paulbass Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Hi Everyone, I've played in all sorts of bands over the years and played many gigs. I'm currently playing in a Heavy Rock covers band playing the likes of AC/DC,Iron Maiden,Guns and Roses,Wolfmother,Living Colour etc...and I've never played in a Rock band as heavy as this before and its really good fun! The issue we have is that not all pubs like this type of music and its proving a little difficult to get gigs further afield. We've been together as a band for nearly 3 years and we have a strong following and we do a decent job of getting a good crowd when we play locally and we always get asked back to play another gig (We are based in Hereford). We consider ourselves experienced and capable musicians and we just love playing music and would be willing to travel as long as its not hundreds of miles away but how do i go about getting suitable venues for us to play? Obviously we wouldnt want to play in some sort of club where the people look forward to their bingo during the interval (Been there and done that! ) Thats just not us, but playing Rock pubs or Festivals would suit us more. I'm not sure if using an agent is the right way to go as we just want to play for fun and play in the right venues. How do you guys and gals get your gigs further afield? Any help and advice would be appreciated Many Thanks,Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Hire a suitable venue and put on your own show? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Think there was a similar thread here last week . ( need to get a life . Websites such as lemon rock are good. Facebook? Over to other basschatters .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Biker festivals - pretty sure they would love your material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Paul, I'm in a very similar situation to yourself, been round the block, current band is 3 years old etc and like you we can pull when we are local. We are in no way heavy rock but we do most of our gigs on the rock pub circuit, like I imagine you do. To be honest Not sure what you term as further afield. The furthest we go is about 45 miles, but that's only because the landlords used to be local to us and book us regular and have moved to Halifax. They know we're a decent band and we know they can run a live gig so everyones happy. We've been contacted in the past from gigs 30 odd miles away who have heard of us or we've been reccomended and have gone to them only to find that it's very poor turn out or worse the pub has an entertainment budget it has to spend and they just book bands and don't promote the event. At the end of the day we're an out of town band and we aren't going to draw breath, however we do a few out of town gigs that are so good at getting the right bands their punters will turn out for a new band because they are more or less confident the landlord books good bands. I know this doesn't really help with your question on how to get the gigs it's just that I think it's a bit of a double edged sword. Les Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulbass Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 [quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1401399246' post='2463372'] Biker festivals - pretty sure they would love your material. [/quote] Getting onto the bikers circuit would be excellent,we have done a couple of small bikers festivals and would love to do some bigger events as they are a blast! Its just finding out how to get in touch with them. Thanks for the reply JapanAxe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Some pubs and Landlords just aren't going to fancy you because of the material you play. We have a few grundge bands round here and to me, some of them just play the good tunes but some LL's will take a chance and some just don't think their perception and/or experience matches their customers. You may have to either stand by your choice of material and not get to play certain venues or you may have to change. I would guess a certain perception excludes them from quite a few gigs they'd want to do.. If fact, we were talking about just this today... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulbass Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 [quote name='Les' timestamp='1401400139' post='2463381'] Paul, I'm in a very similar situation to yourself, been round the block, current band is 3 years old etc and like you we can pull when we are local. We are in no way heavy rock but we do most of our gigs on the rock pub circuit, like I imagine you do. To be honest Not sure what you term as further afield. The furthest we go is about 45 miles, but that's only because the landlords used to be local to us and book us regular and have moved to Halifax. They know we're a decent band and we know they can run a live gig so everyones happy. We've been contacted in the past from gigs 30 odd miles away who have heard of us or we've been reccomended and have gone to them only to find that it's very poor turn out or worse the pub has an entertainment budget it has to spend and they just book bands and don't promote the event. At the end of the day we're an out of town band and we aren't going to draw breath, however we do a few out of town gigs that are so good at getting the right bands their punters will turn out for a new band because they are more or less confident the landlord books good bands. I know this doesn't really help with your question on how to get the gigs it's just that I think it's a bit of a double edged sword. Les [/quote] Thanks for replying Les, we dont mind a bit of travelling...maybe a hour away or so from where we are. We would just like to have a change of scene and play somewhere different. As long as we cover the cost of fuel etc we would just like to play for fun and have a laugh at the same time. It can be testing phoning places in other towns that havent heard of us and they never get back in touch. Pubs tend to go with the bands the know rather than gamble on someone they havent heard of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulbass Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 [quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1401395591' post='2463313'] Hire a suitable venue and put on your own show? [/quote] Hi Flyfisher, this could prove expensive and a lot of work. We would just rather play at venues that