Has your band ever been paid off

[goingdownslow]

Reading the tales of “Corporate gigs” I was going to chip in there but thought maybe it would be best in a new thread.

Last year my band got a booking through a third party who was a friend of the client and our guitarist and had seen our band many a time.
It was for a local car dealers birthday/25 years in the business bash. It was at a function room in Tranmere Rovers football ground. I was the first to turn up at about 7.00pm and the car park was chocker with cars and kids, this bash had been going on since midday. I knew straight away it was not our thing, and when the other band members arrived I told them my thoughts and was all for going home. Looking inside the venue, the small stage was taken up entirely by the DJ, he was unaware there was to be a band on too, and there were kids all over running riot.
I said I did not want to play to a load of kids but the guitarist said they will probably have been taken home by the time we were due to play, about 9.30, so I agreed to stay. The DJ moved some of his gear and we took the minimum amount of gear in that we needed and set up.
We start our first set, kids still present, with “The Stealer” and straight into “Songs Of Yesterday” both by Free. The look on their faces told me they were not expecting this. Then came “Burlesque” by Family and Frankie Millers “Be Good To Yourself”. By now there was no one watching, even the kids had given up shouting for the Beatles. I suggested keeping this set short and having a break, letting the disco get the crowd back again and maybe when they have had a few more drinks they might think that they like us, so we finished off with Wishing Well.
I stayed by the stage keeping the kids away from the gear but noticed a lady talking to the singer, she had some paper in her hand, I thought I hope it’s not requests, as if it is not from our setlist we won’t do it. As I went over to see what was going on I heard her saying “don’t worry about it, the DJ has been paid for all night anyway”. She was paying us off, it was our full fee, great, I couldn’t get my gear out quick enough.
The guitarist was saying how embarrassing, and how we should have another setlist for gigs like this, I said sh*t, I don’t wanna do gigs like this.
I drove home smiling all the way, easiest wad of dosh I’ve had.

I remember a band I met in the 70s called GYGAFO, they said it came from being told to Get Your Gear And F**k Off.

[leschirons]

Got booked for a gig about 7 years ago by a rich guy who lived local who said he was having a "Life's too f***ing short" party. (His words, not mine) Not a big payer, £300 but really local, so no probs. We turned up, set up, started playing at 8.30, in a marquee with no-one in it except the band. It was so hot, everyone was outside chatting. 9.15, he comes in, hands us £400 and says thanks lads, really enjoyed it ????

I was back indoors at 10.15 in front of the telly. Shame, because we were seriously on form that night and playing everything you'd want to dance and sing along to.

[AdamWoodBass]

A few months ago I did a mellow soul gig for a 2 day corporate training thing. We were the entertainment for the big party they were having at the end. The client had specifically booked a very mellow soul trio: 2 guitars, vox and bass. We turned up nice and early to get a decent amount of time to set up and the event organiser (who booked us) comes over and hands us an envelope full of cash which worked out £170 a man and told us that our meal and drinks for the night were paid for! Excellent! We go on to do our first set which goes down like a lead balloon! Instead of wanting chilled soul and jazz (which the event organiser had booked!) they wanted Oasis and The Kieser Chiefs! We did half our first set and were asked to put the bloody Ipod back on! So naturally we stuck a playlist together and sat in the bar not paying for a single drink! We laughed about it all the way home!

Edited November 28, 2009 by AdamWoodBass

[JTUK]

Can't recall a specific story, just a double booking so we tossed up who should play and we lost so took the money and went home.
The other band weren'tt worth staying to watch either, so not sure who lost out in the end...

[Rockbassix]

Not had it happen to me as my first gig is just coming up but i did have to be on the other end and tell someone to go early.

This guy was the reason that the word Guitard was invented.

I booked a band to play the rock pub i worked in a few years ago.The CD they handed me was all rock covers stuff that would go down well and sounded pretty good.On the day one guy turned up with a mate and explained that he had ditched his band and since he had booked this gig he was taking it and doing it himself and he was better without the band so we wouldn't regret it.
At this point i should have went with my gut feeling and told him no but eventually i agreed that it was better than nothing or trying to find a band with 3 hours notice.

