lemmywinks Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 [quote name='MacDaddy' post='668409' date='Nov 28 2009, 04:06 PM']obviously all this money was declared to the taxman [/quote] Who? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 (edited) [quote name='goingdownslow' post='667885' date='Nov 28 2009, 12:24 AM']I remember a band I met in the 70s called [b]GYGAFO[/b], they said it came from being told to Get Your Gear And F**k Off.[/quote] Ah ha! Good to hear of them again. Glad to know I didn't make them up I've had one of those when I was in a club band before Marshall master volume combos came along. Guitarist had to have his amp THAT LOUD to get the right sound. Manager didn't agree. and I did a dep about 5 years ago for some friends of friends. They talked the talk really well but we totally useless.... "what key?" I'd ask "dunno" they'd say I brought my bandmate along to run our PA which we supplied too. Highlight of the gig was when my mate got up and sang something (can't remember what now probably Mustang Sally) but just after he sat down the DJ fired up and we were off, half way through our time and about not before time Edited November 28, 2009 by OldGit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12stringbassist Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 (edited) My band had a new year's eve gig at the E**and WMC in Bradford a few years ago. We were on a rather nice £1000 through our agent, who'd handed the gig on to us after getting it passed on from another agent. Whatever. We turned up early and went in through the front of the rather nice club to get the stage door open. One of the committee marched me down to the back of the club to open the doors to load in. As we passed various people in the club on the way, he pointed to them and said what an utter shower of bastards they were. This was the rest of the club committee. Mmmm nice. We did our first 45 minute spot at a nice, very relaxed volume and went down quite well. We were asked to get a short 30 minute easy-listening spot together, before we came on to do our last spot... so we obliged. We noticed a number of the blue-rinse brigade were walking out. You could see by the way various parts of the club were emptying, in a definite pattern, it was down to the war between the factions on the committee. After the 30 minute spot, the Concert Sec came in and paid us off in full. He apologised and said the committee wanted to abandon the entertainment for the evening. So, we packed up and went. I was back in Bolton for about 12.30am. Unbelievable. A couple of days later, our agent rang us up and asked us what went wrong. I told him our setlist and what had been said to us since our arrival at the club.. We'd done an amount of work for him and he fully believed our side of it. He did make me ring the agent who had passed the gig to him, as the club were asking for their money back!!!!! In a slightly disgruntled fashion, I rang the other agent and duly repeated the tale. He said it had actually happened to a number of acts and that he was going round to argue face to face at the club. That put us off club gigs so much that we let our own agent go. Edited November 28, 2009 by 12stringbassist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 Just remembered another one a bit like that .. We are an English rocky Ceilidh/Barn Dance band. We play loudish and rockyish. We have a drum kit and electric everything. The trad diddly is often morphed into something distinctly non diddly like Paint it black or Bad moon rising .... So someone called us and asked about a Burns Night gig. (It says Ceilidh on our website, we must be Scots, right? Er no, actually.) We knew the venue and event and knew it was a regular traditional event for ex-pats, mostly. I re-iterated how we do things oh they'd seen us and they really wanted a change from the traditional accordion a fiddle in kilts band they normally had for Burns. No, really they did!. Did they really? Nah. At half time, after the Haggis bit with the piper in full regalia, a whole table ceremoniously got up and left. The rest had a good time but we determined to never play a Burns night, St Andrews night, St patrick's night or even St Georges night (yup we've been asked) ever again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepurpleblob Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 It was somebody talking about agents and clubs that put a shudder up my spine. I've done every combination of Agent A booking on behalf of Agent B without even bothering to check what sort of audience it would be. Almost without exception club committees are megalomanic lunatics and it's made for some interesting nights. A few years ago I was playing in one of those "classic rock covers" stylee bands (all Queen, Free etc etc). The club was entirely populated by ballroom dancers - that was weird. The entertainment secretary said, "you're good boys but perhaps not our sort of thing". Also, the only gig where I have ever been propositioned by a real woman that smelt nice and wasn't drawing her pension (good when you're over 40, overweight, baldy and the bass player ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 I've done gigs where we played and then suddenly the money disappeared, Anvil style! Not this way around. I enjoy the gig more than the money so I think I'd be a little disappointed were it to happen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toddy Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 only time Ive had to pack up and go home is when we cooked an O1V mixing desk,,, Never really trusted anything digital live since!! Used to entertain at one of the big racecourses tho,, and if the conditions were poor they would abandon the races and pay anyway,,which was quite cool.