are other people in town who are dripping with talent, but can't get a following....

It's all about the presentation. Great sound guy, great lights...it can make a mediocre band "AWESOME" to an audience.

1. Be awesome.

2. Have tits.

I kinda narrowed it down from the rest.

Got it... but narrowed down further: Have Awesome Tits.

That seems to work for just about anything.

will travel...

We used to pull some crowd pleaser gimicks they kepst the crowds interested and kept them coming back.

One night we'd stick tickets to the underside of the bar stools then we'd throw a raffel for come cheezy crap from a dollar store.

maybe first prize as a CD of the band or a T shirt. Of couse the best looking chick or the biggest table of regulars would wind up getting that.

We'd also play regular club and worked up a steak night with the owner. We'd have someone bring a BBQ pit in and cooks steaks for the crowd.

We'd split the profit with the owner and things worked out great for keeping the crowd there afterwards.

We were always doing fun things like that with the audiance. Sometimes it would br bringing a member from the audiance up on stage for a

spot interview and hand off a CD to them. Others it might be a dance championship, anything to make it more fun for the audiance where they get

persinally involved. Nothing worse than a bunch of drunks sitting around not talking to anyone. The band on breaks would network as well. We'd see

a table of fresh faces, we may hit them up singly or as a group. Get a lot of CD's sold that way too. We'd often make more on CD sales than we did being paid

at the gig. Main thing is finding the people who go out regularly and get them to come see you vs the other guy. It just takes time and careing about people to get

it to work. It is hardest now with the down economy though. People just havent got the cash to go out and listen to music.

The Economy seems to be one of the main culprits.Disposable income just isnt what it used to be.

Also, here in Long Island, NY, the live music scene is all but dead. Sure there are plenty of crappy bars you can play in, and as long as yet get a crowd of 30 you can get invited back to play another time, but who wants to do that? Speaking strictly for myself, Im spoiled. I like the places with a stage, a house sound guy, maybe some lights, and above all a GOOD bar with a dance floor. I used to play at a local place that had a pool table in the middle of the dance floor. We used to ask the owner to move it, but he wouldnt, because thats where people would throw their coats!

I think its important that you have a viable, vibrant live music scene, and unfortunately these days its simply not the case.

For you, there, maybe.

There are loads of active/vibrant music scenes all across the country even in the current economic toilet.

One only needs to read posts on this very board (Backstage With The Band, for example) for proof of that; there are any number of regular posters who are gigging to decent and larger crowds multiple nights each and every week, a fair number of them booked into 2012 and beyond.

I'm in Chicago; still TONS of venues in and around the city, still TONS of people going out to see bands at those same venerable locations any night of the week (except maybe Mondays for the most part). Plus new places popping up here and there as well (High failure rate for new ones? Absolutely, but that's the case even in good financial times).

I was actually just talking about here in Long Island, NY. Its just that for some reason, the vibrant scene that there was here back in the 80's and 90's has disipated to a large degree. No idea why, really. Maybe its got something to do with the economy, but in tough times people supposedly go to bars, and in good times, people go "out" (which means bars with imported beers). I know that New York city is still alive and kicking musically, but Im not willing to deal with gigs in the city. I travel there every day, and dont care enough about this hobby of mine to go back there on a saturday night. If I wanted to feed my family, though, I would definitely go to play in the city.

I bet Chicago has some GREAT venues! Its a great town.

both my current and previous bands have/had a chick singer and chick bass player.

this makes things very easy.

Is "The Green Mill" still open? One of my all time favorite Jazz Clubs.

Still chugging along, pretty much 7 nights a week, every week.

I went to Chicago for the first time two years ago. The wife and I stumbled on that place, and were promptly asked to leave without much explanation. We went back 10 minutes later to try and work out why, since we didn't think we'd done anything heinous. They'd been upset because she'd brought a coffee in from the place across the street. Wish they'd just said that instead of kicking us out.

Anyway, they let us back in after a short back-and-forth, and I'm glad they did. The show was great.

I've been there many, many times. Definitely my favorite Jazz club. Too bad it isn't a lot closer to the East Coast!

I always tried to catch Paul Wertico and John Moulder there, as often as I could, but sadly it's been at least 10-12 years since I last got the chance.

We saw a university jazz band there. They were very entertaining.

not just girls, but hella cute fun girls.