There are few things that frustrate me like venues canceling. Friday night took the cake. We were scheduled to play a venue in Chicago. I called two nights before the show and confirmed load-in and showtime. We showed up right on time and were told where to load our equipment in. We got most of the stuff unloaded and Andrew walked on to the bus and says, "This is 21 and up." I was frustrated with that. We had people who had traveled to see us who were 20. Then he said, "they said Chris and Joe can't play."
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
How about we recap:
- NO contract or phone conversation I had mentioned this little gem of a detail
- The owner never said anything about this to our booking agent
- There was no mention of this on their website
- We were not patrons of the bar. We were a hired musical act paid to entertain
- They failed to even notify us until after we had loaded our equipment in
Then to top it off, the bartender said (direct quote and there are two of us that heard it), "tell him to take $150 to the corner and get a fake ID made."
So they will advocate getting a fake ID made, but they are going to hard nose this ridiculous rule of musicians hired have to be 21 to perform. That is wrong.
We drove 400+ miles from Ohio to play. Their response to their mistake after me and our booking agent tried for an hour to reach a compromise? "You want some shots?"
NO. I DO NOT WANT SHOTS WITH YOU.
Let me tell you what I want.
I want $170 to cover our gas and food. I want $200 for canceling a performance we loaded in and set up to play. I want $100 to cover the gas and food for my friends who drove from Wisconsin to see us perform. I want $100 to cover the merch we did not sell. I want $100 to pay our booking agent for booking this worthless show (that you canceled) and for his frustration and trouble of having to find us somewhere else to play at 9 pm on Friday night in downtown Chicago. I want $40 towards the wear and tear on our vehicle from driving down the terrible roads around your venue. I want $20 to buy milk and antacids. I want $3.00 to cover parking.
But for us, things turn out for the best. Our booking agent got on the phone and booked us at another venue down the street 2 miles. In 20 minutes, no less on a Friday night in downtown Chicago. So we took everyone who had driven, taken the train, and walked to the show and packed them in our bus. We shuttled the whole crew to the new venue, set up, and rocked out. The crowd response was awesome, the staff at the venue (Lilly's Rock Club) was so polite and accommodating, and the venue was so much cooler. And we finished off the night with Steak n Shake. Chicago = pwned like a noob.
Last night we played at our friends' apartment in Ypsilanti, Michigan. It was AWESOME! We showed up to great food, loaded in while people were showing up, played to a packed house, and had the best time ever hanging out after! Snowball fights, hot chocolate, discussing why I do not care for The Beatles. Then we went to church this morning with the girls who hosted it and hung out with them and some friends from last night. We went to an ice sculpture festival, which was awesome! We actually watched them do some of the sculpting!
Now we are on the way to Bryan, Texas. We tried to grab a show last minute in Tennessee on the way through, but it did now work out. So we are going to stop and hang in Nashville for a bit. I cannot wait to get to Texas for some good old fashioned barbecue!
http://www.facebook.com/paintmeirrational
Let's do this.
No comments:
Post a Comment