Band Booking
Bands
Updated 3-3-2017
If you don’t read this thoroughly, I will know and you will instantly annoy me because you are wasting my time.
Take yourself seriously, then so will I.
And guess what? All of us venues’ bartenders, promoters and owners in major cities talk to each other. We go to each others’ venues and get drunk and swap stories about djs and bands; who’s sleeping with who, who’s a sharp dresser, what bands we like, and, what bands we don’t like! Hmmmmm………
It seems like there’s a million bands and a million Djs in Portland, so we can’t exactly accommodate everybody. Here’s a list of what we expect from you, so if you want to perform here, there is no mystery or conflict.
YOU HAVE TO BE 21 YEARS OF AGE AND OLDER TO PLAY HERE. ….WE ARE A BAR. NO MINORS AT ALL. IF YOU TRY AND SNEAK IN YOUR BAND IS BANNED
If we agree to host you, any opening bands or guest djs HAVE TO BE APPROVED. Communication gets fuzzy when you subcontract, and we have no problem pulling the plug on someone.
Music licensing companies companies charge our little bar $1,200 a year for the right to have you dj or play here. Please help us justify paying this fee by promoting.
Because of this, we do not and will not play/promote/ or book any bands or music licensed by SESAC. So we will not play Christian rock, blazing hip hop, or cutting edge college crap. If SESAC can improve their customer relations and fees, this may change in the future.
If you don’t make a flier, what’s the point of a show? I can’t help if you don’t represent. No flier = no drink tickets. Why should we take you seriously and give you free booze when you don’t take yourself seriously. If you need help I’m sure someone can make you a flier. If you don’t promote, don’t be surprised if NO ONE COMES TO SEE YOU.
Promote!
The deciding factor for any band/performer’s return is their manners, professionalism, and the amount of promoting they personally do (but not who actually shows up). If I see no effort made towards promotion I lose faith, if you luck out and it gets slammed then that’s what it is - luck. If you promote the hell out of it but no one shows, at least you tried. If you promote the hell out of it and it’s slammed, then you have loyal, good friends and your promoting has paid off with a fun party. I never expect a promoter’s success to depend on the loyalty of their peers, but the effort makes the difference. If you are rude, a prima donna and/or you don’t tip the bartenders, don’t be surprised if when you ask to play again we say no. If you are a drama queen or publicly critical of other performers of this venue, don’t be surprised if when you ask to play here we say no. If I say no - it’s your fault. :)
Brutal Truth - People today really don’t care about touring bands they have never heard of (sometimes ones they have!) when they have so many Netflix to watch. So, put yourself out there and promote your band in Portland so your gig is not a complete let down. We lose money on touring bands typically.
Bands
Every 2nd and 4th Friday and Saturday are not available due to reoccurring parties.
The stage is tiny! Your Queensryche sized drum kit will not fit. It’s approximately 6 feet by 8 feet in size. Most bands play on the dance floor. We are known as a dance venue, so live bands are not our priority, but we do welcome you on our terms.
After this week of band difficulties we have changed our policy about booking bands. Because both the crowd and most bands are complacent/lazy, we are no longer booking bands that;
A) we do not personally know or have not been personally referred by promoters, djs, or bands we do know.
B) have proven already to be a deterrent and not an attraction.
C) Are licensed by SESAC.
We sometimes actually lose money on bands because they suck and people leave. Sorry bands, unless you come referred, are booked by one of our independent promoters, are our friends, are professionally established, or have previously played here (and did well) before we will not book you. Sorry.
If we do agree to host you, we expect these conditions met;
1) The most painful issue for everyone is the city noise curfew for bands and decibel level for both bands and Djs. Bands with live drums have to be done by 10pm. Electronic drums that we can control the volume on have to be done by 11pm. That is a city curfew specifically placed on us based on neighbor complaints. Not our curfew, the city’s. On Thursdays, bands HAVE to be done and cleaned up by 10pm. If for whatever reason you “rebel” against the rules set on us, we will simply turn you off at the circuit breakers. We have done it before. We didn’t come up with that curfew, our nagging, complaining neighbors got The City to bully us. (we are the weird bar, same old shit, oppress the artsy weirdos). We can all get along, just don’t be a dick.
2) The sound cannot be louder than 65 decibels on the sidewalk. We take decibel readings every 20 minutes. If you do not turn it down when we ask you, we will turn you down. And stop serving you. And you won’t be invited back to play. That is a city level specifically placed on us based on neighbor complaints. For you it’s one party, for us it’s an expensive fine.
