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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! > Music and Sports- Can We Get Along?
Music and Sports- Can We Get Along?
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jbone
2021 posts
Sep 06, 2015
7:37 AM
Tell me if this or something like it has happened to you in your live music career: You have a gig set up. You even double check as the date approaches. You load up and go, 8 miles or 80 miles from home base. Arrive, check in, set up, notice big screen TV's in the place, all blasting various games. Management stops by, a discussion takes place about TV's, band volume, start times, etc. Manager wants the sports customers to stay so the sound can't go off on the TV's. Yet you were given a gig and a start/finish time and you have completed your obligation to this point. It's not going to be possible to play music without complaints from some customers, other hand different customers will be disappointed if you don't play.
The place is one large room so there is no way to separate the two seemingly opposed events.

We were aware of a management change at this venue I'm using as an example. We were NOT aware that the new guys/gals had brought in TV's and had this plan in motion. What it looks like to us is, weekends at least in the fall are going to be game-watching parties. This pretty effectively leaves live music in the cold.

What we did: We made it known that we weren't all mad about it, but that we had a problem with toting/setting up our gear and now not getting to play our gig, especially with some folks asking us to play. Manager made an offer to pay us half to pack back up, and we'd call and reschedule later and come back to play at a later date. We took that deal and headed back home. BUT pretty much since it was a ways out of town, we more or less lost a whole day between not wearing ourselves down with other pursuits, then all the loading and unloading. Plus about 3 hours' driving in all. By the time we got back home it was really even too late for a rehearsal here. I must mention Jolene was raring to get the Strat out and even her warmup got some attention! We were completely set up and sound checked. Instead we took it all down, packed, and rolled home. Disappointing.

It remains to be seen if we can get another gig there. Weeknights were mentioned, but since I work days that's a tough one to go out of town and get back in decent time to work my job the next day.

Some years ago we had a Halloween gig, about 4 hours from home. It was a Friday and Saturday night deal. Costume party Friday night- which I and my gal took second place in! BUT Friday was also the big ball game night and patrons wanted to watch it. We ended up playing at halftimes and breaks and then waiting for the next big score or whatever. Frankly it was nerve wracking and a bit annoying. We did get paid, and it was a 2 night deal which was nice.

But there remains this dilemma. Can televised sports in bars and live music in those places reach a compromise? Are they mutually exclusive?

I'm very interested to hear your experiences and the solutions you have arrived at.
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The Iceman
2671 posts
Sep 06, 2015
7:44 AM
Roll with it. Play with big screens going. Don't get upset if you are not center of attention. Don't complain to bar owner. Play gig and get full pay. The time may come when your band's name on the marquee is enough to fill that bar, but don't push the issue.

Sometimes full pay in $ may sooth hurt egos.
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The Iceman
marine1896
371 posts
Sep 06, 2015
7:55 AM
The Iceman nailed it that's the way to go on that issue!
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Bilzharp
102 posts
Sep 06, 2015
9:16 AM
Most of the bar gigs we do have big screen TVs now. The owners generally keep the sound down though, because with the patron noise level it would be pointless. We do request that the TV behind the band (if there is one) be unplugged before we start. A few of the places that still book music on Thursday nights just put it on hold during (American) football season. Just realize that if a big cheer goes up from the bar during a big game, it probably wasn't for that hot solo you just played. ;)
jbone
2022 posts
Sep 06, 2015
10:11 AM
This was not a fractured ego trip for me. In fact the first solution the manager gave was, he would mute the TV's when we were ready. A few patrons asked him to leave the sound up though, and he made a decision based on how many patrons were there for sports and how many for music.
I have in fact played where TV's were going and indeed the cheers were for that touchdown and not my clever turn of phrasing on a harp. I didn't mind then and wouldn't now. Bright side is, we did get half pay where we could have been stiffed totally.

It's just a rising issue I foresee and so am looking for ideas on how to navigate those waters. We love playing to people, be it on the street or on a stage at a club. The foreseeable future holds every gig we can get in coming years, across the nation wherever we may stop in our travels.

