Musician Forum - Band Discussion Board - BandMix

I was trying to get a better slot for a festival I'm playing and was offered the top slot (9:00 pm)on the B stage rather than the 3:30 slot on the A stage. I declined and stated that we are an A stage act and though I appreciate the offer no thanks. I thought I was polite enough and have been talking with the producer somewhat regularly, and have in fact been promoting the hell out of the show (I expect a heavy showing of fans). well it turns out that he moved us "down" to the 2:30! this is a rough one on me because I now, and have since childhood, drag my ass out of bed around 3:00 pm. I'm traveling for over 3 hours to the show and am getting not a dime for doing it! (it's a benefit) and it's going to break me for a couple of months. (now I'm whining) One of the reasons I accepted the show was the promise that there would be several A&R reps attending. thats another reason I want the A stage P.A. also it is supposed to be recorded on Audio/Visual. anyway would you have accepted the B stage (and the B - P.A. and crowd) or taken the same stage, PA, and crowd as the Headliners in an afternoon slot?

Sounds like you're dealing with a real ACEhole, Hayden. I think it's all about an individual's point of view. Headlining the B stage is better than being a lost in the middle on the A stage-just my opinion. Then again, while I understand that the equipment may be better on A than on B, I'm not sure what the difference is in the audience-unless you are referring to actual size.
I do get the point about the Audio/visual, but then again, you seemed to be expecting a lot from a charity event. Seems like you got a bunch of empty promises...
Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but you're indignation at be put in with the "B" stage bands, and having to deal with THAT audience seems a little prima donna to me. I don't mean to offend ya, but maybe you can see that, from the producers' point of view, you may have come off as a little pushy.
That being said, if you are talking about the guy I think you are talking about, his actions don't suprise me. Watch out, or he'll end your music career! He came off to me as completely unprofessional.
Caveat Emptor.

Dude.. You're crazy. 9:00 pm on the B stage is way better in my opinion. Bands generally project better at night. It's a better vibe. Plus by that time EVERYONE'S drunk!!! Just like the chicks that look better when you're drunk, bands sound better too!!! (More women flash their boobs at 9:00 than 3:30 too).

Prime time is prime time. If you are an A-Stage act, then it wouldn't matter. Tool was on the B-Stage during their first Lalapalooza. Didn't take them long to end up on the A-Stage on the same tour. They just rocked their slot and let the rest take care of itself.

yeah I can come off as a lil pushy! and Yes thats the guy (the same one I took up for on here). I know it's "cool" to play the B stage and yes it is a better crowd at night, but since he has both stages going at the same time I think I may have wound up with nothing but the "cool" crowd! it's supposed to be video/audio taped as well and I dont think it's a big enough deal to spend for both stages being recorded. of course I could be wrong, I often am! the main reason I am there is for the A&R reps!!! you can say I'm a primadonna if ya want, hell I dont mind a lil rubbin now n then. the fact is I have a lot of material and I'm already getting some attention from the biggies! I know what I have, just dont know sh*t about how to do anything about it. I'm not tryin to be a "rock star". in fact I'll do what I can to avoid that! I'm just trying to get some exposure for my music. I understand that he can have a bad day or be a lil fukd up (cant we all) but I still think it's a lil shitty to drop me a slot after I've been announcing us at 3:30 for over a month and have been promoting the show just as long! nonbody knew it was happening till I started spreading the word! all I can do is go there and try n kick some ass and hope he's not fulla sh*t!
thanks for the responses peeps!

Till our fingers bleed my brothers
WE ARE ALL ONE

Hayden King wrote: the main reason I am there is for the A&R reps!!! you can say I'm a primadonna if ya want, hell I dont mind a lil rubbin now n then. the fact is I have a lot of material and I'm already getting some attention from the biggies! I know what I have, just dont know sh*t about how to do anything about it. all I can do is go there and try n kick some ass and hope he's not fulla sh*t!
thanks for the responses peeps!

