OT: Booking gigs

[NewImprov]

OK, I have a confession to make. I've been gigging for nearly 3 decades, and still, I hate booking gigs. For the last 8 years, I was in a band that worked a lot, and had a guy that was personable, charismatic, and could shmooze his way through a brick wall, he did all of our booking, and kept us working a lot. He was also an egomaniacal narcissist control freak, but I digress. I, on the other hand, tend to be introverted, socially awkward, and have all the charm of dried piece of dung, as you may have been able to tell from my posts here.

 

Nonetheless, I'm currently playing in 2 bands that are absolutely kicking my ass musically, and the people in them are very cool. The only problem is, it really becoming obvious that I should be the one booking the gigs for both of them. One band in particular is a mix of a couple of "pros" and a couple of very talented players who really haven't played out a lot. Of everyone in the band, I'm the one that should have the most contacts and regional reputation.

 

I have booked a few local shows for both bands in my smallish city, clubs where I know the owner/bookers, and booking a gig was as easy just making a phone call and finding an available night. But I'd like us to be playing more regionally. Of course, in an ideal world, for the last 8 years, I would have been gathering contacts at all the gigs I did in my former band, getting to know the booking people, ingratiating myself with them, and now, booking my new bands would just mean flipping through my rolodex. But, I'm just terrible at networking.

 

So, what are your tips for booking a killer band? Calling clubs, saying, "Hi, my name is Dave, you might remember me from bands like..."? For the guys out there working it all the time, what can you recommend to a shmo like me?

[Ian Sharrock]

Compile a portfolio. Brief bio, set list, gig dates, pikkies, testimonials (endorsements), pricing structure, contact details.

 

Shoot a promo video of the band playing LIVE; 1 camera on a tripod at rehearsal will do it (I got told once by a club owner that they would never book an act until they'd seen them play). Pick 3 of your best songs to play, preferably ones that show the band at it's most versatile (full harmonies, multiple lead vocalists, multiple soloists, etc). Include this video in your portfolio.

 

Having a website is also pretty much a must-have. You can include more detailed info on there.

 

Don't cold call new venues. Go & see the manager or whoever books the bands and give him your promo face to face. They then know who they're dealing with.

 

The whole point is to make your band stand out from the crowd. Venue owners always look to book the best entertainment (for the cheapest they can get away with!) If your band conducts its business with a more professional take than the guys who just phone the manager up & say "Hi I'm in a band & we want to play at your club", YOU'LL get the booking everytime.

 

Works for us!

[Synthoid]

pikkies,

 

?

:idk

[Ian Sharrock]

Pictures, photographs, mugshots!

I keep forgetting there's an ocean between my version of English & yours!

[Synthoid]

Pictures, photographs, mugshots!

I keep forgetting there's an ocean between my version of English & yours!

 

No prob... I realized that's what you meant after a couple minutes.

 

The usual abbreviation here is "pix."

 

[Joe Muscara]

The biggest thing I would suggest to you is this.

 

Get yourself over these thoughts of "I am so bad at this" or "I hate doing this." Don't focus on that. Focus on what you can do, focus on what you are trying to do and achieve, and learn from your mistakes. When you think you have made a mistake, don't beat yourself up about it.

 

You probably know more about this than you realize, based upon your experiences. You may surprise yourself.

 

There are a lot of different approaches and different club owners/bookers like different ways. Some like an online press kit (ReverbNation, MySpace, or SonicBids for example) and some prefer a 'real' one. Some places you need to contact via email, some prefer phone, and some prefer in person. You really have to go with the flow. You might call a place, and the person in charge of booking wants to meet with you in person so you have to go there (if you're local). Do it. Some people you have to be persistent with, others will get annoyed if you contact them too much. Again, you have to just go with it.

 

One thing you can do in preparation is to talk to people in other bands and find out what contacts and experiences they have. They can tell you what the process is like for places they're experienced with. I'd also say that you should take any negativity they may have ("that guy is a PITA") with a grain of salt. Maybe he is a PITA, but look at it from his point of view. He wants bands that will bring in people and make the place money. He gets all these bands contacting him that aren't prepared, don't have a following, don't promote themselves, etc. You might make it easier on him if you appear prepared and to be a good draw.

 

Now that I think of it, that brings me to the most important point. You should be able to convince the booker that your band is going to bring in people and make them money. Is your band going to do its share of promotion for the gig? Do you have a following? Is there any buzz about the band? Another thing you can do is find bands in the other towns that are similar and might be willing to share the bill with you. If they have a draw, you can use that. Then you can return the favor when they want to come to your town.

 

HTH, and good luck!

[DanL]

I cold call places all the time, and most if the time, get booked. You can present yourself as professional and articulate over the phone as well as you can in person. I had one guy go onto my web site while we talked, I could hear our demos playing in the background, and he gave me 3 gigs on the spot. I've also booked gigs via email without ever talking to the person who booked us until we got there for the gig.

 

The problem with going in person is you still have to call, find out who handles the bookings, find out when they are there, ask if it's ok to come and see them (since most of the time they are wearing many hats and don't have time to stop running the business to talk to musicians about how great their band is), and then hope that they remembered talking to you when you get there. Of course if someone insists on seeing me in person, I'll go, but that rarely happens.

