How do you

[JTUK]

We have an agent who has managed one gig in 4 months or so..and another has just come in at the same venue which happens to be a pub.

We don't need an agent for pubs so you could say I am not that knocked out about that. We also have another but the liason is too new to judge. They also run as a covers band so presumably they sub out the gigs they don't/can't do.

We all chip in with dates but a freind sent me their myspace page and they said they were better than average in their blurb. I have never heard of this band so I wondered how bands sell themselves to get gigs.
What is their line..?

I haven't been on the 'circuit' as a band player for so long and things change so this is almost a new start for me to chase gigs.

We have enough gigs so I am not looking for tips as such.. we just want to get to a few more festivals but wondered how people market themselves.

[chrismuzz]

I know a guy who's band formed in November last year, and he's playing Download festival this year! I think he's opening 2nd stage or something... Don't know how they managed it and they won't tell anybody! Peculiar...

[JTUK]

[quote name='chrismuzz' post='1222907' date='May 7 2011, 09:52 AM']I know a guy who's band formed in November last year, and he's playing Download festival this year! I think he's opening 2nd stage or something... Don't know how they managed it and they won't tell anybody! Peculiar...[/quote]


We are about 18 months old as a covers band.. go down well everywhere, if I say so myself and can call on lots of landlords etc for recommendations..but only now after 18 months are we getting new enquiries from people having heard about us.

I think it might be because we don't play a really standard cliched set that so many other bands do so we are an aquired taste or slow burn.

You can pick up gigs anywhere but if you want to charge well, you have to be concerned about how many people you pull...now, more than ever, IMO.

[Ross]

If you want to play a festival you've got to play your own stuff man, I've never seen a covers band play a festival and I kind of hope I never do (no offense intended). Being good at playing other peoples songs isn't enough to sell you as much as a really good originals band I'm sad to say. Perhaps you could start throwing in some of your originals?

You've gotta get the word out there, lots of ways to do it. Merchandise (things like keyrings and cards you can hand to landlords, helps with word of mouth). Flyering - Hit your target audience, students, old folk, sad 40 year old fat blokes, stuck up desk jockeys don't just hand them a flyer or pin up 50 onto a wall push whatever drinks offers the place has why it's gonna be a good night, say what you can to get them to come. Get a website going and a facebook page, ask all of your friends.

I remember hearing not so long ago about a guy who set up his band on the back of a flatbed truck, went round town parked up and played gigs in places with high pedestrian footprint. Then found the addresses of many journalists and played outside their houses until they were told to go away by the police. Got them in the paper.

If your agent isn't getting you gigs or being any benefit to the band, sack him, keep searching for a good agent.

[LawrenceH]

Functions band I worked with used multiple agents who used to provide the bulk of their bookings - you need to be on the books with several really they are all phenomenally lazy at least in the south west of England. More recently though they picked up a lot of work through the website, it needs to be run well though which doesn't mean tedious vanity pics and profiles and does mean targeting the google rankings with well-chosen RELEVANT (can't emphasise that enough) key words and good copy. Word of mouth still played an important role, so business cards with the website/email on for gigs were handy. Adverts in specialist wedding magazines do work, I don't know if there is a corporate equivalent.
Pub gigs I think it's mainly word of mouth really and it does take a bit of time. I don't know if those chain pubs that put music on work any differently though, or even if any of those are still going actually!

[Lozz196]

If looking for gigs, in general, the venue don`t really car how good you are, they care about how many people you bring, or, to put another way, how many drinks they will sell. It`s their business to sell drinks, first and foremost.

So when looking for gigs, seek out venues where the "home crowd" appreciate your type of music, chances are you will get a booking, and if it goes well, repeat bookings, and higher fees. I`ve found in the past that actually going to the places, and checking out the crowd etc when a band is playing is far better than sending a cd, or an e-mail for the manager to listen to. My last band was a punk covers band. In general, if we walked into a pub where the majority of the clientele were heavy drinking, late 30s blokes, and upwards, chances were we would be ok in that venue - takes them back to their school-days.

Of course, if talking about originals, that`s a far harder market to crack.

[JTUK]

I think we would put an originals set together as we have a back catalogue of stuff from previous incarnations but all based around the main writer. We aren't talking about serious festivals as we don't have that inclination and we wont play free either..so maybe this neds a bit more thought and process.

As regards covers in pubs..is 18 months too short for getting to be a big draw..?
It is only the fact that things seem slow when all the other indications are good, IMHO,

If i look at the top draws around here, they have all been going for eons, as far as I can tell.
And some seem poplular by default, almost... like they have worn people down with persistance.

The main criteria seems to be if you can pull in enough to take £2-3000 over the bar you are doing very well.
The really really top dates are in the region of £6000..!!!!!!! although I am not sure if the landlord was joking

Overall, we are happy with our exposure this summer but just wonder how others percieve this issue..or not..????

[TimR]

If you are talking about festivals like fairs or fete's etc as opposed to music festivals you need to find out who the organisers are.

We played a few like that because I knew a guy on the local round table who was organising a big local fair. He put us on a stage near the beer tent and passed the word around to other round tables.

I imagine that it's similar to music festivals. Somehow you need to find out from the organisers if they book bands direct or whether they use agents. Then if they use agents ask them which ones and get their books. Simple.

The agent will then give you some crappy gigs and wait for feedback or if they're good will contact any references you give them and tout you to the festivals straight away. I guess you need a proffessionally produced press pack before you start that though.

Edited May 7, 2011 by TimR