How far ahead do venues book band gigs?

A guitarist, new to playing in a band, emailed me to tell me he'd contacted his local live venue hoping to book a gig for his Indie band. He was a bit put out about the fact that the venue manager told him they were "fully booked with bands until the end of the year".

The guitarist wanted to know from me whether this was typical, for a venue to be booked for the year as early as May. The answer is, it depends. Some venues are that organized that they think months ahead. Many are not.

What could he do though when he gets told there are not available slots for his band?

1. Keep in touch with this venue which initially "rejected" him
Managers and venue policies change. Bands get sick or split up and booked gigs get cancelled. Make sure yours is the substitute name the venue thinks of when this happens. A regular newsletter will do this for you

2. Stop obsessing about this one venue.
He/his band, need to develop a comprehensive list of venues to target and keep in touch with. The longer the list (and better the technique of pitching your act of course), the more gigs you get. Many bands and solo artists just try a couple of local venues and when these don't immediately work out for them they become another statistic. A "failed" act who didn't know how to market themselves into plentiful live gigs. Persistence is key.

What I Learnt Gigging on European Cup Final night

What place has the final of the Champions league got in a blog about getting a playing gigs? You may well ask.

With the final in Rome some 2 hours away it reminds me of the significance of the one and only gig I've ever played on the same night as the final.

It was a couple of years ago with Liverpool having their re-match with A.C. Milan. We were playing a fairly well known venue in the North West (The Limelight in Crewe) and were to go on after the game had finished.

I'd been after a spot at this venue for many months and so when the offer finally came, we agreed to play on a Wednesday night. Normally, due to other commitments we only played at weekends and we'd have rain checked this one too because of the football too I guess.


It wasn't a great turn-out on the night. Those people in the place seemed to only be there to watch the match on flat screen TVs. The game ended in defeat for the local side and twenty minutes later we trudged onstage in front of an already depressed scattering of drunks who had stayed on beyond the final whistle.


This was one of the first gigs we'd played since losing our extrovert front man and it was also one which we videoed. The reason for the video was the creeping feeling that since our change in personnel we were failing to connect with crowds the way we once had.

Watching the lack lustre performance back later was the inspiration which ultimately led to the Rouse the Crowd Ebook .Without our front man and with a crowd in serious need of rousing, we went down like a sack of the proverbial.


The night led to acknowledgment that something had to be done about the visual side of the band. About the audience interaction. Looking back, any front person would have struggled with that crowd and on that night. But, much study of other bands, successful front men (and women) and performance research followed by us.

Mercifully the rest is history. I'm fairly sure thought, that without the Champions League final and the recording of our cringe-worthy performance that night we would have folded the way so many other bands do due to audience indifference.

Tonight though, my guitar stays in it's case until Friday and I'm watching the game instead.

Some Gig-Getting Tips I'd agree with...and some I wouldn't

Here's a post I came across recently which has some food for thought for anyone looking for gig-getting tips.


Fill up your touring schedule

The author (Daniel Kohn) advises you to "Take Whatever You Can Get In The Beginning". I think I understand where he's coming from here. I've always advised artists who are starting out gigging that they should consider early gigs as investments, tools to:

1. Gain experience at playing live (and so improve their "art" and their confidence)

2. Get more gigs. Truly, the more people who see you play, the more gigs you're going to get. Unless of course your'e underehearsed (or just plain lousy). Then of course, your live appearances will work on your behalf to prevent you getting further gigs.

One important point here. Although you should take the kind of gigs ( Monday or Tuesday night as DK recommends) in the beginning, and lower fees than you'll accept as time goes by, I wouldn't ever recommend going out for free. it will only make it harder for you to justify your fees later. A discounted or "Trial" price perhaps. But free? Nope.

A second recommendation on the post is to "Personally Deliver Your Demo To Each Venue Booker". OK if you have the time but I would stress you should only ever deliver (or mail) a demo if:

1. The person you mail or hand it to is the one who makes the ultimate decision about whether to hire you
2. This person is expecting your visit or the mail (contact them separately first).

Please feel free to add your own thoughts or comments....

9 ways to Alienate your gig crowds

Sometimes the best way to explain "How" to do something is to talk about how NOT to do it. So, at the risk of sounding sarcastic, here are some ideas for when you're onstage. These will help you avoid good crowd reactions whenever you play live.

