When I was young an older guy took ne aside and said essentially the same thing, the crowd (or lack there of) and the bar owners are the boss and if you want to come back you've got to please them. Started playing Disco now and then and packed the dump ( it was 1978 ). If the goal is steady work and money the letter is very good advice, if the goal is to have fun, play what you like and money is secondary then it's a different world.I like to do both, hence two very different bands.

One of the more pleasant aspects of my switch to surf music is escaping the bar scene and playing different venues ....it's refreshing.

Been my experience that if the bar owner and his employees do THEIR job of selling top shelf booze, by the middle of the second set, everbody is dancing even if the band just practices scales.

2012-2013: FILTHY POLAROIDS

There are bars that use the "band draw" approach - they want the band to bring in the crowd, and they pay a percentage of the bar and/or door. We typically say no to gig offers from these venues, because it's too unstable (there might be something big happening in the city that night, or unusual weather, which affects turnout; or, we might have been playing several other gigs and our friends and supporters are worn out and don't really want to come out again right now, etc).

Then, there are bars that have established themselves as an enjoyable and entertaining venue, and they have a built-in good turnout, because people know they can count on the bar to always have a good band. These are the places where we play. We have to deliver the goods and provide an entertaining night of tunes, but we seem to always do that, and to get asked back. We also do a lot of special events (car shows, birthday or wedding parties, etc, where a good guaranteed pay amount is established in advance.)

bamboozer wrote:

For what it's worth I was in a very good band that was fired from a casino gig, we packed the place but apparently the people we brought in didn't gamble much, that and we attracted people away from the slot machines. Essentially it was "your great, now get the hell out!".

What you need to do is, when you get a song request say something like "get your table to play the dollar slots for a 1/2 hour and we'll play you're song"

www.northofmalibu.com

Something to be said for the points in this essay, but I agree that it tends to produce a kind of lowest common denominator music and act that'll never get me into a bar, let alone drinking. I only go to bars to hear music I like. I buy drinks mostly because I want to justify my presence and the band's presence to the owner.

I might drink a little more or especially buy more for bands - I definitely love a place more - if I don't have a lot of trouble getting the bartender's attention to order. I tip more, too.

I vaguely remember that bars used to have people called barmaids to come around and take orders and suggest things. (Drinks. They never suggested the other stuff to me.) I love a bartender or "wait person" who has an intelligent response to a request for some kind of "IPA" instead of "we don't carry that brand" or "what is that?" or "we have pale BR." I like having non-alcoholic options and semi-palatable food options too. In fact, if I can get actual good food I always wait and eat at a venue. I fondly remember a bar which had an actual Greek salad. But mostly it had bad American music.

As far as upscaling orders, if I buy somebody a drink I prefer to buy them something good. Some people just want a can of PBR-flavored water, of course. I certainly always buy fairly decent stuff for myself because I know I'm not going to knock back a lot of it, and I feel like I ought to buy one good instead of three bad.

I've been told by an expert swing dancer that "bar owners don't like us much because we just dance and drink lots of water." So I guess this approach tends to lowest denominator dancing, too.

Last edited: May 28, 2013 13:59:49

I agree with most of the stuff the owner says. Ofcourse these aren't things that he should throw at each band's face as-is (as-are?), but every band should keep them in mind while navigating through the live music venues throughout it's career.

The worst thing the owner can do is break a deal, and if it's done again and again it will definitely lead to running out of bussiness. But whether he choses to work with cover bands, bands that hunt down their friends and relatives, steady quality bands, or whatever bussiness model he likes, that's his problem

I'll have to outright disagree with the drink whoring thing though.

https://zakandthekrakens.bandcamp.com/
https://www.dirtyfuse.com

My perspective is that I booked a particular club because it should help us expand our fan base. Our band may bring some folks, but that's not what we're there for. I want to play venues that have a club following so I can glean some of them as fans and sell merch. So my job is to play great, sing great, start on time and play the whole show no matter how many folks are there. If we do that the bar usually does well, but I'm not dissing the art to hawk liquor from the stage. If these folks aren't there to drink that's the clubs problem.