I'm sure some of you have come across a few show offers with 'ticket limits' where the band has to sell X amount of tickets or they owe the venue the difference.

We've been offered a slot at the "Hollywood Rock Convention" at the Key Club - a venue we typically avoid - it's not our scene and the idea of our noisy and primitive punk rock band playing there sounds.. weird.

This guy's sales pitch is pretty good though, telling us this about the show is going to be crawling with A&R and label people, etc, and promises us a good slot. Everyone else in the band is pretty skeptical, but I'm kinda on the fence. What say you guys?

Sounds about bullshit to me, but then again, I think the entire pay to play thing is bullshit, flier gigs, pre-sale ticket... all bullshit and wrong.

Punk at the Key Club? Hmm.

How many tickets are you responsible for?

Nina wrote:Sounds about bullshit to me, but then again, I think the entire pay to play thing is bullshit, flier gigs, pre-sale ticket... all bullshit and wrong.

Punk at the Key Club? Hmm.

How many tickets are you responsible for?

I think 30. At fifteen bucks each. Ya, I'm a jackass. We haven't committed to it though. Looks alot more ridiculous on a monitor screen, I must admit.

Sounds like a rotten deal. You'll probably end up playing in front of a bunch of people who don't like your band to make money for a set of twats who make bands pre-sell tickets.

A&R and label people....do you care? Are they going to be out looking for a 'noisy and primitive punk rock band'? I doubt it somehow. Personally I'd stay well away from all that bollocks.

Do you know 30 people you can dump the tickets on?

A friend on mine did one of these things at the Roxy a few years ago. They ended up paying the Roxy like $250 at the end of the night. I was at the show along with like 20 other people, that was it.

I think a lot of places operate in a similar fashion here in L.A. Where do you guys normally play? Have you looked into venues in Orange County? Like the Dolls Hut? I believe they still operate with some morals. Not sure if Linda is still running it, but it used to be a good place. Mad Parade still plays there, which leads me to believe they don't charge because I don't think Joey would pay.

Edit: Tommy is right. Well put, sir.

tommydski wrote:Sounds like a rotten deal. You'll probably end up playing in front of a bunch of people who don't like your band to make money for a set of twats who make bands pre-sell tickets.

A&R and label people....do you care? Are they going to be out looking for a 'noisy and primitive punk rock band'? I doubt it somehow. Personally I'd stay well away from all that bollocks.

Yea, that's what I figured. I think I just needed some reassurance. Listening to some of these other bands that're playing it, it occurred to me that it doesn't make much sense at all.

A&R and label people....do you care? Are they going to be out looking for a 'noisy and primitive punk rock band'? I doubt it somehow.

That's what I was thinking--how does it benefit you guys to have industry douches at the show? Unless you think theyr'e working for companies where there's a mutual interest (ie, they'd want you, and you'd want them).

Nina wrote:Do you know 30 people you can dump the tickets on?

A friend on mine did one of these things at the Roxy a few years ago. They ended up paying the Roxy like $250 at the end of the night. I was at the show along with like 20 other people, that was it.

I think a lot of places operate in a similar fashion here in L.A. Where do you guys normally play? Have you looked into venues in Orange County? Like the Dolls Hut? I believe they still operate with some morals. Not sure if Linda is still running it, but it used to be a good place. Mad Parade still plays there, which leads me to believe they don't charge because I don't think Joey would pay.

We've never done a pay to play thing - I doubt we ever will, this was just a particularly compelling one. But I'd say of all the places we've played, the only one we LOVE is Mr T's bowl in highland park. Best venue in la, imo.

newberry wrote:

A&R and label people....do you care? Are they going to be out looking for a 'noisy and primitive punk rock band'? I doubt it somehow.

That's what I was thinking--how does it benefit you guys to have industry douches at the show? Unless you think theyr'e working for companies where there's a mutual interest (ie, they'd want you, and you'd want them).

What I really want is someone else to pay for us to record an lp. That'd be swell. Pipe dreams, I know.

Mr. T's has "showcase" type things, don't they?

Just get out and play. The more you play blahblahblah.

LA is a tough area though. So many bands etc. O.C. has a pretty decent need for bands. Fullerton area around the campus has some good spots that draw a decent sized audience, as does Anaheim.