Hi board. I am hoping for some feedback on a band booking issue I recently experienced. I’m very upset about it, but I want to make sure my inexperience in the way the music industry works (it’s been a while since I’ve really been heavily involved in doing shows) isn’t skewing my reaction….
Here’s what happened:
My band was asked to open for a storied ska artist at a popular local venue. We are a ska band, so opening for some of the originators of the musical form really excited us.
The show is on Sept.13. On about August 20, we got an email alerting us to the fact that we were on the bill. The email included a long list of backline requirements. Because of how the list was worded, it was unclear to some of my bandmates whether we’d need to provide the equipment.
It was pretty clear to me, and I decided to look into renting or borrowing a drumkit, because mine is not really up to snuff for a professional touring act. I wanted to make sure they had what they needed. I emailed the club promoter on Aug. 23 to ask if the club had a house kit, or if he could suggest a company to rent a set from. That same day, our guitarist emailed to ask about the backline requirements and whether we needed to provide gear.
My email went unanswered and my guitarist’s email and subsequent follow up messages got non-commital responses like “I’m looking into it.”
Yesterday, less than a week before the show, after we had done a good deal of work promoting our appearance, we emailed him again, and he responded: “Unreal. Locals share gear with touring national and international acts. Never, ever vise versa”
So, we went about to make sure we had the equipment we needed. I emailed the promoter myself and asked him if he received my first email about the drums. He told me he had no house set, and gave me contact info for a local rental company. I told him we would provide backline. When I called the company, they told me the promoter had already reserved gear for the show.
Within a half hour, he sent us an email saying we were removed from the show. His email included an email chain he had with the headlining band’s management, that showed that he recommended we get the boot. The email correspondence further showed that on Aug. 23, the headlining band asked that he put us in touch with them directly to discuss gear and to get a contract to us regarding the backline. He never forwarded this to us!
So we were booted off the bill, even though we persistently asked him about equipment sharing, got no response, didn’t get put in touch with the headliner per their request and always maintained that we would do whatever was asked of us to do the show. Not only that, he slagged us to the headliner’s management, calling us embarrassing and saying that we had a total lack of experience.
I have played shows over the years off and on. I know that there are, indeed industry standards for gear sharing with a touring band. But I also know that each situation is different and clubs and bands need to negotiate and agree on how the show will be pulled off.
I guess my question is: what do you do in this situation? I am so bummed out! The promoter was dependent on us providing the backline, but he has no problem footing the bill now that we’re not playing the show. He insulted us behind our back, blaming is for our lack of professionalism, when in my opinion, he dropped the ball. I sent him a polite email detailing this, and he said that he was sorry and that he would make it up to us….but why should I trust that?
What I am grappling with is the balance between personal, professional and hobby areas of my life. I can see getting upset about my family or personal issues. Ditto things that happen on the job. But I never want to be upset about my musical hobby!
If you have read this far, congratulations---thanks for letting me vent. Did my band get what we deserve because we're novices, or did we get burned? can i do anything about it??