Great Gig, Great Crowd, Great Business $$, But We Don't Want You Back

[blue]

Hi Guys,

Ever play a new venue,your band was hot, drew a big crowd, sold a lot of premium alcohol but they don't want you back?

Happens sometimes.

Comments and questions.

Blue

[RhysP]

Yeah, we actually got banned from ever playing at the venue again.

[blue]

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1491605406' post='3274329']
Yeah, we actually got banned from ever playing at the venue again.
[/quote]

We had a great gig at this one venue, but we could not get rebooked and never understood why?

Poor alcohol sales and small draw are usually the only reason you don't get rebooked in the States.

Do you know why you got banned?

Blue

Edited April 7, 2017 by blue

[RhysP]

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1491606955' post='3274339']
Do you know why you got banned?

Blue
[/quote]

I was never 100% sure but I think it had something to do with drugs being bought & sold by some pretty dodgy people that used to come to our gigs.

[kodiakblair]

I've played pubs I was banned from drinking in

Could have been the crowd. At closing time a young crowd generally leave as they've parties to go to. Older crowds tend not to get out as much and some don't want the party to end. Drunk Scottish women turn nasty in the blink of an eye come chucking out time.

[gjones]

We played a Saturday every month at a venue, for 4 years. Sold a sh*t load of booze and filled the place up (you have to pay to get in). The crowd loved us and danced the night away. The owner, loved the money we made for him (even though he was a Jazzer and probably wasn't really into our music) and kept on booking us, as we pulled a crowd.

Unfortunately he passed away and his daughter took over the bar. Since then we haven't been booked for any gigs and she ignores our emails. Now she books muso Jazz bands, which are not going to appeal to an under 30s crowd, on a Saturday night.

Good luck to her, I hope she doesn't go out of business..

[blue]

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1491607442' post='3274342']


I was never 100% sure but I think it had something to do with drugs being bought & sold by some pretty dodgy people that used to come to our gigs.
[/quote]

Ok, well if you're right, I can understand why you were banned​.

Blue

[blue]

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1491608541' post='3274351']
We played a Saturday every month at a venue, for 4 years. Sold a sh*t load of booze and filled the place up (you have to pay to get in). The crowd loved us and danced the night away. The owner, loved the money we made for him (even though he was a Jazzer and probably wasn't really into our music) and kept on booking us, as we pulled a crowd.

Unfortunately he passed away and his daughter took over the bar. Since then we haven't been booked for any gigs and she ignores our emails. Now she books muso Jazz bands, which are not going to appeal to an under 30s crowd, on a Saturday night.

Good luck to her, I hope she doesn't go out of business..
[/quote]

Yes, change in management or ownership can get a band thrown out, back into the streets.

Thing is, is to know ahead of time that a management or ownership is coming and get a proper introduction and re-sell the band.

Blue

[bazzbass]

make alcoholics your friends. We had poor crowd numbers to our pub gigs, mainly just our friends....but...they DRANK A LOT !

[Paul S]

Yup. Two years ago we did a hasty last minute gig at a place near us when the band that should have played cancelled. We brought a few people long, went down a storm, the landlord (who doesn't do the bookings) loved us and immediately after we had finished came round with the cash, plus a bit more, and got the lady who books to give us another date later in the year. Last year we got asked back for 3 gigs. This year, despite texts, emails and phone calls - nada. Strange.

[barneyg42]

Yup, played a pub in south London a couple of times, drew a good crowd but we're not the type of band they like in there, too classic rock as opposed to blues we guessed looking at the band list playing there. Another pub didn't want us as the (large-ish) crowd we bought were watching, clapping and cheering as opposed to dancing and getting pissed! Oh well, we have plenty of other venues to keep us going, but two ends of the spectrum with those landlords, one, we're the wrong type of band despite the crowd and the other we bring the wrong type of crowd!! Strange!!

Edited April 8, 2017 by barneyg42

[scalpy]

First ever gig I did we packed the place out. Turns out the drummer was selling herbage without our knowledge.

[RhysP]

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1491615754' post='3274368']
Ok, well if you're right, I can understand why you were banned​.

Blue
[/quote]

Absolutely, the venue were 100% in the right.

[FinnDave]

Yep, place we've played on 8-10 times over the last 3 or 4 years, new people running it and they have told me the place isn't suitable for live music. The previous managers had live music at least once a week for years. Shame, it was a good gig, good crowd used to be in there. I expect they've moved somewhere else now.

