Re: An amusing gig story...

Derek Tearne wrote:
And not only were we prohibited from getting a substitute band if anything
happened, but the band had to be THE band he saw on that night - no
substitute personnel.

Now this part I think is particularly unreasonable. If you were doing a
similar deal for, say, building work, you wouldn't demand that all the
tradesman on the site were the ones you saw on building site X.

Actually in these parts that is sometimes the deal. Building contractors are sometimes hired with the understanding that specific set of subcontractors will be part of the deal (especially the guys doing interior finishes). It's one of the ways we maintain consistent quality. Since most work around here is time plus materials (usually with a cap, frequently without. This is a really non standard building market though...) as opposed to fixed bid, it's not a matter of seeking out low price sub contractors to keep costs on target.
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