Longmayyourun Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 I'd be interested to know if there are any gigs you'd say 'no' to (for whatever reason), or any that you wish you had. Last Friday we spent playing Born to be Wild and others to 100 merry bikers in a marquee behind a pub in the middle of nowhere. This is my comfort zone - good gig, good crowd, everyone knew what they were getting. We've been asked to do an annual dinner/dance for a masonic lodge and I'm frankly tempted to turn it down, because of a vague feeling of unease and a vision of two thirds of the audience going home early in dismay. Let's be clear - this is not about the merits or otherwise of the Masonic movement (wouldn't want to go there), I'm just curious if anyone else ever says 'we're not the band for you', or wishes they had? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_the_bass Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 i've turned down plenty based on where they are, previous experience of doing them before (a "festival" in notts springs to mind), money and lots of other reasons. I played with my originals band in an RAF Officer's mess which I am glad I never turned down, but it was the most bizarre experience Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crez5150 Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 My function band is turning more and more gigs down that have Sound limiters in the venues.... just not possible to get the same vibe at 90dB.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 We don't say no to as many as I'd like... ...I've said too much. :ph34r: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3V17C Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 yeah we've become much more selective in where we play these days too - it means fewer gigs but better gigs and i'm happier with that. peace c Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 I think you should make it clear to the organisers who/what you are - if they still want you, then you're the band they're looking for, and you should go and play for them! (IMHO) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 I was in a Chicago blues band. The bride’s father thought we were great (we were) and booked us for his daughters wedding. Old people nearly died in the rush to get out of ear-shot. We played to an empty room, had a miserable time, got paid lots and swore we'd never do another wedding. Sometimes you have to be wiser than the promoter and say no. I don't know you or your band but I feel confident in saying that if hairy-arsed bikers are your audience, then a load of Masons and their wives will not be. Can you play a quick-step? There's your answer!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longmayyourun Posted May 19, 2008 Author Share Posted May 19, 2008 [quote name='chris_b' post='202296' date='May 19 2008, 05:28 PM']I was in a Chicago blues band. The bride’s father thought we were great (we were) and booked us for his daughters wedding. Old people nearly died in the rush to get out of ear-shot. We played to an empty room, had a miserable time, got paid lots and swore we'd never do another wedding. Sometimes you have to be wiser than the promoter and say no. I don't know you or your band but I feel confident in saying that if hairy-arsed bikers are your audience, then a load of Masons and their wives will not be. Can you play a quick-step? There's your answer!![/quote] I think you've hit the nail on the head. (I sympathise with your wedding experience too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MythSte Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 We've started turning down venues on the basis that they dont have a suitable PA system for a 7 piece drum and bass band! Luckily never come across anywhere with a sound limiter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WalMan Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 The "Contact/Gigs" page on our site says [quote][u]The Party Line[/u] Whilst we are always happy to get out and gig - that is after all one of the things a band is supposed to do - experience has shown that whilst you may enjoy the band we may not always be to the taste of your mother/granny/work colleagues. As a consequence the gigs that we do are pubs, clubs etc that have regular rock nights, but not parties. Sorry![/quote] Now this is entirely driven by the drummers outright refusal to consider any form of party. Wedding receptions I can understand, having had a desperate evening playing one for a couple who come to see us regularly, which led to my choice of words on the site. But, there have been a few requests for other parties where we could reckon that probably 90% of the crowd would be regulars at our gigs but still it is a big fat no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artisan Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 we've played a few gigs at our local masonic lodge & every one was total crap,never again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gafbass02 Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 refused to support the Towers of London just based on the safety of our gear! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stag Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 will not do any form of "party", particularly weddings anymore. Its nice to be liked by the bride and groom at such events but to not be liked by pretty much everyone else attending is not fun, for whatever money on offer. Also, random things can happen like a pigeon fancier's association having a meeting in the room next to the wedding. Bizarre evening! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinman Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 Weddings - Hate them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 [quote name='crez5150' post='202197' date='May 19 2008, 03:41 PM']My function band is turning more and more gigs down that have Sound limiters in the venues.... just not possible to get the same vibe at 90dB....[/quote] Same here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allighatt0r Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 I've had experience of a few pubs where the landlord has absolutely flat out loved us, and yet the pub has been fairly deserted and anyone in there is fairly un-bothered whether we were there or not, but we're trying to filter them places out. We do have a wedding this weekend, and we're frankly very unsure what it's going to be like. It always feels bad not to be liked, especially by the family of the happy couple, so we are going to do our best to judge the people in the room and hopefully cater ourselves to them. (perhaps even digging out Brown Eyed Girl... oh the joy. ) I think the best option (if it's possible) is to go and scope the place out beforehand, when another band is one, and see what the atmosphere is like. But that's rarely an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 [quote name='allighatt0r' post='203651' date='May 21 2008, 12:24 PM'].... even digging out Brown Eyed Girl....