Is this bad gig etiquette?

Tom Wolverton · Post by **Tom Wolverton** » 26 Mar 2012 3:39 pm

One of the bands I play in often announces an up-coming gig at another in-town bar while playing a gig at a local club or bar. Is this a gig no-no? (i.e. promoting a show located in a different, competing establishment)? Do club owners get mad about this sort of thing?

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 26 Mar 2012 3:44 pm

Usually. Tell the singer to pretend that the club is like a girlfriend that doesn't know about the other girlfriend.

Dave Hopping · Post by **Dave Hopping** » 26 Mar 2012 3:56 pm

No sense annoying the venue operator when there's a better way to handle it....Print up little schedule flyers and put them onstage next to the stack of business cards that's next to the tip jar.If you have a band backdrop/banner put your web address on it,and mention the website during the between-tunes stuff you say about tip-your-waitress-and-bartender.

Joe Miraglia · Post by **Joe Miraglia** » 26 Mar 2012 4:44 pm

We say, check us out on our web site

www.willowcreekband.com

Tom Wolverton · Post by **Tom Wolverton** » 26 Mar 2012 4:46 pm

Thanks. Yes the web page announcement seems pretty un-offensive.

Kevin Hatton · Post by **Kevin Hatton** » 26 Mar 2012 6:07 pm

No sense in risking the club owners ire. We always just announced our website for our calender. I think that's wiser.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 26 Mar 2012 6:11 pm

Yup. Website, flyers, word of mouth OK. Announcing over the mic, a big no-no.

Billy Tonnesen · Post by **Billy Tonnesen** » 26 Mar 2012 7:57 pm

When on break, get out and befriend and talk to the Customers. Usually, if your not the House Band, they will start asking you where else you play or are going to be playing. Then you can quietly let them know !

Cal Sharp · Post by **Cal Sharp** » 26 Mar 2012 10:24 pm

I was working a club near Nashville and the piano player announced that he'd be playing the Midnight Jamboree at the Ernest Tubb Record Shop the following Saturday night and the club owner, a known hothead anyway, stormed up on break and fired him.

("So, Ernie, what time's that Midnight Jamboree start, anyhow?")

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 27 Mar 2012 7:17 am

" Next week we are playing at Joe's down the road, come on by..oh yeh drinks are half the price there as well "

uh,no..I totally agree with the above..not over the mic...especially if it's another local club competing for the same 50 people very Fri night !

Bo Legg · Post by **Bo Legg** » 27 Mar 2012 8:35 am

I like subtle approach.
"We're playing at Joe's Bar next Saturday 9 to 1 but be sure and not go there, come back here".

Dave Grafe · Post by **Dave Grafe** » 27 Mar 2012 11:41 am

If the venue is located in a distant town there is usually no bad blood, but if it's the competing bar down the street you have a problem on your hands....

Dave Hopping · Post by **Dave Hopping** » 27 Mar 2012 12:41 pm

Here's a thought...IMO it's a very good idea to announce the next band coming into the venue and say good things about them.Makes your outfit look like nice guys,and might pique a little curiosity about where such nice folks will be next.

Ray Minich · Post by **Ray Minich** » 28 Mar 2012 8:26 am

Like the secretary hawking Avon products to her co-workers during the day and by company e-mail.

Not cool.............

Theresa Galbraith · Post by **Theresa Galbraith** » 28 Mar 2012 11:01 am

What does the club owner your working at, say?

Bo Borland · Post by **Bo Borland** » 28 Mar 2012 11:08 am

I think if it makes YOU uncomfortable, you shouldn't.

I have a sub bass player that thinks he can say and do whatever he wants behind the mic.. ...not very good form..
He even chats up the owner.. passes him a biz card..for his other band.. , he does not get asked to sub very often

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 28 Mar 2012 11:45 am

my Peterson Stroborack has a marquee/display that's made for inserting upcoming gigs, events or publicity

http://www.petersontuners.com/index.cfm ... =73&sub=66

Tom Wolverton · Post by **Tom Wolverton** » 29 Mar 2012 7:51 am

Thanks to all. Yes, indeed, it makes me feel uncomfortable. But, alas, I am just the steel player. : ) I'll work on it with the band. Some folks need some 'es-plain-in' and eventually get it.
Then again, some folks just never get it. Sometimes its like trying to "describe corners to a circle". : )

Cal Sharp · Post by **Cal Sharp** » 29 Mar 2012 8:06 am

Sometimes if there's a contract involved between an artist and a venue it will say the artist can't promote their next gig within so many miles.

Dave Hopping · Post by **Dave Hopping** » 29 Mar 2012 8:54 am

It's also not uncommon for bigger venues to require as a condition of contracting a series of gigs that a band agrees not to perform publicly for pay within X number of miles of that venue for the duration of the contract.Not a problem for road acts,but it amounts to a lockout for the locals.

Kevin Klimek · Post by **Kevin Klimek** » 29 Mar 2012 9:36 am

I agree...not a great idea to announce gigs elsewhere. On a related subject we had a club we played at regularly where the manager insisted we not play anywhere else in that town, (with population of about 11,000 people). I disagreed with our band leader about following that policy and lost the argument. And it DID come back to bite us. Eventually that club manager left, and the new manager did not keep us on the regular schedule. We tried getting work at other clubs in town then, and all of them gave us the cold shoulder because we adhered to that stupid policy and turned them down repeatedly during our tenure at the first club. We are all in it to have fun of course, but also to make a living so I'd never boycott another guy that wants to book us for a gig either.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 29 Mar 2012 6:04 pm

It's also not uncommon for bigger venues to require as a condition of contracting a series of gigs that a band agrees not to perform publicly for pay within X number of miles of that venue for the duration of the contract.Not a problem for road acts,but it amounts to a lockout for the locals.

That's pretty extreme. I am lucky I have never seen or heard anything like that before.

Cal Sharp · Post by **Cal Sharp** » 29 Mar 2012 6:29 pm

I was out on the road with Faron playing a club and another club owner came to see the show and invited us all down to his joint after the show for free drinks. After the last set we hopped in the bus and went on down there, just a few miles away. On the marquee it said "Faron Young Tonight", and the place was packed; he'd been promoting it all along, and we sat in with the house band and did a couple songs. The first club owner raised a little hell, waving his contract at us, but we got outta town OK.

Alan Tanner · Post by **Alan Tanner** » 30 Mar 2012 5:40 am

I'll say one thing for the music biz, musicians and managers can come up with more ways to screw each other and then claim we are all brothers...yada yada...then go on some forum somewhere and dry cry the blues to everyone, who will agree with you, about how you were treated poorly and didn't deserve what happened....amazing.

Tom Wolverton · Post by **Tom Wolverton** » 30 Mar 2012 5:56 am

Dave Grafe wrote:If the venue is located in a distant town there is usually no bad blood, but if it's the competing bar down the street you have a problem on your hands....

I've thought about this and wonder. Gosh, if the next gig is 50 miles or more away, maybe it's ok. But why bother to announce it then? It seems like you're stealing patrons still.

The Steel Guitar Forum

Is this bad gig etiquette?

Is this bad gig etiquette?

tanks

Gig etiquette