cater for Rock bands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulbass Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 [quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' timestamp='1401396938' post='2463333'] Think there was a similar thread here last week . ( need to get a life . Websites such as lemon rock are good. Facebook? Over to other basschatters .. [/quote] Hi Ray I did see this thread and we have tried lemon rock and we use fb a lot...most people that watch us notice the ads we put on fb and come to the event. I have contacted a couple of places using lemon rock but the venues never get back in touch or are fully booked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 [quote name='paulbass' timestamp='1401401791' post='2463400'] I have contacted a couple of places using lemon rock but the venues never get back in touch or are fully booked. [/quote] You have to be persistent when contacting venues - emails tend to be ignored, and you have to pester landlords/bookers to the point of embarrassment if you're going to pin them down to actual gigs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulbass Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 [quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1401401135' post='2463393'] Some pubs and Landlords just aren't going to fancy you because of the material you play. We have a few grundge bands round here and to me, some of them just play the good tunes but some LL's will take a chance and some just don't think their perception and/or experience matches their customers. You may have to either stand by your choice of material and not get to play certain venues or you may have to change. I would guess a certain perception excludes them from quite a few gigs they'd want to do.. If fact, we were talking about just this today... [/quote] Hi JTUK, Its been a bit of an eye opener playing in a Heavy Rock band for me....i'm more into Larry Graham,Pino and PaulTurner which is a world away from what i'm currently playing but i'm having a blast playing with these guys and they are a good bunch.I guess its the challenge for me. I've done my share of club bands and wedding bands and i must admit it harder work getting gigs in a Rock band but i will also say that the people that go to Rock gigs are really supportive and absolutely love their music! Its a joy to play Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulbass Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 [quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1401402084' post='2463404'] You have to be persistent when contacting venues - emails tend to be ignored, and you have to pester landlords/bookers to the point of embarrassment if you're going to pin them down to actual gigs. [/quote] I think i'm going to have to polish up on my persistent skills How do you get your gigs if you dont mind me asking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 [quote name='paulbass' timestamp='1401402642' post='2463412'] I think i'm going to have to polish up on my persistent skills How do you get your gigs if you dont mind me asking? [/quote] When I was playing the pub circuit, the 3 of us used to take a list of a dozen music pubs each. Call pub, ask to speak to landlord. Repeat until you actually speak to him in person. Introduce self/band, [u]get name[/u], offer demo. Send demo. Wait 2 weeks. Call pub, ask to speak to landlord. Repeat until you actually speak to him in person. He hasn't listened to it. Wait 1 week. Call pub, ask to speak to landlord. Repeat until you actually speak to him in person. He still hasn't listened. Explain you are taking your bookings for next year. He asks you to call back at x time. Call back at x time. Ask to speak to landlord. Repeat until you actually speak to him in person. Fix date and price. I estimate 10-20 phone calls per successful booking! (And for 'him' read 'him or her'.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulbass Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 [quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1401403014' post='2463417'] When I was playing the pub circuit, the 3 of us used to take a list of a dozen music pubs each. Call pub, ask to speak to landlord. Repeat until you actually speak to him in person. Introduce self/band, [u]get name[/u], offer demo. Send demo. Wait 2 weeks. Call pub, ask to speak to landlord. Repeat until you actually speak to him in person. He hasn't listened to it. Wait 1 week. Call pub, ask to speak to landlord. Repeat until you actually speak to him in person. He still hasn't listened. Explain you are taking your bookings for next year. He asks you to call back at x time. Call back at x time. Ask to speak to landlord. Repeat until you actually speak to him in person. Fix date and price. I estimate 10-20 phone calls per successful booking! (And for 'him' read 'him or her'.) [/quote] Ha! i like your style...i think i'll start my first of many,many phonecalls tomorrow! Thanks JapanAxe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 Depends how stubborn you and the rest of the band are about playing alternative material. Another route is to have an entirely different set catering to a totally different demographic and targetting the other venues that won't take your rock act. Alternate between the 'rock' act and the 'other' act. There's a band locally round here that have been going 20+ years. For most of that time they have done rock/classic rock covers. In more recent years they have built up another set doing all 60's material. They go out under a different name for the 60's stuff but it is the SAME BAND. They have even 'supported' themselves at NYE parties doing the 60's set early then the rockier stuff as a second show, coin it in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lw. Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 There are probably a lot of other bands around the country playing a similar style to you in similar venues - you should find them and offer gig-swaps; they come and support you at your local - you go and support them at theirs etc... This way you're finding new venues & listeners and you know your music will be acceptable all round as you're similar to the other band. That was one of the things we used to do in my old band anyway, I assume people still do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 You are going to have to track down the bands that play the same sort of stuff and nick their gigs but also accept that there will some places you'll never get in. Some places will vary their rosta for a punt but they generally settle on what they know works and this is entirely understandable. Some will book a popular act that they really don't like and disappear for the evening but rake in the money and others will book the acts they like...but you can't make an audience turn up. There will be a couple of specialist bikers bars and you just need to find out who they are...or you can promise a a great turn-out or no fee type gig but established places only go for what they don't know when they get a bit desperate. After a few months of putting on musicmost places know what works for them and they stick with it. If you can't get the volume of gigs you want... then you might have to rethink what you play... The thing round here is that there are quite a few metal acts and they can't get into pubs and there is no way round that..... the venue doesn't think they will sell, even though the bands will protest they can get 30 or 40 ppl desperate to see them play...but an in-town venue aren't going to go for that, most likely, as they will not attract/keep the big passing trade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassfunk Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 Going in person to places really helps. I used to play the pub circuit with a mix of Classic Rock and our own material (our own stuff sounded so much like the covers it was criminal!). Our Drummers Dad was our 'manager', he's also a pharmaceutical rep. When he was out on the road and saw a pub that put bands on he used to pop in, chat to the landlord. give them a card and cd and follow up with a phone call to confirm the booking. It was great for us as we just turned up played and got paid. I'd say get a load of CDs and business cards done find the venues you want to play and take a tour of the Midlands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 [quote name='paulbass' timestamp='1401401491' post='2463397'] Hi Flyfisher, this could prove expensive and a lot of work. We would just rather play at venues that cater for Rock bands. [/quote] Someone has to go to all that expense and trouble. Perhaps the difficulty in finding suitable venues is an indication that it's becoming too expensive and too much trouble? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 If you are only going to play one type of set and you only want to play in venues that cater for that genre then in those venues which already have a saturation of classic rock covers you either have to prove that you can offer something better than or significantly different to what is already being offered by their 'regular' bands or accept that you will have to travel further afield to get the gigs and this will push your overheads up. I was in a similar situation around 7 or 8 years ago. I'd done 2 back to back stints in 2 different classic rock covers bands. During the time I had off before joining the next band it gave me several months to take stock and look as a punter what was going on locally. It really brought home to me just what saturation level it had reached in that genre. Lots of bands playing to a similar standard with similar set lists all chasing the same venues. It really put me off and I decided i would try other types of bands, not done a classic rock band since. I'd like to do one more before I'm really past it but it would have to be a unit with guaranteed work and a good reputation (so they probably wouldnt hire me anyway! ). Best of luck in what still seems to me a very competitive market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrismuzz Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 It's a shame you're not a bit further north, the venues in my Gig list in my Sig are incredible places to gig! There are a few in the West Midlands which might not be too far out of reach? Have a look anyway! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mep Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 [quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1401399246' post='2463372'] Biker festivals - pretty sure they would love your material. [/quote] I wish this was the case with the local bike festival down my way. I am a biker and have been going to it since it started. I met the guy who books the bands at a bike night, in my bike gear, and introduced myself etc and gave him our card and explained who we are and that loads of people wonder why we don't play the festival. Didn't get a look in the for the next festival. Will try again this year for the next one. One problem is I heard he won't book a band if he even thinks they are too heavy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrismuzz Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 [quote name='mep' timestamp='1401465608' post='2463934'] I wish this was the case with the local bike festival down my way. I am a biker and have been going to it since it started. I met the guy who books the bands at a bike night, in my bike gear, and introduced myself etc and gave him our card and explained who we are and that loads of people wonder why we don't play the festival. Didn't get a look in the for the next festival. Will try again this year for the next one. One problem is I heard he won't book a band if he even thinks they are too heavy! [/quote] Haha! I played a bike festival once. In the 9 years they'd been doing them they had never had a mosh pit... until we arrived! We haven't been booked since Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulbass Posted May 30, 2014 Author Share Posted May 30, 2014 [quote name='Lw.' timestamp='1401440285' post='2463562'] There are probably a lot of other bands around the country playing a similar style to you in similar venues - you should find them and offer gig-swaps; they come and support you at your local - you go and support them at theirs etc... This way you're finding new venues & listeners and you know your music will be acceptable all round as you're similar to the other band. That was one of the things we used to do in my old band anyway, I assume people still do it. [/quote] I havent heard of bands doing this but is sounds a great idea. Could be a bit of fun and entertaining at the same time. Good idea Lw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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