After 20 minutes of self indulgent noodling and various 80s pop chart tracks singing the chorus badly then not bothering with the rest of the lyrics i actually left and nipped to the pub up the road for a quick drink in peace.

When i got back he had finished his first set and the customers were drawn between this is F****** awful and this is F****** hilarious the final straw was when one large group told us if we didn't shut him up they were leaving.

I had to agree with them so i politely told him that this wasn't really going down too well the customers were expecting rock covers not guitar hero noodling then playing film themes and pop songs. He assured me the next set would be different and that he had been warming up and trying to judge the customers. Judging the audience in our place wasn't really a hard task it was a rock pub with no pop music on the jukebox and most of the customers were rock,goths, punks or bikers and dressed accordingly.

LOL obviously judging the audience wasn't his strong point as he proceeded to play the same stuff as before even repeating 2 of the earlier tracks that went down like the Titanic the first time round..The worst thing was he couldn't actually understand what the problem was when he was told to end it and asked if he could come back another time as maybe it was down to the audience that night as he had never had a problem before.

FFS Playing pop music and film tunes to a rock pub full of rock,punk and metal fans after marketing yourself/band as rock covers is silly but the worst thing he did was act like he was a gods gift to guitars he did so much bragging about his skills i'm amazed we didn't have to widen the doors to get his head out! If he hadn't been so cocky our customers would usually have been a lot more forgiving.

I later met his ex band who told me that they sacked him for being an arrogant a****** somehow i'm not surprised!

[William James Easton]

i was in a band once and we where offered money (for a gig we where doing for free) not to play "you guys are my best friends but i really don't want you to spoil my birthday". We where that bad (but we all still claim we where too rock n roll for the people), but we said "f*** you, we're playing" - got pissed, played, worst gig ever.

does that count?

[Ziggy Allen]

As ashamed to admit it but yes I have been in a band where we were paid off at half time...

We were a trio bass drums and guitaist, we all did a bit singing but the guitarist was the guy with the words and the voice
Well he had a throat infection days before the gig and as it happens, the night of the gig it sounded like he'd been to a few gigs that very afternoon

About three songs in his voice started going terribly, the rest of the set felt like about 3 hours, and as we finiished and went back to the dressing room,
the concert chairman came in and said I'm sorry but you's are sh*t....Fair play I thought and was glad I was spared the humiliation of having to do another 45 minutes....

Plus the battery on my pearl pink JD went dead totally out of the blue. I think the venue was cursed....

Ziggy

[wateroftyne]

If you accept any gig where you're paid to play to a captive audience, you have to be prepared to knuckle down and get on with it no matter what. You can't jack in because you don't like the look of the punters....

That said, I have a gig coming up in a couple of weeks where I hope I do get paid off. In fact, I'll be gutted if I'm not... it's kind-of a badge of honour.

[molan]

My old functions band were booked to play at on of the Inns of Court just off Chancery Lane for the wedding of a very senior judge.

Super flash & very expensive wedding in a room full of old antiques - we went to move a table at one point and three people ran over to tell us it was a priceless relic that Henry 8th had used as a dining table at some point.

Anyway, as is so often the case, everything was running horribly late & we came on about an hour after we'd been booked to play.

Did our first 45 minute set and went down quite well.

at the break the judge came over and quietly asked if we'd be 'terribly upset' if we didn't go back on for the second set. Turned out the disco they'd booked to play after us was being run by some young relative who'd never DJ'd live before & his family were putting pressure on the judge to give him a decent amount of time to do his stuff on the decks.

We were due to earn £1,700 for the gig and he offered us £2,000 if we would not only not play the seconf set but could clear out of the, very convenient, back door in under half an hour.

