Tonight's second set cancelled - nobody in the pub

[The Dark Lord]

We were booked for a 2 x 1 hour set gig tonight in a pub near Portsmouth. Not many people in the pub as we started our first set - about a dozen or more maybe.

We were going down well - with people dancing or swaying in their seats.

Numbers dwindled a bit and, when we were due to start our second set, there was nobody in the pub. When I say nobody, I mean not a single person expect the three bar staff. One of those then went home.

So, the bar manager said we didn't need to do the second set, paid us, and off home we went.

This is becoming more of a thing in pubs. We have an agent who books us far and wide. We turn up and play. Sometimes the pub is packed, But very often there are very few people in the pubs.

The bar manager said we were the best band they'd had in ages ..... but she couldn't understand why there was no-one there. It was a pub in the middle of a social housing estate - with no other pubs around. Really surprising. Felt a bit guilty being paid our £200 fee - but only a bit.

Is this happening to others?

[The Admiral]

Sorry to hear that.............................but more common than one might imagine I'd suspect.

On an associated note : I spoke to a booking agent today who was teling me what a sh*te state the live scene is in currently. He handles some reasonably well known Americana and Folky acts - including US musicians who tour the UK regularly and you wolud hear on Bob Harris' show for example. I was trying to get him to take on a new band, and he's actually now closed his books, and is laying off some of the 'fringe' artists, as, not only is he finding it harder to actually achieve bookings for his 'marquee names', he is waiting longer to be paid by the venues, and has been gipped out of fees completely on more than one occasion recently. I'm confident this wasn't a 'fob off' - he sounded a weary and somewhat dissillusioned man - and he loves his music. A real out & out music fan.

I can think of a number of places which have stopped live music locally, and if you can get a gig - it's a poor payer, and they probably only want tribute acts. I don't think the smoking ban has helped, particularly in less well heeled areas where the local was 'a pint and a fag at the bar'. Money is tighter, and why pay £3 for a pint - to stand in a smoking shelter, in the cold - when you can sit at home, or round your mates, with a case of beers from Sainsburys and watch live music on DVD/Sky Arts/BBC 3 etc?

£200 is pretty good money at the moment up here - I hope they keep on booking!

Good gig apart from the punters though I hope?!

[LiamPodmore]

We had our second set cancelled when Police turned up, but we've never cancelled one ourselves. I do know exactly what you're feeling in terms of VERY low crowd numbers though, it's getting more and more common and it's not what any of us gigging musicians want to see.

Liam

[Truckstop]

I think it's purely a money issue with the patrons in various areas.

I live in a fairly affluent area (1 bed flat costs around £175k) and our live scene's in rude health. In my village alone (not mentioning nearby St. Albans proper) we have 3 pubs that do live music every week and there's always a crowd.

Of course some of the more commercial bands attract a bigger crowd, but even for jazz and blues acts we still get a respectable audience and fees of up to £400 for 2x60 minute sets is common practice around here.

The pubs have worked really hard to maintain the quality that ensures that the same people keep coming by every week so that whenever we introduce a new act, there's a good crowd.

I have no doubt that if this were a poorer area it'd be a different story entirely!

Sorry about the gig dude

Truckstop

Edited September 2, 2012 by Truckstop

[MacDaddy]

Old Git (former member RIP) would have had some advice here. Although the first thing he would have asked would probably have been 'what did the band do to advertise the gig?'.

[Hobbayne]

Just got in from playing at a club in Sunbury to a handful of disinterested punters. Took the opportunity to practice my lead vocal skills on a few numbers including the much maligned M*****g S***y and Shake Rattle & Roll.
Never had absolutely sod all of an audience though, so congratulations!

Edited September 2, 2012 by Hobbayne

[The Dark Lord]

[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1346546617' post='1790515']
Never had absolutely sod all of an audience though, so congratulations!
[/quote]

Yeah. It does feel very rock n roll. I have played to the preverbial man and a dog before - but never to nobody at all.

[WalMan]

Which gig was that? Not what used to be the John Peel (can't remember it's new name). Used to be a great gig in the 70's & 80's. We went back there last year & a complete waste of time for all concerned.

