And, like I have said, being in Northern Minnesota we have been victims of some very cold weekends this winter (20-30 degree below zero). Best wishes.
Seems like a good excuse to get inside, listen to some good jams, and shake their butts to stay warm.
I've heard of some beastly women up there, but if there were any cuties, I'd probably want to suggest other ways of keeping warm...
Of course, I mean my favoring fireplaces and hot tubs... :roll:
Think as the Blues Brothers.. big megaphone on top of car, fliers posted everywhere.
Record stores were always a great place for bands to post but those places are gone. T shirt companies were also popular areas as were specialty stores like Spencer's.
For years, bands built their followings with massive visibility just like a campaign for office. Fliers on car windshield wipers, posters on nearby facilities. It's also good to ask other businesses nearby if they wouldn't mind posters in the front window, door, or on the bulletin boards.
I had to laugh at a guy who said those things don't work. I still see it all the time. Every voting issue, every Fair, every public event.. sure it does.
Plus you have other methods like email sign up's etc that allow more than just a traditional way of advertising your band or the event.
I was at a gas station a couple weeks ago and noticed a poster for a local group with the scheduled event and time. You do see these things but not near as often as you used too. I think it's more of the group not wanting to work for exposure or not having the time? Followings do suffer from lack of attention when attempting to build one.
Most groups that have some form of mgt will plaster nearby areas with fliers to generate interest.
We have been putting posters up around town when we play locally. It's harder when we play out of town. We have made up some nice folded advertisements that go on the clubs tables and we try to get those up a week in advance. I suppose that all helps.
We have a local music store to put up some posters and a few gas stations. I imagine we need to get more creative and find more places for our posters. You never know who will be reading the flyers and posters.
As far as the weather, Shredd, when it 20-30 degrees below zero, most sane people around here decide to stay at home to keep warm. It is not so much fun starting and driving the cars in cold weather like that. If I wasn't getting paid to play on those nights, I'd be watching a good movie on the couch with the wife.
We play out tonight and tomorrow night and the weather is supposed to be much better. I hope lots of people decide to come out to the clubs and have a good time with us this weekend. We have been playing every weekend, which is great, but next weekend we have off and I am really looking forward to that too. We might actually get a chance to have a band practice and work on some different material that we want to add to our set lists. Best wishes.
last night we were booked at a local club and as we finished setup and soundcheck, the Police dept arrived ( 4 patrolmen) and shut the establishment down for A Smoker that was reported smoking in the restroom.
The person reporting this did not ask the club mgt to address the issue, and instead just called the police. There is a report the abuse ( non smoking poster) sign posted with an 800 number to call that reports to local officials. No warning, no nothing... just a cease and shutdown for the evening was given to mgt.
We had to tear down and the club will be fined $1500 along with a court date and citation. We were given 30 min to have our equipment OUT of the establishment, and the club was cleared out in minutes. What a mess!!
That's a pretty extreme reaction to a violation...sort of like cutting off the head to cure the headache.
Even if they were gonna nail the smoker - and the mgt for failing to \"enforce\" the n/s rule - fact is, the real losers are the clubbers who wanted a night of fun on the town, and of course the band, who apparently got tossed out on their butts.
Clearly this was a case of using the episode as an \"example\" to other club owners/mgt to get harsh and severe about enforcement, but I still think it was a harsh handling of it.
This is a good example of the gradual erosion of general rights and freedoms. Soon you'll need a passport to buy a beer and we'll have our ID number tattooed on our foreheads. Even now, you practically get strip-searched at sports events, they crawl up your butt with a microscope before they let you on a plane, and you can be pulled over in your car for having unbrushed hair. :roll:
....and you can be pulled over in your car for having unbrushed hair. :roll:
and i thought getting locked up for passing gas\" in 89' was the most rediculas thing that ever happenned to me :x Now I might have to worry about my hair???Cause barretes,pigtails and french braids aren't gonna happen....EVER!! :twisted:
Dude. You could end up in Guatanomo for passing gas in an airport. 'Bombs\" are verboten.
