Gig Etiquette & How To Avoid Pissing Off Promoters
After our Uprising Festival I was having a frank conversation with some people from the scene about various ‘pet hates’ that they each of us had encountered over the years when running shows. As a way of helping young bands to avoid some of these pitfalls, I thought I’d take a few moments to jot down as many as I could remember, so here it goes…
A checklist of things that will probably stop you getting booked by promoters:
Being rude overly pushy during the first contact / emails / social messaging stage.
Agreeing to play a show and then forget that you did months later (ie. reneging on a commitment).
Cancel a show because something better came along, because you mixed up your dates, or because it simply became inconvenient / you don’t fancy it anymore. If you hope to have a future in music, only cancel shows for serious, unavoidable reasons (illness, hospital appointments, funerals, unforeseeable clashes with work, or other major personal reasons). ‘Something came up’ is simply not good enough, and you’ll never get booked again.
Not doing any promotional work / re-sharing the promoter’s social media posts once or twice and thinking that this is enough work to get real fan support down, or thinking that someone else is going to bring the crowd on the night (tip: they probably won’t).
Asking questions about basic gig information when it was all provided in the pre-gig ‘Agreement’ that was sent to you, and that you returned confirming that you had read it.
Turning up late for or missing soundcheck (unless agreed in advance, or if you just can’t help it).
Making last-minute / overly complex / unrealistic technical demands of the sound engineer.
Being rude to the sound engineer
Attempt to take the piss out of the promoter, not realising that you are speaking to the promoter or that he/she is in the crowd (classic).
Not bringing the right gear that you need to use (if it isn’t already part of the house backline), or failing to agree a sensible kit share in advance.
Leaving your gear & cases in a big mess offstage or in the wrong place inside the venue.
Arriving just in time for your own set.
Not being respectful of gear that another band has shared with you (this is a particularly effective way to piss of the other bands).
Not bringing any meaningful fan support (having more bandmembers than fans in attendance is a bad sign, as it shows that you are not really ready for shows/have poor support/failed to do enough promo work/are playing too often in one area).
Trying to blag your girlfriend/mates as ‘free entry’ for the show by saying that they are really photographers/roadies/guitar-techs/managers. I’ve heard it all. Unless they are really your manager, a pro or semi-pro photographer or a genuine A&R, please try not to do this. By lying about free entry tickets, especially at a DIY show like the ones we run, you are literally robbing yourself and the other bands of their proper door takings. This might be different at bigger shows with cheap lists / guest lists, but it’s not something we do.
Not clearing your gear from the stage in good time ready for the next band (tip: enjoy the ‘post-performance moment’ afterwards, and off-stage).
Not clearing your bottles, cups or glasses of water from the stage.
Spilling your drinks on stage / leaving drinks on top of amps.
Not having the courtesy to watch the other bands on the bill after they have watched you.
Disappearing elsewhere with all of your fans as soon as your own set has finished.
Playing multiple shows in the same town, the week before/after a pre-arranged gig (unless by prior agreement), then saying ‘sorry I was playing somewhere else last night and I’m knackered / my voice is shot’.
Not being respectful of the other bands/promoter/sound engineer/venue staff generally, or thinking that your own needs are somehow more important than someone else’s.
Bringing your parents - sometimes this is unavoidable if you’re in a very young band or they help to manage you, but as a general rule it’s not great for your overall image or for that of the show.
I genuinely hope that this will help some bands out there, and it’s not meant to be deliberately negative, even if it comes across that way at first instance. While putting on a first-class performance is always the most important part of playing a show, all of these other little lessons are also very important if you want to keep getting booked for shows.
Ultimately promoters are normal human beings who work very hard for little or no money, and they do see (and remember) which bands genuinely care about the night, and which don’t.
Cheers!