Why Weren't We Asked Back.

[Bluewine]

Has your band ever played a really nice venue, with a good crowd, lot's of dancing and the pub cash registers busy but your band was never asked back.

 

There could be a lot of reasons. Share your thoughts or stories.

 

Daryl

[Bluewine]

I think sometimes it's a matter of poor follow up from whoever does the bands bookings.

 

I always felt that if the owners or whoever books the bands for the venue are present during the gig you should attempt to book another date with them at the end of the gig.

 

I don't think you wait for the venue to contact you.

 

Daryl

[fretmeister]

Yup.

 

A very busy music pub. 
 

Apparently we were so loud they got their entertainment licence revoked by the local authority.

So really nobody got asked back.

 

That was back in 1993 iirc. 

[Beedster]

1 hour ago, Bluewine said:

don't think you wait for the venue to contact you.

 

I think that's it 100% 👍

[Lozz196]

In my old punk covers band The Daves we played a local venue where we went down amazingly. Unfortunately a lady and her husband that we knew had come to see us, she was very drunk and started a fight with him, yelling at him very loudly in the middle of the pub. When he left she started yelling at anyone who made eye contact she would fight them too. Her broad German accent made the behaviour even more noticeable in rural Watford. We could hardly say we didn’t know her as she had a Daves tee shirt on. No matter how many times we tried to get gigs they were always fully booked…..

[Stub Mandrel]

Usually It's calendar issues, or venues changing hands  

[chris_b]

Some promoters are morons.

 

We were playing a well known pub chain and the manager had to fight his way across the heaving dance floor to tell us he wanted us to play more danceable music!!! The dance floor was full, so we carried on with the set and everyone had a great night. . . . and we didn’t get rebooked!

[martin8708]

In my experience, Pub Landlords tend to favour particular styles of bands , so if they like Punk /Ska music , they will book those type of bands . If you play more non mainstream music  ( as we do ) , you tend to get the “ thanks for playing , here’s the money , goodnight “ treatment . I do sometimes wonder if we’re just cr@p , but we have over 200 years of combined musical experience, and lots of good feedback from the audience in general. 

[Bluewine]

2 hours ago, fretmeister said:

Yup.

 

A very busy music pub. 
 

Apparently we were so loud they got their entertainment licence revoked by the local authority.

So really nobody got asked back.

 

That was back in 1993 iirc. 

 

Too loud is an issue and the venue might not tell you that was the reason a band wasn't asked back . I say, in the case a band is playing a restaurant or anywhere you are providing background music, keep the volume low. And if your in a loud band, maybe not accept the background music gigs.

 

Daryl

[Bluewine]

1 hour ago, Beedster said:

 

I think that's it 100% 👍

Agreed. Relieing on call back business might work for a while and with some venues.  However not a good practice for bands that want to make money. 

 

Daryl

[Bluewine]

1 hour ago, Lozz196 said:

In my old punk covers band The Daves we played a local venue where we went down amazingly. Unfortunately a lady and her husband that we knew had come to see us, she was very drunk and started a fight with him, yelling at him very loudly in the middle of the pub. When he left she started yelling at anyone who made eye contact she would fight them too. Her broad German accent made the behaviour even more noticeable in rural Watford. We could hardly say we didn’t know her as she had a Daves tee shirt on. No matter how many times we tried to get gigs they were always fully booked…..

 

 

That's a very unfortunate scenario.  

 

Here's another issue. The band arrives with members acting like "diva rock stars" and making unnecessary demands on the venue.

 

It seems like such an easy proposition.  We work for them ,they don't work for us.

 

Daryl

[Bluewine]

1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Usually It's calendar issues, or venues changing hands  

 

Agreed. Over here when a venue changes hands it's undoubtedly the

" kiss of death " for the bands.

 

Daryl

[Bluewine]

50 minutes ago, martin8708 said:

In my experience, Pub Landlords tend to favour particular styles of bands , so if they like Punk /Ska music , they will book those type of bands . If you play more non mainstream music  ( as we do ) , you tend to get the “ thanks for playing , here’s the money , goodnight “ treatment . I do sometimes wonder if we’re just cr@p , but we have over 200 years of combined musical experience, and lots of good feedback from the audience in general. 

 

Agreed. We're also not what you would consider main stream. However, we have our niche and there's plenty of venues for us to play.

 

We know the venues  where you know the crowd wants covers like " Don't Stop Believing " . It's better for us to turn those gigs down.

 

Daryl

[Bluewine]

1 hour ago, chris_b said:

Some promoters are morons.

 

We were playing a well known pub chain and the manager had to fight his way across the heaving dance floor to tell us he wanted us to play more danceable music!!! The dance floor was full, so we carried on with the set and everyone had a great night. . . . and we didn’t get rebooked!

 

Chris, I could go on and on about the mentality of some owners and managers.  Think "clueless ". Lol

 

There's a way for bands to cut that issue off at the pass. As soon as you arrive you kill the managers and staff with kindness. If you can do this these type of folks are less likely to act up 

 

Daryl

[Bluewine]

1 hour ago, martin8708 said:

In my experience, Pub Landlords tend to favour particular styles of bands , so if they like Punk /Ska music , they will book those type of bands . If you play more non mainstream music  ( as we do ) , you tend to get the “ thanks for playing , here’s the money , goodnight “ treatment . I do sometimes wonder if we’re just cr@p , but we have over 200 years of combined musical experience, and lots of good feedback from the audience in general. 

