saturn Posted June 12, 2016 Share Posted June 12, 2016 We played last night at a little bar in Dundalk Md. Basically East Baltimore. This was our third or fourth time playing there and we have always done pretty well there. Anyway, as soon as we arrived the manager asked to talk to us in his office. He explained that they asked the band last night to cut it short and work with them on the pay because there wasn't much crowd. Baltimore has several events like Hon Fest and Italian Festival going on and many people are at those events. He asked if we would consider doing the same thing tonight if the bar was dead. We don't want the bar to lose money having us play, so we agreed that was fair. But, it turned out to be a pretty decent night. All the band member brought some of our people out, and there was a nice local crowd. After the second set, some people did call it quits and get going. We still thought we were going to finish with a third set though. But they still asked us to cut it short. The were cool about it. They just didn't think it was worth it for the 20 or so people left at that point. So we packed up and took less pay. Some of the local crowd was mad that we got cut-off and started complaining to the manager. I talked to the people and said that I appreciated it, but didn't want any trouble with the management. We have more dates booked there and didn't want to make waves. I said please come back when we play again. So I only made $50, but was home by 1:30 instead of 2:30 or 3AM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted June 12, 2016 Share Posted June 12, 2016 Oh sure. It happens. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted June 12, 2016 Share Posted June 12, 2016 I seen lots of places come and go down about 10 years ago here in Portand OR. Property values, smoking ban transition, etc. Know lots of bands that also did this. One thing that REALLY hurt the music scene, was a lot of owners replaced professional bands with weekend warriors playing for free. I can testify the venues lost customers as a result of that, and some of the bands WERE that bad. I could go on and on. Wanted to say though for sure, sounds like the bar owner IS doing the right thing by asking you NOT to play, or cut short the gig. I take it as a sign he doesn't want to cut your pay permanently. That's the hope anyway. The alternative is to try and have you play for less for the whole night. And then have you do that from here on out, as well as the other bands. At least it seems that isn't his motivation. Tough one. Bands deserve their pay, but if there isn't any money, what can be done? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparquelito Posted June 12, 2016 Share Posted June 12, 2016 Been there. It's no fun working that hard with the load-in and load-out, but in the end you did the right thing. Goodwill goes a long way in the music community, as long as you don't allow yourselves to be short-changed too often. It's cool that the crowd that was there had a good time!! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glp2012 Posted June 12, 2016 Share Posted June 12, 2016 Well, now that the IRS knows you "made" $50, you really only took home about $28...make sure to save your receipts for expenses. You might get a few dollars back when you file your taxes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturn Posted June 12, 2016 Author Share Posted June 12, 2016 Well, now that the IRS knows you "made" $50, you really only took home about $28...make sure to save your receipts for expenses. You might get a few dollars back when you file your taxes... Doh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturn Posted June 12, 2016 Author Share Posted June 12, 2016 I seen lots of places come and go down about 10 years ago here in Portand OR. Property values, smoking ban transition, etc. Know lots of bands that also did this. One thing that REALLY hurt the music scene, was a lot of owners replaced professional bands with weekend warriors playing for free. I can testify the venues lost customers as a result of that, and some of the bands WERE that bad. I could go on and on. Wanted to say though for sure, sounds like the bar owner IS doing the right thing by asking you NOT to play, or cut short the gig. I take it as a sign he doesn't want to cut your pay permanently. That's the hope anyway. The alternative is to try and have you play for less for the whole night. And then have you do that from here on out, as well as the other bands. At least it seems that isn't his motivation. Tough one. Bands deserve their pay, but if there isn't any money, what can be done? The other thing that makes many people not come out, or when they do they rarely stay til close, is the chance of DUI. No one wants to be they guy who gets pulled over by some predatory cop just because he sees the car pulling out of a bar parking lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted June 12, 2016 Share Posted June 12, 2016 Never happened to me, but... Last nights gig was adversely affected by the football match on TV. Quite a few people who were invited didnt turn out for that reason. What was much worse is that this was a private function. My Aunt's Golden Wedding Anniversary. Those people were friends & family. I dont have to worry about the taxman on that one. I provided the band at my expense as a gift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldCowboy Posted June 12, 2016 Share Posted June 12, 2016 The other thing that makes many people not come out, or when they do they rarely stay til close, is the chance of DUI. No one wants to be they guy who gets pulled over by some predatory cop just because he sees the car pulling out of a bar parking lot. Yeah - that likely constitutes 'probable cause'. These days there seems to ALWAYS be some kind of 'probable cause'. Meanwhile, as Officer Friendly's getting his rocks hassling a decent citizen, some lunatic is merrily slaughtering people in Florida. We've become so obsessed with sweating the small stuff that the big stuff has gotten out of control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldCowboy