Paul S Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 My little band had a gig scheduled for Christmas eve. Booked by the guitarist, who is a lovely old fella and a great player who also does nearly all the booking. The fee he arranged was our usual £250, which I thought was a bit low for a Christmas eve gig but, hey ho, not a big issue. It was a pub we have not played at before but who regularly have live music so it would be nice to think we'd be asked back. On the Friday before our drummer gets in touch and says he won't be fit for the gig as he had bad flu like symptom - dizzy, no voice, can't stand etc. No dep available, so my impression was that the gig would be cancelled. Shame, especially as it was a new venue for us but, well, stinky poo happens. Guitarist then took it upon himself to track down a replacement band, stays up until 2am brokering a deal on some Facebook page or other for a last minute replacement. However, the replacement band wouldn't turn out for £250, so guitarist offered them an extra £100, which he dropped round to them on the Saturday. He was very pleased with himself for having 'saved the day'. He said 'A lot of bands would have just phoned the pub and said the gig is off'. Also mumbled something about 'the code' . I am not that pleased about it, myself. Finding a replacement I can see was a nice thing to do. Paying the band extra money I think was totally unnecessary - if no band would do it for the money we had arranged then I guess it would have been a lesson to the pub to pay better money on Christmas eve. Also the drummer now feels guilty (who would have thought - a drummer with a conscience ) that because he wasn't well the rest of the band now have to stump up some cash. However, I am certain that if it were brought up he would say 'easy answer, find the gigs yourself' which is conversation I don't want to have. So I ask the good people of Basschat - and the bad ones, too, if they'd like to contribute - what would you have done? And are any of you in the band that had our extra money!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steantval Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 I appreciate that your guitarist sorted out the replacement band but paying them an extra £100 was a bit silly, especially when the rest of you guys are having to stump up the money. I personally would have tried to get a dep drummer (as he did), if no joy I would have contacted the venue to explain that due to illness we would not be playing. It works both ways, if the venue say had a water leak just prior to the gig, they would drop the band without any hesitation or payment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gottastopbuyinggear Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 In my limited experience (two gigs cancelled this year due to band member illness) the pubs are pleased that you bother to let them know and don't just fail to turn up on the night! In our case, and bearing in mind that we do this for fun and any income from gigging is a bonus, we offered to rebook for a reduced fee. We also did our best to find another band, but were only able to for one of the gigs. We’ve since played one of the pubs again and they didn't take up our offer of a reduced fee which was nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 Your guitarist obviously believes in Karma. You'll only know if he did the right thing, if you get a whole load of gigs from this venue in the future. Time will tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 25 minutes ago, steantval said: ...an extra £100 was a bit silly when you guys are having to stump up the money. I would have tried to get a dep, if no joy I would have contacted the venue to explain we would not be playing... This seems logical. I'm not in the band that had the extra £100, but I would surely have accepted it for playing on Christmas Eve! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casapete Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 (edited) I was once ill, and struggled to get a dep. Only guy I could get was from 50 miles away, and demanded more dosh than just his extra travel costs, which my band agreed to and then asked me for! Similar problem really I guess. ( Can't remember the outcome either TBH, so had better stop waffling.) Edited January 3, 2018 by casapete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 If the pub has heavily advertised the gig and was expecting more punters because of live music then finding a replacement was the right thing to do. i earn some of my money from magic. If I can’t do a show I have to find someone else if at all possible. It’s the right thing to do. Extra money - maybe. Depends on the type of show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambient Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 Did he try and find a dep first? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambient Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 2 minutes ago, fretmeister said: i earn some of my money from magic. If I can’t do a show I have to find someone else if at all possible. It’s the right thing to do. Extra money - maybe. Depends on the type of show. It's not like you can just pull one out of a hat I guess :). 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steantval Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 (edited) 4 minutes ago, fretmeister said: If the pub has heavily advertised the gig and was expecting more punters because of live music then finding a replacement was the right thing to do. i earn some of my money from magic. If I can’t do a show I have to find someone else if at all possible. It’s the right thing to do. Extra money - maybe. Depends on the type of show. Yeh, but you can just pull someone out of a hat, we can’t all do that 😀😀😀 Sh*te, Ambient beat me to that one. Edited December 31, 2017 by steantval Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted December 31, 2017 Author Share Posted December 31, 2017 Dep drummer was out of the picture - we do some very specific arrangements of stuff, not just standard covers. £100 was covered by £50 out of last Friday's gig and the next one. For me it is more about being presumptuous about spending the rest of our collective money. I wondered if there was some sort of protocol I had previously missed with the talk of 'code'. I'll ask him if he meant the Da Vinci next time I see him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 13 minutes ago, fretmeister said: I earn some of my money from magic. If I can’t do a show I have to find someone else if at all possible. Surely you could just conjure somebody up? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabag Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 Dis, you really are the pits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 49 minutes ago, fleabag said: Dis, you really are the pits Oh I don't know, I liked it, not a lot, but I liked it 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 2 minutes ago, Maude said: Oh I don't know, I liked it, not a lot, but I liked it I saw what you did there, just like that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabag Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 Actually, it was brilliant. Just that it wasn't me that thought of it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrtcat Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 This is why a contract is a good idea. Most solo artists will have them because they don't have the luxury of spreading the cost in such a situation. We always use them and I'm sitting on my sofa with the wife this evening having been paid £380 for a gig that was cancelled by the venue tonight. They had a small fire this morning which has left them without power tonight. They have honoured the contract that says they pay the full fee for a cancellation within 48hrs. They'll claim on insurance and we still get paid. Our agreement says that we will either find a dep if we have a member sick or try to find a replacement band. If we can't do either we will provide a DJ for 50% of agreed fee (there's four of us that can do this) or find a dj and cover the fee (will never happen as we can pretty much all dj). Contracts can save all manor of issues because everyone knows where they stand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin8708 Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 If the pub is a regular music venue , they will probably have numerous bands on their books It would not take the landlord / manager very long to do quick phone-a-round to find a replacement band . Providing you let the pub know you are unable to to the gig , i dont think its down to you to find a replacement band , let alone stump up extra cash to entice another band to take the gig , although , fair play to your guitarist for finding a replacement band . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJpullchord Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 How ill do you have to be not to play? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howdenspur Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 We cancelled a gig on the day earlier in the year as my dad became ill and was taken to Hull A&E - he's 93. We do specific arrangements so a dep would have been pretty difficult. The pub were relaxed and have rebooked us. This would all have been trickier had we been a function band or if we had been regarded as more of a "name" band, but then in those cases, formal contracts would probably have been in place per mrtcat's post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 9 minutes ago, DJpullchord said: How ill do you have to be not to play? I hope for your sake you never have to find out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrtcat Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 32 minutes ago, DJpullchord said: How ill do you have to be not to play? As a drummer you won't need to be too far off your best before it genuinely affects your performance. As a bass player it's easier to step back and just hold it down. Drumming requires far more physical input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 2 minutes ago, mrtcat said: As a bass player it's easier to step back and just hold it down. Drumming requires far more physical input. This. Playing with an ill drummer is a bit like playing with a crap drummer. To be avoided if possible. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 5 hours ago, fretmeister said: I earn some of my money from magic. I lose most of my money through magic. I get paid one day, and when I look at my bank balance 48 hours later, hey presto! it's all buggered off. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Helping to track down a replacement is laudable, paying the extra money is just beyond the call of duty, and a bit daft if you don't mind me saying. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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