It took us awhile to get into the legendary Central Tavern in Pioneer Square.
Our draw mainly came from up in the University District -- we weren't yet considered
a "downtown" band -- so it was a question mark as to whether we could pull a crowd
downtown.
The Central Tavern was fire-rated at 199, but that was just kind of a starting point.
A good night was considered 400 or 450 people, two and ½ times fire capacity
or so, and nights of 600 people rolling through there were not unheard of.
If you stood out front at the end of a sold-out show, it was hard to understand
how all those people could even fit in there. At the end of the night people would just pour out of the
door along with the steam and the smoke.
But if you did it right, you could sure make good club money. Doors of $2000
to $3000 were quite common. You could make some serious money there.
You will hear aspiring musicians bitching about not being able to get a weekend show.
But really, all they have to do is draw. I've never been one to believe it's the
club's duty to help bands create their draw; I believe the bands need to do it on
their own with parties and creative planning.
In a club, the door money usually pays for door staff, P.A. and lights, postering
or promo and the band. But it is the booze sold that pays the bills at a club. At that time an average person walking in a beer and wine joint would spend $6.
As in two beers. And an average person in a hard liquor joint might spend $10 or
$11 a head. So that is why it was so crucial to move the people through. It didn't
matter if they stayed, but get them in for a drink or two and if they moved on other
people would take their place.
The reality for us at the time was that we weren't absolutely certain that we had
the drawing power to justify being weekend headliners. We were not signed, we were
doing almost entirely original material, and we were not in a "honeymoon" period as far as draw.
But
we resolved to work harder and smarter than other bands in order to maintain weekend
status.
First off I always made sure to try and put together a decent co-bill, another band
with similar but a bit different draw. Down in Pioneer Square anyway, we usually took the
middle slot, the one about 11:00 p.m. seemed to be the best. So if I had a choice
we'd always take that middle slot.
|
© 2006 variantcause.com except where noted
|
