Premier Rock Forum

Does anyone have contacts of booking agents
or DIY organisations that might be interested in
working with an instrumental-pop-lo-fi-French-band ????

in other words, i'm looking for some contacts up there
in order, eventually, to tour canada and/or Quebec in Sept 08.

any help will be appreciate...


www.myspace.com/wearecrevecoeur

I would recommend touring Ontario and Quebec where the population is fairly densified and driving distances are relatively short. Compared to a tour of the vast expanses of Canadian wilderness, you could tour for 2 weeks in the Ont./QC corridor and play nightly, then return to the airport in Toronto or Montreal for your return flight to Europe. In contrast, the Western provinces require 6 to 10 hours of driving per day to get to the next show, which is kind of a grind. I don't know much about touring the Eastern provinces but assume that they are simmilar to the west - few shows, long drives. Now before any other Canucks bite my head off, I will say that yes, those other provinces have cool people hungry for good touring bands, and you'll have some good shows, but the driving there ... is hell. My recommendation - stick to Ont. and QC for the first tour. Maybe delve briefly into New Brunswick as well which has a large francophone population .
For instance, all of these cities are within a couple hours (give or take) of each other...
Detroit, Windsor, London, Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph, Toronto, Kingston, Ottowa, Montreal, Quebec city. That's 10 shows right there.
The question is...how ambitious are you? are 10 dates enough?

I agree with the previous post. Many bands just hit these two provinces, as everything is condensed here. It also helps that you're French around here obviously (in Quebec).

Check out www.montrealshows.com for booking here in Montreal. Put a message up there, and a band should get back to you about joining you for a show.

Thanks a lot for those precious advices !!

i just want to clarify that, even if we are French, our music is
total instrumental, no singing at all...

about our ambition, well, we are not that much, it's just that we
love travelling and meeting new people.
and as French audience don't like us or don't give a shit about us,
that's why we spend more time playing in the UK, Belgium, Switzerland...

basically we just love travel/and play....but that's for sure that a 10 hours driving can be kind of a "ambition killer"

i will try the contact, but do you think that i have to book it myself via internet, or keep on looking for a agent or a band making it for me ??
also, i don't know what are the basics conditions for a gig up there ???
food ? accomodations ? guaranteed money ??

Here is a partial list of bars to contact. I would recommend doing a Google search to find the website or Myspace page for each. I'm too lazy to provide the links. Disclaimer - I have only played in Windsor and London myself, so I cannot verify the quality of the majority of these venues. They are however popular stops I've heard about from other bands. Maybe some other folks can chime in on what bars on this list are good or bad, or offer alternative selections. Best of luck with your booking!

Windsor - the Coach and Horses, the Phog Lounge

London - Call The Office, The Wick Tavern

Guelph - Ebar, Vinyl/Jimmy Jazz

Hamilton - Casbah Lounge

Toronto - The Boat, The Hideout

Peterborough - The Spill

Ottawa - Babylon, Zaphod Beeblebroz

Montreal - Barfly, Casa Del Popolo

Quebec City - Le Bal De Lezard

For Toronto, I'd recommend contacting the people behind Wavelengths which is a cool weekly event.

Toronto is such a big market it might make sense to play a couple shows here at the start and end of your tour.

Now Magazine and Eye Weekly are the two entertainment papers which have listings for almost all the shows in town: it'll give you a good sense of the venues.

Exclaim is a national music paper and widely read. Be sure to send them your CD for review which should generate interest in your band. They also put on occassional shows.

Good luck.

steevzee wrote:
Montreal - Barfly, Casa Del Popolo

I second both these choices, although Barfly's soundsystem isn't top notch (it is a really cool venue though).

Casa is owned by the Godspeed! you black emperor bassist, and it's pretty awesome there in terms of sound/location/atmosphere.

I would go with Casa as your first choice.

chet wrote:Barfly's soundsystem isn't top notch (it is a really cool venue though).

Soundsystem? They have a soundsystem in that place? I haven't heard an electric band there that didn't sound like deafening shit.

chet wrote:Casa is owned by the Godspeed! you black emperor bassist, and it's pretty awesome there in terms of sound/location/atmosphere.

I would go with Casa as your first choice.

Casa is the best, and get the goat cheese sandwich.

A BIG thank you to everyone !!!
i've tried some leads you gave me and
i already have offers !!! that's amazing ! i love internet !
(the best one is to play support for a living legend in Toronto !)

anyway, can someone tell me what can i expect /ask
as terms and conditions ???
Food & accomodations, guaranteed money ??

also i have an offer from a booking agent who offer me
to book me a tour if i give him 15% on each gigs,
is that a good deal ? is it common ?

thanks for your advices !

madmanmunt wrote:

chet wrote:Barfly's soundsystem isn't top notch (it is a really cool venue though).

Soundsystem? They have a soundsystem in that place? I haven't heard an electric band there that didn't sound like deafening shit.

Yeah, I was trying to be nice. It doesnt sound good in there if your band plays anything remotely loud. I just like Barfly so much and have seen so many good shows there (maybe more than any other venue), that I felt like I could never badmouth it.

Go with Casa; if that doesnt work for you then let us know.

Yeah, be sure to get the sandwich. That place is amazing.