Would YOU Hire This Band For Your Club?

[Guitar Dave T]

Seriously. You're a club owner (try to force yourself into what may be a strange mindset for many), and you've just been given this "very live" demo to review.

http://www.revivaltheband.com/RevivalDemo2010.mp3

In the past, we've gone the costly studio demo route, providing club owners and private party buyers with fancy, over produced demos that don't sound anything like we really sound live; capturing none of the energy transfer between the crowd and the band from a live show, and none of the inspirational muse we feel when we're in front of a crowd.

I recognize this demo probably won't get us into a lot of higher-pay, top-40, "A" rooms, but having played those in the past, that's not really our bag, as the demo demonstrates.

Thanks for listening!

[Texsunburst59]

Originally Posted by Guitar Dave T

Seriously. You're a club owner (try to force yourself into what may be a strange mindset for many), and you've just been given this "very live" demo to review.

http://www.revivaltheband.com/RevivalDemo2010.mp3

In the past, we've gone the costly studio demo route, providing club owners and private party buyers with fancy, over produced demos that don't sound anything like we really sound live; capturing none of the energy transfer between the crowd and the band from a live show, and none of the inspirational muse we feel when we're in front of a crowd.

I recognize this demo probably won't get us into a lot of higher-pay, top-40, "A" rooms, but having played those in the past, that's not really our bag, as the demo demonstrates.

Thanks for listening!

If I were a club owner, I would not hire you guys based on this demo. It has the classic problem of having the vocals buried in the mix. I've always hated having ANYONE run our sound who was a bass ,guitar player or drummer who did NOT sing. They ALWAYS turn a mix to $h!T. The mix usually features the drums,bass, and guitar and usually in that order. I feel if you can't feature the vocals and have them front and center,then you have something you're trying to cover up. I really do like to hear a live mix of a band, but one where I can hear if the vocals can really hold their own.Just my .02 cents.

[WarrenZ]

Club owners will book any band, any band at all, who will bring an audience with them. Book a mid-week show and get 100 friends to show up. Thirsty friends. You'll be booked again.
It doesn't matter how good you are or how polished your demo is if no one comes to see you with spare twenties in their pockets.

[Bo Faulkner]

I'd hire you based on that.. Then I'd probably bug you to let me sit in on a few tunes!

[thewex]

i wish i had a 100 friends to come to every show!

but seeing as though my band just finished a studio effort and are hoping it is a route to more gigs, i would say "no this would not get you hired." haha

but truth is, i think as long as it looks professional, and sounds professional, and you're not a classic rock band trying to get a gig at a metal only bar it should be fine! it doesn't matter if its live or not. i don't think the club owners spend that much time analyzing crowd energy etc. i think they put it on for a few seconds, and if it sounds somewhat competent, and you've made them think you'll get folks in the door, you'll get a gig.

[Guitar Dave T]

Regarding the vocals, yes - low in the mix, not to hide anything, but just couldn't get the cheap stereo mic far out front enough to pick 'em up on the mains, but were generally too far forward to pick 'em up from the monitors, kind of a blind spot if you will. I disagree with shit assessment, but everyone's entitled to their own opinion, and I certainly asked.

As far as bringing 100 friends on a weeknight, no local band can do that these days in these kind of rooms, especially on a first night out. In our market here in D/FW, these are "b" rooms where the band usually gets $400 a night. These are rooms that feature a mix of blues and blues rock, or rooms that, in the past, have featured either straight blues or classic rock, but have seen attendance drop and are trying something different. These are rooms where if you can consistently bring 30-60 who spend money to a room that has already has its own 30-60, and then RETAIN a respectable percentage of the total crowd, you're usually going to be asked back.

If I could consistently bring out 100 friends, I'd buy my own club and hire myself as house band - the club has to have something to offer in exchange, and IMO, that something is SOME kind of built in clientel, along with a decent enough reputation as a live music venue that the band's fans will follow them there. These two club offerings usually go hand-in-hand.

At the end of the day, a club owner breaks even if he can sell 3 times as much alcohol and food as he's paying the band, so if we can make sure he gets $1,200 in cash register ring, he breaks even, which is generally enough to get asked back a second, but not necessarily a third time, especially if he likes your band to begin with. Remember, there are a LOT of bands that can't draw any crowd at all in the "b" room market space here, so we're lucky that we've been together for 5 years and have enough of a respectable following for most bar owners to make a respectiable amount over the break-even point when they hire us. If they can't after we've played there a couple times, then it's probably just not a good fit, and we move on.

And does the club owner spend much time analyzing the music? Probably not. In my experience, some do, more don't. In some cases, I'm more wary of those that do, because what motivates those guys is sometimes something I can't get a read on; In other words, saving money or increasing revenue I understand, but anything else makes me wonder. While some club owners who really like us have become great friends of the band, others who hired us based soley on talent sometimes try to get in our business too much with regards to playlists and presentation. And while some of that group have offered us some great advice, more than half of them seem to have no idea what they're talking about.

But back to the OP, I think Texsunburst59 probably had a better read on my question than I did, so let's make it, "Would you NOT HIRE this band based on this demo?" I believe, like WarrenZ and Dewex, that the Band Demo is not nearly as important as a band's track record for bringing and retaining a crowd who spends money, so let's look at it from the perspective of, "Is there anything about this Demo that you feel would sabotage a band's attempt to get work in local clubs?"