Posted June 12, 2016 Share Posted June 12, 2016 The other thing that makes many people not come out, or when they do they rarely stay til close, is the chance of DUI. No one wants to be they guy who gets pulled over by some predatory cop just because he sees the car pulling out of a bar parking lot. Yeah - that likely constitutes 'probable cause'. These days there seems to ALWAYS be some kind of 'probable cause'. Meanwhile, as Officer Friendly's getting his rocks hassling a decent citizen, some lunatic is merrily slaughtering people in Florida. We've become so obsessed with sweating the small stuff that the big stuff has gotten out of control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted June 12, 2016 Share Posted June 12, 2016 Boy, you guys don't really make that much do you? I'm going to classify musicians in the same category as Starving Artists. When I did art work for the guys at Havelock shops back when I worked, I didn't make anything much at all either. But it gave me pleasure because I love art. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karloff Posted June 12, 2016 Share Posted June 12, 2016 Yep. It happens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfpup Posted June 12, 2016 Share Posted June 12, 2016 Well, now that the IRS knows you "made" $50, you really only took home about $28...make sure to save your receipts for expenses. You might get a few dollars back when you file your taxes... 56 cents a mile! It adds up. As for the OP, yes I have been asked to cut it short. Also been asked to stay late when there was a good crowd and we weren't booked until closing time. Also been asked to wait until a ball game was over to start. No skin off my nose... I got paid to watch a ball game. We are basically, just drink salesman anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted June 12, 2016 Share Posted June 12, 2016 Yes, early last year... We got a call to replace a band at very short notice, but - The band we subbed for were/are a Motorhead and ZZ Top covers band....we're not! We got paid off (pitiful amount of money anyway) after the 1st set and that was all. And now my gig next week (which was the only thing for months) has just been cancelled because of the football...... :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted June 12, 2016 Share Posted June 12, 2016 Never really had a "gig" cut short. However, several years ago, at a local "Rockfest" we had our showcase cut in half, because the "Sound Engineer" couldn't get his act together, and ate up 1/2 of our performance time, in trying. Even with the enthusiastic crowd response, to our music, the "promoters" were not sympathetic, to OUR plight, due to the Sound person's incompetence, and "needing to stay on schedule," so they cut our set short, by 1/2! Needless to say, we Never played another one of those, again! CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tman Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 Tough situation. As long as you are nice and the management knows you will take that deal and want to come back and play then they will and can do that. Not fair but reality. Been there, done that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingarmadillo Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 I never had that situation but I never really gigged as a musician. I did run lights and sound for a number of groups and venues though. I had a show that was supposed to run for two nights that got cut to about 3/4 of the way through the first show because someone left a lit cigarette in the equipment/prop room and it caught fire. Burned about half the equipment that we in the room so we had to cancel the rest of the shows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notes_Norton Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 It's a tough call. Does the owner give you extra money when the crowd is much better than usual? Do the other employees and the manager take a cut in pay as well? If not, will sticking to your guns jeopardize future employment there? It's really not a fair thing to ask of a band. But then you have to also understand how secure the club is financially. There is no one-size-fits-all answer here. Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zentar Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 I have a friend who uses written contract. You no sign he no play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 It's a tough call. Does the owner give you extra money when the crowd is much better than usual? Do the other employees and the manager take a cut in pay as well? If not, will sticking to your guns jeopardize future employment there? It's really not a fair thing to ask of a band. But then you have to also understand how secure the club is financially. There is no one-size-fits-all answer here. Notes EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!! We all know who get screwed here. the musicians... We (myself and my acoustic duo partner) were ask to fill in at a local pub on a Sunday afternoon for a weekly car show they have in the summer. The weather on that Sunday morning sucked, windy, rainy, and no one takes these classics out in bad weather. So I called the guy who owns the bar, (who also happens to be someone I grew up with) about 11:00/11:30, "you sure about this? looks like a washout.." HE says "nope, lets do it, supposed to be sunny again by 2:00 or 3:00." that never happened. we got $stiffed$ and we did agree that we could cut it maybe 45 minute to a half hour early. It wasn't a lot, he chopped 25 bucks off our pay, but, seriously, should have called it off when I called him. The principle is what pissed us off. We were already playing for short money that day. We'd only been to this place one time prior, and we packed the place. Did he pay us extra for an unexpectedly good night? of course he didn't... And my friends ask me "Why don't you play out more often?" The answer: Tired of getting screwed by the bar owners. I don't need the money, OR The aggravation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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