[atlantaprog] Re: cj's/9 lives

Hi Guys,
A lot of good points have been made in the whole club vs. band discussion. Here's what I have experienced playing in the clubs:

Electric Poem played at 9 Lives a while back. We brought enough people to just about be at maximum capacity for the club. We did not get paid. Several other local bands have told me that they have had similar experiences. The sound was decent, but not great.

Someone commented that the clubs wouldn't be here if not for the bands and people who want to see the bands. That's not entirely correct. In Buckhead, bands don't typically add to the number of people walking through the door for MOST clubs. Most of the venues are at maximum occupancy regardless of whether or not they have a band. In addition, we play at numerous venues that often pay bands more money than the bands increase their income. Some venues even have a night or two set aside for bands that they know will cost more than they will increase income. The venues do this just to help out the bands.

The topic of Pay to Play came up a couple of times. Although I have run into clubs that have tried versions of Pay to Play (usually requiring the bands to pay $100 total for the sound guy) most of the time, the money is taken out of the door before the band gets paid. That is not pay to play. I think it's unfair to expect a venue to pay a band when the band isn't making them any money. Even the cover that fans pay usually isn't as much money as they take in on a good Team Trivia night.

The question was posed: Do clubs pay bands of other styles? Yes. There are local bands that have large draws and who do get paid to play music.

Cover band vs. Original music:
I have noticed that musicians who only play original music seem to think that there is no audience for original music and if you play covers, you instantly play to a lot of people and get paid. Just to let you know, there are a lot of cover bands playing for no money in empty rooms and there are probably more bands getting paid to play original music than you would think. If there really is a built in audience in a venue, it doesn't really matter whether or not there is a band, so there usually isn't one. The only times that we've played to a built in audience have been private parties. We have to bring our own crowd to a McFly show just like we have to bring our own crowd to a Cobweb Strange show. In addition, people at McFly shows ask us to play our original music all the time. I've played a lot of show in both cover bands and original bands and they are both a lot of work - usually for a very small return. If you're in it for the money, the odds are against you regardless of what you play. I've been very lucky to have had success with both original and cover bands and it seems like there's a lot more luck and persistance involved than anything else.

-Wade

www.cobwebstrange.com
www.electricpoem.com
www.mcflyband.com

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