In an interesting turn of events the remnants of two old bands have reformed recently and I'm gigging again!
We had our first practice on Saturday and we have had some interest through word of mouth and as a result we have three gigs lined up already.
My question is: how much do we charge?
We're going to use a pro sound engineer for the larger two of the gigs so we need to cover his costs (around £200) but we're at a loss as to what to ask for...
Were a covers band with a somewhat fragmented following across the last decade or so.
Cheers!
Comments
Around my way the range is probably £250 -£500 for the absolute top notch bands that are known for pulling in the punters.
By using the sound guy you've already cut a huge chunk of your fee away, but to get going for the first couple of shows it might be worth it just to let someone else worry about that part of the operation.
If you ask around some of the other local bands about pricing and venues that have live shows they are usually happy to talk about it. Never hurts to keep up with others and share info like that.
Within a few months you will have a fair idea of what you can ask in you area. If your doing it for fun you still don't want to be losing money on shows. Some pubs know people love to play and try to take the piss a bit.
In the summer I'm involved with a couple of festivals that are scaled to 400 - 500 people and we pay the headliners around £800 and the supports around £250 to £300. That's with a bit of budget from the brewery as well as ticket sales though ... if your organizers are on ticket sales only the money might be tighter.
If in doubt though shoot for £500, if they think that's way too much ask them what the their budget is and your see if you can do it cheaper for them. Otherwise you might ask for £250 and they might have been well prepared to pay £400
That took her by surprise but she paid it
We're doing 2 x one hour sets
Allow extra money for going above and beyond your usual repertoire - e.g. you may allow 2 x 1 hours as your regular set, charge extra for a third set. I've done a few gigs recently with 3 x 1 hour sets and we have charged accordingly. At first it seems a bit unfair - after all, we would have just been sat down twiddling our thumbs between sets for that hour if we hadn't been playing, we didn't put in any extra time as such....but fronting the band as singing guitarist, I can tell you that extra money was well earned!
Stipulate minimum requirements regarding gear/ performance area etc - Especially relevant with outdoors shows where you need a proper sheltered, waterproof area with safe mains power.
Set a cancellation policy and stick to it. Whether it be "50% of full fee is due if cancelled less than 14 days prior to the date" or whatever.
£200 - £300 for pub gigs.
£500+ for functions if setting up in the evening, but certainly more if it's a set-up in the afternoon then clear-off type event.