You're a Great Client! Love the Band. Weekend Musician
What club owners look for in a band. Article written by Andy Volmer Back to Cover
There are many types of places ___
for a band to play. Some are individuals booking entertainment for special events like weddings, anniversaries or birthday parties. Some clients are corporations booking entertainment for a program kick-off, summer BBQ or holiday get-together. Although the sum of these clients may equal or even be greater than club owners, it is club owners that we will focus on for this article, since they are likely to be responsible for the majority of the bookings in a typical cover band’s schedule.
There are many things a band or even an individual performer looks for from a Club Owner when deciding to play a particular venue or not. Payment, stage size (if there is one), sound system and lighting (whether you have to bring your own or not), size and location of the dance floor, if there are regular patrons (ie; a built in crowd), good food, atmosphere, location (driving distance), and so on are all considered. While good pay is important, I’ve played some clubs that provided pretty good compensation ___
that I won’t play at again because it just wasn’t worth it. Maybe the staff was a “downer”, maybe you had as many people come as did the club (this is an especially bad statement if distance is a factor), or perhaps the distance itself doesn’t justify the great pay.
On the opposite side of that spectrum, are the smaller clubs that perhaps don’t pay that well but playing there is just a real kick in the pants. There’s always a great crowd. The staff is friendly and fun. The stage area is nice and big (or adequate for the size of the band that’s playing). There’s house provided sound and lights. The venue is clean, etc, etc. Therefore pay, albeit important, is not always the only deciding factor when determining where a band wants to play.
Here are some of the things that musicians are looking for in a good client/venue:
1. Good Communication – Good, regular, open communication with the band is paramount to a positive ______
experience with a band. Let the band know what you expect. Help them help you. “My patrons love to dance so keep the beat going and don’t spend a lot of time between songs or you’ll lose them”. “Start promptly at 9:00 PM with some of your lower volume songs and then step it up around 10pm when the younger crowd rolls in.” Knowing and being able to respond to these nuances make for a much more enjoyable time for all involved.
2 .Keep a clean house - There’s this club I have played at several times over the years. It’s a pretty large venue with a decent house sound and lighting system. It has a big stage and can seat large crowds. It is also a dang pig sty. To give you an idea of how filthy this place is, I stood on the dance floor talking to a patron during a break for a couple minutes then proceeded to step right out of my shoe which was stuck to the floor. This wasn’t just from spilled drinks over that evening’s entertainment but from a build up of filth over a long period of time. Simply mopping up after every __
evening would fix this problem. I don’t have to tell you what the bathrooms looked and smelled like. Needless to say, a clean club not only attracts better bands, but more customers too! Make your club a place people want to come to when they are looking to have some fun!!
Clean clubs help ensure returning bands and patrons.
3. Market your club and events – The band should be responsible for providing flyers, posters and other promotional materials to the Club. The Club, in turn, should be responsible for distribution and display of said flyers and promotional materials inside of the _
club. Let your customers know that there is live music!!! Good club owners understand this is crucial to the success of the club and not just the bands cover that night. I’ve quit playing a few clubs because it was obvious the Owner didn’t understand this, or plain just didn’t care. I actually got a call from the staff of one club who, having received my posters and flyers in the mail, asked me to stop sending them this stuff because “they didn’t know what to do with it.”
4. Also important in the overall marketing of the club is an up to date web presence and e-mail list. Remember, the band may get that $5 cover charge at the door, but it is more than likely that the Club will get $20 (or more) in food and drink sales for every $5 the band makes off the door. The cost of keeping an updated web site can be as minimal as your time, now that myspace.com allows for a free website and includes a place for a live music calendar. 90% of all bands have myspace sites and a link to your club on their site is nothing but FREE ADVERTISING for you!!
Communication
between the sound man and club owner is key to good sound levels5. Provide refreshments to the band during and after the show - It takes my band a good 2 hours to set up for a 4 hour show and another 1-1/2 hours to tear down so we’re all pretty exhausted by the time the night is over. Providing water and soft drinks for free during the show is a minimum. Most clubs offer ½ price food and bar drinks and some owners provide pizza and soft drinks following the show. This level of attention to the entertainment can go a long way in putting you in the driver’s seat for future bookings. The bands just want to be treated like human beings.