Hey man.. I've been around my share of A&R reps. It doesn't matter if you're on A or B stage. You'll be looked at regardless. Plus.. There's always this thing where people think A&R people are Men In Black like.. Suit and tie, all business. If you so much as sneeze wrong they'll break you and write you off. And I've found more times than not that A&R people used to be really good musicians themselves at one time. I've met more than a few that were in national touring acts at one time or another. Don't be surprised if some tattoo'd pierced up scraggly looking dude walks up and says he's a rep., because in a lot of cases you can't pick them from a crowd. (And by the way... Keep in mind that there are women A&R reps too.) Also, the ones I've known in the past will get WASTED when they're at a show. Drunk, stoned, on pills, they're just there to have a good time too. No different than a regular person in the crowd.

My advice to you would be to not care very much that reps will be at a show. It can mentally f**k you up. If you focus too much on that it usually affects your performance. It can cause you to focus on "not f**king up", and guess what 9-times out of 10 will happen?? And then you can let it stress you out during the rest of the song and it shows, and snowballs.

Just get it out of your mind man.. There are no A&R reps there. Just a crowd to have fun with.

Also, in my opinion. Looking at things with an open mind, and objectively, Ace wasn't screwing you over by offering you a 9:00 slot.. That is prime time. That's a prime slot for any major band as well. 8:00 and 9:00 slots are golden. Just keep that in mind in the future ok.

Yeah, Hayden, I understand where you're coming from...You have worked hard to get where you're at, and you take pride in that. You want to market your material under the best possible circumstances-I can respect that. "Primadonna" might have been a little harsh-my bad, man.
Anyway, best of luck to ya. Just go out there and make it happen!

I would definitely have accepted, with gratitude. That's a great spot in a great slot, or verse visa.

I would have accepted.

Here's an old phrase to keep in your head at all times: "Any press is better than no press".

I'd take advantage of any and every opportunity I could to get my band exposed to people. If my goal was to get signed, I'd play anywhere - anytime.

Here's another thing to think about: A&R reps find it hard to ignore a fan base. And the only way to create and build a fan base is to play and put on great shows. You can't do that if you're not playing.

[quote]I'd take advantage of any and every opportunity I could to get my band exposed to people. If my goal was to get signed, I'd play anywhere - anytime. [quote]

I agree! and I am playing it, on the A stage...
here's the deal....he has a "cover band" in that top slot on the B stage, A johnny Cash impersonator in the #2 slot on the A stage, and my original act (with a major producer lookin at me) in the next to the bottom slot on the A stage! he has a guy with a myspace with 45 fans on it going on "after me"... I have 3000 and nearing 16,000 plays (12,000 in the last 2 months) I've promoted the hell out of this show and that will hopefully get me some supporting fans there. I've done all I can do except go up there and show em what I've got. it's costing me $600 to do this show and I'm a broke ass singer/songwriter. the real thing for me is the few thousand people I worked my ass off to inform of me being on @ 3:30 may wind up missing my show. it's just not possible to re-contact all o those people. hopefully it'll all work out.

wow! I just quoted myself.....and I am unanomous in that!

say what you mean, mean what you say.

ie. if they say it and they don't mean it, it's "down the road vagrant".

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Its been some time since the disasterous Fund in the Sun music festival. And I must say, some fun rumors have started about me and my company, mostly by hayden, who, for all his promoting, brought 1 paying fan. You people talk like you know something about the music business, let me tell you a little about the music business;

The fund in the sun was put together between myself and a partner, who I am currently in litigation with. Everything was in place, turner (those in the midwest who are in the know, know who turner is) was going to do stage and lighting, budweiser was bringing the beer, an advertising blitz was going to take place, etc...now her is what happened;

