Publication:
MaximumRockNRoll

Author:
Felix Von Havoc

MRR #199
"There's no place to play in this town." How many times have you said this, or heard someone say it? This month I'll talk a little bit about different places you can set up gigs in your town. Booking gigs is not an arcane science. Booking gigs is a lot of hard work, totally thankless, and will cost you most of your friends. Booking gigs will also make you start to hate going to shows. Still, someone has to do it so here are some pointers for where to look.

Your first choice is to use someone else's place or start your own. Using someone else's place has the advantage of minimal risk and investment. You use their PA, stage, staff etc. It has the disadvantage of having to give them a cut and being subject to their rules and whims. For the most part booking punk gigs is a lot more problematic than other kinds of music. Most places aren't interested in dealing with all the bullshit for the small return. There is frequently trouble with vandalism, graffiti, underage drinking, violence, shit getting ripped off, potential lawsuits and lots of kids who won't pay to get in or show up just to start trouble. Sad but true, most clubs aren't interested in booking our kind of music because of the disrespectful crowd that shows up. Lets look at some of the places you can consider.

The clubs. Your town probably already has a club that books bigger punk bands when they come to town. You might be able to get whoever is in charge of booking there to let you set up your own gigs a few nights a month. Especially if they are off nights. Most clubs purchase "entertainment" from booking agencies. If you are in touch with bands outside the booking racket you can offer to put together and promote the gigs yourself. Provided a reasonable amount of people turn up the club makes money without having to deal with agents, just you. The more you offer to do for the club in the way of promoting and booking the show the more attractive it will be to them, as they won't have to pay their people to do it. Remember, night clubs exist to make money, not to support the music scene. Most clubs will expect at least half the loot from the door. They will also hit you over the head with a lot of rules and regulations. You might have to deal with asshole meathead bouncers and pompous promoter types. Working with clubs varies, if you have the patience, and can see things from their point of view long enough, you might be able to establish a good working relationship with a local club. This way you use their PA, stage, staff and can advertise to a wide audience a gig at a known venue. There is also little risk to you if no one shows up or if the place gets trashed, you just won't be asked back. This may work out in some towns. Here in Minneapolis the punks haven't really worked with the club scene in years. The clubs take too big a cut from the door, the bouncers are brutal thugs and most importantly they are making soo much money off of alternative rock they just don't give a fuck about punk. Another main hitch with clubs is that they are rarely all ages. Usually they are bars and most of the income comes from drinks. Getting these places to do all ages shows is frequently difficult to impossible. If you are lucky you can do all ages matinees that don't cut into regular drinking hours or separate the club into an all ages area and an over 21 area. Some clubs allow underage kids into a bar but separate them from the drinkers with a special wristband or hand stamp. I would recommend on principle against doing 18, or 21 and over shows. This is unfair to a large number of the fans, and a lot of the people who show up are only there to get drunk not to enjoy the bands. If you are doing music like the Supersuckers or Nashville Pussy a 21 and over show in a bar might be OK but for most punk and hardcore I wouldn't even consider it an option.

Coffee Shops. Similar to clubs in many respects. Coffee shops are usually a little easier to work with because there is typically one owner and just a few employees. If you can get on the owner's good side it might be lot easier to establish a working relationship than with a rock club. Coffee shops usually don't serve booze so its less likely you will have to deal with age restriction. Once again your angle here is too bring in a lot of people on a slow night who will buy drinks and give the owner a cut of the door. Typically these sort of places have a small stage and little or no PA which means you might have to provide your own PA and Mic's, as well as do most of the promotion. There are so many coffee shops these days it seems like you should be able to find one place that is interested, especially if they are hurting for business and you can fill the place up on a slow night. Since these places are typically run by individuals you might be able to negotiate a better deal on the cut from the door, or offer to rent the place by the night.

Rental Halls. The VFW, Labor Unions, Fraternal Groups, ethnic and religious organizations are frequently in possession of an assembly hall which they rent out. The main hitch with places like these is that they are usually run by really square old folks who will not be into what you are doing at all. They will require extra insurance and security (typically a rent a cop or an off duty cop) for dealing with live music. You will probably have to provide the PA, do all the promotion, pay the rent on the hall, security and insurance plus put up a damage deposit that you probably won't get back after the kids trash the place. Still if you are doing a big show that you know will draw a lot of kids, it might still be cheaper to rent a hall than to split the door with a club. However, you better have your numbers right and be really confident because expenses add up quick with rental halls and its easy to do a show that either barely breaks even or actually loses money. I've seen a lot of over optimistic kids set up gigs at rental halls where none of the bands got paid because not enough people showed up to cover the expenses.