1. Don't Practise your material
This will leave you free to look anxious and worried onstage and make sure you don't spend any time focused on putting on a "show" of some sort.

2. Leave Plenty of pregnant pauses in between numbers
Great for boring an audience and killing any mood your songs may have created

3. Look bored
This one will work best when all band members do it and generally it should encourage similar reactions from the crowd

4. Don't talk to the the crowd
Make sure you don't even say thanks after any applause or even "Hello" when you start

5. Adopt a fixed frown
Be cautious not to smile. Works well with 3 above.

6. Avoid any eye contact
The danger here is you can end up looking warm and approachable if you make eye contact. Keep your eyes on your fretboard (if playing guitar) for example. You'll probably need to if you adopt suggestion 1 above anyhow.

7. If you must talk to the crowd:
Don't do any preparation about what you're going to say. Just hope it will all come out OK. Ideally keep the content focused on you not them and try to ramble for as long/often as possible. Mumble as much as possible and ideally use heavy reverb when you talk.

8. Don't use a set list
The ensuing chaos, lack of "flow" is always good for poor audience interaction. This helps achieve number 2 above as well

9. Turn your back on the audience
Should be done from time to time for extended period for maximum results I shouldn't laugh really, my band was doing most of the above when we first started!


Please feel free to add your own suggestions via the Comments tab

If I'd known then what I know now about getting gigs

Back in 2006, the MIA (Music Industries Association) were reporting that there were over 18 million "lapsed musicians" in the UK alone. These were people who'd tried their hand at playing an instrument, maybe joined a band or whatever. The bulk of these 18 million had given up by the time they were 21. I don't know what the figure is or was for the US, but with a population of around 5 times the size it could equate to about 90 million there.

At the time of writing Gig-Getter it struck me as incredibly sad and I was reminded of it by an email I received recently.

Mike, a middle-aged IT manager wrote to me to tell me how as a teenager he'd played guitar in a band in the 1980's. They had tried to stay ahead of the trends in pop music and peddle their own material to the record labels in the UK. In amongst the seemingly endless rejection slips for each of their series of demo tapes (and back then it was "tapes"), Fiction (who had The Cure and were run by the guy who supposedly discovered the Jam) and A&M called to say they might be interested.

The problem was that both labels wanted to know dates they could come and see Mike's band gig in London. This was a problem because their only experience of playing live was the odd gig or two for friends in their Northern hometown. They had no manager and as far as getting gigs in any other city went - they "didn't know where to start".

So the chances with the record labels, and the band itself, came and went. Mike got himself a "real job" and today gets his kicks playing in a thriving tribute band for which he gets all the gigs.

He says that he does sometimes allow himself to wonder about what might have happened had he known back in the 1980's what he's since learnt now about getting gigs. But on the other hand, as he says, "Self control wasn't a big quality of mine back then so God knows how I'd have ended up!"

Audience banter when you're gigging

Over the weekend I had a couple of emails from guitarists with widely different experience of playing gigs.

One was in his forties and had been playing in various bands since a teenager. Firstly in the hope of landing a record deal and then over time, as a married guy with family playing covers for a hobby as much as anything. The second emailer was still a young guy and had only played 2 gigs with what is his first ever band.

Both email were on the same topic. They described it as "feeling comfortable talking to audiences" and "getting the crowd to warm or respond to you".

The older guy had countless gigs under his belt but still struggled with what he called indifferent audiences.

Judging by the bands I work with and my own experience, getting your audiences really involved when you're playing (as opposed to them chatting amongst themselves with their backs to you let's say) happens best when the "foundations" are solid. By this, I mean, when everyone on the stage knows their parts inside out and when you have no other concerns about you're sound or look. As boring as it might sound, this often comes down to preparation. Enough time for a reasonable sound check for example, and reliable equipment. Nothing is make an audience uneasy than when they can tell a performer is nervous - even if it is about whether or not his mixer will last through the night..

So I told the 2 guitarists concerned to do their preparation fully. (After all, what is rehearsing if it's not preparing? )

Being prepared is a big deal as far as giving you confidence is concerned. Preparation can extend to the methods you use to connect with your crowds. There's no shame in having a few stock phrases, comments or questions you ask or use from gig to gig. These are a good fall-back if you dry up. Over time you'll find you'll add to these as you get ideas or watch other bands and (most satisfyingly) as things occur to you spontaneously on the night. Just make sure you remember them ad use them to try to engage some members of the crowd. No matter how briefly. Ask the occasional question, tell a fact or two about a forthcoming song. Start small and slowly to build your confidence.

