Organising a gig? Avoid this band!

[Rosco]

Having to guarantee £120 is surely the worst pay-to-play deal about in Glasgow?

[¡Punk!]

The pay to play shit really pissed me off coming up from Greenock. They were expecting us to find about 40 people willing to splash out a tenner all in to come up and, in some cases, miss us performing, and in all cases, missing the last band to catch a train home on a week night. Towards the end we found it near impossible to get any gigs that weren't pay-to-play and our guitarist jacked it in because of it.

[AWESOMEUS MAXIMUS]

Originally Posted by Ghostsuit

all black people steal cars

.

Originally Posted by Ghostsuit

all black people steal cars

Originally Posted by Ghostsuit

all black people steal cars

Originally Posted by Ghostsuit

all black people steal cars

Originally Posted by Ghostsuit

all black people steal cars

Originally Posted by Ghostsuit

all black people steal cars

Originally Posted by Ghostsuit

all black people steal cars

Originally Posted by Ghostsuit

all black people steal cars

Originally Posted by Ghostsuit

all black people steal cars

Originally Posted by Ghostsuit

all black people steal cars

Originally Posted by Ghostsuit

all black people steal cars

Originally Posted by Ghostsuit

all black people steal cars

Originally Posted by Ghostsuit

all black people steal cars

[¡Punk!]

people stealing black cars

[MarkMono]

Originally Posted by ¡Punk!

The pay to play shit really pissed me off coming up from Greenock. They were expecting us to find about 40 people willing to splash out a tenner all in to come up and, in some cases, miss us performing, and in all cases, missing the last band to catch a train home on a week night. Towards the end we found it near impossible to get any gigs that weren't pay-to-play and our guitarist jacked it in because of it.

There are plenty of other promoters/options within Glasgow, and a few I still mean to try.

A lot of them are cliquey bastards who have very stringent rules concerning how the show is run, but surely there must be a healthy balance between money-grubbing middlemen and vegans insisting that any money made from the show should be tied to a photo of Iain Mackay and burned.

The search continues...

[¡Punk!]

I'm sure if I started a band now I wouldn't be as naive as I was then. Our motto then was to play any gig we had the chance to play and it ended up costing us too much.

[DoNotResus]

If I was in a band now I think I'd only do shows in Glasgow that I played a part in organising, I don't like not being in control. Kelvin must of made a good couple hundred off DNR back in 2002, wonder if he declared it in his tax returns.

[Rosco]

Join the club man.

[MarkMono]

Kelvin has made thousands of pounds from me in various bands over the years.

Hope the poor boys eating well.

[Fallenblackrose]

Originally Posted by DoNotResus

DNR back in 2002

God that was ages ago, i remember seeing yous play....somewhere

[Rosco]

Originally Posted by MarkMono

Kelvin has made thousands of pounds from me in various bands over the years.

Hope the poor boys eating well.

Funny thing is that when you seen him in town it's always

"Hi Kelvin, how are you?"

"Not so good man, i've had xyz cut off...."

Despite the fact he's probably rolling in it and out getting rattled every night.

[Ghostsuit]

Am I the only one that seems to be reading that myspace and noticing 3 options

1 - Free to play in a small venue - You get 50% of profits
1 - Where you have to sell 15 tickets - You get 50% post expenses of all ticket sales
1 - Where you need to sell 24 tickets - You keep anything above the 24.

So wheres the problem? If you can't get 15 people to come to a gig don't book the bigger option with the promoter. If you can get 100 people book the largest venue.

Seems to me like he's offer options if the band want the big stage and big venue thats there fault not the promoters.

Originally Posted by MarkMono

A lot of them are cliquey bastards who have very stringent rules concerning how the show is run, but surely there must be a healthy balance between money-grubbing middlemen and vegans insisting that any money made from the show should be tied to a photo of Iain Mackay and burned.

The search continues...

I'd be interested to hear what is considered the middle ground. After all it's something AN could support in some fashion, either running some more events or working with someone giving them some back up.

[¡Punk!]

Free for all bands. Promoter takes enough to cover the costs. The rest split between promoter/bands

[MarkMono]

I always find it interesting how often the 'If you can't bring 20 people, you shouldn't be playing' argument comes up as a justification for making performers promote shows they're playing.

It seems to me like there is a massive logical gap there. Just because they can perform as salesmen, it doesn't automatically follow that it should be the responsiblity of the performers. Thats like saying that if they can clean the venue toilets, then they should be. The idea that capability and responsiblity should just automatically equate to each other just makes the whole argument sound like a scam.

Ideally, the performers should only have to work on promoting shows they're actually promoting themselves, as it removes the need for a promoter.

As I said previously, you actually have to have an active interest in promoting gigs. Promoting isn't some vague shadowy part of the proceedings, its a job. Promoters making more than any performer on the night strikes me as utterly unethical, especially as so many do literally nothing bar phoning the venue to book it. Yet this seems to be the norm. As is the performers making less than the barstaff on the evening.

A little fairness could concievably go a long way.

[Largest of Gregs]

Kelvin could hardly call himself a promoter. Granted he put on the gigs, but I never saw a single flyer/poster/ad ANYWHERE, apart from the venue itself