NO JOKE!!! :x
when i turned 21,my friends had a pizza,beer,and super 5 alarm hot wings party Well,one of the guys got \"gas\" real bad and we had to go outside(it was 1am :roll: ) All the beer got us burpin and a contest ensued.30 minutes later,the cops showed up and were gonna citate us for \"disturbance of the peace\" :shock: So they chucked 3 of us in the back of the squad car and the wings really kicked in It was AWEFULL!!! When the Officer tried to get in his car,he lost it!!!We got chucked into another car and hauled off for screwing up his squad car (which he had towed back to the precinct :roll:) We got stuck in a cell for 2 hours and finally let go because the chief couldn't stop laughing long enough to approve a propper title for our \"assault\"
'Guess it goes ta showya...\"law enforcement\" has always been subject to such inane actions. I just think it's gotten worse since 9/11, as paranoia has risen and no public official wants anything bad to happen on his \"watch\". So they follow us all around with microscopes to make sure. :roll:
So, g: did the guy who was smoking in the club that got shut down get sent to Croatia and tortured??? :?
yep sure is getting to sound a lot like nazi germany these days! Will all smokers have to wear a yellow cigerette on the jacket? So who called in, a regular from from a rival club? He was probably the one who went and filled the john up with smoke.
We had a local football player a few years ago who was the recipient of a fine samaritan who thought they were qualified to make a judgement call on the car ahead of them and called it in. They must feel proud of themselves!
But this stuff is taught in the schools, turn in other kids kids who inbibe in non legal substances and they go as far as to tell them to turn their parents in if they do it too. It is only going to get worse when a generation raised in this atmosphere is cut loose in a decade. ( I think they say, they are our future? )
I'm really glad that I never picked up the smoking habit. It must be hard for some people. I never heard of a club getting shut down for a smoking violation. I do know that both the smoker and the bar will get fined in our state. So we are learning how to deal with the new laws and still have a good time. Actually, there are more people who don't smoke starting to come out to the bars. Maybe after awhile, business will pick up and the smokers will be able to accept stepping outside for a smoke break between sets. No smoking in the clubs is alot better for me, personally, because I no longer have watering eys, a dry scratchy throat, and smelly clothes after a night out. But shutting down the club, that's just harsh. Sounds like the police made their point.
Guitar3456, too bad for your band. Did you get paid? I don't think some people realize that there are constant expenses with taking a band on the road. We blew a main speaker last night and that will have to be replaced, but I hope it won't cost too much for a repair. So I hope you got paid for your time and effort. It wasn't your fault the place was closed down. Take care.
Actually it was a girl in the gals room puffing one.
The harder problem was we were setting up by 5 pm for a 10 o clock show. Full lights w trusses, pa drivers, sub arrays. Multi mixes for us and a dj that would spin between sets. We had an opener and we headlined at 11:30, but provided all sound and lights.
When the police gave us 30 min to tear down what took 3 hours to set up, It was tough time. We got all the pa gear out but had to go back today for the trusses, stage riser etc. We just didn't have the time and Johnny Law was serious about 30 min even though we said it was nearly impossible. Luckily a lot of our brawny participants helped us at least get things out the back door where we could load up trucks. About 25 guys helping out.
We will never do a show again without some contractual agreement as to closures, cease of operations etc. We've had POWER outages in an area that were late to get restored.. ie thunderstorms but never anything like this.
Mgt had a hard enough with an excessive fine. They did feel bad, but that's all they said. We still have future shows scheduled but WILL contract for sure.
Apparently, this club is a city target. We've never had a problem but turns out there was a shooting there about 3 weeks ago in the parking area , So Law enforcement is watching the place like a hawk. We never know what is happening in most of the venues, but we'll start keeping an eye and ear open for anything like this again in the future.
Might be a good idea to check the online local police blotters for instances that could mean bad juju. I'd rather cancel an event than risk other problems. Given the outlook we may just back out of playing this venue altogether. Better to be safe than sorry.
Sounds like you guys put in alot of work for no pay. I'd make sure I had a signed contract and money up front before I unloaded the van the next time. If they can't sign a contract or put money on the table before you unload, I'd tell them you have other gigs to schedule. Considering they stiffed you because they got busted, I don't think you would be wrong in demanding pay before play at your next gig there. If safety is an issue, I just would not play there anyway. But that is me. I have a life outside of music too. Best wishes.
