Tag Archives: Foot Traffic

More Power Than You Think

In the world of media, the outlet has the power. Musicians are increasingly able to be their own outlet, which means that the musicians have more and more power.

Please Remember:

The opinions expressed are mine only. These opinions do not necessarily reflect anybody else’s opinions. I do not own, operate, manage, or represent any band, venue, or company that I talk about, unless explicitly noted.

A very good-sized crowd enjoying the music of Mokie – a band they came to the bar specifically to hear.

I haven’t run a venue in years. I don’t do the booking at the one I work for now. I’ll tell you this, though – back when I did run a venue, the people with the real power were the people who brought people.

Those people who brought people were the bands.

See, I used to think that the whole problem of “the venue doesn’t have a built-in crowd” was an issue that only affected all-ages rooms. You can’t serve liquor or beer, and so a major segment of the show-going crowd just isn’t interested. If your venue isn’t also a restaurant or coffee shop, you’ve filtered out a whole other demographic (the people who would just stop by to get something tasty). I figured that these issues went entirely by the wayside for bars and clubs.

And then, I started working in and for establishments that served food and alcohol.

Turns out, I was thinking about the issue in the wrong way.

“The Room” Doesn’t Draw Anymore – And Actually, It Never Did

So, I have this theory. (As usual. Seriously, ask my friends about me having theories. Ask my employers about me having theories.)

My theory is that the whole phenomenon of “Back in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, these places were packed!” was not actually driven by bars being better, or having more extensive promotion than they do today. I think that, actually, the whole thing was driven by these two factors – factors that made the bars and clubs into media outlets:

  • If you wanted to do something, you had to physically go do something.
  • Entertainment options were more limited, and often required that you physically travel to an actual place.

I also have some notions about how an effectively stagnant, or even receding economy for the middle class is involved, but that’s for another day.

The bottom line is that, “back when the clubs were big, men were real mean, women were real women, and Fender amps were better,” you had to go to a social and entertainment hub to, you know, socialize. Or be entertained. You didn’t just hook up a data-pipe with decent bandwidth to your house or apartment, and stream whatever you wanted whenever you wanted it. You didn’t just get on Xbox Live (or whatever) and get in a game with all your buddies, chatting in your headsets for hours on end. Your media streaming service didn’t recommend new things to you. You didn’t have a million-billion tiny little media outlets all striving for a tiny bit of attention.

You had to either deal with your limited choices, or get wider choices by going places.

If you wanted to hear the latest, new act playing Blues, you had to go to a Blues club.

The band couldn’t record a video of their new songs with their smartphones, and then share it on Youtube. They weren’t the media outlet. The club was. You had to go where the band was playing. This holds for all genres – and here’s the thing:

I’d be willing to bet that people didn’t go to a music club because of the club – they went because they knew they could hear great acts there, consistently. Sure, if the club had been a terrible place to be, fewer people would have gone. However, if the club had stopped having music, people would have found some other place to be. The club wouldn’t have been a media outlet anymore.

The club wasn’t the draw – what was in the club was the draw. The club was just an outlet for it.

I know this sounds like it’s just a play on semantics. Of course, the entertainment that the club brought in was part of the club’s allure – but notice that it was something that the club brought in. It was an external factor that was added to the room, that people couldn’t easily get in other places at the time.

The Real Outlet Has The Real Power

Okay, so – how is this encouraging for bands and solo artists?

The encouraging thing is that you (yes, you, sitting over there) are on a much more even footing with the bars, clubs, and theaters than you ever have been before. You’ve gained this power because YOU are a media outlet now.

For yourself.

It’s true that the Internet has “fractured” and factionalized media consumers like never before, but this also means that you’ve got a chance at finding the faction that loves YOU. Because you find them, that means that you capture their attention. You build the relationships with them, and you directly supply them with cool things to see and hear. You are the outlet. The advantages that artists in previous decades had to work for years to afford? You have them now, for almost nothing.

“Back in the day,” it was a huge coup for a band or artist to be big enough to start their own media company. When they had their own media company, they could be their own outlet, and that meant that they had much more power. They had leverage with their label. They might have even been able to tell their label “no thanks, we’ll take it from here.” They had leverage with their publishing company (or just became their own publishing company). They shared far less of their revenue with other people.

It took a lot of work to get to this point. It took a lot of commercial success, because of the costs involved. Everything was either physical, or broadcast. That means $$$. Now, the Internet is huge, it has global reach, and the costs are miniscule. (Not quite free, but still.)

Because you’re your own outlet, you are now the “thing that draws.” Sure, bars and clubs haven’t completely lost their media outlet status. Some folks still do visit certain rooms to check out what’s playing there, because that’s the specific kind of recreation that those folks like. The thing is, though, that other people can now laser-focus their show attendance to their specific tastes – and because they can, they do. I’m convinced that music-centric venues see less foot traffic these days due to people wanting to spend their time and money on exactly what they want (as opposed to something that’s just similar to what they want).