He also said we could stay & drink for free at the bar afterwards if we wanted

My guitarist very much took him at his word - I've never seen him clear his gear so fast. He then got completely smashed at the bar and ended up snogging some ludicrously upmarket girl & nearly got clocked by her fiance, lol.

All in all a great night!

[phil_the_bassist]

my first (and only) gig with a band was a pay-off.

We were (accordiing to our singer) booked at this place cos 'they love heavy mod stuff' (we had 2hrs of The Jam as a set) but as we arrive, they're playing Spandau Ballet and Wham to a packed pub.

Within 3 songs, we'd cleared the venue of everyone except one barmaid...and at the end of set 1 of 2, which was after 25mins as opposed to the full hour, we agreed with the venue to f*** off and never come back.

We got the full measly amount tho, probably cos it was significantly cheaper than loosing a whole nights custom

[WWRRSS]

Is almost everyone on this forum in covers bands?

Cause the world of touring underground/experimental musics is a world away from any of these stories.

[phil_the_bassist]

[quote name='WWRRSS' post='668114' date='Nov 28 2009, 11:23 AM']Is almost everyone on this forum in covers bands?

Cause the world of touring underground/experimental musics is a world away from any of these stories.[/quote]


i think most of these stories will come from covers situations cos if you're a new originals band, you ain't gonna get paid, and if you're a successful original band, your punters want you there!

[Moos3h]

[quote name='WWRRSS' post='668114' date='Nov 28 2009, 11:23 AM']Is almost everyone on this forum in covers bands?

Cause the world of touring underground/experimental musics is a world away from any of these stories.[/quote]

Yep, the difference is that covers bands get paid at all!

(Said with tongue in cheek.....before anyone starts)

[WWRRSS]

I remember my younger days when that was true. sh*t days.

[crez5150]

I think the moral of these stories is to do your homework before taking on a gig..... if you don't know what audience your expecting then don't do the gig.... if the audience don't know what the music your playing..... don't do the gig.... This applies to cover/function/corporate bands obviously.

[phil_the_bassist]

[quote name='WWRRSS' post='668130' date='Nov 28 2009, 11:30 AM']I remember my younger days when that was true. sh*t days.[/quote]

g'wan then, tell us what band you're in...

Edited November 28, 2009 by phil_the_bassist

[warwickhunt]

[quote name='Moos3h' post='668124' date='Nov 28 2009, 11:28 AM']Yep, the difference is that covers bands get paid at all!

(Said with tongue in cheek.....before anyone starts)[/quote]

You wouldn't have gotten an argument from me!

(tongue not in cheek )

[WWRRSS]

You won't have heard of any of my bands, we're all pretty small, I've just played enough gigs to spot if a promotor is gonna try and rip us off or not, playing your own stuff though, all you're really asking for is enough money to pay for your travel to the gig and your ale for the night, it's not in anyway a manner to make money, even when selling vinyl/cds/tapes and tshirts or whatever your wares are.

[robocorpse]

An old band of mine were paid off from a fairly major gig once even before we had soundchecked, because the singer of the headline band (well known 80s alternative outfit) was an old teenage enemy of our singer, didn't want us on the bill, and apparently "didn't know we were playing", despite the gig having been advertised for nearly a month. Well I say "paid off", they threatened to have us beaten up and our gear taken if we didn't leave, but the promoter stepped in, and they just gave us our fee. We got our own back as the FOH engineer was a mate of ours, and 20 quid we slipped him was well spent

[phil_the_bassist]

[quote name='WWRRSS' post='668139' date='Nov 28 2009, 11:37 AM']You won't have heard of any of my bands, we're all pretty small, I've just played enough gigs to spot if a promotor is gonna try and rip us off or not, playing your own stuff though, all you're really asking for is enough money to pay for your travel to the gig and your ale for the night, it's not in anyway a manner to make money, even when selling vinyl/cds/tapes and tshirts or whatever your wares are.[/quote]

ahh, i was half expecting you to coyly mention you're Chris Wolstenholme

I completely understand about the rip-off promoters, I think there's more of them in London than sewer rats! I long ago got the musical integrity beaten outta me by travelling 3hrs+ each way for a 5pm soundcheck (which is always an hour late cos of the soundguy/headliner) to go onstage at 10pm (see previous parentheses) for a 40min set and then get £20 for petrol to split between the van and car, and be expected to be grateful for it! good on ya for keeping it up, what bands are you in btw, would like a listen to something new/different!