[Donbecker]

Dave, the group sounds great!

I agree the vox are too buried.

If you are going for a live demo, if your board has some seperate bus outputs ("subs") you could record the vox on one sub, and the band on the other, then just pan hard left/right and record off the board.

That way you've got a way to push the vox out front in the mix.

Otherwise, sounds great!

[chinstrap]

Hi Dave- the band sounds very good, but I can listen thru a poor mix and still hear the talent. Lots of club owners won't. Even for a demo for "B" rooms, I think you need to do a recording that does the band justice- Have a GOOD local engineer come out and mix the band one night, at least run a two track off the console and add a couple of room mics for crowd response- Should be a very minimal outlay and you have something that really lets people hear how good you guys really are- Luck!!

[Guitar Dave T]

Originally Posted by Donbecker

Dave, the group sounds great!

I agree the vox are too buried.

If you are going for a live demo, if your board has some seperate bus outputs ("subs") you could record the vox on one sub, and the band on the other, then just pan hard left/right and record off the board.

That way you've got a way to push the vox out front in the mix.

Otherwise, sounds great!

Agreed. Problem is these are small clubs that pay just enough for band members to go home with $100 in their pockets, so there is no budget for a nice board with someone to mix for us. Plus, for a $400 gig that runs 'til 1:30am, the goal is to minimize setup and teardown, loadin and loadout, so our "board" is a 600 watt Yamaha powered mixer strictly for vocals and sometimes kick. (25 years ago we did the monster PA and sound man route - never again. Since then, any gig that required that level of mix, such as hotel ballrooms or festivals, either needed to pay enough that we could sub contract all lights and sound, or they needed to provide their own sound system and tech). There are some clubs that provide sound systems, but in our market these are usually cover-charge-only clubs where guys our age can't really afford the low pay scale.

On the gigs where we don't run kick, I could record from the line out, though that would require a multi-track recorder to mix the levels between vocals and instruments after the fact, rather than the simple digital recorder we're currently using. We used to do that with a 4 track recorder in the 90's and results were actually pretty good. Plus you get just enough instrument bleed through from the vocal mics to nicely fill out the overall sound mix.

[Guitar Dave T]

Originally Posted by chinstrap

Hi Dave- the band sounds very good, but I can listen thru a poor mix and still hear the talent. Lots of club owners won't. Even for a demo for "B" rooms, I think you need to do a recording that does the band justice- Have a GOOD local engineer come out and mix the band one night, at least run a two track off the console and add a couple of room mics for crowd response- Should be a very minimal outlay and you have something that really lets people hear how good you guys really are- Luck!!

One of the bass players we use has a portable 8 track recording rig. We may pay him extra to come out early and record us the next time we play one of the better sounding rooms. Who knows, we may actually have a good night then.

[bc-cosmo]

You guys are clearly a very good sounding band, although I agree with the mix suggestions above regarding vocals. If I owned a club I would hire you.

Have you considered getting together a nice video EPK? You talked about audience interaction--I would try to capture some of that visually. Many (most?) people these days listen with their eyes. Just my $.02.

[KCWM]

I like it enough that if you were playing at a relatively local place to me in Lewisville, I'd come see you.

[FlyingVBlues]

I think that conceptually this is a good demo. My band has done something similar, and most club owners understand the difference between a live recording and something that is over processed with autotune, tons of compression and a lot of effects. With that said, I would re-record a live demo using proper micing techniques and mixing. Because the vocals are buried in the mix I think that the demo does a disservice to your band, which sounds pretty good to me. With the exception of a few TGP-type guitar geeks no one in an audience really cares all that much what the guitars, bass, or drums sound like as long as the instrumentation in the band is tight and cohesive, and plays with a groove that is danceable. But they do care about the vocals, and that should be the focus of your demo. I suggest getting a professional recording outfit that does on location work to do the recording and mixing. One thing I recommend for the recording is that you get your drummer to tune his drums so they sound punchier, and have him lay off the cymbals.

Also, I would think about song choice. Most bar/club owners or managers don’t care about music per se. What they do care about is that the bands they hire will draw people in, keep them in the venue, and that those people will spend money on food and drinks. You need to show the people who are deciding whether or not to hire you that you play songs that will make people dance, which is what will keep people in their venue and make the bar/club money. I think some of your songs on the mp3 fall short in that area. If you play what people want to hear the gigs and the money will come.

FVB

[chinstrap]

In my market $300 would get a guy to bring out a small mic compliment and a console with a snake, lots of the little digital guys rent for cheap, and get a two track stereo bus into a laptop with a recording DAW, plus a couple of channels for crowd mics. Keep stage volumes to a minimum to help the guy out. It's not perfect, but a rough mix from a real pro would probably be shockingly good/better. Get the tracks and edit them later yourself, or pay a local studio project owner to do it. I don't imagine you could have more than 500-600 total in it, and the benefits from having a good demo should pay off in better bookings and maybe a little more dough. If you have a strong draw and the locals already know the band, ignore this and continue on- My 2 cents.

[Simon]

I thought the Band sounded great!
If I was a club owner I would think the vocals did'nt match the caliber of the instruments though (A lot to do with the volume, and a non musician wont realize this).
Are there background vocals I'm not hearing?

On a demo, if the vocals are good they should be in the front as a rule.

Just my opinion.