Mental attitude to bad Gigs

[spikestevens]

Had an offer recently to go back to a pub I played in about a year ago, but I turned it down. You see I had a terrible night there, and even though it's under new ownership I have no intention of going anywhere near the place.

What happened was that I received a phone call from the people at the New Inn (a pub in Deal town centre, right in the precinct) enquiring about availability, prices etc. He asked if I could send him a demo CD and all the stuff which I duly did. The demo was a genuine 'live' one with no overdubs or effects added, just me how I sound at my gigs. I also stressed to the chap that I don't do any modern stuff: no Robbie Williams, no recent chart hits, just oldies but goldies from the 50's and the 60's, etc. He was absolutely fine with this because he wanted to get rid of a lot of the younger punters and replace them with a more 'mature' (middle-aged) clientele. This suited me down to the ground as I prefer playing clubs to pubs.

The gig was a total disaster. Not a single person there, just a couple of bar staff. One of the barmaids told me my music is old and boring and that's why nobody had turned up. I pointed out that the owner knew in advance what he was getting but she continued with her derogatory comments about 'the 60's being dead and buried' and that the Beatles/Shadows/Stones etc were 'yesterday's music'.
As I say, the chap who booked me up knew full well what I was about and the stuff I did, so from my viewpoint the fault lies with him.

I did the first set, took the money, packed up and went home, vowing never to return.

The odd thing is that despite it being under new ownership, I still don't want to go back there. I'm wondering if this is because my subconscious mind will always associate the venue with the bad gig and thus I'll probably never play there again.

The new owners have phoned me twice so far, so they're obviously keen to get me back there, but like I say, I think there's some kind of mental block going and I'm going to pass.

Shame really, I don't like turning work down, but then again I don't need the hassle of a bad gig, either.

[santoinetwo]

Speaking from experience myself, it does happen but fortunately only once in a blue moon. You will never please everyone in any given audience, it's just not possible. I would myself give the place another chance, go ahead call them back. One persons comment of old music should never put you off playing what you enjoy playing. Our band played at a British Legion Club in Tonbridge last night, and yes we had the self same comment. Though maybe in a more polite way of ' Do you play any modern stuff ? Which we don't really, at least not on our current set list. As you have already said the Pubs under new management so there is chance of some new faces within the crowd. Plus it sounds like the new landlord wants to book you, despite of any comments from the bar staff, which again may have changed.

[spikestevens]

Good points, Santoinetwo.

That's the funny thing about me though: I can do 100 gigs and go down a storm in 99 of them. But the one gig where it isn't too great is always the one that'll play on my mind. The one that I'll analyse and think about the most ("Was I too loud?" "Did I do too many fast numbers?" All of that).


Strange creatures, us musicians.

[Gary mac]

Hi spikestevens i think you should go back you never know generally speaking the whole pub could have changed as well as hopefully the staff . I think the problem now is down to shows like the x factor and no respect for what we do people only see the finished product , if they were to really know what goes on , the time it takes to learn and produce a set for example if they were to spend six months on the road with musicians then it would be a different story setting up gear stripping it down moving it four times a night etc i bet half of them would give it up (social convenors especially) yes its that one gig that will niggle you but in the whole 99 percent of the time if you go down well and they are well informed of what they are getting then you shouldnt worry about it .... you can please some of the people some of the time !!!!

gary mac

[Charlie Hall]

I don't think I would go back. Unless everyone in the area has moved and replaced by different possible clientele.
Perhaps you could go there when someone else is playing and then decide how you think you would fit in there. Look to see if the bar staff has changed while you're there. I suppose it's also possible that the first landlord sold the gig in the wrong way.
Regards,
Charlie

[john]

Hi Spike

I'm with Charlie all the way, go back and have a "decko" (look around) feel the place out.
I'm laughing now but years ago we did a gig at Port Headland in Western Australia being an iron ore shipping port so you can imagine the clientele. Aussie Barry would know of the place. We played out in the beer garden on a stage that the front was covered in chicken wire to stop the glasses and bottles, scared the hell out of us.
Recently saw a movie with that Patrick guy who died recently and the club had the same thing. My Mrs looked at me a bit strange when I burst out laughing
Head back and have a look mate.

John

[graeme]

Feb 14, 2010 17:43:08 GMT Charlie Hall said:

I suppose it's also possible that the first landlord sold the gig in the wrong way.

If he sold it at all, that is.

It's a long time since I played in the UK, but I don't suppose things have changed that much there - and it's certainly true of where I am now - promoters rarely promote!!

They book an act and then do nothing to encourage people to come along. Even if they do advertise, they invariably just stick up a poster saying "X" will be here on "Y" - with no indication of what sort of evening the punter should expect.

If you're into doing 'oldies', the customers need to know that in advance. The evening should be advertised as such and the only way of ensuring this is done is to do it yourself, don't rely on the guy who booked the act to do anything more than that.

There's nothing wrong with 'old style' material - it might not appeal to the younger audience (and why should it) but there is a huge market out there which does not appreciate/like the newer material and they long to recapture their own youth for an evening. With proper promotion, you can get all these people along. Generally speaking, they have more disposable income and will spend more, so everyone wins.

Case in pont. I work with three different outfits. The one that gets the biggest audiences and always has the joint jumping is, by far, the worst in terms of musicianship, etc. - they even have to rehearse material which any normal musician would simply busk. It only plays material from the 50's and 60's and promotes itself as such. The audiences usually have an average age of 60 odd and they will bop all night, if you give them what they want - their youth back for a night.

OTOH, the one with the undoubtedbly best musicians (and therefore, infinitely more interesting to play with) only plays jazz/swing material, does no self-promo and is lucky to play to a dozen people. Usually, much the same age group, but it's plain to see punters are bored to tears half the time, simply because they didn't know what they were about to get.

The guy seems to want you, so I'd do the gig again, but with the proviso that you organise the advertising and sell the gig to the right audience.

[spikestevens]

It's all academic now anyway, I'm gigging every date she had available. And there's no way I'm going to blow out the venues where I've been playing regularly for years and years just to get a foot in the door of a place I don't really want to play anyway.


I agree with Graeme regarding the self-promotion bit, but I don't even have to do that nowadays. I'm pretty well-known on the working men's clubs/social clubs circuit and they all do a lot of advertising in the local press. Plus word-of-mouth, etc. I also do a lot of private functions (anniversaries, wedding receptions and so on) and more often than not someone will come up to me at a gig and offer me some more work.

I hope I don't come across as arrogant when I say I can afford to be a bit choosey about where and when I play, but basically, I can.

[graeme]

Feb 15, 2010 16:06:41 GMT spikestevens said:

I hope I don't come across as arrogant when I say I can afford to be a bit choosey about where and when I play, but basically, I can.

I don't consider that to be arrogant, I'm in the same position myself - but we are the lucky ones, there are plenty of others who are not in such a secure position.