[Oopsdabassist]

had a very similar experience fri night, 1st set had a decent enough crowd, some dancing too. we cut short the break as we could see people sloping off, just time for a pee and a fresh drink, finished 2nd set to bar staff and about 5 punters, who were, to be fair, very enthusiastic. Been with this band for close on 2 years now, and this is the worst I've seen it, Maybe we'll try for gigs round St Albans!!

[Thurbs]

Some questions I would be asking in the same situation...

- were we too loud?
- was the set right?
- did we engage enough with the people who were there?
- was the gig promoted by the band? The promoter?

[The Dark Lord]

[quote name='Thurbs' timestamp='1346570985' post='1790563']
Some questions I would be asking in the same situation...

- were we too loud?
[color=#0000cd]Nope. We always sound check and as the bar manager/staff/main punters what they think of the level .... and they were all happy[/color]
- was the set right?
[color=#0000cd]The people who were there seemed to like it and the bar manager said we were great. We don't play crusty old pub band numbers. We play more recent things like Pulp, Oasis, Ocean Colour Scene, Stone Roses etc. Always seems bang on for the pub age group.[/color]
- did we engage enough with the people who were there?
[color=#0000cd]Weren't enough of them and they seemed to be people who intended to go somewhere - maybe drinking there before going to a club we thought.[/color]
- was the gig promoted by the band? The promoter?
[color=#0000cd]I think this is possibly it. When you say "The Promoter" - it was a regular pub. So there was no promoter as such. Maybe that's the problem. When you looked on the wall, our poster was one of many. They appear to have pub gigs every Saturday - have done for a while and have a lot lined up on future (looking at the posters) ...... ours was the only professionally designed one with pro photography. We don't promote our own gigs. We work via an agent who books us far and wide. Mayge we should put our thinking caps one for that. I dunno though. Is it our job to do that? I guess that pub is just another dying pub, There are lots of them. I think the pub landlord needs to have a thihnk about what they want and who they are and how can they get more people through the doors .... and is music a real go-er.[/color]

[color=#0000cd]I personally think it is a mixture of smoking band (good thing if you ask me) and the economy. There is probably less need for pubs nowadays.[/color]
[/quote]

[merlin]

Last year this was happening to us,we thought too loud, wrong material ect,so I went to see some well known bands playing the venues we play..,these so called popular bands the ones all the venues book,they had about the same crowd as us, its not us the pubs are all the same,but we all love to play so any chance we get we go and have fun,yes I have played to one man and his dog,but like a couple of weeks ago the venue had two birthday partys in,great night,but the week after different venue about 20 punters,they stayed and we think they enjoyed it Is there an answer ? or is this just rock n roll ?

[stingrayPete1977]

I was gigging regularly maybe twice a week with two different styles of band when the smoking ban came in and the demise was almost instant IMO, never really recovered

[WalMan]

[quote name='WalMan' timestamp='1346548228' post='1790525']
Which gig was that? Not what used to be the John Peel (can't remember it's new name). Used to be a great gig in the 70's & 80's. We went back there last year & a complete waste of time for all concerned.
[/quote]Carisbrook is what I was thinking but I se it was the White Horse. Used to be some good gigs down that way, but people just don't seem to go out anymore. Smoking ban probably hasn't helped, though it helped meas I gave up 26 years ago and really hated coming home smelling like an ashtray after gigs

[yorks5stringer]

" but even for jazz and blues acts"

[dand666]

The Dark Lord - May i ask what pub it was? we play a lot around Hampshire/West Sussex/East Sussex, so it'll be good to know in advance.

With a little research, i've managed to find the pub.

It's a shame local pubs are getting like this.

Edited September 2, 2012 by dand666

[phil.i.stein]

the underlying factors are mainly economic, as others have said.

one issue that hasn't been raised is that of the beer duty escalator.

for the past umpteen years, duty on beer has been raised disproportionately in relation to wine, spirits and cider.

added to that, many pubs are owned by pubco's who sell only what is on their list to landlords at an extortionate rate.

it's simply cheaper for people to go to the supermarket, where bulk-buying and loss-leading prices stop people from going out and socialising.

the escalator was brought in partly to combat binge-drinking, but seems to have resulted in the opposite, as people load up at home and then go out pissed and cause mayhem.

another tax on the poor ? undoubtably, otherwise wine would have risen at the same rate.