Hasn't that been the life of a musician, forever? Playing all the seedy places! Though society is a little more refined these days, a bar is still a bar! No matter how you dress it up!
I can only imagine what it was like 60 - 70 yrs ago playing all the old time juke joints! Even when that movie Roadhouse came out I found it hard to believe that caged stages were still around.
Most bars ie clubs are a day to day week to week operation. Whether it is a percentage deal or not the band can't get paid till the money comes in that night!.
That was my point in starting this thread ' choice ' You as a band have a choice to play or not to play a certain venue. Just as people have a choice to go to or not go to an establishment that has smoking!
What did the person gain by calling the ' hotline ' if they wanted to take a smoke free constitution and in that bar, looks like they had to do it else where anyways. So everybody lost that night because some low self esteemed person with an inferioty complex wanted to boost their standing in society ( in their mind ) Or they just had a vendetta against the owner or employee. So whether you point the finger at the caller or the smoker it is still a sad pitifull situation. Even sadder is the fact that this country is not a republic anymore but turning evermore fascist!
Hasn't that been the life of a musician, forever? Playing all the seedy places! Though society is a little more refined these days, a bar is still a bar! No matter how you dress it up!
Seedy is one thing. Gun shooting out in the parking lot is another. We all draw our line somewhere. Also, not all bars are the same around here. We avoided a certain bar around here because of the violence known to happen at that place. They ended up shutting down this winter anyway. It seems that they could not control their patrons.
Some bars are more local and have a nice neighborhood feel to them. Others draw rougher crowds. Age of patrons is also a big factor. We like to scout out venues before we play there to see if we will fit. We have rejected some places for their reputations, so I guess we are not willing to play everyplace. Besides, we are pretty busy just with the places we want to play at for the weekends. But, like I have said, all of us have day jobs that pay alot more than our weekend gigs. So that may put a different spin on where and when we are willing to play. Take care.
I was curious and looked up information on the club and recent activity like the so called shooting (hear say) from another patron talking to our drummer Sunday. Nothing indicated any instances of problems. 2 Mos ago a person was arrested in the parking lot for an assault, and for not having a permit for a firearm in their car. I'd guess that was the real story.
You have to consider what you hear. It's like a neighbor that hears a story then it's exaggerated once the original one gets back.
Either way, we decided to bail on this place and cancel future events. If the incident and shut down was primarily for some gal \"sparking up\" that's the lame part. We thought it was more, but apparently there has been no other problems as suggested by hear sayers.
Scoping out the venue was done, and we always confirm ad's, make sure the marquee is changed, all that stuff 72 hrs before a show. This was just a bad juju as they say.
Seedy or what ever word you want to describe a bar. I stand by my statement ; A bar is a bar, no matter how you dress it up. That includes locations. Shootings, knifings, fights, arguements and everything else that gets associated with bars will happen! Maybe not all will happen but I garrentee own a bar long enough and you will see a few of these things. Yes the age and type of patrons does to some extent determine the frequency of these. But that doesn't change the fact that when you put a lot of people in one place who are consuming alcohol and drugs ( yes some people who sit in a bar and drink are also doing some other kind of drug ) As the saying goes ' Stuff happens '. That is just the nature of bars! All bars where the common person hangs!
What happens outside could happen anywhere! I know around here if a shooting or knifing goes down in the bar, that's it. The bar is closed and another bar can't be opened in that location. So one would be wise to keep a handle on the going ons in his establishment. But outside them doors, it's a free country. Look out for yourself, there are a lot of not so nice people out there!
I used to frequent a local neighboorhood establishment..
One day, the subject of firearms comes up..The owner proudly pulls a sawed off shotgun out, then the other patrons (About 20) begin producing their firearms..
To my SHOCK...I was the only guy in the place NOT packing....LOL...
Found a new bar to hang in after that...LOL..
I used to frequent a local neighboorhood establishment..
One day, the subject of firearms comes up..The owner proudly pulls a sawed off shotgun out, then the other patrons (About 20) begin producing their firearms..
To my SHOCK...I was the only guy in the place NOT packing....LOL...
Found a new bar to hang in after that...LOL..