[TheButler]

I had a gig in Kilmarnock last month. Turn up, get told that they've not got time to put our headlining set on and promptly handed us £100. Not much, but it was a gig that wouldn't have paid us anyway, so i was chuffed.

[maxrossell]

[quote name='phil_the_bassist' post='668149' date='Nov 28 2009, 11:46 AM']I completely understand about the rip-off promoters, I think there's more of them in London than sewer rats! I long ago got the musical integrity beaten outta me by travelling 3hrs+ each way for a 5pm soundcheck (which is always an hour late cos of the soundguy/headliner) to go onstage at 10pm (see previous parentheses) for a 40min set and then get £20 for petrol to split between the van and car, and be expected to be grateful for it![/quote]

That's a better deal than a lot I've encountered. On the pay-to-play circuit you're expected to turn up with thirty people (which is really realistic if you're playing out of town), having sold them tickets which you usually get a 25% cut of. So if the tickets are four quid each band stands to make thirty quid for travelling for miles and shifting a tonne of gear and playing a set, and you don't get any petrol money or free beer. Meanwhile the "promoter" gets ninety quid per band and all they've done is make a few phone calls.

Worst one was where we were booked in Manchester, we had to pay to put on a minibus to get the required amount of people to come down, we managed to sell the thirty tickets, we turned up for the show, played our set, and watched the other two bands play to our audience and no-one else. We got paid our thirty quid, and then the other two bands got thirty quid each despite the fact that they hadn't sold any tickets even though they were both local bands. It later turned out that they were mates with the "promoter", who was getting paid quite handsomely by the venue to put on the gig anyway, so he just used the cash he made from our ticket sales to pay the other bands - and still came out thirty quid ahead, while we made a net loss of about forty quid.

Needless to say, we've long since stopped doing pay-to-play.

So, have we ever been paid to not play? No. But we have in the past been told that we can't play because we didn't bring enough people to the show, and of course we've played gigs and then been told that we're not getting paid what was agreed for a variety of stupid reasons.

[DaveSetchfield]

My band turned up to one of our regular gigs one night and saw through the window that it was much busier than usual. Before we'd taken a single bit of gear out of the cars, the manager came out, explained there was a wake on in the pub and handed us our full money. We waited 10 mins for the singer to arrive on the tube, gave him his cash and cleared off, with much joking about the songs we could have played (Deeper underground etc).

[lemmywinks]

We did a wedding a few years ago and the bride's family were all of greek heritage. Her mother was the commandeering sort and although the groom's family (who'd booked us) were loving the set she came up to us after few songs in and paid us off. Apparently she wanted the bozouki played she'd hired to play the entire wedding!

The groom looked a bit sheepish but didn't argue (think he feared the mother-in-law backlash) so we got the full amount for less than 20 minutes work!

The previous night we'd had a Walkabout gig cancelled and got paid in full (£550 between four of us) so we'd "earned" around £1200 for less than an hour's work. We were home by 9pm with big fat wallets and big fat smiles on our faces!


There's a band who play the pubs around my area who were booked at a Brannigans. Being a cheesy dad-rock band they didn't go down well and the manager actually went on stage and handed them the money and told them to pack up/never come back in front of a baying crowd. We always go down a storm there so it made me chuckle, esp as when we gigged with them at a charity do they were really pompous

[MacDaddy]

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='668285' date='Nov 28 2009, 02:11 PM']so we'd "earned" around £1200 for less than an hour's work.[/quote]

obviously all this money was declared to the taxman