BOOKING LOCAL BANDS!
By Rich
Unger
I am always fascinated by New Clubs that open and their first move is
to book the #1 local Favorite band. The
problem with this kind of thinking is, this band, while being the premier
band in your area, is also over exposed and under new material.
Why would a local patron frequent your club to see a band they just saw
last weekend, perform the same songs, in the same sets, in the same order
all over again? Answer, they won't.
Local Hot Bands, become complacent and nonchalant about learning new
material, about staging a new show, about updating their onstage
appearance, about adding new lights and sound. They
ride on their laurels and they charge you for what they were and not what
they are now. There is a huge difference.
While their name may draw, unless they
update and upgrade, they are nothing more than a typical local band.
Why book a band that plays everywhere and draws mediocre at best?
Bands who have played an area for quite
some time, develop attitudes, they want bar tabs paid by the club, they
want to drink on stage, they want their friends in for free, they want,
they want, they want! I once asked Mitch
Ryder to leave my club and not perform, because his band were a bunch of
arrogant punks.
And I still made money that night with another band, without all the
ego and hassle of Ryder's punks.
What Bands fail to realize is the Club is their employer, not their buddy,
the Club is paying them to "PERFORM," not to practice.
They, the band, has a responsibility to learn new material, to act
professional onstage and to entertain the crowd with the highest level of
showmanship as possible. Who needs a bunch
of prima donnas who are local stars and otherwise nobodies?
I would rather take a band of young hungry musicians who yearn to
please and to build a following and work with them, lock them in and build
them up, then a road hard local band with a reputation that has long gone.
Bands are great when they are in the "pocket," just like DJs, I have a
simple mantra, if the club is packed and the dance floor jammed the DJ is
doing his job, if the club is packed and the dance floor is empty, then
the DJ sucks. Fire his tuchus and hire a
young Turk who will play what your patrons want, rather than what his ego
dictates.
The same is applicable to local bands. And
never, I repeat never ever, pay for a band from the bar sales.
If your not charging a door charge for your band your insane.
If your paying your band from any other
source but the door, your out of your mind.
Your afraid to charge a cover, you fear rejection by your patrons,
but if you implement my process and system for charging a door charge, it
works everytime.
The bar sales are not meant to pay for entertainment.
A "Cover Charge" is just that, a charge to cover the cost of the
entertainment. Your apprehension over
charging a cover charge is costing you thousands and thousands of dollars.
And, FYI, any local hot shot band that is playing clubs with no
cover, have no biz , playing your club.
Why should you be as dumb as the other club owners who are not charging a
cover for a band?
I can assure you they are financially flowing red. Noooooooobody
can make money and show a great bottom line, if they offer live bands and
don't charge a cover charge. You scrunch
the numbers and you do the math.
I am all about one goal, making my clubs as much income and revenue
from the right group of patrons.
That's it, if you want what I offer, pick up the phone and call me, if
not, do as your doing and get back to me on your bottom line...........
Call Rich Unger at 941-921-7027 email:
RichUnger@promotingnightclubs.com
But don't simply continue on the same path your on, with no positive
signs in sight!!!
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