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casapete Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Years ago, the country rock band I was in got a gig at a rugby club some 60 miles away. We arrived in good time, set the gear up only to discover that the guitarist/pedal steel player had left both his instruments at home. Anyway, whilst we sat around for a while wondering how best to tell the booker, we noticed a distinct lack of punters. By around 9pm the booker shuffled over and apologised for not promoting the gig properly,then asked if we minded not playing and gave us our fee! Phew! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRev Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Only had this once and it was my one and only gig booked through an agent (anyone see a theme forming here?). My band, a sort of folk influenced, acoustic grunge (think the Alice in chains & Nirvana unplugged albums but with Nick Drake on guitar) were approached by an agent, (who we sort of knew) to sign up with him and play a handful of paid gigs. He'd seen us before and knew that we played our own stuff plus a bunch of covers by people like, er, Nirvana, Alice in chains and Nick Drake. We were worried about our distinctly non-upbeat set not going down well with yer typical pub audience. 'No problem' he says, 'I'll put you in venues that will appreciate what you do' Fast forward to the first booked gig - we turn up at the pup, somewhere if the a*sehole end of Gloucestershire and are shown into a decent sized back room. The landlord explained that it was empty now but that it would fill up when the 'do at the golf club ends at 9' Alarm bells begin to ring. We start to play and within 3 songs, the landlady is stood next to us with a face like thunder, suggesting that it might be a good idea if we played something other than what we were playing. We banged out a handful of Green Day, Oasis and Tenacious D songs then called half time. We went to speak to the landlord to see what was going on - his wife wanted us out there and then as 'we normally have that room full of people dancing and you lot are driving everyone away'. The landlord wanted us to knock together whatever we could that people could dance to. We couldn't really do that as we'd pretty much blown our 'popular' stuff in the first set, and we couldn't understand why he'd booked us in the first place as we'd supplied a demo CD and a set list. He then admitted that he hadn't listened to the CD or read the set list and had booked us cos the agent had said that we would play 'a load of covers that everyone would like'. Eventually he paid us but only on the condition that we didn't tell his wife...... We took the money and ran. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MB1 Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 [quote name='maxrossell' post='668169' date='Nov 28 2009, 12:05 PM']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.[/quote] MB1. Sounds like the Manchester Academys unsigned nights? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phatkat Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Played a gig at an airforce base in Scotland many many years ago, it was in the seargents mess and was on three floors with a disco and c&w band on the other floors, it was their anual xmas bash and the wives were in evening dress and the men were in full dress uniforms with cumberbuns... We went on to play to about 10 people, and they didnt take any notice, so we entertained ourselves by playing Deep Purple and Uriah Heep until our break, after being fed and wattered by HMG we came back on to about 200 people... they got well into it.. they ended up paying off the c&w band and the dj and had a whip round to pay us to play longer... bonus!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MB1 Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 [quote name='phatkat' post='670593' date='Nov 30 2009, 11:41 PM']Played a gig at an airforce base in Scotland many many years ago, it was in the seargents mess and was on three floors with a disco and c&w band on the other floors, it was their anual xmas bash and the wives were in evening dress and the men were in full dress uniforms with cumberbuns... We went on to play to about 10 people, and they didnt take any notice, so we entertained ourselves by playing Deep Purple and Uriah Heep until our break, after being fed and wattered by HMG we came back on to about 200 people... they got well into it.. they ended up paying off the c&w band and the dj and had a whip round to pay us to play longer... bonus!![/quote] MB1. Air force Base??? This sounded like it was gonna be a Tap Moment I Gather you werent using your wireless packs then?.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxrossell Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 [quote name='MB1' post='670577' date='Nov 30 2009, 11:28 PM']MB1. Sounds like the Manchester Academys unsigned nights?[/quote] I did one of them once, thanks for reminding me. Three bands from Preston, around 120 of our own people. The other 200 or so people in the club just stood at the very back of the room acting like they were far too cool to give a sh*t. We got our thirty or so quid, but it cost us about fifty quid to do the gig. Another massive waste of our f*cking time, as are all pay-to-play gigs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MB1 Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 [quote name='maxrossell' post='670616' date='Dec 1 2009, 12:05 AM']I did one of them once, thanks for reminding me. Three bands from Preston, around 120 of our own people. The other 200 or so people in the club just stood at the very back of the room acting like they were far too cool to give a sh*t. We got our thirty or so quid, but it cost us about fifty quid to do the gig. Another massive waste of our f*cking time, as are all pay-to-play gigs.