3) Promotions; the more people that come, the more you get paid. Be a lazy bum and no one comes, we book someone else that does promote. Fliers, posters, Facebook, your cousin - whatever. Name your door admission and that’s your pay, but please be realistic, you may think you are worth a $20 cover, but most of Portland balks at paying even $2. Play for free if money means nothing to you. Your call.
4) Self-sufficient. Be prepared. Bring your cables, check out the P.A system and mixer before hand.
5) There will not be a sound person assigned to a band, if you practice enough you should know what makes you sound good. I’ve seen too many bands blame a sound person for their lack of practice as an excuse.
6) If you want to charge a cover that’s negotiable and you get full cover. Please be realistic in your cover expectations Note - Portlanders are cheap cheap cheap. Some performers have had great luck NOT charging a cover but passing a hat. It’s quaint, and kind of embarrasses people to not look cheap publicly so they may pay more then the cover! Think about it.
7) No attitude. We don’t care if you actually are a rock star. If David J from Bauhaus and Love and Rockets has performed here and was a perfect gentleman, friendly and down to earth, your local part time band can aspire to be just as cool.
8) Be messy; clean up. We want you to have fun, just let us know if you have special needs and help us accommodate you. PLEASE CLEAN YOUR GEAR OFF THE DANCE FLOOR ASAP, AS IN WITHIN 20 MINUTES AFTER YOUR LAST SONG. Any bands feeling too rock star to make way for the dance floor will be less considered to be welcome back. And we are not responsible for your gear when it gets trampled by a drunken goth.
9) We are picky. Being a horror theme bar does restrict what and who we want performing. Metal, punk, goth, deathrock, electro, horror themed performance or music are welcome.
10) Submit samples of your music, both live and studio for approval. Any video footage would help too.
12) Scheduling. Check the calendar before asking for a date, 2nd Sundays are booked by Ogo Eion, and 2nd and 4th Fridays and Saturdays are never available for band booking, all other Saturdays before the DJ are available unless otherwise listed.
Thursdays are GREAT for goth, electro, industrial, post punk bands because Shadowplay is like a Friday and has a good following, but you have to be done and cleaned up by 10pm.
Please check the calendar, and you’re wasting both of our time if you don’t check and see what’s available online. We respect our promoter’s nights, so we can’t book you at your convenience. If you are passing through town and have a time restriction, we can put you in touch with the promoter’s night and see if they want to book you. If not, we can try something else or refer another venue.
13) Your band’s genre. Bands hate classifying themselves, who doesn’t? Lately we have been getting bands using labels that maybe don’t apply. So please if you’re Shoegaze, don’t call yourself metal, or light alternative calling yourself punk. We would not want attendees heckling you because you want to sound like Slayer but really sound like Weezer.
14) Wish you made $$$ for all of your “hard work”? Bring merch to sell! We do not take a cut of your profits like corporate venues do, so bring stickers,posters, shirts, records, cds, cassettes (for the 3 people who still own cassette players) download cards, buttons, patches, action figures, zines - whatever!
15) Feeling like a real band? Send us a bio to help promote you, talk yourselves up, it couldn’t hurt! We pay for mini adverts so a description helps. (or I will make shit up, and my honesty and humor are not always appreciated).
This is a link to San Francisco’s Bottom Of The Hill booking page for their venue, so you can see we are not the only ones who as a venue want you to be the best band you can so we can be a good host and we all look good. True rock stars rock, it’s the posers who just talk about it. (link used with permission).
How to make a flier.
1) Simple image or band logo.
2) 11x17 inches at 300 dpi
3) Nec. info - who (you), date, what time (unless you have electronic drums, you are over at 10pm), if there is a cover.
4) Email it to me at least 2 weeks in advance so I can print some and hang them in the bar.
5) No flier? = No drink tickets for you.
What we do for you
1) A certain amount of drink tickets will be given to band/DJ IF YOU HELP PROMOTE. The amount of drink tickets depend on how many you are and if you tip. Please tip the bartender. We can take back this gift if you don’t show appreciation. The bar gives you drinks, the bartender is hourly and needs $.
2) We try to always advertise your event/night sometimes in The Mercury but always on our website. We do not make Facebook events and/or personally invite people to your event, that is your department. We no longer have a useless Facebook page and we don’t care because it’s useless for advertising.
Did you actually read this page? Before you email me questions about scheduling or money, did you actually read this page that hopefully answered those questions so you maybe don’t have to ask me those questions? Think……