Playing Benefit concerts
Hey guys, my band is still alive and kicking and almost to the three year mark! We have gone through a number of line up changes, but I'm still here. Our music is getting better and better and we are slowly starting to make a name for ourselves as a solid rock cover band. We played to a full house a couple of weeks ago, and that felt good.
Anyway, my band was just tentatively asked to play for a benefit concert this coming summer. Last year they had about 9 bands. This year they are shooting for about 6. So we would be up on stage for 2 sets, maybe 3 at the most. That is, if it all comes together. The benefit concert weekend is for the kids at Camp Courage and is an annual event sponsered by the larger area bikers' association. It's an out of town gig for us, but last year they had almost 3000 people at the event. We have never played to more than a couple of hundred people, so that would be big time for us. I hope it comes together for us because I have been looking for a benefit gig to do that would both get exposure for the band and raise money for a worthwhile charity. It could be a win-win for everybody. All the guys in the band gave it an OK, so now it's just a matter of working out the details if we do get selected.
Whether or not we get to play at the benefit, it was still great to be asked. At least the guys and I felt great about being considered good enough to perform at the big annual event. Yes, it's a charity concert and we won't get paid much more than travel expenses, but none of us get rich off of gigging anyway and it would be great to do something that raises money for the kids who need help. So I hope it works out and we get booked, but just the fact that we got asked by one of their \"talent scouts\" made our day. Take care.
Anyway, my band was just tentatively asked to play for a benefit concert this coming summer. Last year they had about 9 bands. This year they are shooting for about 6. So we would be up on stage for 2 sets, maybe 3 at the most. That is, if it all comes together. The benefit concert weekend is for the kids at Camp Courage and is an annual event sponsered by the larger area bikers' association. It's an out of town gig for us, but last year they had almost 3000 people at the event. We have never played to more than a couple of hundred people, so that would be big time for us. I hope it comes together for us because I have been looking for a benefit gig to do that would both get exposure for the band and raise money for a worthwhile charity. It could be a win-win for everybody. All the guys in the band gave it an OK, so now it's just a matter of working out the details if we do get selected.
Whether or not we get to play at the benefit, it was still great to be asked. At least the guys and I felt great about being considered good enough to perform at the big annual event. Yes, it's a charity concert and we won't get paid much more than travel expenses, but none of us get rich off of gigging anyway and it would be great to do something that raises money for the kids who need help. So I hope it works out and we get booked, but just the fact that we got asked by one of their \"talent scouts\" made our day. Take care.
Comments
First an foremost it is for the cause! But with that aside, try to get the most out of the exposer... You know who the other acts are? Know what their set list are, try to adjust yours to stand out a bit... But then perhaps the promoter is doing that, an why your in the running for a spot.
Will it be a just bring your instrument and play or will each act have to set up an tear down?
Hope you get selected.. If it is coordinated properly should be a blast for all!
Go Rock the House 8)
If it's something you believe in then go for it.
They will have the PA system and drum kit for all bands to use, so we just bring our guitars, pedals, and stage amps. The idea, as I know it so far, is to have about 3 bands per night and they want to make the transition between each band as easy as possible.
Yeah, I'm hoping we get selected. At this point, it was just great to be asked. Now it's up to the coordinators to determine if our music will fit in with the other bands. I'm really thankful I am playing with a bunch of guys who are willing to do a benefit gig for little or no money. So, whether or not we get selected, I'm really proud of my bandmates right now, not only for working hard and improving our music to the point where we are getting noticed locally, but also just for being some great guys to be associated with. If we don't get selected for whatever reason, I'll be disappointed, but not in my bandmates. Take care.
We will be lucky to get our gas and food expenses paid, but the guys are OK with that. We don't have to bring our full PA or drums, just guitars and stage amps. And it's only about 50 miles down the road for us.
Honestly, I don't know much about Camp Courage other than what I have read on the Internet. But helping kids get over the death of a loved one during a week long summer camp sounds like a good cause to me. If we can help raise money for next year's camp, then I'd feel good about that. I know that the impression of many people is that bikers are a tough bunch, and that may be true, but many of them also have big hearts. I guess they have been running this charity event for over 13 years now and each year it just gets bigger and better and more money is raised to help the kids.
Although paying gigs keeps the band in business, literally, we also know that sometimes you get paid in other ways in life. That's why I love it that we have so many guys on this forum that play in church. I'm sure that most of them don't get much money for their efforts, but it's all good anyway. I've only been in one big church that actually paid musicians anything. And there only the band director, and the lead singing positions in the choir got paid. The band director was outstanding and the lead singers were professional singers. Just standing next to them in the choir made me sound better - even if I wasn't singing at the time! But, yeah, if we get selected for the gig, it might end up costing us money out of pocket for this one event.
Last one was a cancer patient benefit we did that included many local sports heroes from the Cleveland Browns, Indians, and Cavaliers. We have 2 scheduled this summer we'll be hosting fund raisers for Parma Comm Gen Hospital's Cardiac care center.
