What's the going rate for Xmas and NYE ?

[bethnalgreen]

I know this is a bit of a "how long's a piece of string" question but using the following parameters:

- Five-piece covers band been building a good reputation in the local pubs for the past year
- Normally charge £250 for a Fri or Sat night pub gig
- Hertfordshire based

We've been asked to do a pub gig the week before Xmas (17/12) and a separate pub gig on New Year's Eve. We've gigged both pubs before so they like us.

The 17/12 might warrant a slight uplift?

For NYE, I don't yet know if the pub will charge an entry fee, but what would others feel is a reasonable performance fee?

Thanks.

[witterth]

Well I think, for what its worth, If its a usual £250 fee and its a pub where people come and see you/go down well, double to your fee for new year, is not unreasonable and not too greedy.
be careful not to "bite the hand that feeds" if its a regular pub gig and especially they support you throughout the year!
The likes of Crez(ect on the forum), is in a "Proper" pro function band will go out for lots & lots more that night ie xmas/NY eve
(I'm only guessing that youre describing a similar situation to me where you play most weekends to regular crowds and band/landlord have "symbiotic" type deal.)
in short double, usual fee and possibly a wee bit more (£100) for NY is fair and if its a busy place, Thats fair.
the key is to negotiate dont pitch too low though, It could be your night off too! otherwise!
hope this helps in some way

[JTUK]

It really depends what you'll work for...

We decided we would want £200-250 per man for a 5 piece and a 2 hr set
but since that is unlikely, we aren't going to bother.

If you will work for £100 per man, then that seems a reasonable fee to ask for.
I'd put NY's above xmas eve money-wise...and if the pub is ticketed, I'd ask for £750 for NYE...

[crez5150]

I think with pub gigs your gonna struggle to get above £500....... unless it's a ticketed function.... New Years Eve you really wanna be scrumping some Function work for the money ;o)

[Hobbayne]

My 4 piece are doing NYE for £800, mind you, we've been getting that every year for years now!!

[bassintheface]

Like you've already stated - it does depend on who you are, where you are and the type of venue / gig.

We're out on NYE - 3rd year running at the same venue. It's pretty local (which is good because my wife will be 8 1/2 months pregnant so I can be on call to shoot over to the hospital if needs be) there's a full house PA with eng supplied - it's a 'proper' venue so it's got proper gear. We also get looked after with meals etc.
We're doing it for £1800.00 - it's nothing like double our normal fee but given the locality of it, the fact that the PA and Eng are provided etc we're happy with that.

Re christmas gigs - we've got a load of party nights at a local(ish) nice spa hotel. Again, we've done this for the last 3 or so years and we do quite a lot of work there.
We're doing them for roughly £900 per gig as they're all 1 hr sets, they're on consecutive days (its like Thurs, fri, sat and sun) so we can leave the gear set up - 1 load in and set up, 1 pack down and load out.

[Adrenochrome]

17th December @ normal fee - it might be a good night for the pub but you'll also play quiet times (eg just before payday) when the pub might make nowt from you.
NYE double your normal +/- any extras you have to do (eg 3 long sets), dressing up/party things or if owt's provided.

[bethnalgreen]

Thanks for all the replies! Will let you know what happens, if anything!

[tomhunt]

The singer in my band is doing a solo gig on NYE and he's getting £900!! Xmas eve, my bands playing a local pub, it gets very, very busy every year, we've asked for £100 per member. Thats a 5 piece band.. We was offered a gig on Xmas eve at another place and was asked to play for £200, no thanks! We charge between £200 and £300 on a normal night, depending on how busy the place gets when they have live bands on. The band could of played a pub on NYE for £1200 but its pointless when our singer is else where and earning £900 for himself.

[mrtcat]

Bit late I know but we just got booked for NYE at a very busy pub / club in a market town for £500 for a 4 piece covers band. We had to turn down umpteen offers of £200 which we saw as a p### take as we usually go for £300 and have been getting really good reviews. We've seen other bands around us getting their prices squeezed lower and lower recently as the financial climate gets worse.

[gareth]

we're going out as a trio on nye for £1125 pp

[TheRev]

My main band normally got out for £250-350, depending on venue. We're playing two of our regular venues on Christmas eve eve eve (i.e 22nd) for £550 and NYE for £700 (plus all the booze we can drink, plus rooms). We're a guaranteed draw at both places so it wasn't hard to bump the fee up.