How often do you play shows?

Pfl?yd · Post by **Pfl?yd** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 6:31 pm

What do you think is a good, sane gigging schedule? I remember when I lived in PA I had maybe a show every couple of months and I would get excited about it because it was something of a treat.

Now I play about eight times a month alternating between acoustic gigs and full-band gigs (with only one band, I still have another project that hasn't hit the stage yet) and sometimes it feels like a job.

So how often do you play a show and what do you do to keep it fresh every night?

Brandon · Post by **Brandon** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 8:15 pm

its been about 10 years for me, except when i did guest vocals on 2 songs for the mentors back in 2002.

my old band broke up because michael(yes the same "professiona" author)
would make excuses like these:

"the show is 45 minutes away! thats way too far to drive"(he was the only member with a legit license at the time)
"the show is on the same day as the super bowl????? guess we cant play"
"i dont like the headlining band"

summers_eve · Post by **summers_eve** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 10:42 pm

I only play every few months at parties because I'm not that good. And I'm not good because I never play.

7Dime7MetalMassacre · Post by **7Dime7MetalMassacre** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 9:17 am

haha that quote from me is the shit! lol. My band is about to start playing shows soon, after practicing for a year. We will probably play every 2 weeks from now on.

Pfl?yd · Post by **Pfl?yd** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 9:36 am

Here is a better question to go along with it: How receptive are your respective locales to all-original bands? Or do you guys play a lot of covers?

When I lived in Pittsburgh there really wasn't a demand for original music at all. Cover bands made some serious cash and could gig twice a week at least.

In Omaha it's the exact opposite; original music is the soul of the city and cover bands are treated with the kind of derision that puts them barely above cockroaches in the social pecking order.

CFH Eternal · Post by **CFH Eternal** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 2:10 pm

It's like Pittsburgh here Pfl?yd, cover bands are in high demand here except the places you go to see new talent which I hate to say, some are starting to shut down. The last "real" gig I played like on a stage in front of a real audience was June of 2004. I filled in for my friend who was the rhythm/lead guitarist for this Muse meet Mars Volta only a little more rocking at times. I think thought I did well because they had no compliants for me learning half a dozen songs, two of them muse covers. I just don't think they liked my personality since I was the only one up there wearing jeans and a Obsessed t-shirt.

BaptizedBurning · Post by **BaptizedBurning** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 6:09 pm

Haha, my band plays a show about twice a year. Two of our members go away for college, so we only play during summer break and winter break. We've only played 3 bar shows, one was sold out, the other two had a combined total of about 20 people present. The rest of our shows have been house shows for our friends and other house parties. In fact we're doing another house show this weekend. Nothing exciting, but still a ton of fun.

Pfl?yd · Post by **Pfl?yd** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 6:37 pm

Shit, a good house show can be way better than playing an arena. I've done both and prefer the former to the latter overall. There's just something great about being right in the thick of it that is far more exhilarating as a performer.

BassPhemy · Post by **BassPhemy** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 8:10 pm

We haven't played in a long time since our shit got nigged. A bunch of bands want to play shows with us but we're getting our feet back under us again.

The only people around here that really seem to dig original music are the other bands that make original music.

Pfl?yd · Post by **Pfl?yd** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 8:26 pm

There seems to be quite a few bands in Minneapolis. We get lots of them down here on little regional tours.

PABassPlayer · Post by **PABassPlayer** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 10:09 pm

Cover band....about every twice a month, any more than that and it's hard to get people out to every show.

Philly has "cover bars" and "original bars"...it's very seldom that the 2 mix.

Pfl?yd · Post by **Pfl?yd** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 10:39 pm

There are fringe bars outside of Omaha proper that have cover bands, but they mostly appeal to people in the 'burbs.

BaptizedBurning · Post by **BaptizedBurning** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 10:42 pm

Cover bands can be fun in a bar setting, where you're not specifically going there to see the band, but makes the scene more entertaining.

summers_eve · Post by **summers_eve** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 11:41 pm

I usually can't stand cover bands. Last night there just happened to be a pretty decent cover band at the bar we went to. Pretty decent musicians actually. The guitar player got up there and played Eruption (but without a whammy

) and did a good job on it.

