Highest paying gig

[jmjk]

Man, a ska/punk band I was in 12 years ago took in $650 at the door one hot summer night, playing an 11 to 4 at a college bar. It was the most money I ever made playing (which amounted to $125.00 for my take), but I think I enjoyed watching the sweaty ladies peel and toss more than I enjoyed the cash. God, I wish I were 22 again!!

[Jim Alfredson]

I think the most I've ever made on one gig is $300 for a private party. That's my take. It was a five piece band so that's $1500 plus whatever the booking agent's cut was. Not bad!

I'm hungry for the days of $3000 a piece gigs!

[Dan Gould]

I know you're talking musical gigs but this gives me an opening to tell y'all about my big voice over gig I just booked:

Its not the $$ (though its not bad), its the city my 30 sec radio spot will air:

L.A., the second largest market in the country!!!! First time, if you can't tell!!!

[AfricaBrass]

Congratulations on the voiceover gig, Dan!

The company I work does a lot of CD-ROM learning applications. We use the voiceover guy that does all the VO for Disney's amusement parks. It's funny, now when I go to Disneyland, and I hear his announcements on the various rides, it makes me feel like I'm at work.

[Robert J]

I made $300 US playing solo piano for a Chrysler executive party in *** (help me B3-er, a rich area in the NW suburbs of Detroit; it was a nice hotel). I had no car so I took a $30 cab ride back to the Canada/US border (I actually took several busses to get there!). THe cab was a luxury, but the exchange rate covered it.

No female peelers, but I feasted like a king and there was a full glass of scotch on my grand piano. Those were the days!

[pepe]

Just keep practicing, boys and girls - I just heard that Keith Jarrett charges (and gets) USD 75 000 plus expenses for his trio.

Me, I got the equivalent of USD 20 playing lousy bass and piano in a lousy band in the early sixties. Probably was'nt worth more, anyway.

That said, IMHO Keith Jarrett trio is one of the greatest groups in jazz ever (I believe posterity will confirm that ), and he might deserve every dollar he makes. I mean, there are some soccer players in England and elsewhere making more money in a month than Jarrett makes a year.

Don't understand what they all do with all that cash, though.

[JSngry]

Most I ever made for a nite was $1000.00 - New Year's Eve 1999 going into 2000.

I've got a cuppla society and party bands I work with that usually pay in the $150-$250 per gig range. Unfortunately, they only work a few times a month each.

No matter how much you make - when you got teenaged kids, it's NEVER enough!

[Soul Stream]

The most I've ever made on a gig was about $350-$450....New Years gigs. I was on salary for about a year with a Warner Bros. signed band, 1,000 a week plus per diem. However, I was on the road the whole year traveling, playing, traveling, playing...every day sans 2 short breaks of about 2 weeks each. So in relation to how much work it was, it didn't seem like a lot of money in the end. Of course, relative to "regular" jobs, even that isn't very much....ahh, music. I don't like the road life, so I'll stick to my $50 local gigs.

[Robert J]

Since gigging is not my main source of income, I try now to do just the jobs that pay well (Jim I don't have teenagers yet, but my son is turning 9 soon). Luckily solo piano for private parties is the best outlet I've been tapping into. Not easy to crack into right away, but when you do a good job, the refrerrals happen. Lately I've been in the $250 range for about 3 hours at peoples' homes. In December I played a party for one of the original founders of Netscape. They had a 7' concert grand in the living room. It was heaven. I drank out of a scotch glass that cost more than what I got paid! From stale Chinese food to this.

[David]

I have only done occasional gigs (as I am still a student and training to be a systems engineer) but I agree with Robert that private parties are the way to go. I usually take in $100 + tips for a two hour engagement. The most I have ever pulled in is $125, plus some nice food and expensive wine (although I am not a wine drinker myself). I also got three good referrals that led to more business, so I'd say it was a pretty monetarily rewarding (as well as fun) two hours.