Re: cut in pay 2
- From: suds mcduff <sudsmcduff19911@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:55:50 -0500
MegaSwing wrote:
On Oct 24, 2:54 pm, BW <barrybass...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:On Oct 24, 8:26 am, MegaSwing <MegaSw...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Oct 21, 7:15 pm, suds mcduff <sudsmcduff19...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:Jeez... a new agent, a new club, a new area, all unknowns, and nothingDGDevin wrote:A few weeks ago, the main band I'm in got a gig through an agent, whosuds mcduff wrote:---One patron asked after the band, I told him we were leaving due toHad a gig at a resort tiki hut type bar. The deal was, a one manGood for you. I'd have made sure the patrons knew there was no music
act would play from 6 to 8, and we'd play from 9 to 12....well, we're
15 minutes into setting up, and the (female) manager comes over and
asks why there's no music....turns out they wanted the other guy to
fill in on our breaks so they'd have continuous music, but we didn't
know that. We get set up in record time (25 min), get done with
the first tune and the waitress comes over with two options from the
manager.
She says we can continue to play through without a break till 12
(3 hrs) or we could take our normal breaks and take a $100 cut.
Our singer tells her there's a third option, we could pack up and
go, which we did.
I was proud of the guys, they are normally shameless gig
whores...I was ready to go when she complained about the set up
time...
because the manager had decided to cheat the band.
breach of contract....
I'd also make damn sure
every working musician I knew heard the story, let the bar manager explain----Funny thing is, we went to a steady gig bar down the road where
to the owners why all the bands suddenly want a cash deposit to load-in
their gear.
we're more appreciated, and the owner invited us back to his plush place
to drink some beer and shoot pool...- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
had seen us and decided he could use us. This was the first call we
got from him, so we took it not knowing anything, lest he not call on
us anymore. The venue is a really nice place on the Chesapeake Bay,
the kind of place where patrons can pull up in their boats, outdoors
on an expansive deck.
When we first get there, the 'music manager', whom we do not know,
meets with us to reserve the right to send us home early at a reduced
rate because he doesn't expect anybody to be there after about 9:30pm,
and that we should try to start early. The season is over, blah,
blah, blah. This is a surprise to say the least, not to mention a
compounding of the inconvenience of having driven two hours to get
there. We didn't invite any of our regular people because it's too
far away. The only upside is we have a gig the following afternoon,
and this new wrinkle will at least get us home earlier to recuperate.
Ah, the silver lining.
The band huddles on it, and briefly discusses pulling out, but we
decide just to play it 'where it lies', in golf parlance, and express
our displeasure with Agent Charlie, the gray-haired doddering dope who
booked us in there, later. Besides, this is a REALLY nice place. But
Old Charlie WILL hear about this. He is unreachable by phone, or
course.
We proceed to play one of the worst opening sets we have ever done,
all kinds of missed cues and clam salad. But people are walking up to
us flashing thumbs-up, and a crowd starts forming in front of the
band, people dancing, drinking, and setting up camp. When the set is
over, I'm distraught over what I have just particpated in. Still, the
crowd is buzzing. The owner is now in attendance. We must soldier
on.
For the second set, the band goes into overdrive and really nails it.
Mid-way through we get word that we will get all our money and play as
long as there are people there. Since we started a little early, we
get to wrap up a little early, and the club is talking about gettting
us back regularly during its high season, which must be a blast worthy
of a TV show. Did I mention this was a really nice place, by the
water?
In the end, all we had to do to keep a bump in the road from becoming
a time-wasting disaster was to play.
Sometimes you're just living right.
Edward G.
Baltimore, MD
in writing or email? (Sorry if I'm beating a dead horse.) It turned
out well and I'm happy for you about that, but after a two hour drive
(even without a two hour drive), the club owner owes you what you
agreed to. Unless there was an "early finish" clause, agreed to in
advance.- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
The whole point was that we knew all this going in, but rather than
puff up and escalate aggressions before they even heard us play, we
just elected to play, which is how a band does its best talking.
----Yup, we used to do that too.....but we found that when we gave an inch, management took a mile while wasting four or five hours of our lives..glad it worked out for ya, but we just don't bend over anymore...
If
it had sucked, we'd be done with it forever.
---It would have sucked for four hours instead of one....and you'd still be done with it forever....
We didn't exactly pass
up another gig to play there. But I don't expect there to be any more
worries of that nature there again. Old Charlie got nothing but good
notices about us, which, with any luck, means that he can get us into
other nice venues (and new adventures). Next time, maybe we'll have
some advance publicity to prod attendance. We just have to keep
working on the product and be worthy of better and better gigs,
through Agent Charlie or whomever. OUR mission never changes.
The beautiful thing is that the momentum is contagious. A success
here leads to another one there, and before ya know it, you just may
be playing on the circuit you've been aiming for, because everybody
makes money and has fun when you are there. People in the trade talk,
and the word gets around, good or bad. The bullshit gets sorted out
for what it is, y'know?
---That's true...a couple of bands have refused bookings at the place because of how we were treated...now if we could get other musicians to refuse to lowball, maybe we'd be gettin' somewhere....
.
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