I'd recommend you do it. Most of the people in attendance may not ever see one of your gigs (crowds are very diverse), or you may not get the exposure as suggested, but the causes are usually bigger than that. Most are just asking you to volunteer your time and talents. In a way, you should be proud they ask you, since they usually seek the best volunteer talent they can find for the events.
Yes, I'm proud that we did get asked and I am feeling real good about my bandmates all agreeing to do the gig for the benefit. Even if we don't get final selected, for whatever reason, I'm still proud to be associated with this group of guys.
Thanks for the positive comments. I think it would be great for the band to play to such a huge crowd, even if half of them could care less about the band. It's not like we don't play the bar scene where half of the patrons are playing pool or watching a hockey game on the big screen.
It would also be nice to actually play a benefit concert and to be working for something bigger than ourselves. Like I have said many times, none of us is getting rich on playing the weekend bar gigs, so donating our time and talents to a good cause would be OK with us.
Anyway, his band has had major problems with half the band quitting in the past few months and looking for replacements. Their dummer was in trouble with the law for a short period and they canceled a number of gigs. They should have replaced him back then. As it was, they waited for him to clear up his legal issues, and when he came back, he ended up quitting after a few weeks. They have had a couple bass players quit on them. At one point, I was even approached to play bass for them, but I turned them down. I'm in with a good bunch of guys right now, and although we don't gig but maybe once or twice a month, it's enough for me. I really did not want to get involved with that other band. Too many issues for me to deal with.
Well, we didn't get picked up for the benefit gig, but it's not all bad, though. We got booked for the same weekend so we will be making money at a local venue instead of losing money at the benefit. It sure would have been fun to play in front of a larger crowd for the exposure, but I guess I'm OK with playing to a smaller crowd but actually getting paid.
That's what I was hoping for. Won't happen now. Oh well, at least we picked up a paying two night gig for that weekend.
Just an example of the networking aspect: at the aforementioned Strawberry Festival, we brought two bands who played a show with us the night before. One is my bassist's high school buddy from New York, who just released a CD and is touring the northeast US. The other is a locally-based cover/original hybrid, similar to us in concept but different in style, whom we originally met through craigslist.
The arrangement was: band 1 gets 50% of door the night before, and band 3 gets 5% bar and 25% of total pay. Nobody gets paid for the fest. Everybody was happy the first night. At the festival, band 1 sold close to 50 CDs after their performance. Band 3 left having booked several paid gigs. We (band 2) took away several useful contacts, and the transportation reimbursement, which was not bad considering the original budgeting arrangement assumed three groups being reimbursed. Overall, everyone was happy.
So it's not always so bad playing unpaid non-profit and charity events; many times the perks are worth it.
Charity events however do not always have the entire event held for free. Catering services, beverage svc, bar tenders, the site (venue) for the event all get paid and some have been known to overcharge just because its a special occasion, or maybe a raffle is held there. In many cases, even entertainment/entertainers get paid. The net after the expenses are then what the charity had earned.
Another band I was in played a charity event. I understood it to be that way but the mgt company was paid $2500 for the band and promotions (3 fliers). You better believe we hounded that guy, but in the end we just ended our terms with him.
Our most recent event we played for basically a meal and a drink. That's what they offered us. The DJ service that played before we did, and in between one set was paid $650. We thought they were doing the handshake promotional thing too, but talking to the DJ, he said no way dude. The other solo acoustic performer was also paid $200 for 1/2 hr.
Just keep in mind, charity events are not free to host. If you offer your services, then do so and expect nothing in return. If you are all business, maybe offer a cut rate or similar discount. There is nothing wrong with either way in my opinion. Caterers, bakers, bar tenders, security, Tent rentals, table rentals, chairs.... none of that is free and the hosting venue almost always get paid their normal rates for services per person at each planned event.
I bet lots of people make money on those \"charity\" events. Why should the band(s) not get paid like everyone else?
Your story about the DJ sounds about right. I know a guy who does DJ work at weddings. Maybe 3 hours of music plus setup/takedown. Anyway, he gets $800 for the night, which is twice the going rate for a live band at the local venues. And he is booked every weekend all summer long. He's got a few lights and a small PA, but nowhere near the investment in gear that most live bands carry. Not to belittle DJ's, but basically he queues up mp3's on his laptop, hits play, and calls it a night. Ocassionally someone might request a song and he will add it to his play list.
But I guess if you want music from the Chicken Dance, to the Beer Barrel Polka, and then Lady Gaga, maybe a DJ is what you need.
But now that I think about it, I've never heard of a DJ playing a benefit gig for free, either.
Dj's came in to play at $150 when bands in the 80's got $1000 just for headlining. Dj pretty much put a fork in live bands for the most part. What brought live music back to an extent was a significant drop in rates, and a significant demographic tired of hip hop and euro at every venue on a Fri or Sat night. Country bands actually started the re birth of live music in our area. That led to tribute bands, and then a good amount of cover groups.