Art Galleries. Sometimes you can find small local art galleries that might be into letting you have gigs. If you are lucky you might find a sympathetic owner of a small gallery who wants to make some extra cash and rent the place out between their regular showings and events. These places rarely have a PA and are easy to damage, but hey you can always hang a painting over the hole the kids kick in the wall. You could also try to get punk bands to play a sympathetic artist's opening. I went to a lot of gigs like this in the West Gallery at the University of Maryland in the 80's. It was a student run gallery and most of the students were in Marginal Man or Braille Party so a lot of bands wound up playing there.

Playhouses-Like art galleries these places go unused several nights a week and are usually hurting for cash. You might be able to get in good with a local theater group, puppet troupe, thespian, whatever and use their playhouse on off nights for a fixed fee or a cut of the door. Usually a nice stage and excellent lights, although sometimes there are seats way too close to the stage and no PA.

Movie Theatre. Older movie theatres usually have an actual stage and either and orchestra pit or enough space between the front row of seats and the stage to make gigs possible. If there is an independent "art house" type theatre in your town you might be able to get them to let you rent it out on off nights or for matinees. This also raises the possibility of movie/music events. Like Code 13 playing while Clockwork Orange or the Road Warrior is projected on the screen.

College and Universities. These places always have a variety of halls and auditoriums, and sometimes student run music clubs. The key thing here is to get someone on the inside. Usually colleges have enormous resources of money and prospective places to play, you just have to know how to schmooze your way in. Often, student groups can use the campus facilities for free or a small fee. You might be able to join such a group or get in good with them and have them sponsor the shows. If you are a student you can try to get on the committee that oversees entertainment or student activities and try to get access to the colleges resources to book gigs. This can be really lucrative, and it can be a waste of time. A lot of it is just kissing ass to the right people and making yourself look legit to some committee. You might have to pretend to like a bunch of indie rock dorks, sleep with someone, or buy beer for some square at the college radio station but once you are in the college circuit is big money. Typically colleges pay out of their student activities fee regardless of how many people show up. And generally speaking punk bands are a bargain compared to most of the bands that play on this circuit so if you play your cards right you might be able to get the hall for free and get the college to pay the bands a ridiculous guarantee. If you skim some cash off the door too you could be set for a whole semester. Why didn't I do this stuff when I was in college?

Community Centers. A lot like rental halls, depending on where you live. In some communities you can actually use the community center for free if you are a resident. You might have to set up some sort of bogus organization to sponsor your event, or say it's a private party, company picnic what ever. Sometimes these places are a real hassle, sometimes they just rent you the place, give you the keys and leave.

Cultural Centers. Some cities have places like this usually connected to a local ethnic group, again a lot like rental halls, but sometimes you can find a more sympathetic person who will let you set up gigs on off nights. Perhaps if you are part of the community the center serves you might be able to get an angle that way. Like having a punk band from Mexico play at the Chicano Cultural Center.

Roller Rinks and Bowling Alleys. This sounds stupid but sometimes these places are for rent outside of their normal business hours. I've seen some pretty good gigs in Roller Rinks, there is always the option of having skating during the gigs too.

Parks and bandshells. In the summer you can always do gigs outside. Good luck collecting any money but if its all local bands maybe you can just pass a bucket around for collections and hope it covers the costs. In most cities you just need to get a permit to use a park, often its free or only a few bucks. You might have to also get a noise permit, an alcohol permit or insurance. Once again it helps to have an organization or business sponsor you, especially if you have to carry insurance. And when applying for the permit its probably better to pitch it as a wedding party or a company picnic as opposed to a wild punk show. Some parks have out door band shells or stages you can rent as well. These offer some shelter from elements and much better acoustics than just playing in the open.

Somebody's work. OK, now this is rare but you never know. Somebody might work in a warehouse, restaurant, etc. where they are alone on the second or third shift or have the keys or whatever. So when the boss goes on vacation you open the place up after hours and have a gig. Risky, but possible. You might even find someone who has unused space at their business and needs some extra cash. Here in Minneapolis there was once a late night gig on the loading dock of a copy shop where a lot of punk kids worked. The boss never found out either.