They played some AIC, ZZ Top, Pantara, Nazareth etc. It was actually entertaining. What a shock.

Lando Griffin · Post by **Lando Griffin** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 12:41 am

We just got a band started about 4-5 weeks ago, and since schools ending in a few weeks, we want to play as many gigs as possible. Of course given the time constraints we're basically a cover band at the moment, and we have only 2 originals. I honestly would like to play an almost entirely original set once we get everything going...it's satisfying writing your own music, recording it, gigging with it, and all that. Covers are cool to throw in once in a while but unless I only get to play once in a while and make a few bucks on the side, I would hate to be in a cover band.

PABassPlayer · Post by **PABassPlayer** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 7:27 am

At my age, a cover band works. I enjoy and support original music 100%. I have had original bands open for us in clubs they would never get into otherwise.

But follow this rationale... most original musicians are writing, performing and basically whoring there product out there to get noticed, get a following and ultimately get signed. We all know that will happen to very few bands, I don't know the exact stats, but I'm guessing about 1 in every 500 bands will reach any type of local success, much less national or international. I figure the "golden few " that do go anywhere, are the target age with the target look....playing the target music genre. I am 41, not too cute and prefer metal....that is 3 strikes. My band messes around with originals to express ourselves and have some fun, but for profit, notoriety or any of that, we are way past.

We make decent money, have a good following and have a great time doing what we do.

Just like the t-shits we made for all the original bands that wear the t- shirts that say "COVER BANDS SUCK"

Our shirts say "I'm in a cover band...if we aren't playing your music, you aint shit"

DBS · Post by **DBS** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 9:50 am

i play in a covers band that can get a gig every week if my heart was in it, but im lucky to get a gig a month with my original band. thats still without a vocalist though. as soon as someone decent comes along we'd be able to play once or twice a week but its just finding someone who sounds right for us. singers are few and far between down here. the covers band pays far better, because there is much more demand in the pubs and clubs round here for middle of the road rock bands.

Lord of This World · Post by **Lord of This World** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 4:42 pm

PABassPlayer wrote:t-shits

soulburn · Post by **soulburn** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 4:55 pm

Pfl?yd wrote:Here is a better question to go along with it: How receptive are your respective locales to all-original bands? Or do you guys play a lot of covers?

When I lived in Pittsburgh there really wasn't a demand for original music at all. Cover bands made some serious cash and could gig twice a week at least.

In Omaha it's the exact opposite; original music is the soul of the city and cover bands are treated with the kind of derision that puts them barely above cockroaches in the social pecking order.

We are a regularly gigging band based in Pittsburgh. We play an average of 3-4 shows a month. We just played last week with Threat Signal, and we had a show scheduled with Byzantine last Saturday, though they did cancel.

Last week we made $300 bucks net, which isn't bad for an all-original band. That was after paying the venue, as well as paying Threat Signal their gurantee. We could have made more if we hadn't sold out all our merch the show before.

The crowd has always been receptive during our sets, no matter how small or large. Despite Byzantine canceling, we still had a good draw (roughly 50-65). This was 25 minutes EAST of Pittsburgh. We are an original band, but we do through in our Black Sabbath cover, which really impresses the older people in the crowd who don't really get into our style of music.

I'd say the demand for original bands is pretty considerable here in Pittsburgh. We don't find it hard at all to book local shows with local bands. They may not pay well, but there are plenty of clubs that are ALWAYS seeking local bands (31st Pub, Peter's Pub, Smiling Moose...ect.).

Lately, we've been playing a lot a Cleveland dates at Peabody's. Now thats a fuckin club. It's amazing to see a packed club on a Tuesday with people looking to check out local talent. Even the second stage is tits.

Pfl?yd · Post by **Pfl?yd** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 8:53 pm

Things must've turned for the better since i lived there. All we really had was Club Laga and a bunch of dives and colleges around the area. Not much money, not too much demand. I was technically in Latrobe/Indiana/New Kensington most of the time all of which were horrible places for original music. But I bolted from there awhile ago. Good to hear that there is *something* going on there, though too late for me to bother with.