There were really good bands playing for $300 in the 90's. Flash forward to today and it's up somewhat but gone are the days of big bucks at avg bars.
I am not a smoking advocate but since the bans placed in the last few years, a significant drop off took place. I'd guess 45-50% in some venues.
Around here a vast majority of patrons wanting live music are into classic rock. Rarely are there the youth that were prominent in driving success of what the 80's covers were doing. The youth still frequent the venues with dj and hip hop/pop/euro.
There's just not as many clubs for that scene so they always have a decent following. Here I'd say the age group for live band patrons are probably late 20's all the way to 50 years of age. According to a couple club owners I know they PREFER it that way. Less fights, less \"I'll have a water or soda\" type patronage. IOW, Young people here don't spend any money! The upper 20's and 50's spend well and buy food and are the best with gratuities.
The success of the 80's clubs and their ability to pay bands the bigger bucks, I remember them charging $3 for a soda and up to $8 for a mixed drink, $1 for a small bag of pretzels/chips. Nothing was free plus they charged 3-5 bucks at the door. Then you have to remember that none of those awesome venues of old were sports bars and if you wanted a burger, you had to find a restaurant. Beer, drinks, chips/pretzels. That was it, but those places were always a full house.
If there was a pair of openers and a headlining band, they charged on avg $8 at the door. So you figure a venue that holds 500-600 packed house charging $8, you can easily pay bands $1000 or more. On many events, my old band negotiated for the door only and had our own people collect entrance covers. We made some good money on those events.
Most of our gigs lately are sports bars. That place is not really designed to promote the \"big floor\" and stage like many of us remember. You have to often make due with little stage space and are lucky to get 20 people fitting on most dance floors. The rest is booths and a lot of TV's. Even behind the band... I have to always tell them to shut the tv's off. I know what you are saying and have experienced much of the same.
Today is just very different. New ordinances, really stupid policies at state and local levels just don't create a desire for most clubs to participate or expand their business.
To give you an idea of how DUMB?? We just passed legislation to be able to get a casino (every state around us has at least 6 and have had them for 15 years or more). Zoning is really questionable but they also added \"no comped rooms or beverages\" in the ordinance. That's going to go over well!!!!
I don't have anything against DJ's except that they seem to kill the live music scene. They can load up thousands of songs on a small hard drive and fill most any request with the original artists. When I was younger, I DJ'd at our school dances. That was back in the day spinning 45's.... Anyway, I seriously don't consider spinning discs, or playing mp3 files, as anything close to actually playing an instrument and singing. Sometimes I think our local DJ's consider themselves as musicians on par with \"real\" musicians who put time in the woodshed and work on singing and performing in front of people.
However, one DJ I know actually knows how to play guitar and sing in a band, but he just makes alot more money DJ'ing weddings than he can make playing in a band. He would much prefer to be in a band and having fun with the guys, but the money, around here, is not in live music.
Well, at least the big music events around here are still hosted by live bands. Even though we did not get picked up for the benefit concert, I'm glad to see that live bands are still headlining these type of events. Maybe I'm just at an age where I have no desire to go to a DJ hosted event. I can stay at home and play my own music if that is what I want. But I do enjoy watching a live band to see how well they can perform and what kind of spin they might put on an old favorite.
The majority of patrons I've asked about their reason to promote live music has been this..... they miss the \"concert experience\" and live bands let them sort of relive those moments again. Others had said \"they've taken so much away from us already... our live music scene was one of the best\" and they won't sit back and watch it get taken away.
Times changed drastically. Bowling alleys were a main stay, people got out more and went to putt putts, movies, drive in's, and other forms of entertainment including live shows. Technology changed most of that.
Most places we played were standing room only with lines of people wanting to get in. Similar clubs today have had many restrictions placed on them so they turned into sports bars. That does not do much for the live music scene because up until 10 pm they serve food and, most of these clubs have children there too. It just doesn't feel like a live music club as much as it does an Applebees.
We had a club like this and were setting up. It was around 8:00pm and the clutch thing on the hi hat jammed our drummer's finger and he shouted out \"dammmmm it\"..... well, some did not appreciate that profanity (although half the conversations there were worse language)... anyway, we were told mind our p's and q's by mgt... So in a big way I understand what most patrons say about \"It just don't feel like a venue I want to be at for live music\"......
See again, these places used to make most of their bread and butter as a live music venue, thus followed by restrictions, ordinances and other things that killed revenue, they had to change over to sports bar type restaurants. That atmosphere is completely different and in many cases does not appeal to the scene or patronage.
If I were younger, I'd go to the places with the DJ too since the atmosphere is \"party\" and not \"do you want fries with that\" !! Just look at the differences in the venues most of us play, then look at venues that promote just the club scene. Most of the restaurant bars are all booths and tables when the dance clubs are wide open space, large floors, and lesser of the restaurant vibe.... if that means a DJ is there, that's where they go. When the live music scene here was full on, we had no booths, very little if any food served, and huge floors, big stages and other things that just \"felt like a concert venue\" instead of Applebees.