General Music Chat

Slacker, I can see your points, but although he says this is his job. He doesn't make much of a living off of it. He's not a total bastard. I just think he doesn't think about how he treats the rest of the band sometimes.

Let me give you another part of this story.

2-weeks after that show, he decided to bring one of the opening acts back. Our band didn't want to play the show. We had one coming up 2-days later at BB Kings. It's not cool to promote a show, then have the same crowd NOT show up at the next one if they're within days of each other. BB Kings pays us $400 guaranteed, $600 if we play 3-hours.

He BEGGED us to play his show anyway. We said no. We didn't want to piss off the other promoter. That's good steady guaranteed money, not to mention fat on our resume. Then he came to us close to his show date and told us that he'd already told our fans we'd be playing HIS show. He didn't promote it openly on Facebook or put us on his flier. But he sent personal invites through Facebook to our fans saying that we were playing. That way the other promoter couldn't see it. So we were forced into a dilemma. Do we let down our fans??? Or play the show?

We played the show.

The show didn't have the turnout he expected.

He paid the out of town band $200 (less than promised), another local band $200, the door guy and sound guy $100 each... Haleamano-- $.00 and he said that he lost $300. He didn't "intend" for that to happen, but he called on the band to sacrifice for him and we did.

By that math 60 people showed up at $5 per head. It's a freaking WED. and a lot of our fans just got through showing up two Wednesdays before that to see 2 of the same bands, and we just got through playing the HOB a few days before his show.

We sacrificed for him. He started the show late, and put us on last. We didn't hit the stage til 1:00 am. There were about 20 of our fans left, but we didn't disappoint them. We played anyway. And made $.00.

So it's not like he hooks us up with killer shows all of the time. Just the one so far.

Having only read the OP, I'll try to address the issue at hand.

If he is using the band's name to promote himself, he should be paying the band for the use of thier name.

'Nuff sed.

I wouldn't call his solo work "band promotion" by any stretch of the imagination, although, if he's really good, it doesn't hurt ya.

Sounds to me more like he's using the band name to promote himself, though, & not the other way around.

After paying the band for the use of the name, though, the rest of his money's his to do what he wishes with it.

I'd tell him that it will cost him 10% of his earnings for the use of the band's name, & leave it at that.

It shouldn't be that big of a deal.

Slacker, I can see your points, but although he says this is his job. He doesn't make much of a living off of it. He's not a total bastard. I just think he doesn't think about how he treats the rest of the band sometimes.

Let me give you another part of this story.

2-weeks after that show, he decided to bring one of the opening acts back. Our band didn't want to play the show. We had one coming up 2-days later at BB Kings. It's not cool to promote a show, then have the same crowd NOT show up at the next one if they're within days of each other. BB Kings pays us $400 guaranteed, $600 if we play 3-hours.

He BEGGED us to play his show anyway. We said no. We didn't want to piss off the other promoter. That's good steady guaranteed money, not to mention fat on our resume. Then he came to us close to his show date and told us that he'd already told our fans we'd be playing HIS show. He didn't promote it openly on Facebook or put us on his flier. But he sent personal invites through Facebook to our fans saying that we were playing. That way the other promoter couldn't see it. So we were forced into a dilemma. Do we let down our fans??? Or play the show?

We played the show.

The show didn't have the turnout he expected.

He paid the out of town band $200 (less than promised), another local band $200, the door guy and sound guy $100 each... Haleamano-- $.00 and he said that he lost $300. He didn't "intend" for that to happen, but he called on the band to sacrifice for him and we did.

By that math 60 people showed up at $5 per head. It's a freaking WED. and a lot of our fans just got through showing up two Wednesdays before that to see 2 of the same bands, and we just got through playing the HOB a few days before his show.

We sacrificed for him. He started the show late, and put us on last. We didn't hit the stage til 1:00 am. There were about 20 of our fans left, but we didn't disappoint them. We played anyway. And made $.00.

So it's not like he hooks us up with killer shows all of the time. Just the one so far.

LOL

That is not stalking.

Often users are not total bastards. They cant be because it runs off their prey. It is usually an subconscious behavior as well, not an intentional one.
You have an opportunity here Shredd6.
Your initial intuition was dead on, go with it !!!
If you don't ... a manipulator can easily lead you to disastrous results.
You obviously don't smell the danger.
It fairly reeks from where I sit.

That's sleazy stuff.

REMOVE THIS GUY IMMEDIATELY FROM ANY BOOKING DECISIONS!

He is NOT professional, making a bad name for himself, not just with YOUR bands, but other bands. For some bands, these are CAREERS bro, not games and jokes. TRUST is essential, in working circuits where clubs and agents and promoters know one another!

I have been avoiding saying to replace him as a keyboardist, cause this should be a separate issue, until he proves otherwise on the performance level.

But effectively booking the band without asking?

WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!

Get him AWAY from serious band decisions. He will f*ck you all, whether he means to or not. He can vote like anyone else. Get this power he is grabbing, AWAY from him.

You will be surprised, that the more PROEFESSIONAL your band takes this, the higher you will go, and the bigger you will appear, and the more money you will start making.

I played battle of the bands, like anyone else, and did very low pay or no pay events AT FIRST. Just to get my band's feet wet. But after a couple months, that was history FOREVER. We started being more selective, having a difinitive base rate, and talking the SH*T out of ourselves, to clubs, fans, agents, everyone!

And after a while, APPEARANCE becomes reality.

Stop selling yourselves short.

You are the best f*cking reggae band there is.... PERIOD!

Work hard. Believe it. Everyone else will too!

You should approach your band and say... "We are either going to be locally successful to a set number of fans, and stay on that level FOREVER, or we need to start acting PROFESSIONALLY now, ALL OF US, AS A GROUP... and take this thing WHERE IT CAN GO!

OK.

I was wondering, why doesn't someone else in the band go to the places HE booked after the first gig, and make the future deals with the club owners yourselves. That would cut him out of using your band.

By the way, I do think he was greedy. No doubt about it.

He sounds like a con man. But in this day and age, the temptation to make an easy buck, even at the expense of the people you know is pretty big to some people. (I was going to say friends... but a friend wouldn't work it the way he did)

I know of bands here that had that pulled on them. But they went to the club owner and told him to contact someone else in the band for future bookings. Problem solved. Unfortunately greed is part of the human nature, too big a part for some people.

But I would do what the band here did. Remove the temptation by talking to the owners of the clubs and having them contact you directly for bookings. He isn't the band leader is he? If so, a sit down with speaks to him might remedy the situation. I would sure tell him how disappointing his behavior was to the rest of the band. Behavior like that will cause irreconcilable differences between band members. I'm so nasty that I would leak it to the band that he ripped off. What's fair is fair.

Although I have to stand by the fact that what he got wasn't part of the deal with your band, the other band should have a go at him for his ripping them off.

I wouldn't put up with it at all in the future. What 's done is done. It's a new page. This is a good time to change the way bookings are handled for your band.

It wouldn't hurt to ask the gig booker at the club what he agreed to pay your band before taking another one of his bookings. You just can't trust guys like that, and a friend would never do that to his friends.

Easy to solve...cut him loose. This will only get worse (based on my personal experiences). He's probably not going to agree to pay for the services you are providing for HIM (equipment, transportation, etc).

Believe me. My last band got six free performances from me thanks to one guy who was doing exactly what your guy is doing (ironically also a keyboardist).

Drop him and threaten to break his frickken kneecaps if he continues to use the bands' name.

oooo, them keyboarders are so slick & sleezy!

oooo, them keyboarders are so slick & sleezy!

OOOOO Patellae fracture, VERY painful.






I like it !!