The local bar is pulling some crap...

[Free For All]

But you KNOW that if you walk, the owner will get someone to play there (or NO ONE at all) for whatever small amount of bread he offers. There will always be someone willing to do it, and yes, they usually suck, but it's surprising how little bar owners/patrons seem to care or even notice.

Well, here's the thing about that: The only reason people come to this club is to hear good live music. It ain't for the ambiance, let me tell you. We had people begging us to keep playing when we were taking breaks, begging us for encores, etc. They want to dance and that's why they come. Half the place was filled with people who came just to see us. And the manager knows it.

That's good. You have some "hand"!

You might just get what you want, if they actually are reluctant to let you go.

As they SHOULD be!

Edited February 20, 2005 by Free For All

[marcello]

We're a frickin' R&B, soul band and people came out to see us and the house jukebox was playing stupid Pat Benatar and country tunes. Makes a lot of sense.

I wonder if he is invoicing Benetar the $15 fee!

The best advice I saw here for your is to up your fee to cover expences. Call it a carting fee for your ax, if you need to.

I found his picture!

[AllenLowe]

find a bar nearbye, work there, and draw his crowd away -

[AllenLowe]

the other thing I would suggest is to consult a lawyer - I doubt very much that what he is doing is legal -

[Jim Dye]

That really sucks. Did they really put windows on the front of the building? Wow. Where else would you guys play? I'm having a hard time remembering what else is close to Michigan Ave? You need to have Art's put a stage in. LOL Dagwoods? too small. There has to be somewhere. People will follow you guys, for sure.

[Dan Gould]

I have to agree with Jim Dye that people will follow you since they come to shake their booty to the band. I hope the rest of the group is willing to take a stand with you. Even if there are other bands who'd take the gig, do they bring in the audience?

I'd also call ASCAP and BMI to inquire about the legality of what he's doing as far as the agreement he's signed with them. I would doubt that anyone has the right to explicitly pass that cost onto the bands, so I'd inquire with them as to what their position is.

[Michael Fitzgerald]

I'm not sure there is any legal situation to be argued. If the club wanted to CHARGE the band to allow them the privilege of playing, they could do that (this actually happens).

If contracts are being signed, everything has to be in the contract. You can't just add things on after the fact. But once you sign it, you're stuck unless someone wants to actually go to the effort of filing a lawsuit. And actually, you CAN just add things after the fact - if no one bothers to sue, who's going to stop you? A contract is just a piece of paper - what are you going to do? Hit them with the rolled-up contract and then take your money?

I believe it was about Norman Granz that I heard the following:

Someone wanted a favor from Granz (borrowing one of his acts, I think). When asked, Granz agreed to the deal. The borrower said, "Great! I'll get a contract drawn up." Granz replied, "In that case, forget it. I gave you my word and if you can't work on just my word, then I will not sign the contract."

If only people could be trusted to do the right thing.

Mike

[marcello]

Quite right , Mike!

In my line of work there is a old saying: "A contract is only as good as the persons that sign it."

Jim, if he dosen't pay you some extra money, talk another club into having you make some money for them!

That's what Spider would do!

[JSngry]

But you KNOW that if you walk, the owner will get someone to play there (or NO ONE at all) for whatever small amount of bread he offers. There will always be someone willing to do it, and yes, they usually suck, but it's surprising how little bar owners/patrons seem to care or even notice.

Well, here's the thing about that: The only reason people come to this club is to hear good live music. It ain't for the ambiance, let me tell you. We had people begging us to keep playing when we were taking breaks, begging us for encores, etc. They want to dance and that's why they come. Half the place was filled with people who came just to see us. And the manager knows it.

The management also decided that I can't play music during the breaks... they play the music now. I had lots people complaining to me, "Why aren't you playing the dance music?" because I play disco/funk stuff inbetween to keep people dancing. I said, "Go complain to the manager. It's his call." We're a frickin' R&B, soul band and people came out to see us and the house jukebox was playing stupid Pat Benatar and country tunes. Makes a lot of sense.

You know how many clubs go under because they fuck up a good thing? Lots. Changing the break music, to the clientele's obvious displeasure, is a BIG "red flag" AFAIC. This sounds like a classic case of fixing what ain't broke.

Look - club owners might be scum, but they ain't dumb, at least when it comes to being bastards. If a rival room gets wind of "dissatisfaction" and even thinks they smell blood, they'll make a move to pull people away, and probably succeed to one degree or another. NEt result - the room you're working at still does good enough business, but not at the level it once did. This equal decreased gross, which will translate to "cost-cutting", which from the sound of it means a bigger dig trying to get up in y'alls ass (not that there's anything WRONG with that...)

If there are options to take the "old vibe" to another venue, I'd sure as hell do so, and ASAP. Staying afloat more often than not is nothing more than a matter of you turning the corner before the corner turns you.

Bust a move, brother.

[Jim Alfredson]

We're going to ask for a raise and if they won't provide it, we'll walk. We should add a $15 "carting fee" for hauling in our instruments as well. That would be sweet.

[James]

Jim ---- perhaps this input is coming a tad late, but I thought I'd give it a shot anyway. I'm thinking that some of your fans could be enlisted for support. After all, that's what we're here for! You mentioned in your initial post that there was a sign posted on a wall, so I assume that patrons are in a position to read the sign. I'll also assume that the owner/manager spends some time in the room. If these assumptions are correct, I picture the following scenario: (with any number of modifications, based on validity of assumptions)

A couple of fans make it a point to be seen reading the sign, wearing obvious expressions of distaste. After a time, they approach the manager and ask to "speak with the manager." Upon being informed that they *are* speaking with the manager, they ask if they are reading the sign correctly with regard to new "taxes" on the players. After quietly listening to whatever bull the manager may have to offer, they inform him that they have been regular patrons and have spent mucho $$ in his establishment ----- but NO MORE!!!

Of course this approach would require a *bit* of acting skill on the part of your fans to avoid appearing staged, but I know I could pull it off and would in a heartbeat. Regardless, I hate hearing stories like this --- please keep us posted on what happens with this.

[A. Kingstone]

Start charging them extra for bringing you instruments to the gig.

Demand time and a half for breaks.

[Adam]

GA got it right, I think. But couch it nicely. Confrontation usually just defeats your purpose, except when threats do the job.

"Hi, we just realized that we've been playing at $650 a show for X months. But expenses have gone up for us - gas, rehearsal space, electricity, union fees, licensing fees. We need to raise our weekly appearance fee to $800, but given how much we bring you at the door and the bar, we're sure that won't be too much trouble. Of course, if you prefer, we'll take $785 and not pay those silly ASCAP & BFI fees."

[Soul Stream]

...just a thought...when isn't the local bar pulling some crap. B-)