Promoting a gig

Easy Rod

Hi folks, anyone any advice on booking a band to play a gig and promoting it yourself? I’ve never done anything like it but I’m trying to think of ways of supporting A smaller band and getting them over here for a gig. They’ve not played Ireland before.

Wouldn’t want to make a profit from it.

Thinking of a venue like Whelan’s.

Literally no clue where to start and no idea of costs so any advice would be great! Obviously this is for when restrictions are fully lifted

Kilteragh

I would advise working with somebody else in the business to get experience first.

The opportunity to get absolutely rinsed financially abounds unless you know what you are doing.

Make It Real

Music is a tough business, more so now obviously and will remain so for the foreseeable future.

There is a hidden world of how things are done there, that you've probably even imagined. A bit like when you walk into a supermarket and see things and a simple, superficial level until you actually see behind the scenes!

Maybe get a flavour for it by contacting a few, independent promoters and see if they're open to a coffee and chat about their experiences.

I'd start with a homegrown act as it avoids all the travel, accommodation costs etc. Plus any band big enough to play here, will be charging in line with that too.

Hope this is of some help.

scudzilla

I was thinking the same some years back when in Wales, there was a pretty big metal band i knew pretty well and knew their manager , had a chat with him about booking them and he put it to me straight, he said i'd be liable for venue hire, security hire, insurances, some equipment hire, rider and a few other things, he didn't sugar coat it for me, basically told me to leave it to the professionals as for a 1 off promotion gig the risks were huge.
All had to be paid for upfront and i'd just have to hope i had the knowledge to promote it well and tickets sold in advance (can't rely on door sales)

Easy Rod

Easy Rod wrote: »

Hi folks, anyone any advice on booking a band to play a gig and promoting it yourself? I’ve never done anything like it but I’m trying to think of ways of supporting A smaller band and getting them over here for a gig. They’ve not played Ireland before.

Wouldn’t want to make a profit from it.

Thinking of a venue like Whelan’s.

Literally no clue where to start and no idea of costs so any advice would be great! Obviously this is for when restrictions are fully lifted

Your intentions are admirable and understandable, but given the bolded part you could be eaten alive.

Obviously it's the worst time now to attempt this, but in more normal times being an independent promoter is a huge risk. It's a constant grind and you need to have a financial cushion to take many of the hits which could come your way. Like, if you get to the stage of actually putting on the gig, what if you don't get sufficient crowd numbers? The band, their travel expenses, venue, insurance, most of the overheads still have to be paid.

I have experience in this as both a touring musician and someone who saw his friend get rinsed when he brought his favourite metal band to Ireland for the same reasons as yourself. Whatever about trying this with a small band from Ireland and a local venue, I wouldn't be trying to bring over an international band as my first foray into gig promotion. There'll be a reason why they haven't played Ireland before and I bet it's related to the financial risk vs reward.