This may seem frightening, but it shouldn’t be. Because you’re your own outlet, you can now, by yourself, appeal directly to that pinpoint interest.

Pretty cool, huh?

Bar, club, and theater booking managers are still gatekeepers. However, they aren’t the gatekeepers to media outlets in the ways that they used to be. Rather, they control the access to a certain platform (the live-music venue) that your outlet can use for a very exciting thing. A thing called the live show. A special, ephemeral creature that simply can’t be replicated by any playback device in existence.

You are the draw, and the club is a location where you can effectively communicate with that draw in a unique way. This creates an interdependent ecosystem where venues and artists can become mutually beneficial partners. It’s a much more balanced situation.

There’s a ton more that I could write about this, but I’ll save it for another time. For now, just be aware – and be encouraged:

You have a lot more power than you may think.


Act Like A Rockstar, The Right Way

You should definitely act like an A-list rockstar when it comes to prep, planning, and execution of your shows.

Please Remember:

The opinions expressed are mine only. These opinions do not necessarily reflect anybody else’s opinions. I do not own, operate, manage, or represent any band, venue, or company that I talk about, unless explicitly noted.

That picture up there is Jason Giron’s “Extra Extra Large” drumkit. He, along with the rest of The Floyd Show, are a great example of “acting like rockstars the right way.”

We’ve all heard it, right?

“Act like a rockstar before you’re a rockstar.”

In the past, I’ve hated that advice. When people actually take it, it seems to produce musicians who act like they own everything they look at, abuse stages, act as though their every whim is paramount, play way too !@#$ing loud, get annoyed if it takes a tech more than 2.5 milliseconds to interpret an ambiguous request from the stage – well, you get the picture.

The “rockstar attitude,” as we’re used to it in popular culture, is bad at every level. If you actually are an A-lister, it means you’re a jerk. If you’re still playing small venues, it also means you’re a jerk, AND it makes people want to take you down a peg.

Although…I will totally make exceptions in certain cases of “being a rockstar.” There was this one time where a band rolled up to Fats in a van. The space that would normally have been occupied by gear was being filled by attractive women in their early twenties. Seriously, I think two guitars and a combo amp comprised the entirety of the cargo. The drums showed up a couple of minutes later, stuffed into a hatchback. It makes me smile and chuckle just thinking about it. The band was pretty easy to work with, too, so I’m willing to label the whole thing as “Dude, that was pretty rad.”

Where was I?

See, this whole time, we’ve believed a lie. The lie is that, if you project the attitude and the swagger, you ARE the attitude, the swagger, and everything associated with it. (That is, “successful, loved, and able to get a monitor mix that peels paint.”)

That’s a load of crap, of course.

But that’s not the end of the story. See, I think that “act like a rockstar” can be redeemed as an idea.

What Acting Like A Rockstar Actually Means

The thing is, honest-to-goodness rockstars prepare, plan, and execute their shows very seriously. A ton of work goes into absolutely every aspect of the experience. Gear packing is specified down to the mic-clip. The experience that the music is going to bring to the audience is rehearsed for weeks – maybe even months. When hiring in a local audio contractor, the required gear is specified exactly. Venues are carefully researched for suitability – as is the local market for the show. To the appropriate degrees, the crew and band know exactly where everything needs to go, and how it comes together. Gig compensation is hammered out in advance, and is as unambiguous as possible.

That is what acting like a rockstar really means. The show is serious business, and it’s treated that way.

Seriously, do you think U2 and their associated organization remembers that they have a show at Rice-Eccles with, say, two days to go, and then just shows up a day before with a multi-ton set? Of course you don’t think that, but that’s how some bands treat their gigs, proportionally.

There’s good news, though – with just a bit of effort, you can plan and execute like a rockstar. (Well, like a rockstar and their associated organization, to be fair.)

The “Act Like A Rockstar” To-Do List

1) When booking, take the time to actually vet the venue thoroughly.

  • What’s the pay scale?
  • If your band doesn’t have a strong following, what’s the situation with regulars and walk-up traffic?
  • How early can load-in be?
  • Is there a PA?
  • A lighting rig?
  • An onsite tech?
  • What’s the SPL (Sound Pressure Level, i.e. Volume) “speed limit?”
  • How much power is actually available for backline and other carried production?
  • Who do you e-mail with info, questions, and concerns?

2) Take the time to actually tell the venue who you are and what gear you would like to have for the show. This is especially helpful if there is a tech onsite. Even a very basic input and monitor mix list can be a huge help. Seriously, I can’t count how many times I’ve had to Google bands and hope their Reverbnation pages are accurate descriptions of what’s going to show up at the venue.