:shock: :shock: :shock:
I'd have been outta there like a long-tailed cat in a room fulla rockin' chairs.
Comments
I've heard of some beastly women up there, but if there were any cuties, I'd probably want to suggest other ways of keeping warm...
Of course, I mean my favoring fireplaces and hot tubs... :roll:
Record stores were always a great place for bands to post but those places are gone. T shirt companies were also popular areas as were specialty stores like Spencer's.
For years, bands built their followings with massive visibility just like a campaign for office. Fliers on car windshield wipers, posters on nearby facilities. It's also good to ask other businesses nearby if they wouldn't mind posters in the front window, door, or on the bulletin boards.
I had to laugh at a guy who said those things don't work. I still see it all the time. Every voting issue, every Fair, every public event.. sure it does.
Plus you have other methods like email sign up's etc that allow more than just a traditional way of advertising your band or the event.
I was at a gas station a couple weeks ago and noticed a poster for a local group with the scheduled event and time. You do see these things but not near as often as you used too. I think it's more of the group not wanting to work for exposure or not having the time? Followings do suffer from lack of attention when attempting to build one.
Most groups that have some form of mgt will plaster nearby areas with fliers to generate interest.
We have a local music store to put up some posters and a few gas stations. I imagine we need to get more creative and find more places for our posters. You never know who will be reading the flyers and posters.
As far as the weather, Shredd, when it 20-30 degrees below zero, most sane people around here decide to stay at home to keep warm. It is not so much fun starting and driving the cars in cold weather like that. If I wasn't getting paid to play on those nights, I'd be watching a good movie on the couch with the wife.
We play out tonight and tomorrow night and the weather is supposed to be much better. I hope lots of people decide to come out to the clubs and have a good time with us this weekend. We have been playing every weekend, which is great, but next weekend we have off and I am really looking forward to that too. We might actually get a chance to have a band practice and work on some different material that we want to add to our set lists. Best wishes.
last night we were booked at a local club and as we finished setup and soundcheck, the Police dept arrived ( 4 patrolmen) and shut the establishment down for A Smoker that was reported smoking in the restroom.
The person reporting this did not ask the club mgt to address the issue, and instead just called the police. There is a report the abuse ( non smoking poster) sign posted with an 800 number to call that reports to local officials. No warning, no nothing... just a cease and shutdown for the evening was given to mgt.
We had to tear down and the club will be fined $1500 along with a court date and citation. We were given 30 min to have our equipment OUT of the establishment, and the club was cleared out in minutes. What a mess!!
This is crazy!! Smoking Gestapo????
Even if they were gonna nail the smoker - and the mgt for failing to \"enforce\" the n/s rule - fact is, the real losers are the clubbers who wanted a night of fun on the town, and of course the band, who apparently got tossed out on their butts.
Clearly this was a case of using the episode as an \"example\" to other club owners/mgt to get harsh and severe about enforcement, but I still think it was a harsh handling of it.
This is a good example of the gradual erosion of general rights and freedoms. Soon you'll need a passport to buy a beer and we'll have our ID number tattooed on our foreheads. Even now, you practically get strip-searched at sports events, they crawl up your butt with a microscope before they let you on a plane, and you can be pulled over in your car for having unbrushed hair. :roll:
and i thought getting locked up for passing gas\" in 89' was the most rediculas thing that ever happenned to me :x Now I might have to worry about my hair???Cause barretes,pigtails and french braids aren't gonna happen....EVER!! :twisted:
NO JOKE!!! :x
when i turned 21,my friends had a pizza,beer,and super 5 alarm hot wings party
So, g: did the guy who was smoking in the club that got shut down get sent to Croatia and tortured??? :?
We had a local football player a few years ago who was the recipient of a fine samaritan who thought they were qualified to make a judgement call on the car ahead of them and called it in. They must feel proud of themselves!
But this stuff is taught in the schools, turn in other kids kids who inbibe in non legal substances and they go as far as to tell them to turn their parents in if they do it too. It is only going to get worse when a generation raised in this atmosphere is cut loose in a decade. ( I think they say, they are our future? )
\" They call me tater salad \"
Guitar3456, too bad for your band. Did you get paid? I don't think some people realize that there are constant expenses with taking a band on the road. We blew a main speaker last night and that will have to be replaced, but I hope it won't cost too much for a repair. So I hope you got paid for your time and effort. It wasn't your fault the place was closed down. Take care.
