Bit of a rant

L

lachlin

Member
Hi!

I play drums and sing in my band. We had been practicing for 6 months before we got our first gig. It was actually out of state. We had a good time got the crowd into the show and almost overnight our facebook page doubled in "likes".
The next night we played a battle of the bands at the local all ages venue. Our set ran long due to the heavy crowd interacting we did. We knew we were not going to win so we went out and put the best show on we could. The crowd went nuts for us and our onstage antics. We are a punk rock band (not pop punk), and were the only band of that type in the battle. After the show, I had lots of people come up to me that I'd never met and say "yall kicked ass!" or "you guys were great!". Again, our facebook likes almost doubled and I ran out of demos we were were handing out.
Now, this venue is about the only place in our town where our kind of music would have a chance to be heard. All the bars look for Nickleback clone bands. I've e-mailed the booker several times and gotten no response. I've PMed him on facebook and the same thing, cold shoulder. I would respect him more if he just said "No, you guys suck.". We are playing the out of state venue again, and we are booked at a metal club in the next town the first of next month. I know we don't suck, because our shows are wild and we are playing other venues a second time, What is the deal here? We are a realitively new band and don't have a ton of fans, but wouldn't a supporting spot on a show help that out?

I'm done, I just had to rant.
 
Welcome to live music and the "joys" of dealing with venues and trying to get booked. Just keep doing what you can and build up your fan base. Maybe eventually go to a venue in person with a demo and tell them you'll bring so many people and you might get booked.
 
Not much getting around the "Nickelstick" clone aspect of the business right now. I play in a copy band that has to play that stuff to get a decent paying gig, but we all went into it knowing this.

Yes, we are only in it for the money.

The original bands here in Denver don't get that great of a shot right out of the gate. There are a few places that will set up multi-band shows for original music here, but it's up to you to promote and build your fan base. Otherwise, you make next to nothing and occasionally, people might even hate you.

I don't know about anywhere else, but I think around here it's a two step process:
1. Be awesome. Define that however you like.
2. Be busy.

The second part may mean relocating the band to a better city or seeking creative alternatives to the regular scene. If you can travel out of state once, and that worked out well, then maybe you should do it more often.
 
Like someone said, welcome Grasshoper to the live music scene! That is one of the worst things about live music and gigging: getting venues and booking companies to even reply.

I'm going thru that right now with a new band I'm in. We have our first public performance March 16th in Dallas and the leader of our merry group got us in there because he knows the owner.

HOWEVER, here in the Dallas Fort Worth area it's common knowledge that even getting venue owners and booking companies to even email you back is a pain in the ass. When it does happen, you want to go out and celebrate. Two booking agents I know of quit the business because they realized the monetary rewards were not worth the aggrivation and frustration that came with dealing with bar and venue owners. It's even worse for new bands.

Best advice here was already said. Keep at it, promote, advertise, pass out as many demos as you can, hold your own show, etc. It's a slow process getting a loyal following and takes time. But don't let that discourage you.
 
Good advice given, but you should also take in the bigger picture too to know what's out there. There are literally hundreds of bands out there in any local medium-sized town vying for spots to get to play. For the club owners, it really is a buyer's market. He doesn't have to seek out bands, they'll come to him (or 'them', who represent the few clubs to play in). In fact, having so many would-be bands to choose from allows him to under-pay (if anyone is getting paid) as well.

The owners have to deal with all kinds of musicians - some bands are horrible and don't know it yet, some bands are great and really have their act and business chops together. So he has to deal with the whole gamut of people out there. They also have to contend with the fact that they have to make money too. Great musicians put together great bands, but if no one shows up, or if nobody is drinking, they get fired. A bad band that has great people skills and keeps people dancing and buying (food and drink) will more likely work than the former. Watch that movie "That Thing You Do", although a fictitious story, it's pretty true. Alot of luck is involved as well.

Try not to be too discouraged. You just have to rise through all the muck. Good luck!
 
lachlin said:
Hi!

I play drums and sing in my band. We had been practicing for 6 months before we got our first gig. It was actually out of state. We had a good time got the crowd into the show and almost overnight our facebook page doubled in "likes".
The next night we played a battle of the bands at the local all ages venue. Our set ran long due to the heavy crowd interacting we did. We knew we were not going to win so we went out and put the best show on we could. The crowd went nuts for us and our onstage antics. We are a punk rock band (not pop punk), and were the only band of that type in the battle. After the show, I had lots of people come up to me that I'd never met and say "yall kicked ass!" or "you guys were great!". Again, our facebook likes almost doubled and I ran out of demos we were were handing out.
Now, this venue is about the only place in our town where our kind of music would have a chance to be heard. All the bars look for Nickleback clone bands. I've e-mailed the booker several times and gotten no response. I've PMed him on facebook and the same thing, cold shoulder. I would respect him more if he just said "No, you guys suck.". We are playing the out of state venue again, and we are booked at a metal club in the next town the first of next month. I know we don't suck, because our shows are wild and we are playing other venues a second time, What is the deal here? We are a realitively new band and don't have a ton of fans, but wouldn't a supporting spot on a show help that out?

I'm done, I just had to rant.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the biz side of this sucks. A quick note to let you know that you almost ALWAYS have to hound bar owners/booking agents on a regular basis to get into places. They usually take weeks to return phone calls or emails and then out of the blue, you can get a call.

How long has it been since you've emailed or PM'ed the booking dude?
 
Thanks Guys!

In an update. We (the band and all our facebook fans) flash mobbed the venues facebook page. We spammed the crap out of it with demands that our band be allowed to play. Now we are signed up to open for two relatively well known Japanese punk bands that are coming to town!
 
lachlin said:
Thanks Guys!

In an update. We (the band and all our facebook fans) flash mobbed the venues facebook page. We spammed the crap out of it with demands that our band be allowed to play. Now we are signed up to open for two relatively well known Japanese punk bands that are coming to town!
Click to expand...

This seems like a very reputable way of getting your feet in the door.

Dennis
 
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