Three days before the show, right after final payments were made to all the different parts of the show, stage, etc, budweiser requested a copy of the beer license and insurance. My partner, whose only function in this entire event was to get the generator and license, had not secured the license in his name, thereby invalidating the insurance. Budweiser backed out, and then so did my partner, who decided at that moment to take his share of the concert expense money with him and not help out. I found out on Thursday at 7pm about all of this. The concert was sunday. Because his half of the money was not available, checks bounced to the stage guy and confederate railroad and advertisers. Regardless of the fact that I came up with the money, turner backed out and refused to come to the show, so I had to find a new sound guy, which meant more money I didn't have. Long story short, I managed to come up with nearly ten grand and keep the concert on instead of having to cancel. Unfortunately, it was too late for the final advertising blitz. That saturday, when they found out turner wouldn't be doing the show, the people with suddenlink backed out of recording the show. At the same time, my partner made announcements that the concert was cancelled to many people that we expected to purchase tickets at the gate as well as the A&R reps that were to be there. All in all, I lost over 36 thousand dollars putting it together. I have very little sympathy for the prima donna, hayden king, and his loss since his 45 minute sound check is the reason I had to cut an act from the show and the reason I had to cut him short. It never would have happened with turner cause they would have kicked him off the stage. Considering most of my staff and all of my original plans were a no show at the concert, I would have to argue that I held it together pretty well. Even when I am successful at the end of my lawsuit, I am still out about 17k, so I retain the right to call it my stage, and I don't really care what anyone thinks of me based on one show. I was not run out of the State of Florida, as hayden said in another post. If there is anything else anyone needs to know, please ask, I am not so stressed now as I was when I over reacted to some of the stupidity in these forums, so lets talk about it. Even hayden admits that the few who did come to the show had a great time, the Johnny Cash Experience was not a flop, in fact, it got better reviews than confederate railroad. It is people like hayden king that are the reason most concert promoters that allow local bands on their stages require them to sell tickets first.

@Ace Entertainment wrote:Its been some time since the disasterous Fund in the Sun music festival. And I must say, some fun rumors have started about me and my company, mostly by hayden, who, for all his promoting, brought 1 paying fan. You people talk like you know something about the music business, let me tell you a little about the music business;

The fund in the sun was put together between myself and a partner, who I am currently in litigation with. Everything was in place, turner (those in the midwest who are in the know, know who turner is) was going to do stage and lighting, budweiser was bringing the beer, an advertising blitz was going to take place, etc...now her is what happened;

Three days before the show, right after final payments were made to all the different parts of the show, stage, etc, budweiser requested a copy of the beer license and insurance. My partner, whose only function in this entire event was to get the generator and license, had not secured the license in his name, thereby invalidating the insurance. Budweiser backed out, and then so did my partner, who decided at that moment to take his share of the concert expense money with him and not help out. I found out on Thursday at 7pm about all of this. The concert was sunday. Because his half of the money was not available, checks bounced to the stage guy and confederate railroad and advertisers. Regardless of the fact that I came up with the money, turner backed out and refused to come to the show, so I had to find a new sound guy, which meant more money I didn't have. Long story short, I managed to come up with nearly ten grand and keep the concert on instead of having to cancel. Unfortunately, it was too late for the final advertising blitz. That saturday, when they found out turner wouldn't be doing the show, the people with suddenlink backed out of recording the show. At the same time, my partner made announcements that the concert was cancelled to many people that we expected to purchase tickets at the gate as well as the A&R reps that were to be there. All in all, I lost over 36 thousand dollars putting it together. I have very little sympathy for the prima donna, hayden king, and his loss since his 45 minute sound check is the reason I had to cut an act from the show and the reason I had to cut him short. It never would have happened with turner cause they would have kicked him off the stage. Considering most of my staff and all of my original plans were a no show at the concert, I would have to argue that I held it together pretty well. Even when I am successful at the end of my lawsuit, I am still out about 17k, so I retain the right to call it my stage, and I don't really care what anyone thinks of me based on one show. I was not run out of the State of Florida, as hayden said in another post. If there is anything else anyone needs to know, please ask, I am not so stressed now as I was when I over reacted to some of the stupidity in these forums, so lets talk about it. Even hayden admits that the few who did come to the show had a great time, the Johnny Cash Experience was not a flop, in fact, it got better reviews than confederate railroad. It is people like hayden king that are the reason most concert promoters that allow local bands on their stages require them to sell tickets first.

Who gives a rat's ass?? Really... You deserve everything you get... You were on an intense ego trip and it got the best of you I honestly don't think you're gonna find any sympathy from members on this site as many have been reamed repeatedly up the ass by idiots in your position.... Like I always say.... Karma's a bitch!!

LOL....word