 

I find potential new rooms by scanning our entertainment section of the paper on Fridays, where they list all the clubs and who is playing. I'll look up the club, see what bands are there, look at those bands and decide if my band would be a fit. If we are, I call or email to find out who the contact person is, when it's a good time to talk, and call them to talk about booking us. Usually our web site is good enough for them to see what we are. Few places have asked for a promo kit. One place I didn't even drop off a kit, just a CD that has a label with our contact info and web site on it, and had 4 gigs booked the next day when the person who booked came in. Now, none of these places are A rooms, but they are all easy gigs, decent money, and fun to play. It's not easy for a band of guys who are all mid 40's on up to play the A rooms that the young bands play, so we take what our market gives and have a blast doing it.

 

I always carry business cards with me and when there are opportunities for the band, I hand them out. A couple weeks ago I did a pickup gig with some guys I know, and while the band was good, it was entirely the wrong act for the event. My band would have worked great- they had to hire a DJ to make sure there was enough dance music, and my band would have had the floor packed all night. I talked to the guy in charge and gave him my info and he said they definitely have events for us, so we'll see how that goes. Sometimes it's just being in the right place at the right time.

[DanS]

Meet & greets in person are the way to go.

We just booked 3 new venues this way.

As well, a solid promo package in hand doesn't hurt either.

[J. Dan]

I'm a sales guy in my day job, and pretty good at it I think, which is why you will likely be surprised by this... We have a dedicated booking agent we pay 10% and I couldn't be happier. I booked previous bands, and everything said here is true. But you know what? After dealing with professionals in ,y day job, it's hard to stomach dealing with some of these bars. Now most booking agents suck. We usebour guy EXCLUSIVELY. If someone says they want to deal direct, we say tough. If they want to book us the talk to him. As a result, he works very hard for us.

 

That said, it's a group effort. I continue to leverage my sales skills with the managers, etc. But the booking guy seals the deal. We coordinate our efforts. The rest of the band can utilize their skills as long as there is a strategy and all are working in synch.

[frogmonkey]

I hate booking, too! I don't do it much anymore, but I was pretty good at it for a while. Thankfully the bass player in my main band is also the talent buyer for the best club in town, and he has taken over the booking for our band. This guy knows how to book a band!

 

Booking in person is fine for mellow local places where the owner likes to hang out, but even then it's pretty labor-intensive. But busy talent-buyers don't want you to visit. Many of them want an electronic press kit: a single web page with an mp3 player, pics, and all your information. We have used Sonicbids for this for years, but I don't like them (parasite middlemen)-- soon our new website will be fully operational and we will drop them.

 

Keep in mind that these people want to book your band. That's what they do. They want to fill the calendar. And if you can demonstrate that you have your act together in a way that is easy and quick for them, they will be happy.

 

Also keep in mind that even the nicest, most musically supportive booking people may be forgetful or overly busy- so don't take it personally when they don't return your calls. If you call or email, mark it on your calendar and plan your follow-up call a week later. Don't take it personally. Don't take it personally.

 

Don't take it personally. That was the hardest part for me.

[Bill H.]

Weekdays between 2-4pm is the best time to call or stop in. That's when managers usually have some free time.

 

You don't want to pitch a band when they're deep into their work.

 

I prefer face to face. If the room is a complete blank slate I'll usually walk into the bar and ask the bartender who's in charge of the booking. Between 2 and 4 they usually are not busy either (duh!) and actually sometimes want to chat for a few minutes. You can get a lot of information about a room from a bored bartender!

 

If from all the years you've been gigging in your area you know anyone in the rooms you're interested in, start there. An introduction from an employee, no matter how small, is a big help in breaking the ice with an unfamiliar manager.

[NewImprov]

Wow, thanks for all the tips and encouragement. I really appreciate it!

 

We're in the process of getting our web presence together/ My old band used SonicBids, and we had the same feeling about them (parasitic middlemen), but we did book a number of festivals through them. The suggestion about the video is well taken also. We have a show in Jan, at a small room where we will almost certainly pack with our friends, and they like to dance, so I think that could be a very good place to video and pick the best cuts.

 

[Joe Muscara]

From what I hear, SonicBids is a mixed bag. I think you might end up having to use them because some places or events will only look at your EPK on that site.

[DanL]

I had to sign up for sonic bids because an outdoor concert series I wanted to do required them. Waste of money.

 

Bill H- 2-4pm might be the best time to see a manager about booking your band, but it's also the middle of the work day for us weekend warriors! I'm going to continue the harrass by email/phone method and make appointments for in person meetings when required.

[Jim Alfredson]

Sonicbids is a rip-off. Avoid them at all costs.

 

Booking is all about taking the time to bug people repeatedly, but doing so in a way that doesn't piss them off.

[Joe Muscara]

Sonicbids is a rip-off. Avoid them at all costs.

This is why I was so disappointed when ArtistData.com was bought by them. The stuff that was free on ArtistData is still free, but I have less expectation that will last than I did before.

 

Booking is all about taking the time to bug people repeatedly, but doing so in a way that doesn't piss them off.

Therein lies the art.

[frogmonkey]

Sonicbids. Rip-off, yes, especially if you submit to their gig listings that require a fee. Don't do it.

 

Where it might be useful is if you want to create an electronic press kit (epk) but you don't have the skills or time or money to make a real web page yourself. You email a link to the club and they get a nice-looking, user-friendly page. It costs something like $50/year.

 

We also use it for our gig calendar. It's pretty easy to mirror the sonicbids calendar on both our website and our myspace, so dates can get entered by a computer-illiterate bandleader and they show up in all the necessary locations.

 

We're going to drop them as soon as our new website is live. In the meantime, it is working for us. I hate to give them any money at all, though, as I really do think they are parasites, and if they were as integrated into the industry as they pretend to be, life would be even worse for struggling musicians. There's probably a better option for an easy epk, but I don't know what it is.