The harder problem was we were setting up by 5 pm for a 10 o clock show. Full lights w trusses, pa drivers, sub arrays. Multi mixes for us and a dj that would spin between sets. We had an opener and we headlined at 11:30, but provided all sound and lights.
When the police gave us 30 min to tear down what took 3 hours to set up, It was tough time. We got all the pa gear out but had to go back today for the trusses, stage riser etc. We just didn't have the time and Johnny Law was serious about 30 min even though we said it was nearly impossible. Luckily a lot of our brawny participants helped us at least get things out the back door where we could load up trucks. About 25 guys helping out.
We will never do a show again without some contractual agreement as to closures, cease of operations etc. We've had POWER outages in an area that were late to get restored.. ie thunderstorms but never anything like this.
Mgt had a hard enough with an excessive fine. They did feel bad, but that's all they said. We still have future shows scheduled but WILL contract for sure.
Apparently, this club is a city target. We've never had a problem but turns out there was a shooting there about 3 weeks ago in the parking area , So Law enforcement is watching the place like a hawk. We never know what is happening in most of the venues, but we'll start keeping an eye and ear open for anything like this again in the future.
Might be a good idea to check the online local police blotters for instances that could mean bad juju. I'd rather cancel an event than risk other problems. Given the outlook we may just back out of playing this venue altogether. Better to be safe than sorry.
I can only imagine what it was like 60 - 70 yrs ago playing all the old time juke joints! Even when that movie Roadhouse came out I found it hard to believe that caged stages were still around.
Most bars ie clubs are a day to day week to week operation. Whether it is a percentage deal or not the band can't get paid till the money comes in that night!.
That was my point in starting this thread ' choice ' You as a band have a choice to play or not to play a certain venue. Just as people have a choice to go to or not go to an establishment that has smoking!
What did the person gain by calling the ' hotline ' if they wanted to take a smoke free constitution and in that bar, looks like they had to do it else where anyways. So everybody lost that night because some low self esteemed person with an inferioty complex wanted to boost their standing in society ( in their mind ) Or they just had a vendetta against the owner or employee. So whether you point the finger at the caller or the smoker it is still a sad pitifull situation. Even sadder is the fact that this country is not a republic anymore but turning evermore fascist!
Seedy is one thing. Gun shooting out in the parking lot is another. We all draw our line somewhere. Also, not all bars are the same around here. We avoided a certain bar around here because of the violence known to happen at that place. They ended up shutting down this winter anyway. It seems that they could not control their patrons.
Some bars are more local and have a nice neighborhood feel to them. Others draw rougher crowds. Age of patrons is also a big factor. We like to scout out venues before we play there to see if we will fit. We have rejected some places for their reputations, so I guess we are not willing to play everyplace. Besides, we are pretty busy just with the places we want to play at for the weekends. But, like I have said, all of us have day jobs that pay alot more than our weekend gigs. So that may put a different spin on where and when we are willing to play. Take care.
You have to consider what you hear. It's like a neighbor that hears a story then it's exaggerated once the original one gets back.
Either way, we decided to bail on this place and cancel future events. If the incident and shut down was primarily for some gal \"sparking up\" that's the lame part. We thought it was more, but apparently there has been no other problems as suggested by hear sayers.
Scoping out the venue was done, and we always confirm ad's, make sure the marquee is changed, all that stuff 72 hrs before a show. This was just a bad juju as they say.
What happens outside could happen anywhere! I know around here if a shooting or knifing goes down in the bar, that's it. The bar is closed and another bar can't be opened in that location. So one would be wise to keep a handle on the going ons in his establishment. But outside them doors, it's a free country. Look out for yourself, there are a lot of not so nice people out there!
One day, the subject of firearms comes up..The owner proudly pulls a sawed off shotgun out, then the other patrons (About 20) begin producing their firearms..
To my SHOCK...I was the only guy in the place NOT packing....LOL...
Found a new bar to hang in after that...LOL..
I'd have been outta there like a long-tailed cat in a room fulla rockin' chairs.