 

And some Pub Landlords tend to favor "cheap". We have few places where the owner/managers are living in the past and won't budge from $350.00. We won't take those types of gigs.

 

Off topic, sort of.

 

I know some folks here are not in this for the money, which is fine. However,  some of us are. I've never hit the big time or even come close. I'm a struggling local guy.  In my area we have some $50.00 a night guys, $70.00, and $100. 00 a night guys. I can proudly say I'm a $150.00 a night guy. That's not much money, but more than most guys are getting around here.

 

Daryl

[BassAdder60]

Most pub music venues have realised a solo singer or duo, open mic night is a cheap way to give live music paying £150-£200 

 

As a band it should be around £300-£400 but most small pubs cannot afford it paying £200 -£300 tops

 

Plus the old bands play too loud issue is often a reason not to get re-booked if they are struggling locally with noise complaints.

 

I don’t think pub venues have a clue about band quality or how good they are and book the same old bands each month as a lazy approach to booking music 

[Bolo]

8 hours ago, martin8708 said:

 we have over 200 years of combined musical experience, and lots of good feedback from the audience in general. 

That's amazing for a duo act!

[martin8708]

1 hour ago, Bolo said:

That's amazing for a duo act!

Well , I do live on the Isle of Wight , AKA Gods waiting room .

 

Cheap / free bands are also an issue , especially if the kids from the local music college form bands and offer to play for free to get gig experience. The money over here is very poor ,always has been , I don’t think I’ve ever played in a band that got £300 for a gig .

Noise issues and small / quieter venues also make it difficult for full bands , we are considering going out as a trio ( no drummer ) and just using a Beat buddy pedal ( which we’ve used for rehearsal for years ).  Smaller band footprint / easy volume control / correct tempo for every song , but you do loose the dynamics of a real drummer 

[chris_b]

37 minutes ago, martin8708 said:

Well , I do live on the Isle of Wight , AKA Gods waiting room .

 

Noise issues and small / quieter venues also make it difficult for full bands , we are considering going out as a trio ( no drummer ) and just using a Beat buddy pedal ( which we’ve used for rehearsal for years ).  Smaller band footprint / easy volume control / correct tempo for every song , but you do loose the dynamics of a real drummer 

 

. . . . and then Monica arrives with her noisy weekends!

[fretmeister]

10 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

Too loud is an issue and the venue might not tell you that was the reason a band wasn't asked back . I say, in the case a band is playing a restaurant or anywhere you are providing background music, keep the volume low. And if your in a loud band, maybe not accept the background music gigs.

 

Daryl

 

It wasn't a background / restaurant gig.

 

It was a rock venue.

[upside downer]

We had a great venue we played about 3 times a year and we'd always drag a good few with us to pack out the place. Always a buoyant, appreciative crowd there with no hint of trouble. Stopped getting asked back when the landlord noticed that, one time, both the drummer and vocalist had smuggled in their own supply of beer and, in the singer's case, his wife's stockpile, too. Three gigs gone tits up, all in aid of saving a few quid at the bar. Terrific. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. Me and the guitarist were not happy bunnies.

[Len_derby]

11 minutes ago, upside downer said:

We had a great venue we played about 3 times a year and we'd always drag a good few with us to pack out the place. Always a buoyant, appreciative crowd there with no hint of trouble. Stopped getting asked back when the landlord noticed that, one time, both the drummer and vocalist had smuggled in their own supply of beer and, in the singer's case, his wife's stockpile, too. Three gigs gone tits up, all in aid of saving a few quid at the bar. Terrific. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. Me and the guitarist were not happy bunnies.

Ouch, that’s a really dumb thing to do. I think I’d severe connections with people who pulled that stunt. Pub landlords talk to each other. A bad reputation is hard to shake off.

[Bluewine]

20 minutes ago, upside downer said:

We had a great venue we played about 3 times a year and we'd always drag a good few with us to pack out the place. Always a buoyant, appreciative crowd there with no hint of trouble. Stopped getting asked back when the landlord noticed that, one time, both the drummer and vocalist had smuggled in their own supply of beer and, in the singer's case, his wife's stockpile, too. Three gigs gone tits up, all in aid of saving a few quid at the bar. Terrific. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. Me and the guitarist were not happy bunnies.

 

"Saving a few quid at the bar"

 

In my opinion all bars and restaurants should comp food and certain drinks for the band. It's just the right thing to do as long as you don't have band members that would abuse it.

 

Daryl

 

 

[Bluewine]

We have a few bands in my area that will play for next to nothing.Which could result in higher priceed bands not being asked back

 

I subscribe to the notion that most club owners don't know the difference between a good band and a bad one. So, when the cheap band will play a gig for $350.00 and we quote $800.00 for a 4 piece  band with sound and lights ,they'll go with the cheaper band.

 

We have been around for over 15 years and we're comfortable saying " no ".

 

Daryl

Edited 1 hour ago by Bluewine

[Steve Browning]

2 hours ago, chris_b said:

 

. . . . and then Monica arrives with her noisy weekends!

And Earl's laugh!!⁹