dand666

+1 for Google Calendar. Luckily for us, everyone in the band has an iPhone, so it's just linked up to their phone.

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1401354062' post='2462653'] seeing as how I play in a band because I enjoy it and not for the money, I'm happy to play for whatever, done 2 wedding gigs, one for my daughter which obviously was a freebe, and one for a regular to our gigs, we were more than happy to do it for £50 expenses because they were broke. We've got another coming up, we are charging the pub (£250) rate [b]we're not into ripping people off.[/b] But the pub rate varies, if the pub says they can only afford to pay £150 we're usually cool with that, to be fair we've never played for that and the place has been rammed, we have been known to give some of the fee back if there's not been may in, pubs are struggling and closing down so it's not like they're lining there own pockets at our expense, we played a 40 minute set last night for £60, PA supplied, on a Wednesday night what else would we be doing? [/quote] But to some of us, this is our job, our full time wage, it's not about 'ripping people off'. We provide them with an evenings entertainment, at to be honest a cheap price compared to the rest of the wedding. I see your point, and even now, sometimes it baffles me that we just got paid x amount for a gig, in the end of the day I just want to play music. But I also need to pay the mortgage!

[quote name='cameltoe' timestamp='1401313466' post='2462464'] Sounds very simple! I can't think of a wedding yet we've played where we could have been that specific in advance, to not be let down ultimately. The weddings I've played we've absolutely had to be fluid with regards to how their day works out. How can you not be? We're not about to start setting up behind the best man while he's in full flow because that's the time it says in the contract. If we did we'd look like idiots! And no-one yet has ever ensured the speeches don't run over because the band are waiting to set up! Surely this is why we charge more, no? Because we do have to be prepared to fit into their day, however it turns out? [/quote] Agreed, no two weddings are the same. 1 wedding we did not go on till 11pm, last week we was on at 8pm sharp (1st dance). Your quite right in saying, you do have to tailor you day around them, and the large majority of them are always behind schedule.

Cameltoe, I have to disagree with your post. Speaking from experience here, a lot of the weddings we play are fantastic. Brilliant events where everyone just wants to have fun, get pissed and dance. All weddings we get there for 6pm ish, unless specified by the client, and if they would like to get us earlier (for setting up purposes) then we charge another £50-100. Yes we won't leave till around 1am, but ho hey. As we are on an agency, we are contracted to food, and we make sure we either get paid in cash on the night, or a bank transfer is already set-up and ready to go in that evening or the morning after, so all that jazz is sorted. Recently we had a sit down dinner with all the guests on our own table! And we also sort out set requirements beforehand, or they just let us play what we think will rock. Yes, you do get requests that you won't like playing, but our job is to entertain and make sure the guests are happy, if that means playing Sex on Fire and Chelsea Dagger, so be it, they're paying over £1000 for you. To be honest, I love them. Great pay, great company and I'm playing music to hot chicks all night. Sweeeet.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1401283244' post='2462004'] And have a large repertoire, missus. And probably be there for very long hours, so there are more expenses to consider. [/quote] Oh yeah. Expect to be there all night. We generally arrive at most venues at 18:00. However sometimes they would like us to get there earlier, depending on the logistics of the venue (don't want us setting up when people are eating e.t.c). After the set ends, we just party with them till curfew, generally 12ish. Then pack up, and off to the next gig (we have a campervan) or off home. Personally I love it, I get to go to a wedding every weekend, party every weekend, eat lots of food and drink lots of beer (after playing) and make some sweet cash as well. SlapbassSteve- all I'd say, is take a look at the agencies on-line, see how much they charge and what they're offering and see if you can match it.

It's a funny one. We are on an agency, and the lowest priced band is £1000. It seems that the majority of people who want a band at a wedding think that if a band is under the £1k mark, that they must be rubbish, so they pay more! It's insane, but we are booked up every Saturday and most fri/suns up to Oct till we go on our cruise, so it's working. People do like to request 1st dances, and random song choices, but that's fine. Also, you'll need to offer a DJ service and lights e.t.c

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1401190604' post='2460917'] What Muzz said [/quote] Thanks, and OBBM do this? I've recently bought a cable from him and can't recommend him enough!