I've been in bands which opened for trash disco dj's, which were a side attraction until the karaoke organizer got there, and so forth. Sometimes it's not easy to feel a bit devalued by club owners in those cases.
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Mirco
304 posts
Sep 06, 2015
1:50 PM
Here in San Jose, one of the regular spots for blues also functions as a sport bar/BBQ joint. Little Lou's BBQ hosts Aki Kumar's Thursday night blues jam and usually features music a couple other nights a week. Often these performances end up taking place at the same times as San Francisco Giants or 49er's games...

I've never heard a complaint from the musicians. They get paid, and they can potentially convert a few of the sports fans into music fans. It's also hilarious when someone hits a home run or scores a touchdown as someone is soloing, and the musician acts as if the crowd eruption is due to their musicianship instead of the game.

From the management standpoint, they want to bring in as many customers as possible. This area has a lot of diehard Giants/49er's fans.
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nacoran
8656 posts
Sep 06, 2015
6:30 PM
It might make a funny 'how to' mocumentary where a band tries to fit in with different weird venues. They could play Take Me Out To The Ballgame during the 7th inning stretch and write diddies for the home teams in one episode and maybe have them playing Every Girls Crazy Bout a Sharp Dressed Man and some guy does his laundry at the laundromat.

I think there are two problems here- there are just so many other forms of entertainment, most of them cheaper than going out for the night. That one there may not be much you can do about. The second is management that leaves you in the lurch like that. Of course they should tailor their bar to whatever brings in the crowd, but once you've shown up is not the time to be fiddling with whether they want to be a sports bar or a live music venue. That reflects poorly on the management in my book.

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Nate
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First Post- May 8, 2009
jbone
2023 posts
Sep 06, 2015
7:51 PM
This date we had was booked by an agent 2 months ago. A month ago the agent parted ways with the venue. The venue assured us- twice- that we were on for the 5th, 8 to 11, like we'd done several times there. What they had not planned for was the opening weekend of college ball and all the patrons who would show up to spend cash there.
Of course they need to make money to stay afloat, and the cheapest way out for them was to pay us off. No doubt they made back what they paid us in short order.

There may be no new dates at the joint, which will be a shame but there are new venues coming up all the time.

I guess my real question at this point is, why management could not have muted the TV's and we all could have done our thing whether it be play music, watch a game, or do snake handling or basket weaving. I'm willing to share.
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nacoran
8657 posts
Sep 06, 2015
8:29 PM
I'd say management screwed up. Maybe we need a Yelp! for venues for musicians to review clubs (and their owners, since they change ownership so often). If club owners knew that screw ups like this might hurt their ability to book acts in the future they might behave better. The problem right now is there are a lot of musicians compared to the number of paying gigs so even if they screw over one act they can probably find another. The other option would be to get a signed contract with a buyout clause that requires full payment. I'd argue that especially since a lot of places require you do some of the promoting and that some of your fans may show up that not getting to perform could damage your reputation. In reality, in that situation I'd argue they should pay you more, or at least comp anyone who showed up to see you a couple rounds.

In the future there may be some technological solutions. There are some really neat acoustic inventions out there. They is one in particular that involves directional sound that's been used in advertising... this was several years back so I imagine the technology is a little more mature, but probably not where it needs to be yet. It can basically focus sound so that just one person can hear it. I've sort of seen it in real life, although a lower tech version. At the Boston Science museum there is a giant room with the noise of all the people milling about, but in two corners there are these giant parabolic cones that focus sound. You can whisper into one and be heard across the room. If you combined that with some of the basic tracking technology that digital cameras have you could maybe beam different sound to different people in the room.



(There are ways to do similar things with images too). It might someday allow a venue to play let each patron watch a different show or some to listen to the band while others watch tv.

Of course, for a venue, a much lower tech solution would be to design their space to multitask. There are at least two local venues near me that have two seperate rooms. The front room, where the bar is, has the TVs. The back room is where they have the live music. I know not all venues have room for that. And from there I could go off on a tangent about how we zone and tax buildings in ways that discourage good use, but that would probably turn political. :) The two room setup really does seem to work well.



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Nate
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First Post- May 8, 2009

Last Edited by nacoran on Sep 06, 2015 8:34 PM
jbone
2024 posts
Sep 08, 2015
4:01 AM
Thanks to all for your input on this. It remains to be seen what the resolution will be at that joint. I'm hoping we can work it out and coexist.
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