Advice on paid cover sets in pubs

raindog.promo · 01-02-2009 3:30pm #1

Hey folks,

I was speaking to a foreign singer/songwriter recently. He has perfect english and does a lot (especially Irish - Damien Rice, Dempsey, Frames etc) of covers.
He was talking to me about playing a few gigs over here for about a week, only wanting to make enough money to keep going and get home.

I suggest he do cover gigs in pubs/venues that would pay him for his time and get opening slots with other bands to play his own material (or slip one or two originals into a covers set for pubs and vice versa for opening sets).

My idea at the moment is for him to send over a demo of him doing covers and send copies to pubs with a covering letter stating he is looking for one-off (presumably) paid gigs.

I reckon Temple Bar would be the best place to start.
Does anyone have any advice in general and in particular the name of good pubs inside and outside of Dublin, whom I could approach?

I have a feeling that it would be easier to get paid gigs outside of Dublin.

Any advice much appreciated.

Stephen! · 01-02-2009 8:16pm

The Slaughtered Lamb in Swords is a good place to start. Pay is about E500, about a 2 hour set, from about 10-12. You have to bring the PA yourself, but theres a place across the road from teh lamb where he can rent a powermixer, mics, leads and speakers etc for E50, it's called Waynes Music World or something/

raindog.promo · 01-02-2009 11:02pm

Thanks for the info Stephen! much appreciated.

Any more info from fellow boardsies much needed too.

raindog.promo · 08-02-2009 12:00am

I've also been hearing that there are companies which provide musicians to pubs to do cover sets, although I'm not too sure. Anyone else ever heard of / worked with these?

craiginireland · 08-02-2009 12:50am

raindog.promo wrote: »

I've also been hearing that there are companies which provide musicians to pubs to do cover sets, although I'm not too sure. Anyone else ever heard of / worked with these?

They're called booking agents

raindog.promo · 08-02-2009 12:51am

Nice one. You're a pal.

rusty999 · 08-02-2009 3:41pm

raindog.promo wrote: »

I've also been hearing that there are companies which provide musicians to pubs to do cover sets, although I'm not too sure. Anyone else ever heard of / worked with these?

I'd say you mean music agencys
Go to google and irish music agencys and theres a few there.
Rusty

craiginireland · 08-02-2009 4:11pm

raindog.promo wrote: »

Nice one. You're a pal.

Sorry didn't mean to sound rude... They're called booking agents and if you get the hotpress yearbook you'll find a huge list of them..

raindog.promo · 08-02-2009 4:42pm

Many Thanks to both of you. This is the first time I've tried something involving cover sets so really have no idea how the scene/situation works. I'll get looking into that.

*Excuse the perceived sarcasm, I did actually go checking out booking agencies when you first mentioned it. I posted pretty much the same post on two other forum sites and got no reply on one and a jokey reply on the other.

Not that they're in anyway obliged to answer, I'm not complaining. But is it the done thing over here not to do cover sets? I would imagine there's a lot of it going on in the tourist areas, I just haven't got in to town to check it out yet.

rusty999 · 08-02-2009 5:23pm

raindog.promo wrote: »

Many Thanks to both of you. This is the first time I've tried something involving cover sets so really have no idea how the scene/situation works. I'll get looking into that.

*Excuse the perceived sarcasm, I did actually go checking out booking agencies when you first mentioned it. I posted pretty much the same post on two other forum sites and got no reply on one and a jokey reply on the other.

Not that they're in anyway obliged to answer, I'm not complaining. But is it the done thing over here not to do cover sets? I would imagine there's a lot of it going on in the tourist areas, I just haven't got in to town to check it out yet.

Nothing at all wrong with covers if thats what you do. Christy moore was covering songs for years until he became better known and even then he still does a few as well as some of his own. but thats a different story
Do a demo of some kind to let venues know what you do.
Do plenty of leg work-you cant beat it as a promotional tool
But if your more of a singer/songwriter then you may be aiming at different type venues and the Live Mike nights are a good way to be heard in certain places
Hope this helps
Rusty

rusty999 · 08-02-2009 5:28pm

Ahhh , Just re read your original post ,
Sorry , you have a friend who is looking for gigs
Does he have a Myspace page?
If he has let me know and i will have a listen
thanx
Rusty

davylee · 08-02-2009 7:38pm

good point raindog. musicians and bands have to look into this. Publicans will always try get the deal they can, obviously. I've had several publicans say to me recently that other bands have contacted them bringing their fee way down just to get work. This is a huge problem. Where will it stop? My answer was "get them while they're cheap, they might put their price back up soon".
I no the best way to combat this is make your band worth paying the extra money by bringing in new faces and keeping them there but that effectively means if you have just one bad night the publican can pull the plug saying it's costing to much.
I just worry how bad it's gonna get.

craiginireland · 08-02-2009 8:59pm

The best advice for covers bands i can think off right now is:

a) avoid dublin. Theres no Demand for cover bands in town unless it's niche (metal/trad) even then there will be a higher supply than demand so a basic rule of economics is you won't get paid that much.

b) The current economic situation means that alot people are gonna start a pub band for extra money.. This includes established bands who have done quite well over the years. These are your competition, If you're lucky enough to get a paid gig, - know your stuff. If you f**k it up by playing badly - there will be a diffirent band there next week.

c) don't go for huge big sets and rigs that will fill up half the pub, 4 or 5 people + sound/lights guy is enough. In saying that -it's your job to look professional...
The less space you fill - the more punters the pub can fit in.

d) if you're going to use an agent remember that agencies take a percentage usually 15-20%. Also remember the VAT /Tax thing too

Zeppelin · 11-02-2009 12:08pm

Hi,

Would anyone know what an experienced Pianist should be charging to play at Weddings ? Any information would be helpful.

Regards,

raindog.promo · 11-02-2009 7:50pm

Don't hijack my post dude.

smlt · 11-02-2009 8:47pm

Following on from this discussion, could anyone recommend a booking agent for the Dublin/ greater Dublin area?

I am also a musician with own PA system and acoustic guitar...I play in a band at the moment, but would like to do my own thing part-time.

Advice on paid cover sets in pubs

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