Bluewine Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 (edited) I found this clip and I've always been interested in this topic. Hope I'm not the only one, so I thought I'd share it. Let's Talk About It. Blue Edited January 18, 2018 by Bluewine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 (edited) My take away, if your on tour with a major star playing 20,000 seaters the deals for side men is still awesome. $5,000.00 for playing 1.5 hours is still crazy money after taxes where I come from. My other take away, how do you make any money as a sideman if your on tour playing 100 seats in small clubs. For example John Mayall played our Shank Hall here in Milwaukee last year. Shank Hall is not a "Hall" it a small bar. How much could his guys been paid. What kind of package can John sell. He sold out,@ $20.00 bucks a head, but Shank can barely hold 100 people. Blue Edited January 18, 2018 by Bluewine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acidbass Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 (edited) Re: your $20 Mayall story. That seems like a really cheap ticket? Some of the gigs I play in the USA with no name acts have $20 covers. Mayall is more than likely to be paid a set fee by the promoter of the show/tour regardless of 100 or 1000 punters showing up. The money definitely comes incrementally from a run of shows - you need to be doing 7 to 10 in quick succession for it to be sustainable IMO. I heard a story that Nile Rodgers' guys are on $500 a show but that everything else is taken care of (food, travel, accommodation, instrument techs, dry cleaning etc etc). 20 shows a month and that's some serious cash going into your bank account back home! Edited January 18, 2018 by acidbass Spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 23 minutes ago, acidbass said: Re: your $20 Mayall story. That seems like a really cheap ticket? Some of the gigs I play in the USA with no name acts have $20 covers. Mayall is more than likely to be paid a set fee by the promoter of the show/tour regardless of 100 or 1000 punters showing up. The money definitely comes incrementally from a run of shows - you need to be doing 7 to 10 in quick succession for it to be sustainable IMO. I heard a story that Nile Rodgers' guys are on $500 a show but that everything else is taken care of (food, travel, accommodation, instrument techs, dry cleaning etc etc). 20 shows a month and that's some serious cash going into your bank account back home! That does seem low forJohn Mayall. But I doubt John is getting Jon Bon Jovi money. Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Rock N Roll Guns for Hire: The Story of the Sideman The above link is saying it is no longer available on the BBC iPlayer but this was an illuminating documentary that I saw last year. It might have been on YT too but it looks like it's been pulled. If you search BBCA from where you are and it shows up let me know please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJpullchord Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 What was Mayall like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolo Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 5 hours ago, Bluewine said: How much could his guys been paid. It may have been a filler show in between two bigger dates. Better to make some money than none at all! A day wasted gets expensive right quick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 The head liners on the big 3 day festivals in the UK and Europe, that's the likes of Bruce Springsteen etc, are on something like £450,000 a show. There's a story that Billy Preston got $4000 a show with the Stones, which is the most they've ever paid anyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 9 hours ago, DJpullchord said: What was Mayall like? It sold out before I could get a ticket. Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 (edited) 6 hours ago, chris_b said: The head liners on the big 3 day festivals in the UK and Europe, that's the likes of Bruce Springsteen etc, are on something like £450,000 a show. There's a story that Billy Preston got $4000 a show with the Stones, which is the most they've ever paid anyone. That sounds right. In the clip they said a Bon Jovi package might be $350,000. After agent fees, trucks, management, and all production cost are paid there might be $100, 000.00 left. Band members might get $5,000.000 and Jon gets $85,000.00 I'd gladly take 5 grand for playing a little over an hour. Blue Edited January 18, 2018 by Bluewine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 I once had a chat with Boz Burrell, who was Bad Company's bass player (he was a friend of a friend). He'd just come back from a 6 week tour of The States with Bad Company (this was in the late 90s) and he told me he was paid $600,000 for those 6 weeks. Nice work if you can get it. On the other hand, friends of mine were give the support slot, for a UK tour, with The Proclaimers. They were given £3,000 for the whole, 30 day, tour. They had to rely on merchandise and PRS money. and shared a lot of Premier Inn and Travelodge rooms. My niece, who has her own signed rock band, toured the USA last year at a loss (she was £10,000 down at the end of the tour). But she felt it was a cost worth paying,to promote the band over there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 6 minutes ago, gjones said: I once had a chat with Boz Burrell, who was Bad Company's bass player (he was a friend of a friend). He'd just come back from a 6 week tour of The States with Bad Company (this was in the late 90s) and he told me he was paid $600,000 for those 6 weeks. Nice work if you can get it. Good Lord that seems like a lot of money. What was Bad Company playing at the time, all large arena shows? Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 We do our own mini-tours, and so far gig-fees and merch sales have covered the whole costs. Sure, we don`t come back with much to show for it, but how many people get their hobby to pay for them to visit other countries and see places of interest. I feel extremely lucky to be in that position, on our first tour I visited Colditz Castle, a place I`ve read so much about, and aside from the entry fee of 6 Euros, it was the band/my hobby that paid for me to get there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 11 minutes ago, Bluewine said: Good Lord that seems like a lot of money. What was Bad Company playing at the time, all large arena shows? Blue I think he said it was colleges and arenas. They hadn't gigged for a while and when he was first asked he turned them down. Then they told him how much money he could make and he jumped at the chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 5 minutes ago, gjones said: I think he said it was colleges and arenas. They hadn't gigged for a while and when he was first asked he turned them down. Then they told him how much money he could make and he jumped at the chance. I would bet anyone on an Iron Maiden tour as a sideman is making huge money Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 7 minutes ago, gjones said: I think he said it was colleges and arenas. They hadn't gigged for a while and when he was first asked he turned them down. Then they told him how much money he could make and he jumped at the chance. Colleges used to big big busines in the USA. I'm not sure that's the case anymore. Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 3 minutes ago, Bluewine said: Colleges used to big big busines in the USA. I'm not sure that's the case anymore. Blue This is the entry from wikipedia about that tour. It was a reunion, with the 4 original members. 'With David Lee Roth as the opening act, the reunited original foursome went out in the spring and summer of 1999 for a 32 date reunion tour in the US, which began on 15 May 1999 at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Florida. The tour included a pay-per-view concert on 21 May at Hard Rock Live in Orlando and ended on 8 August at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. The shows drew well, but after that, Ralphs announced he was retiring from live performing and Burrell left again as well bringing the reunion to an end. The Greek Theater concert turned out to be the last show of the original four members. In the 2014 Bad Company 40th Anniversary DVD documentary, Kirke elaborates further on the end of the 1999 reunion, stating that he and Rodgers did not wish to continue on since he and Rodgers were sober and the other two were not.' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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