joshnat
60 posts
Sep 27, 2010
3:27 PM
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...getting paid NOT to play!
We had an afternoon harvest festival gig on Saturday near Boston, followed by an evening gig at a BBQ restaurant in Manchester (ManchVegas), NH. Upon arriving at the restaurant we were informed that the manager who booked us had been fired, and they had no idea that we were coming. To their credit, they let us set up and we started on time. The restaurant when we started was about 1/2 full.
About 1/2 way into our second set, the restaurant was completely empty! This is not uncommon for us (and yet, venues keep re-booking us!), and the assistant manager came over between songs and told us, "That'll do." We were done for the night, and had only played half of the 3 hours we had originally been booked for. "Are they gonna pay us?" was the next question. Not only did they pay us, but part of the deal was a meal voucher for a certain dollar value, which we exceeded. Oops. But they covered it!
All's well that ends well, I guess. Nice folks, but we've unfortunately put the place on our "no fly list."
We are usually pretty busy over the summer, with at least one, sometimes two gigs every weekend. But the bars and restaurants have been slooooow. To the point of empty. Last summer wasn't like this, I don't think.
Anyone else experiencing the slowdown this way?
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Last Edited by on Sep 28, 2010 9:07 AM
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tookatooka
1751 posts
Sep 27, 2010
3:34 PM
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Have you got the managers phone number handy?
I could do every weekend if he's interested :)
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joshnat
61 posts
Sep 27, 2010
3:35 PM
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Sure, but you'd have to not travel to Manchester to not do it.
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Last Edited by on Sep 28, 2010 9:07 AM
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MrVerylongusername
1257 posts
Sep 27, 2010
4:26 PM
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I have to disagree, if you don't get to play, you don't get to have fun! Money or not!
Did a gig this weekend that was an absolute blast. Nothing beats playing to a room that's loving what you do - had 'em dancing from the second number. When I called the last number, a guy starts passing round a tip-jar to encourage us to keep playing for another 30 minutes. We made £65 in tips, on top of the £400 we were already getting off the venue. Nice work! We played Cissy Strut for 10 mins and a couple of encores we had in the bag anyway. Easy.
Gigs like that don't come very often.
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joshnat
62 posts
Sep 27, 2010
5:56 PM
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Of course, you're right. But it's not much fun playing to an empty room. It's sort of like rehearsal but you don't get to sit down.
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Last Edited by on Sep 28, 2010 9:07 AM
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garry
7 posts
Sep 27, 2010
7:55 PM
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we played the last two weekends, both for good causes. didn't make a penny, but had a blast.
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oldwailer
1353 posts
Sep 27, 2010
8:02 PM
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Hey! I have not played there the last 3 weeks in a row, and I've never been paid yet! Who do I not talk to about not getting paid?
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jbone
407 posts
Sep 28, 2010
4:34 AM
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about 1/4 of our public dates are freebies. benefits for friends in the music community, fundraisers, etc etc. often these are the best sets. people are more prone to enjoy themselves if they have just dropped a door cover for a good cause i think.
one of our early-on gigs was at a club where we'd been doing happy hour. it's out on the fringe, almost totally in the sticks. we booked a friday night, went out and set up, grabbed a bite. we'd gotten there early so we could relax before taking the stage. as 8:00 approached, the owner came over to where we were shooting pool and asked us to wait until 9:00 to start. weird but ok.....until i saw why.
the small crowd gathered at the bar was watching "don't forget the lyrics" on the idiot box!!! we'd been upstaged by a reality show about basically karaoke!
at 9:00 we did take the stage. nobody apparently cared. after about 3 songs i turned to Jo and asked if we had any ice cream at home. she said yes, and we packed up and left. we've never booked there again by our choice. the place is home to a 7 year to date jam night which we do attend, and we've done benefits and fundraisers there, but our thinking is, why set ourselves up to be upstaged by a tv show again?
we also once played on the only floating restaurant in the area. which has been actually sunk for about 3 years now. we came in and set up while the crowd was waiting to board a riverboat for a cruise. once they had all boarded we started playing to just a few people. halfway through the set it was obvious that Jo's guitar was way out of tune. she could not get it back in tune, and i even tried. the humidity was huge there, right on the river, and the restaurant was open to the breeze and had "swamper fans" blowing moist air in. we struggled through a set and when we took first break the manager let us know that the party on the riverboat was coming back and bringing their own dj, so he paid us in full- $200- for 8 or 10 songs! not a bad night's work.
i once traveled with a band about 5 hours north to an old mill that was being restored, and we had a gig at a fundraiser there. the pay sounded really great. night before it began raining and never really stopped through the next day. but the contract said we had to show up to get paid. also that a covered stage was provided. when we arrived the stage was a 30-foot flatbed trailer under some trees at the edge of a pasture. we set up between rain squalls and covered everything up with trash bags and boxes and waited. eventually the promoter by and told us he was pulling the plug, no pay, sorry, blah blah. so i had driven a total of nearly 10 hours to get canceled due to weather, and the promoter backed out of paying even though we had a contract.
it's a terribly lop sided business. usually lopped over to "you lose"!
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joshnat
63 posts
Sep 28, 2010
9:00 AM
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We often compete with TV. Sports is one thing, but invariably "Cops" is on when we play, and we try to time it just right to start playing when the first shirtless guy with a mullet gets arrested.
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Last Edited by on Sep 28, 2010 9:06 AM
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joshnat
65 posts
Sep 29, 2010
11:49 AM
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We play for free often also. Sometimes for benefits, sometimes for exposure. Sometimes we play on the street corner in Cambridge (Mass) and we get as much in tips as some of the bars pay us. Or more.
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scojo
126 posts
Oct 04, 2010
2:58 PM
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I live and play in Mississippi... college (and NOLA Saints) football country. We sometimes have to adjust our gig or break times for that. Not a problem for me. We recently had to do the same for an ultimate fighting bout... that one was a little more of a head-scratcher.
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jackson
8 posts
Oct 04, 2010
3:16 PM
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Same thing happened to my band last weekend. 2 sets, all going well. Big crowd of 20 somethings come in just toward the end of the 2nd set. We break, DJ starts up with this damn dance mix or whatever and all the kids got after it. Kinda fun to watch though. We took a little extra time on the break but finally decided to start even though we were sure we'd clear the dance floor. Manager told us "No offense, but, y'all are done. I can't let these kids leave when they're dancin and buyin drinks" We agreed, paid in full, loaded up and got the hell out of there. Kinda pissed about it the next day, but, whatcha gonna do?
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TNFrank
335 posts
Oct 05, 2010
8:40 AM
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I've never played harp anywhere but I'd bet that once they heard me they'd be more then happy to pay me NOT to play,LOL
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Hohner Big River in Low F,G,A,Bb and D
Hohner Special 20 in Bb
Suzuki HarpMaster in C
Suzuki FolkMaster in D,E and F
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swampboy
21 posts
Oct 06, 2010
2:48 PM
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...getting laid to play?!
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