6. If possible, provide some lights and make the club darker when the band is playing. Make live music the focus if you are having a band. The best way to do that is to have a well lit up area for the band to set up in with some cool looking lights on them. You can get some pretty decent lighting gear for just a little $$$ nowadays. A little investment in this area would be a great idea.
7. Help the sound man – It’s your club and if it’s too loud and everyone is complaining, then mention this to the sound man. If the folks up front are getting their false teeth rattled out of their heads because the bass is too loud, you need to tell the sound man. If the last 4 guys at the mixing table said that keeping the stage volume down was the key to success, relate this to the sound man. It’s best if you’re the point man and not your staff. . I’ve ____
seen it time and time again when one staff member tells the Sound Tech that the bass is too loud only to have another staff member tell him to crank the bass. Have them bring concerns to you and you take them to the sound man as you feel it is needed. Let him make the adjustments. Don’t be overbearing but be consistent and understand that he may hear things differently than you but that your assessment of the situation will ______
determine whether or not they are invited back. If the sound man resists, bring it to the attention of your contact in the band. If the act and crew are not willing to work with you, it’s likely you won’t have them back, and that’s OK. You shouldn’t have to work with someone who is not willing to work with you. It’s a two way street.
8. Have a positive and friendly serving staff – This is a huge component to a successful club. Fun is contagious. If the serving staff is having fun, is upbeat, and enjoying the evening’s entertainment, it’s likely the patrons will be as well.
9. Have enough clean power to the stage – I think I should say something here that needs to be said but no one wants to say it….ground isolators. It’s amazing how many places we play where we have to isolate the ground to get rid of that nasty 60 cycle hum. This is not only a risk to the clubs or the bands equipment but to our health as it is very likely that WE (the band members) would become the source of ground in the event of an electrical _
episode!!! I once told a club owner that he had an issue and should have an electrician in to check out the problem which he promptly did. He told me that the system checked out fine but the hum was ever-present. I suspect that he did have an electrician come in during the day and not at night when all the neon signs and florescent lights were turned on.
10. Have a solid stage/performing surface – There’s a local club that is notorious for a wobbly stage. I later found that the stage was structurally supported by milk crates! No wonder! Ironically the owner was constantly telling me to be more animated on stage but whenever I did my microphone stand either fell over or came close to knocking my teeth out.
11. Do not over-serve your customers – Litigation based on over-serving guests and the bad things that happen when this is done can kill a club (not to mention the patrons). Additionally, a little alcohol and dancing mix well but a lot of alcohol and dancing do not. Falling? Yes, but not dancing. _______
Monitors and other band equipment seems to be a magnet for drunks and injury and worse yet, damage to our gear is likely to result. Be responsible for your patrons and train wait staff at times to cut off customers who seem like they’ve had enough.
12. Understand what live show volume is – If you have to walk around with a db meter in your hand due to city restrictions, you might want to reconsider if having live music is good for your location or not. If it’s too loud, it’s too loud and you should talk to the sound man. Walking around with a meter kills the performers as they start worrying about what they’re doing wrong.
13. Provide adequate parking – Provide some idea to the band where they are expected to park. The best situation is to allow for parking near the club for loading and unloading and at least identified parking during the show. Most musicians I know and understand that the spots in front of a venue should be set aside for patrons so long as they know they can use them before and after the show for unloading/loading, if they are available.
In providing all these things, the client can and should expect something from the band in return. If the Owner is doing all this and doesn’t feel like their getting his money’s worth in return, it’s likely a band won’t get a follow up booking. The best measure of the success of a business is repeat customers. Are you getting follow up bookings at the venues you play? Are you getting booked year after year at company holiday parties? If not, it’s probably not reasonable for you to focus on what the clients are and aren’t doing for you. Time to look inward and fix whatever is not getting you those repeat performances. If you are getting invited back, there’s nothing wrong with expecting the client do their part. Good clients understand this and the relationship works well for both.
Andy Volmer - Guitar & Vocals for HiWatt & Petty
Thief
http://www.hiwattrocks.com
http://www.myspace.com/hiwattband
http://www.myspace.com/pettythiefrocks
MEET THE WRITER - ANDY VOLMER
Andy plays guitar and sings in the popular local cover band “HiWatt”, a long time staple on the local Seattle cover band scene. He also plays the Tom Petty character in the local Tom Petty Tribute band, “Petty Thief”. He’s been playing and singing in cover and tribute bands since he was in his early 20’s and at 44, he’s still going strong.