Earlier today, my friend Elle posted this rant on her facebook page. I liked it so much, I asked if we could use it as a guest post. She said yes. Why should you read it? Well, Elle works at Reggies in Chicago booking all the bands and entertainment that comes through their two stages. She has had this job longer than many bands (that want to play there) have been together. She has had this job longer than some of these bands have been playing their instruments. She knows what she is doing, and she is fair. So, maybe it’s worth listening to why clubs insist on certain rules? I think so. Thanks for the post Elle!
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A live music venue is a BUSINESS. Reggies counts on the bands that play to bring people. We aren’t like Legends where 150 people come in every night just to hear the Blues. We are a place where people come to watch their fave bands. I CAN NOT book 4 bands that are all out of town or have no draw. I have to ask about draw because it makes sense to mix it up. Maybe put an up and coming band on the bill with some bands that draw so that more people get a chance to see them. Definitely book bands with a draw with an out of towner. NEVER stick an out of towner on first or last when they have no fans. For once in your life musicians, think about how that would make you feel. You’ve all been stuck with lousy slots when playing out of town. Don’t try to make me do that to the out of town band.
When it comes to payout at Reggies Music Joint. We’re more than fair. We give 100% of the door to the bands, plus free drinks plus half off food for locals and free food for out of towners. Most venues take the first couple hundred out for production fees (which is understandable in a larger venue). We don’t. If people don’t come to see you, you’re not gonna get money. If we like you and you’re not local, the owner will often throw them some gas money out of pocket because he’s a great guy. It’s all a numbers game. We make our money off the bar. You make your money off the door. If it’s a free show, we give you a cut of the bar. Quit asking for a cut of the bar on top of the door. If we only make 2k at the bar and our basic overhead for the night is $800, that really isn’t much to keep an entire business like Reggies open! You would not believe what monthly operating costs are to keep a giant business open. You bitch about your $100+ utility bills. Imagine being responsible for 100 employees livelihood and an entire building/utilities and bands.
Now, some of you people are professional musicians and want to get paid to play 7 nights a week. If you’ve got a draw, that’s great. I CAN NOT pay you to come play Reggies for 4 hours for $1000 if no one is gonna come to see you to play to the 30 people that are already sitting there. They’ll be there no matter what. They’re our regulars. We want you to bring NEW blood to the bar. Help us build new regulars and a great new relationship with us.
Another thing that sucks is when we’ll have a big headliner that wants $2000. We believe in them and book them with local support to help promote. We don’t make enough money at the door to pay the headliner and we end up giving support like $ for playing. It isn’t a lot, but, it’s a support slot on a national show-which we lost money on. What do you expect? Sometimes you take the bad for a chance to play with a really cool band. A lot of times, the headliner is the one who decides how much we can give support. They may say we can only budget $200 in for support and then the money after that goes to them. Did you know that? We NEVER keep any money from the door. EVER. It all goes to the bands. So if you feel shorted, I’m sorry. It’s because we had to pay the headliner and we do our best to make sure you got something too.
How is it possible for a local band with 5 members to not bring ANYONE? Did you promote? I find it hard to believe that not one friend or family member or fan would make the trek out to see you. It isn’t like were in the middle of no where. We’re right off the red line. This happens every, single, night. So it can’t always be blamed on the weather. It is your responsibility to reach out to the people you know and your fans to promote each and every show. Reggies shells out thousands and thousands of dollars for the promo we do in the Reader and Illinois Entertainer and things like that. We need you to do your end too. Doing a status update about the show the day of, is hardly fucking promoting.
What else can I bitch about or talk about?
If there is something happening at a club that you don’t seem to understand, feel free to ask the club why things are going down like that. Once you understand the reason behind it, maybe you’ll be more understanding. Or maybe the club sucks and doesn’t treat bands fairly. I can’t speak for all clubs. Only myself.
You guys have no idea the shit I have to go thru on a daily basis to make sure these shows are put together. I do my best and I have always fought to keep things fair for the bands. At Big Horse, where bands were not respected in the least and where I did NOT get paid at all for booking, (I was allowed to bartend and keep my tips, not even getting an hourly wage!) I would often give the touring bands some of my tips so that they wouldn’t leave empty handed.
I hope this helps you understand that we’re not trying to be cheap bastards. We’re not trying to cheat you. We’re just trying to stay afloat and not lose money.
Don’t go bitching about how I wrote such a long rant. You’re the one who chose to read it. I’ll continue to do my best. To try to put together cohesive line ups. To make sure people are treated fairly. I admit, I’m not perfect. Sometimes there are miscommunications and bands cancel at the last minute or maybe I forgot that you told me that you can only play after 11 pm. I’m only human and humans fuck up.
You – please do your best to promote, make sure people come to the show and show up in a timely manner for sound check/load in.
That’s all.
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