Yes, techs should do their homework, but we shouldn’t do it alone. We especially shouldn’t do it alone if your online presence states that you’re a guitar, bass, and drumkit trio…but what you’re actually planning on doing is bringing all your friends for a superjam featuring four electric guitars, two acoustic guitars, a banjo, a mandolin, temple bells, five singers, one singing drummer that “only sings on one song,” a bass guitar AND a standup bass (no pickup on the standup bass), a musical llama that sings via severe flatulence, oh, and this one guy who will DJ on breaks – you have RCA to 1/4″ adapters, right?

C’mon, guys. We can totally pull this off, but you have to tell me in advance.

Anyway.

3) If the gig has multiple acts, figure out exactly who is going to play, and in what order. It’s perfectly okay if the order will be dynamic, based on the crowd, but please tell the venue in advance. Also, have a clear start time – it’s also okay if that’s dynamic, but it really helps if the venue knows that’s the plan.

4) Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Also, practice what you’ll do in the event that something goes wrong. Have a backup plan. Know your material so well that you can do it in the dark, with no PA. I mean it.

Robert Plant was doing a show a while back where the FOH console committed partial suicide. His incredible preparation, poise, and comfort with the gig meant that he basically shrugged it off and kept the crowd entertained. His crew was also prepared to go into damage-control mode while things got sorted out.

5) Have all your equipment and merch organized so that leaving something behind is virtually impossible. Know your setup and teardown such that you can do it by rote, in a hurry, without thinking. Know exactly what the setup priorities are, and have a good idea of what can be cut if you run out of space or are pressed for time.

6) Be where you said you’ll be, when you said you’ll be there.

7) Remember that real, top-of-the line rockstars are polite, aware of their own mortality, concerned for the people and gear around them, and look out for their fans.

8) Overall, remember that the point of good planning and extensive rehearsal is to remove the emotional component from the business and technical aspects of the show, so that you can pour all of that feeling into actually connecting with your audience. Emotional energy that you’re spending on being flustered by a piece of gear, or a venue problem, is completely wasted.

Act like a rockstar.

Ask Before You Book

If you wait until the night of the show to find out if the venue gets busy, you’ve waited too long.

Please Remember:

The opinions expressed are mine only. These opinions do not necessarily reflect anybody else’s opinions. I do not own, operate, manage, or represent any band, venue, or company that I talk about, unless explicitly noted.

I love musicians, so it kills me when people treat them poorly.

It also kills me when they treat themselves poorly, or trip themselves up. Being a musician is incredibly tough (I know – I tried to be one for a while), and the last thing you need is to be putting obstacles in your own way.

A huge obstacle that I see musicians throwing in their own paths is executing their booking and gigging process haphazardly, or lazily.

A major example of this can be found in a question that I’ve fielded all too often at Fats (and other places). It’s almost always posed during load-in, or directly afterwards.

Musician: “So, does this place get really hoppin’ on weekends?”

Me: “Well, it really depends on who’s interested in checking out the band that night.”

Musician: “Oh…”

Immediately, the gig doesn’t feel as good as it did just a few minutes before.

Now, I know bands and solo artists already feel like they’ve got a mountain of work to do. Songs have to be written, instruments have to be practiced, gear has to be carted around…I hear ya. Here’s the thing, though. If you don’t have a manager to wrangle booking for you, you will have a much happier time if you work like a really killer manager as you do your booking. This doesn’t mean just throwing more effort in random directions. It means focused effort in the right places.

If a band needs foot-traffic/ walk-ups/ regulars to have a good night at a venue, then a really killer manager focuses their effort on sussing out that part of the venue’s potential before the gig gets booked. If the venue isn’t what the band needs, then it’s “no deal.”

Sadly, what seems to happen is that bands and artists negotiate only the “first layer” of gigs, and don’t dig down any deeper before committing. Once you’ve figured out if there’s a stage and a PA, and what the basic payment terms are, then you need to give yourself permission to ask for even more info. If your act isn’t built around bringing a following to the room, then it’s critical that you figure out who (if anyone) is likely to stop by the venue on your gig date. If the answer you get isn’t satisfactory, then there’s no need to pursue that booking any farther.

This kind of negotiation and homework is especially critical at venues where pay is tied to door money or liquor sales. If you don’t have a committed crowd that follows your act, then the venue must have a committed crowd that follows them. Otherwise, it just won’t be worth it for you, and you’ll leave the gig having worked for peanuts. Some bands can do very, very well on “percentage” gigs, and for some it’s a horrifically bad deal. Know thyself, and then figure out if the venue is a good fit.

Please – do take the time to ask the tough questions about a gig. The questions that tell you more than just the basics. You might not set up as many shows, but the dates you do put together will be much more fun, and much better for your career.