Squats-Well, over in Europe most of the gigs are in Squats, while here in America it is rare outside of New York and Philadelphia. This can be a good deal as usually the squatters are into supporting the local punk scene and are hard up for money. As usual you will probably have to do most of the promotion and set up the PA but this could work out better than clubs or rental halls. Be warned though, no body will expect to have to pay to get in. There is also the option of squatting an unused building for one show. This is risky but low cost and can be a lot of fun. You can either find an empty building with the power still on or rent and generator. Bust in, set up the PA and gear, have a wild show, destroy the place, pack up and leave before the cops show up. This kind of gig is best organized like a rave, where the flyers don't give out the actual location of the gig, just a place to pick up a map the day of the gig.

Outdoor gigs. On a similar tack you can rent a generator or run an extension cord from somewhere and set up an outdoor gig just about anywhere. In Nevada, for example, lots of shows are out in the desert. This can be a low cost, low risk way of doing gigs, as long as you don't get busted.

A barn. Of course this is more typical in rural areas but sometimes you can find some punk kid whose family has a farm and have a gig in the barn. We actually did a number of shows in a barn an hour or so south of Minneapolis. You can also have people camp out and party down on the farm and this can be a lot of fun, or it can be a big pain in the ass.

That about runs the gamut , although I'm sure there are some other options I didn't think of. The main thing is to find someone you can work with who needs some extra cash and has a space they can rent out. So far we've been talking about other people's places. For the most part it's their place that gets trashed, their shit that gets ripped off and they are the ones who get the heat from the cops. Now lets consider using your place. Your main advantage here is that you don't have to pay anyone for the use of the space. The main disadvantage is that you could get all your shit ripped off, get put in jail, get evicted, and have your place trashed.

Your Basement. A really common place for shows these days. Born out of necessity the practice room becomes an all ages show hall. I've seen some really great shows in basements and some really weak shows in basements. But usually for a smaller show this is your best option. The cost is basically nothing so when nobody shows up or (more likely) no one pays to get in you aren't really out that much. These shows can be really intimate. They can also be very exclusive and cliquish. Frequently there are mostly people there just to party at your house not to see the bands and its hard to collect any money from the bands from the people who are partying on your porch. And of course there are the risks with your landlord, neighbors and police.

Your practice room. If your band doesn't practice in your basement where do you practice? Is it big enough for a gig? It's quite common for several bands to rent out a place to use for rehearsals. Sometimes such a place is suitable for setting up gigs, typically the noise isn't going to be a problem if neighbors are used to bands practicing there. Most practice rooms I've seen lately are way too small for gigs, but some bands are still renting out unused basements and storerooms that could be used for a gig.

Starting your own club. I wouldn't embark on something like this until you have some experience with booking gigs at other peoples places. Like I said, setting up gigs is a thankless job and running your own club is even worse. You have two courses to choose from when starting up a club, legit or underground. Opening a legit club is way out of most people's reach. You need thousands of dollars in capital and political connections. You have to lease or buy a space, buy a PA, build a stage and get the place up to code etc. That stuff is not too impossible but then there is the political angle. You will need to get zoning and parking approval, a live entertainment license, insurance and possibly a liquor license etc. You will find that this is a very expensive and time consuming process. I wouldn't recommend going legit unless you had a ton of money to invest and several years to put into building up a business.

More realistic but more risky is an underground club. If your scene is big enough to support it this is probably the best bet of all. With a little work you can find an out of the way space to rent and start doing gigs. Typically a warehouse or storeroom is rented ostensibly for use as a practice room or recording studio. Then you build your stage set up your PA, come up with a cool name and start doing gigs. You can also help cover the rent by having several bands use the space for rehearsals. There are a number of things you will have to deal with. The main thing is finding an out of the way location where cops don't come around much and there are no neighbors to complain. This is usually an industrial part of town. You have to be careful not to promote gigs to widely and keep your promotion somewhat underground. That is to say stick to flyers and word of mouth as opposed to newspaper and radio ads. The establishment hates it when kids do anything for themselves, especially something like setting up an underground club. You might be able to keep the cops off your back by being low-key, paying bribes, or just bullshitting them when they show up. My favorite was telling the cops we were filming a live "rock video" for a soon to be famous band and all the kids were extras who were paid to be in the video. They cops actually bought it, they just told us to keep the noise down and left. I'd have to say running an underground club was one of my worst experiences in the music scene. It forced me into the role of bouncer, babysitter, booking agent and stage manager all at once. I burned out fast on mopping up shit and puke, cleaning up broken glass, breaking up fights and dealing with pompous wannabe rock stars. But hey, someone's gotta do it. Minneapolis has had a string of underground punk clubs, the Emma Center, the Studio of the Stars, the Bombshelter, the Insurrection center and now the Inferno. It's not impossible especially if you have some good local bands and can attract touring bands regularly.

Publication Date:
January 1, 1988

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