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1400865038' post='2457746'] Do you play your bass with a cable? If so, you could cable tie a monitor feed to you cable and T is off near you waste to either something like the Fischer in ear monitor pack and to your ear phones... Alternatively, you could send the amplified signal along the length of your bass cable and just plug in your headphones to that. Going to sound better and be cheaper than most options. [/quote] Sorry can you explain that in lamen terms. I do play with a cable yes. Sorry :-)

Hi guys, been using my ACS Pro 17' earplugs for a while on stage, when it occurred to me that i could just get a pair of headphones and insert them into the moulds, which work fantastic! Now, I'm after a cheap IEM system, so I have the moulds and earphones, so I'm after just a pack and receiver i guess? Any recommendations, ideally something under £200?

Hi Andy, May I ask how much it set you back?

I have the pro 17's too. Great fit, although I'm struggling to get on with them. Maybe just years of playing without earplugs, or maybe I just don't like the fact that I can hear my BV's ! Been looking to get some single driver IEM's to fit the moulds.

Is that a bass vi in the first pic?

[quote name='PJT' timestamp='1399564188' post='2445400'] [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Since the 1970's I have used napkins and beer mats as aide memoirs for music at gigs. Having just watched my son e-mail pdf files of music scores, download them onto the iPad, open them on his music reader and change from page to page as he plays using a blue tooth wireless foot switch (all in probably less time than it would take me to write on a beer mat), I am starting to feel really old!!!!!!!![/font] [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]He uses an iPad, MusicReader PDF app and Airturn T85 Wireless Footswitch. [/font] [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]For him, it saves having to use 3 music stands to hold some of the scores from the big band and swing music that he plays and it saves space in a small orchestra pit.[/font] [font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]More importantly, at 16, it is just entirely natural and easy for him to use this sort of technology in this way.[/font] [/quote] Great post.

For me I need the iPad just to remember the first opening chords, or what key a song is in. For our upcoming cruise we only need 150 songs, but for the bigger, longer cruises they won't accept you if you don't have at least 400 songs. I'm not a robot! :-)

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1399044370' post='2440422'] I'd leave Alright Now till well into the second set. If for no better reason there are people who have heard it so often from so many bands they will actually walk out once they hear it being started up, I've seen it happen. [/quote] Playing Alright Now at a wedding is sure fire way to get people on the dancefloor.

I agree with JamesBass. What would a Website do differently to social media sites? We only play weddings/functions and we have gotten all of our own work off social media sites. When going on agencies, you can't have the same band name so you will have to change that, so having a website for us is pointless.

This is quite relevant to my interests at the moment. We've just been given a cruise contract which starts in Oct (we have weddings every weekend up till then), and the realisation of me quitting my full time job has kicked in. It's hard, most of my friends and people I know, have taken the originals route, and they're really starting to pay off, and getting massive. We have taken the cover route, but it's starting to pay off. Now I have an opportunity to play music for a living, it's all quite scary >.< I have to give it a go, otherwise I'll spend my entire life thinking 'what if'.

Our contract states that we have to be fed at weddings, however, we've been served some sh*te over the years.

[quote name='Clarky72' timestamp='1396869785' post='2418103'] I spent years with no theory knowledge whatsoever, I just knew where the notes were on the neck. I spent all of my 20s more concerned about my hair onstage than my musical knowledge. The rock music needed no more than half a dozen notes per song, and the simpler it was to play, the more I could prat around onstage. I got the root notes from the guitarist and just followed that for 90% of the set. I've been in a covers band for the past decade and love it. I have spent extensive time working out great musicians basslines from youtube or crappy tab, and only in the last year made a point of sorting my playing out properly. Before actually learning properly, and I didn't really realise this until I knew otherwise, I didn't learn songs, I just spent hours memorising extensive sequences of notes. I had no knowledge about relationships between notes and why some sounded good with each other and some didn't. My ignorance made learning songs incredibly time consuming and arduous. Only once I had some lessons, understood some theory, learned some scales did a light at the end of tunnel appear. My tutor was amazed how I'd managed to get by and learn all these songs without understanding a single thing about music. I'm no Jaco yet, I have a ton to learn still, but I understand my majors, minors, pentatonics, blues and few others, and it has been life-changing and that's no exaggeration. I can pick up a bit of a track by ear and now work the rest out from knowledge of theory. For years I just couldn't be bothered to learn it properly, and now regret not doing this sooner. I was too concerned about rocking out, getting the girls and looking cool. Everyone should learn, you're only limiting what you can play, how much you can enjoy what you play and how much time you have to spend working tracks out... [/quote] This.

