SuperSeagull Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 (edited) Auctions and raffles.......We played a fund raiser a couple of weeks ago at a hospital social club. We were the last of four acts on but had to endure an interminable raffle before we could get going. Two bottles of the cheapest, nastiest wine were (sensibly) left unclaimed. So we started and it was a good gig, people had had a few drinks, lots of friends in the crowd, all good. Then, just as we went to start a run of the last three numbers and everyone is having a good time the raffle lady grabs the mic from our singer and announces an auction for the unclaimed bottles of wine. We tried to get the mic back but she was off. The first bottle took an age to sell for a grand total of £4. All the energy went out of the room, people started chatting, some decided it was time to leave. I was ready to throttle her so when she offered up the second bottle I shouted “£20” thinking that will be a quick end to this nonsense and money well spent so that we can get back on with set. Nobody wanted to outbid me it seemed but just as she turned to me to take my money a voice from the back of the room piped up “21” and off we went again for another goodness knows how long. Argggg........ Edited July 17, 2018 by SuperSeagull Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leschirons Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 5 hours ago, Bluewine said: We're you paid anything for the gig? Blue No Blue. The deal was direct transfer of funds to our account within 7 days. We got knocked for the whole amount. When I was in the UK, we'd ask for a 50% deposit for the private function gigs but that doesn't happen here in France. Having said that, I should add that this was a British owned venue and NOT french. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted July 17, 2018 Author Share Posted July 17, 2018 55 minutes ago, leschirons said: No Blue. The deal was direct transfer of funds to our account within 7 days. We got knocked for the whole amount. When I was in the UK, we'd ask for a 50% deposit for the private function gigs but that doesn't happen here in France. Having said that, I should add that this was a British owned venue and NOT french. Understood, If there's one thing that really angers me it's when someone "stiffs" a band. Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Blank Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 On 15/07/2018 at 19:10, Grassie said: The W******y. When the owner says he can only pay you with burger and chips you know that it's time to say no thanks. Is that The Wimpy? What did you expect..? 😁 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 (edited) 57 minutes ago, Frank Blank said: Is that The Wimpy? What did you expect..? 😁 Could be the Whinery, perhaps..? Edited July 18, 2018 by Dad3353 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbanx Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 11 hours ago, Frank Blank said: Is that The Wimpy? What did you expect..? 😁 "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a covers set today" etc. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shockwave Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 I actually really love playing at the St Moritz club. Mind you I was in a technical punk band and we would play anywhere dingy. Didnt even bother with putting anything but the drummer on stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Blank Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 15 minutes ago, Shockwave said: Mind you I was in a technical punk band... If you don’t mind me asking, what’s a technical punk band? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shockwave Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 5 minutes ago, Frank Blank said: If you don’t mind me asking, what’s a technical punk band? We used to cover this song. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 (edited) 11 minutes ago, Shockwave said: We used to cover this song... Ah. Punks that can actually play. Thanks for that. (Sounds like a Genesis 33 being played at 45..! ) Edited July 18, 2018 by Dad3353 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted July 19, 2018 Author Share Posted July 19, 2018 14 hours ago, Shockwave said: We used to cover this song. If you can pull this off live , your in a pretty accomplished band. Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SICbass Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 On 18/07/2018 at 00:23, leschirons said: The deal was direct transfer of funds to our account within 7 days. We got knocked for the whole amount. May their next turd be a hedgehog. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zalastar Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 4 hours ago, SICbass said: May their next turd be a hedgehog. I am seriously going to steal that phrase, I now have everybody in the office looking at me wondering why I just laughed to loud they can hear me in the next building! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Steve Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 I can only remember refusing to go back to one place My old punk covers band, and we would play fairly regularly in a couple of pubs in the middle of Woking and get a good turn out. The singer gets us a gig at the Cricketers, a pub that's a couple of miles outside the town. We played a couple of places in the area that had a good crowd regardless of who we brought so we were hoping it was one of those. It wasn't. What it was was an awful place to play - big pub divided up into small rooms and long, thin bars with alcoves, no space for bands (after we'd set up in one alcove - the only spot big enough to fit the drum kit - you couldn't walk past us to get to the rest of the bar...though that turned out not to be a big consideration) or entertainment, no promotion, just a magical belief that if they put bands on, people will come. But nobody would ever come the two miles out of town to go there , and nobody did. We played to one empty bar, with two old fellers sat nattering to each other in one of the other bars, and only one barmaid and a couple of our mates actually watching us. We were awful - one of the worst gigs I've ever played, mainly because of the complete lack of any atmosphere that got to the whole band - we just didn't want to be there and played like it. The landlord apologised, said something about being a bit disappointed by the turn out, and would we like to come back again in a few weeks? OK, we weren't very keen but figured we'd give it another go and if they're paying us, why not? Not that we were getting a lot, we didn't need the money and were playing for fun, but a few quid to cover petrol and beer was always appreciated. We go back and it's exactly the same - a couple of regular punters who stick to another bar because they have no interest in the music, a couple of our mates who've made the effort. the only difference was that we played pretty well. The landlord, clearly with an entertainment budget from the brewery that was to be spent no matter what, asked us back. We politely declined. I moved round the corner from there a couple of years ago - it's now a chinese restaurant, and seems to be much busier than the pub ever was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete.young Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 On 16/07/2018 at 13:05, Muzz said: Anyway, they have the most aggressive sound limiter I've ever encountered We found that a good way to deal with this was an Uninterruptible Power Supply. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 46 minutes ago, pete.young said: We found that a good way to deal with this was an Uninterruptible Power Supply. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted July 19, 2018 Author Share Posted July 19, 2018 Space is an issue for all of us that play bars and pubs. If there's a cool atmosphere with a crowd familiar with a band and supportive I can deal with small space. Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted July 19, 2018 Author Share Posted July 19, 2018 Overall, at least for my band the bars that book bands every week and have a good reputation for live music are the most fun to play. The patrons come there specifically to see bands. To me that's key. I'll never understand the landlords that occasionally book bands when they know their clientele has no interest. Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted July 19, 2018 Author Share Posted July 19, 2018 One thing that had a significant impact on live bands started way back in the 70s when we raised the legal drinking age from 18 to 21. What's the legal drinking age in the UK? Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerstodge Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 On 16/07/2018 at 22:22, Bluewine said: We've all experienced this, pubs with noise meters. What do owners think when they hire a rock, pop or blues band. If they have issues with volume, hire an acoustic jazz trio. Blue Spot on sir Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 19 minutes ago, Bluewine said: One thing that had a significant impact on live bands started way back in the 70s when we raised the legal drinking age from 18 to 21. What's the legal drinking age in the UK? Blue 18 here in the UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerstodge Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 On 18/07/2018 at 14:10, Dad3353 said: Ah. Punks that can actually play. Thanks for that. (Sounds like a Genesis 33 being played at 45..! ) Punks that can actually play??? How very dare you sir!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leschirons Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 1 hour ago, Bluewine said: Space is an issue for all of us that play bars and pubs. If there's a cool atmosphere with a crowd familiar with a band and supportive I can deal with small space. Blue I love small venues. Encourages us to reign back the volume and not hide behind a wall of noise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted July 19, 2018 Author Share Posted July 19, 2018 1 hour ago, leschirons said: I love small venues. Encourages us to reign back the volume and not hide behind a wall of noise. I get that and definitely some truth to it. However I love " loud " and I believe some bands can sound fantastic at loud volunes. Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christhammer666 Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 defo never the st moritz club. as has been mentioned, an absolute dive, not advertised anything. we was told well be on at 930 and had 10 mates coming to see us so they turned up at 915 as another band is setting up. I say to soundguy "whats going on" his reply was "oh weve slotted in another band last minute, your on at 1030 now". he then had the cheek to cut our set early as he said we ran over time 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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