Gig offer in Bahrain

[wdejong]

Hey there,

My band have been offered a gig (45 minute slot) in Bahrain, 5,000 people expected (I suspect it is Tribfest Bahrain), all expenses paid. I am struggling to come up with a fee. Does anyone have any idea what to quote?

Thanks,

Werner

Edited June 6, 2019 by wdejong

[Twigman]

60% of the door

[wdejong]

Sorry - I added some specifics. I'd settle for 60% of the door for sure, as this is an audience of 5,000. 🙂

[Twigman]

60% of the door is pretty normal

[Adee]

You won't get a door split, they will want a set fee

How many days are you away? and how many in the band?

I'd go in around £3,000

[Twigman]

Don't forget to factor in the cost of work visas and research the process for applying for them - it can take time.

Our US visas took 3 months

Edited June 6, 2019 by Twigman

[wdejong]

We are with four in the band. They want us to fly in on the Wednesday, sound check on Thursday, perform on Friday and back on Saturday morning. All expenses are paid, including visas. It is a festival with about 20 acts / bands. Some are using backing tracks. 

[Adee]

Always difficult, have you asked what budget they are working too?  if you've not done anything like this before it could be an amazing experience

(as long as you are all confident one of you won't say or do anything that's against their 'different' laws ... or it could be an entirely different experience !!) 

[jrixn1]

It's a different scenario, as the band I'm in is a function band. But if it helps, they recently flew into Jordan on a Friday, for a gig on Sat, and flew back on Sunday.  All expenses (flights, hotels, gear/instrument hire) were covered.  The fee paid was £350/musician. FWIW I didn't fancy it and depped it out.

[wdejong]

18 minutes ago, Adee said:

Always difficult, have you asked what budget they are working too?  if you've not done anything like this before it could be an amazing experience

(as long as you are all confident one of you won't say or do anything that's against their 'different' laws ... or it could be an entirely different experience !!) 

They must be working with a budget of over £150k. Tickets are £35 (17 Bahrain Dinar) and they are expecting to sell 5,000 of them. Plus they have a large number of sponsors.

Totally agreed - a great experience. We have done Europe, but never the Middle East. Our drummer will have to stay away from the herby stuff. 🙂

[wdejong]

17 minutes ago, jrixn1 said:

It's a different scenario, as the band I'm in is a function band. But if it helps, they recently flew into Jordan on a Friday, for a gig on Sat, and flew back on Sunday.  All expenses (flights, hotels, gear/instrument hire) were covered.  The fee paid was £350/musician. FWIW I didn't fancy it and depped it out.

Jordan is probably a bit different from Bahrain, the latter is more liberal.

We have now gone in with £1,000 plus all expenses (visa, travel, accommodation and subsistence) paid. 

[Acebassmusic]

I would roughly cost it up as:

Number of days away X band members X day rate + expenses (and costs for organising Visas etc)             Example: 4 X 4 X £200 + expenses = £3,200 + expenses

Day rate could be the cost of you being away from work, normal UK gig split or a combination of both. You may only be playing for 45 mins but if you are unable to take work / gigs on the 4 days due to being away you need to cover for that loss.

[borntohang]

You'll need to investigate a work visa if you're getting paid - wouldn't like to risk a visitor visa if you're doing something prominently public. If you're dealing with an events organiser they should be comfortable arranging that for you or pointing you to someone who can. If they can't then that's a bit of a red flag! Regarding the legal system and complications arising thereof, Bahrain isn't Saudi Arabia so just don't take any drugs on the flights with you or get involved with politics while you're there and you should be good.

[wateroftyne]

9 minutes ago, borntohang said:

You'll need to investigate a work visa if you're getting paid - wouldn't like to risk a visitor visa if you're doing something prominently public. 

When we gigged there we had a fixer (a lovely chap called Mubarak) who reached into a wadge of cash in his pocket whenever anything became problematic. It was an enlightening trip.

[oldslapper]

£3k? Phhht 

I remember the good old days when a band would demand to get paid in “exposure”.

You’re all soft letting venues get away with paying you money. 

Kids today 👴🏻

[wdejong]

Thanks all for your comments! We were booked for Tribfest Bahrain in October. All expenses paid plus £1,000. No negotiation about our fee, so I definitely went in too low.

[oldslapper]

2 minutes ago, wdejong said:

Thanks all for your comments! We were booked for Tribfest Bahrain in October. All expenses paid plus £1,000. No negotiation about our fee, so I definitely went in too low.

It’s difficult to know what to charge when you’re flying blind, at least you’ll know next time. Hope it goes well anyway.

[davegriffiths91]

I had a leas than pleasant experience in Bahrain, I would approach with caution.

[Dubs]

20 hours ago, wdejong said:

Thanks all for your comments! We were booked for Tribfest Bahrain in October. All expenses paid plus £1,000. No negotiation about our fee, so I definitely went in too low.

Hmm maybe a bit on the low side but depends on how you look at it; if this isn't your primary source of income then you're getting paid to go somewhere new and have a pretty cool experience with your mates. Every now and again we get some nice gigs that pay well through an agency but I often think that if I were a full time musician then the money only just about makes up for all the travelling, the stress and hassle when things don't go 100% to plan, and also being away from a young family for 2 or 3 days at a time - I love doing it occasionally but the lifestyle isn't sustainable for me. It can be great fun though.

[acidbass]

I worked out costings for my band to perform at a festival in Bangladesh and I think it came to around £10k including all travel, accommodation, Visas, other sundry expenses and musician fees.

[arthurhenry]

On 06/06/2019 at 15:16, borntohang said:

just don't take any drugs on the flights with you

I think not taking drugs on any flights ever is rather sensible advice. As is not having anything whatsoever to do with drugs of course.

[HazBeen]

On 06/06/2019 at 16:44, wdejong said:

Thanks all for your comments! We were booked for Tribfest Bahrain in October. All expenses paid plus £1,000. No negotiation about our fee, so I definitely went in too low.

 Yep, well at least it will be a cool experience. I generally take what I would get during a local gig and multiply by number of days you are there. 4 days = 4 gigs x 800 quid = 3200-ish

Have fun!