[dmccombe7]

[quote name='kodiakblair' timestamp='1491607808' post='3274346']
I've played pubs I was banned from drinking in

Drunk Scottish women turn nasty in the blink of an eye come chucking out time.
[/quote]

That's just a Falkirk thing
Couldn't help myself there.
Sorry.
Dave

[blue]

Interesting how some of these managers and owners would rather not answers calls, voice mail messages or text instead of answering and just telling you "No".

Blue

[TimR]

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1491643681' post='3274484']
Yep, place we've played on 8-10 times over the last 3 or 4 years, new people running it and they have told me the place isn't suitable for live music. The previous managers had live music at least once a week for years. Shame, it was a good gig, good crowd used to be in there. I expect they've moved somewhere else now.
[/quote]

Yes. Same with us.

The landlord gave us two two stories.
1) "I didn't know how to contact you." - "Ah Ok, There's a website called Lemonrock, all your future gigs are still up on it, I'll give you the details", "Oh yes, I know about that.", "?".
2) "Thanks for playing, it's not what the regulars like though." - despite the 'regulars' being up and dancing most of the night?

I think some landlords have an image of what their pub should be and if your style of music doesn't fit with their 'brand' then you're on to a loser regardless of how many people you draw. That's their choice and it may be that a pub full of people leaping about and drinking beer is more hassle, hard work and less money than people sitting quietly eating food and drink red wine by the bottle while listening to smooth jazz. Which is what the landlord wants to listen to anyway.

[TimR]

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1491653498' post='3274584']
Interesting how some of these managers and owners would rather not answers calls, voice mail messages or text instead of answering and just telling you "No".

Blue
[/quote]

I've found a lot of managers are too busy doing whatever they do to be replying to emails explaining why they don't want you.

They may be getting masses of enquiries and you're just another one cluttering up their inbox.

We also had a landlord who I'd emailed lots of times and had no reply. I popped in, he said he'd been meaning to contact me but had lost my details. Gave me his card and asked me to email him. By the time I'd got home he had emailed me asking for some dates.

Who knows how their heads work?

[Number6]

Mostly asked back.....our gig last night the Landlord said was one of the best live music nights they've had.....i'll take that kind of compliment any day

[arthurhenry]

The old adage of "Play stuff they can dance too, sell more beer; Happy landlady/lord" is sometimes too simple to be true. Over the years I have found that the personal taste of the venue owner has much to do with whether or not you are re-booked.

[FinnDave]

Yep, a lot of it seems to be down to what the LL likes to listen to, regardless of its effect on sales over the bar.

[Les]

We've had a few of these over the years, puzzling but not enough to affect business.


[quote name='blue' timestamp='1491653498' post='3274584']
Interesting how some of these managers and owners would rather not answers calls, voice mail messages or text instead of answering and just telling you "No".

Blue
[/quote]


People often say things like that Blue, and also stuff like " I wish they'd just say they don't want us and that would be the end of it"

I can imagine a LL in his early days saying something like that then having 30 emails saying "why, we were great, what didn't you like ?" etc etc.

Probably easier to just not answer whether we like it or not rather than get into a conversation. As ignorant as we may think it.

[RhysP]

[quote name='arthurhenry' timestamp='1491663060' post='3274648']
The old adage of "Play stuff they can dance too, sell more beer; Happy landlady/lord" is sometimes too simple to be true. Over the years I have found that the personal taste of the venue owner has much to do with whether or not you are re-booked.
[/quote]

Absolutely.
I have a friend who plays in a really good covers band in Cardiff who have been stopped from playing at a certain pub ever again because they wouldn't let the landlady's drunk, tone deaf daughter get up & sing with them, despite the fact that they always pull in a good crowd.

[blue]

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1491661922' post='3274640']





I think some landlords have an image of what their pub should be and if your style of music doesn't fit with their 'brand' then you're on to a loser regardless of how many people you draw. That's their choice and it may be that a pub full of people leaping about and drinking beer is more hassle, hard work and less money than people sitting quietly eating food and drink red wine by the bottle while listening to smooth jazz. Which is what the landlord wants to listen to anyway.
[/quote]

That's complicated. Over here they generally don't book rock bands in restaurants where people are sitting down eating. The landlords don't listen to anything except the sound of the cash register opening and closing.

Blue

[blue]

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1491664561' post='3274656']
Yep, a lot of it seems to be down to what the LL likes to listen to, regardless of its effect on sales over the bar.
[/quote]

That must a cultural thing FinnDave. In the States LLs are only concerned with money. If a band is great and people are not buying alcohol you won't get rebooked.

Blue