I also suggested to the guitarists, that if crowd reactions really were a problem they could structure their set lists in ways specifically designed to encourage crowd interaction. Set lists are often drawn up for very different reasons...

audience banter at gigs

Band gigs without audience interaction

Playing at a new venue over the weekend got me thinking about how things would've gone without consciously trying to get the people watching involved.

Yes, the music can and should stand for itself. Certainly turning up with a script full of smarmy one liners and a gig-bag full of inflatable guitars and tambourines to hand out to the audience won't save you if your gears' lousy and you're not rehearsed.

I don't know about you, but when I'm in an audience, I like a band not to take themselves too seriously so if they try to get a few laughs (at their own expense) that will make me warm to them. And that's what we try to do a bit of. On top of that, anything we can do to get a few people (those who show a willingness) involved and up on stage the better.

Probably Saturday would've been good for most people without any of this, if we'd just kept our heads down and kept on strumming. Certainly there will always be some members of an audience (and certain types of venues) where the music is the only element that matters.

But when you want people to film your gigs, visit your website, feel compelled to book you for their own party and (most importantly) tell everyone they know about this band they saw over the weekend....9 times out of 10 it's down to really connecting with the crowd

If you're new to playing gigs...

Here are some pointers from a Gibson guitar site about what to remember before and when you turn up to play. Basic gigging etiquette if you will...

www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Features/back-to-basics-505/

And, no matter how long we've been playing, this reminder about why venues have live music in the first place can help your focus when you're trying to get gigs

http://ezinearticles.com/?7-Truths-and-Tips-on-How-to-Get-Gigs-and-Fill-Up-Your-Touring-Schedule&id=2305926

Outdoor Smoking shelters and Band Gigs

We played one of our most unusual venues over the weekend. An enterprising new owner of a local bar has come up with the idea of using his smoking shelter as a outdoor performance area over the summer.

True, this particular place has a smoking area which nicely overlooks his beer garden with a little play area for kids. But the concept does make me wonder about what other venues might be able to do to "sweat their assets" in the recession. (If you can call a smoking shelter an asset..)

We played on the Bank Holiday Monday afternoon which is an added bonus to the usual Friday or Saturday night outings in any part-time musician's book.

Beer takings were heavily up on a usual bank holiday, they sold plenty of food and we took a booking for someones 40th birthday. The venue has also asked us to back on a regular basis on Sundays throughout the summer which we're talking about.

"But what about the smokers?" you might ask. This place still has some covered space close to the front door and of course the car park and even beer garden when the weather's good. I think I'm going to start looking at beer gardens and smoking shelters elsewhere a little more closely...

Gigging where you're unknown

We're playing a new venue for the first time next weekend and it's got me thinking again about how to try and swell audience numbers so that we're more likely to get asked back.

When we first started we'd invite a couple of die-hard friends/fans along via text messages and leave the rest of it to chance. Even getting friends along can get more difficult though the more often you get out gigging. Who wants to come along and see/hear pretty much the same thing night after night?

So over time we've adopted the following to give ourselves the best chance of a reasonable crowd:

1. Email alerts to registered subscribers to our band's website. (Try aweber.com out if you want to get into this).

We generally reserve any such emails for when we think we most need help with audience numbers - and those subscribers most local.

2. Small Flyers/cards at gigs prior to the one where we're trying to boost numbers.
This Bank Holiday Monday we're playing an outdoor gig and will scatter flyers around (having Okayed it with the venue manager 1st) with our contact details (for people to book us for private functions) AND also mention the new venue gig next weekend.

3. On Mic announcements
When we thank the crowd at the end of Monday's show we'll remind them about the gig next weekend.

4. Website Announcement
Depending on what sort of indications we get from people on Monday about coming to the gig the week after, we might make a further announcement about it on our website homepage.


5. Press Release
Next Tuesday is deadline day for the local paper in the area we're playing the "new" gig. A press release with a picture from bank Holiday Monday's performance and a suitable "local angle" to the story will further help alert people to the show.

Either way, in 2009 when venues are more careful about the money they spend on bands, we don't like to leave gig crowd numbers to chance any more...