La Bella Flats on 2 of my Basses, and Rotosound Rounds on my others.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1395496945' post='2403065'] This subject fascinates me in as far as there can be no rhyme or reason why some bands work and get what they get and others don't...it is almost a science in itself. We've found few cut-offs points to the people that enquire... We only ever play 2 hrs max.. Pubs...well, you just have to pick ones you'd go to yourself and we find many of our 'crowd' just will not go to a certain pub, but since it has a good following and we like the LL..altho not what he wants to pay, so much. He calls us one of his best draws but has a pay limit which most bands probably hit... ...hmmm.... Parties...friends want to pay £500.. that is pay back time..and time to support people who support you. Normal parties at same sort of money .. you might do them if you aren't so busy at that time...plus if they have a fun factor, that gets past the money thing, sometimes. Treat as a loss leader as per pubs... but this tends to go round in circles as they know and want the same rate as their friends... be pragmatic here. Normal parties... £750 upwards depending how much they are investing, marquee, catering etc etc..the entertainment ( us) is a small addition typically. Nice parties and weddings, are £950 plus any sort of extras..like set-up and wait times, xtra P.a and lights..not to mention travel and petrol etc etc .. We can get £1400 but we have to travel and be out all day.... so you have to decide if the extra £80 each is really worth it and if you have a home life and kids plus a full time job, is it fair to wipe out a whole saturday..??? Weddings and parties at £1500 upwards are the ones that seem to have taken a hit...and I know one very good band that has hardly worked at that level since the New Year and that type of gig is their bread and butter and the ones that earn them a wage per year. [/quote] We generally aren't fussed in regards to set-times and waiting throughout the day. We tend to make the wedding/party a weekend thing for us. Luckily we are all still young and do not have wives/husbands yet! Small example, played a gig last year, we got there at 4pm expecting usual 9pm KO time, but we didn't go till 11:30pm due to things running late, but everyone still had a blast and we ended up playing through too 2am. We finsihed our set and got pissed up with the guests. The hosts left us cracking reviews back at the agency and handed out our cards all night. Each to their own I guess. :-)

It comes down to, do you want to make money through music, make it a career. Or do you just want to do it part time, for a hobby.

[quote name='oggiesnr' timestamp='1395495709' post='2403043'] At that level of fee and work it's worth an agent spending some time on you. [/quote] Yeah. It all depends on where we play. Our prices go up the further we have to travel. Our fee is a £1000 so the agency charges £1200. And then accordingly to our location.

Why do you not want to do weddings, just out of interest? I've been in a wedding band for the last couple of years. It's a great way to build up a good knowledge on how to read a crowd and your confidence on stage e.t.c. The agencies we use get use gigs all year round. Last year we where playing every weekend and the odd fri/sun night. Charging over a £1000 we easily took over 60k last year. In regards to weddings we found people are happy to pay £1000. Agree with JTUK here.

[quote name='crag42' timestamp='1395484777' post='2402905'] Thats my idea of a nightmare. .. And I'm not meaning the amount of songs you have to learn either [/quote] Tell me about it. But if you want to make a decent living out of music you're not always going to play what you want. I've had years of doing that. Started off playing in a 50's 60's Blues Rock band, playing Allman Bros and obscure Beatles songs, to now, getting prepared for the cruises in late summer. Even one MD told us that throughout the 6-week tour they do not want nothing before 1980. Sucks, but if I'm getting paid to play music, I'll play Robbie Williams and KOL to shitmunchers all day long.