[/quote] MB1. + Seven and Twelvety! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmer61 Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 Yep, it was the most humiliating experience I've ever had playing. Played the first set and played really well we thought then got asked at half time not to go back on because the "sound wasn't cutting through to the back" !!?!!! Got paid but had to wait around until the DJ had finished at about 1am before we could start to pack up. Couldn't drink the free beer cause I was driving, so took it home instead. Had a sh*te couple of hours waiting to leave the venue as we discussed the real reason for being asked not to go back on. Still have bad thoughts about the night and still refer back to it when booking gigs at new venues!! Horrible! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinman Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 [quote name='phatkat' post='670593' date='Nov 30 2009, 11:41 PM']Played a gig at an airforce base in Scotland many many years ago, it was in the seargents mess and was on three floors with a disco and c&w band on the other floors, it was their anual xmas bash and the wives were in evening dress and the men were in full dress uniforms with cumberbuns... We went on to play to about 10 people, and they didnt take any notice, so we entertained ourselves by playing Deep Purple and Uriah Heep until our break, after being fed and wattered by HMG we came back on to about 200 people... they got well into it.. they ended up paying off the c&w band and the dj and had a whip round to pay us to play longer... bonus!![/quote] Well done!!!! Sergeants Messes are notorious for telling bands to pack up and clear off. Clearly, that night they didn't fancy C&W etc. On another night it could've been your band, they're a damned fickle lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phatkat Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 [quote name='Tinman' post='671497' date='Dec 1 2009, 08:10 PM']Well done!!!! Sergeants Messes are notorious for telling bands to pack up and clear off. Clearly, that night they didn't fancy C&W etc. On another night it could've been your band, they're a damned fickle lot. [/quote] I should add that this was early 70's ... and the CW band were pretty bad!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basska Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 (edited) [quote name='leschirons' post='667933' date='Nov 28 2009, 01:50 AM']Not a big payer, £300[/quote] Dude, 300 quid in a night sounds like a big payer to me! I'm too gobsmacked after reading that to tell a story haha Edited December 4, 2009 by Basska Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wombatboter Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 A couple of years ago I had two gigs on the same day...the timing was a bit tight and the two locations weren't close to each other but normally I would be able to play at both places. I arrived on the first gig which was in open air. Someone from the organisation came around while we were loading out our gear and he gave us our fee already. He said "Good luck and one thing : as soon as it starts to rain, you have my permission to stop and you can go home". We started our first song (normally we were supposed to play an hour and a half) and then it started to rain. We stopped playing and I had loads of time to make it to the next gig (which was 100 miles further). There I arrived and the rain had soaked the festival. They told me that we wouldn't play because of electrocution, I got paid and I drove home. Easy money but to be honest I would rather have played music instead of just driving around and getting paid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 [quote name='maxrossell' post='670616' date='Dec 1 2009, 12:05 AM']Another massive waste of our f*cking time, as are all pay-to-play gigs.[/quote] Shall I go on about pay to play gigs again, you know, about choosing, managing and making the most of them, about non pecuniary benefits and about not moaning when you know the score? eh? Shall I? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 [quote name='OldGit' post='674025' date='Dec 4 2009, 11:17 AM']Shall I go on about pay to play gigs again, you know, about choosing, managing and making the most of them, about non pecuniary benefits and about not moaning when you know the score? eh? Shall I?[/quote] no! it makes me cry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeavyJay Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 [quote name='OldGit' post='674025' date='Dec 4 2009, 11:17 AM']Shall I go on about pay to play gigs again, you know, about choosing, managing and making the most of them, about non pecuniary benefits and about not moaning when you know the score? eh? Shall I?[/quote] Not if you use words like "pecuniary" that I have to look up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 [quote name='HeavyJay' post='674062' date='Dec 4 2009, 11:57 AM']Not if you use words like "pecuniary" that I have to look up.[/quote] Sorry .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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