(Also, do not take the bands and artists I mention here to be indicative of my music taste. Many I still love, but I have grown and changed.)
Rob,
Thank you so much for the "essay"! It has been very helpful in making me realise what goes into planning a gig. You are right, booking a band takes WAY more than i realise (I admire you greatly).
Its a lot more confusing, complicated and generally difficult and expensive sounding than I realised, but I'm still going to try to do it because it could be great, and its for charity too...
So I hope you don't mind if i ask you a few more questions.
I have a very long list of mostly indie bands and artists who I was planning to ask, and I actually emailed some of them before I received your email back, so I wish I had waited.
Some of them were just "NO"s but some had explanations which was nice.
I am being considered by:
Johnny Flynn
The Metros
Lo-Fi Culture Scene
Athlete
but they all want "more details"!
but I still haven't got emails back from:
Pete and the Pirates
The Holloways
Gold Teeth
and I have yet to contact:
Does It Offend You, Yeah?
TV On the Radio
Laura Marling
The Whip
The Courteeners
Noah and the Whale
Crystal Castles
Golden Silvers
...and some others.
So before I send emails out to any of the other bands on my list please could you help me with these questions:
1. I was going to hold it in the school hall, which is a very nice place for a school but it does only fit about 600 standing. Do you think the bands will refuse to play for only 600 people?
Would it be better to hire a local venue? (like the [...] which can take 1000 people standing. and has had bands like Hadouken and Foals playing there).
2. The Lo-Fi Culture Scene's people said that they would cost "a couple hundred". does that mean just £100-200 for the band, excluding the "rider" and the equipment.
3. Do I have to BUY their equipment? Are you kidding? Can't they just bring it them selves... How much does equipment cost?
4. When you say "sound man" would that be a sound man that they brought with them or one that I would have to hire?
5.Please please please guesstimate what it might cost altogether (excluding food and drinks for the audience).
6...Can I hire a "promoter" or someone to do all this for me? But then again they would probably cost hundreds as well.
7. Will the agents that have replied be a lot less inclined to agree to a gig if I don't reply straightaway giving them these elusive "more details" that they speak of?
I know you are probably extremely busy booking bands for KKBB, so please just reply whenever you can.
Thank you very much
Zita,
I'm happy to help. I'll try and answer all of your questions...
More details will be what I said before. Say what the event is for (charity wise), where it'll be held, the capacity of the place etc. etc.
1. 600 is fine. Our capacity is 250 upstairs and about 400 down so 600 should be plenty for what you're aiming for. But, the Civic probably has a good quality PA in place to use for gigs so may be worth giving them a shout to see if they are open to hiring out the venue and at what price.
2. Sound like £200 flat. They may then ask for rider on top. Not sure if they are a big enough band to be VAT registered so I'd guess at £200 + rider
3. No no! Not buy haha. I'm talking as in the PA system. They will bring their own guitars/amps/drums etc but you'll be providing the PA system for them to play through.
4. Most venues have an "in house sound man" who does the system. Bands the size of Lo-Fi Culture Scene wouldn't have their own sound man so you'd need an experienced sound man to sound check them. Bigger bands (such as The Holloways and Pete and the Pirates) will have their own sound men but this is never confirmed until after the band are booked and a fee agreed.
5. All depends on the band really! Athlete will be very expensive I imagine. Difficult to guess but I'd say close to the £2000 mark (possibly more). It really is difficult to say but I think you have to judge it against your budget. So if Lo-fi Culture Scene are saying £200, Holloways will be more than that...sorry, I know that's vague but it really does vary and also depends on what the agent is holding out for!
6. You could try and involve a local promoter. Find out who promotes the gigs at the [local venue] and see if they'd be interested in helping out. Remember, it'll help their profile as well.
7. Try and reply asap. They tend to lose interest/forget things easily! Just try and keep the replies quick and readable so they're not looking at a massive bunch of text!
Any time, any time. As I say, it's nice to see someone getting involved in promoting. And don't let what I wrote above, put you off. It's tough but it can all come together with hard work and a bit of negotiating!
Keep at it!
Rob.
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