[url="http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29664"]http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29664[/url]

Edited September 2, 2012 by phil.i.stein

[Big_Stu]

[quote name='The Dark Lord' timestamp='1346572633' post='1790585']- was the gig promoted..........?
[color=#0000cd]I think this is possibly it............We don't promote our own gigs. We work via an agent who books us far and wide. Mayge we should put our thinking caps one for that. I dunno though. Is it our job to do that? [/color][/quote]

Wouldn't do any harm & if you try it out & it improves things then you know what it was - even if partly - & maybe have a word with your agent about how he plugs you.
It doesn't cost that much to get some professional A3 blanks done which you could overprint a dozen or so of with the gig details at you local Asda's copier a fortnight before the gig. The venue local to me has a few up permanenetly from local bands, school bands up to professional acts........ grammar school jazz band one week, Nazareth the next, most of the local pubs do similar too, though many of them tend to be busy at month end when the salaries are paid & more quiet in the other three weeks.

[Jacqueslemac]

Last night we played a pub I've never been to before. I asked the landlord how many people he usually had in on a Saturday night. He replied that it could be anything from a handful to being packed. He said he could no longer tell and the previous night he'd had a popular local band in and the place was empty.

[BigRedX]

I take it we're talking about covers bands here?

IMO playing covers is a double edged sword. On one hand you're audience should know most of the songs you are playing and therefore you're not trying to win them over with material they've never heard before. On the the other hand what is it that sets your covers band apart form another playing songs of the same genre? Then take that one step further and ask yourself why should anyone come and see your band over staying in and watching the new episode of Doctor Who, or simply getting pissed in the comfort of their own homes?

I can remember going to see a friend's 70s rock covers band for the first time. It was a fun night out and I spent the most of the time going "this is a great song!" to pretty much everything they played. However I'd have had just as much fun and probably the same reaction if I'd gone round to his house with some friends for a couple of beers and he'd had the same songs (by the original artists) playing from a playlist on iTunes...

[RhysP]

I don't think it matters how good the band is, how well it is promoted or anything else - the simple fact is that lots of people simply don't have the money to go out anymore.

[bagsieblue]

Hmmm... it's tales like this that make me wonder if it's worth trying to get myself back into a band.
Traipsing halfway round the country to play to not very many people is soul destroying.

Do people really think that the smoking ban is that significant? - I do think it has had an impact but not sure how big of an impact.

[bertbass]

I think that the smoking ban is 90% to blame and the cost of beer 10%. Playing inside a pub to 10 people while the smoking area outside is packed is a bit soul destroying as well. The pubs that provide a comfy smoking area seem to get more customers than the ones that put a bucket outside the entrance.

The number of clubs that have gone has surprised me I have to confess, I'd of thought that it would have been mainly pubs that would have closed but that's not the way it is at all.

[TimR]

Bands are getting louder. I can just about take an hour of being played at. CDs mean that the dynamics of tunes are being reduced songs are either slow and quiet or fast and loud.

As performers we need to up our game to get people to sit up and say, that sounds good I'm staying here till the end. Add dynamics and over emphasise the existing ones.

Playing the same old tunes because that's what the punters want is one thing but there are loads of tunes out there that nobody plays.

The bands that play in St. Albans are very good at doing this and I suspect that getting gigs there is hard. Might have something to do with Hertforshire University Arts being located very close.

Edited September 2, 2012 by TimR

[martin8708]

Prohibitive price of beer + Smoking ban + poor economic climate = Staying at home .
I have a pretty good job , but I rarely go to the pub anymore , if me + mrs do go out and watch a band and have two beers each , that's £16 , which easily pays for a Sainsbury take away curry and a decent bottle of wine .
The only time good audiences are guaranteed is when we have a festival / event which has live music .