[/quote] .... and don't forget Dance The Night Away and Wonderful Tonight!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tengu Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 My band has been avoiding social clubs and their ilk as the audience is invariably indifferent and unenthusiastic. Even if they tell us at the end that they enjoyed the band it isn't much fun to get no reaction during the gig We do some wedding/party type gigs but make a point of getting the organiser along to another gig beforehand to ensure that we really are what they want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBod Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 I'm a freelancer/gigwhore, so I'll do anything that pays (!) but I'm always very careful to sound-out all potential bookings (weddings, dance clubs, resturants, even barn dances and the (very) odd bluegrass festivals) to make sure its a sensible mix. I've done a few that were completely wrong (blues gig, with one blues fan and a lot of bewildered friends!) and you learn pretty quickly.... BB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 [quote name='chris_b' post='203692' date='May 21 2008, 01:09 PM'].... and don't forget Dance The Night Away and Wonderful Tonight!!![/quote] Have a trawl through the "playing weddings" thread and the floor filler's thread - "Please the mothers!" is rule number one ... forget wat the couple want, that won't win the evening ... Playing weddings: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=5436&st=0&p=56924&#entry56924"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...amp;#entry56924[/url] Guaranteed Dance floor Fillers [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=8685&hl=floor+fillers"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...l=floor+fillers[/url] We are pretty much sorted out for getting gigs so we get to turn down the 20 or so gigs we get offered each week for dates we already have booked We specialise on weddings, parties, fundraisers, etc ... But we make it very obvious what they are getting .... No surprises ... We turn down any Siaint's day's gigs - Patrick's, Andrew's, George's (for goodness sake, what do you expect us to play for an English theme night?) and we get offered them every year, and Burns night. I'm sure they just go "Ceilidh band eh Thattle do". It won't, mate, read the website! No sound limiters, no "can half the band come for half the money?" gigs. Nothing that isn't at least a half hearted attempt at at barn dance. That's all we do... that plus rock and blues an soul and stuff but no barn dance, no gig .... No Irish/Scottish theme nights (we are not Irish, or Scottish) No afternoon gigs - grown ups don't do barn dancing in daylight so we don't want to play to just the kids so we are not the band for you ... Just today I had an enquiry that was very precise: "the people not dancing should be able to hear each other to talk whilst you are playing" er Ok so you want a band that is loud enough for the dancing drunk, noisy, shouting and screaming loud dancers but quiet enough for people to talk ...? hum no thanks... No early starts on week nights without a doubled fee - why they think we will happily take a half day off work to play their party, at no cost to them is beyond me We also don't do "charity rates" gigs for private schools, even though they are still charities, or political parties .... And ... mileage is a quid a mile from our declared starting point so yes, we will play a Spring Break students' festival on a Monday in Truro but not for cover's band in a pub fee that won't even pay for the fuel tax ...... had that offer recently .. "but you may be on the telly" sorry, we don't need that. So yeah .. we turn a few down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wotnwhy Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 a club contacted us saying 'if you and 2 other bands of your choice can pull a crowd, you can play here' we asked them what they pay and they said 'depending on the crowd you pull, anything from nothing to 50 quid' £50 between three bands for a sellout night?? no thankyou sir! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 [quote name='Tengu' post='203817' date='May 21 2008, 06:33 PM']We do some wedding/party type gigs but make a point of getting the organiser along to another gig beforehand to ensure that we really are what they want.[/quote] I spend a fair amount of time "educating" gig organisers. Loads of them have no idea of what makes a good night for their audience (as well as us) That way everyone has a good time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkypenguin Posted May 26, 2008 Share Posted May 26, 2008 [quote name='crez5150' post='202197' date='May 19 2008, 03:41 PM']My function band is turning more and more gigs down that have Sound limiters in the venues.... just not possible to get the same vibe at 90dB....[/quote] +1000 tend to turn down gigs where you get a nervous looking chap asking 'how loud are you lads?' we once subtly disconnected a sound limiter for a gig....didnt go down too well afterwards like, but the crowd loved it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted May 26, 2008 Share Posted May 26, 2008 a lot of places the sound limiter will cut the onstage power if you hit the limit. Run a power cable from the back of the hall and you can sometimes bypass it..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderthumbs Posted May 26, 2008 Share Posted May 26, 2008 (edited) Played a hotel in Altrincham, Cheshire that had a "limiter". Turned out that regardless of the volume, if I hit an "E" anywhere, and I mean anywhere on the neck, the limiter kicked in. I could play and hold any other note as long and as loud as I wanted with no effect. So it was more like a frequency limiter rather than decibels. The power went off about 6 times during the night. After the 6th time, we just packed up and put music on the laptop instead. Anyone want me to name and shame? One I wished we'd have turned down many years ago was a gig at Pontins in Morecambe. Got there to find out it was a North of England presentation day for all the regional under 11s football teams. Nightmare gig! Edited May 26, 2008 by Thunderthumbs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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