I think Barney made some very important points here.

If a venue is willing to open their doors on their ONLY day off for a special engagement, then we need to really LOOK at the monetary numbers involved here. The club may or may not get any other patrons than us. So their sole income may rely on us. Can we provide via ordering some food and drinks enough money to cover not just them opening up the building (electricity, lighting etc.) but to pay the salary of any staff they needed to bring in for the day??

This is not about just US. We have to honestly look at numbers here. I can tell you from experience, that my father was a restaurant and nightclub owner and I grew up in the business and these bands and entertainers who continuously bitch that they are not being paid well enough, need to first look at themselves. Club's overheads are HUGE. It is not cheap to run a business or pay the staff AND bands and/or good entertainment unless you are generating one hell of a business. (Keep in mind that bad bands or entertainment can KILL your business too.) Many businesses have million dollar plus business loans or have multiple partnerships to help cover costs. (A full-liquor licence alone is unbelieveably expensive. I don't know how much these days but possibly upwards of $100K. Beer and wine licence is much cheaper but it is still costly).

What is boils down to is that WE and the clubs or venues are not against eachother. WE are a TEAM working together. That in mind, we as entertainers have to look at: HOW MANY PATRONS ARE YOU PERSONALLY PULLING INTO THE VENUE - whether on a gig or in this case for JPF or whatever?? Did you pull enough people to pay for yourself?? For instance, take a 4-piece band that charges $400 per night. That's ALOT of drinks to be sold. If you only pulled ten people in the house who each drank 3 beers, do you think that paid for not only your band but also all the staff's and manager's salary, the rent, the electricity, the monthly liquor bill?? I don't think so. You'd better be pulling at least 30 - 40 who are drinking and eating well. These are things that don't apply to JPF as a
"band working on a weekend" but it's some food for thought for ALL musicians out there and it IS applicable for Java opening on a Sunday for US. WE are responsible for our own promotion and product that we deliver.

Many of you are not aware that Bob Lever lost about $2K (yes, TWO GRAND) the other day out of his OWN pocket to put on that show we all enjoyed so much but was not remotely covered by ticket sales. I can relate quite well as you all enjoyed our portion of the show. Well being ethical employers, we did not expect some of the best musicians in Tampa Bay to come in and rehearse OUR songs to do OUR showcase for free or for rock bottom rate of $100/man for just show day. Shows that polished don't just "happen". It takes work. And it takes money. These guys were paid wages (and I mean decent ones) for ALL rehearsals AND for day of show!! So we ended up spending roughly $1500 out of OUR own pocket for what you saw the other night. (We opted to forego being paid by Bob to help cover the cost of the show and help him pay you guys who do not get to play paying gigs as much as we do. I'm not telling you this to pat us on the back, but to create a better understanding of numbers and what exactly BOB went through to make this show happen for everyone involved.) Good entertainment is not free. Someone ALWAYS pays for it whether the club owner or promoter or the band themselves. And as was evidenced the other night...the club does not always make enough to cover paying for it, so someone else like Bob does it out of caring for the music community or insanity!! (Bob, we're right there with you pard. Where's my white jacket. LOL)

In the end we all have to look at this from a give and take viewpoint.

We would not in essence be "paying for an audience" as Mike put it...it's more about "renting a venue" to ensure that their expenses for opening up just for us on their day off is covered! But that might only need to be in the beginning for a few meetings! IF we could grow it into some sort of an EVENT each and every month that was drawing people in the door who were staying and enjoying the show and buying food and drinks, then we could perhaps work out a deal where it was no longer necessary for us to pay for our own space because WE had generated a viable product for Java Junction. THAT is fair exchange.

Anyway...that's just my ten cents from not only a musician's perspective, but a business perspective as well.

Much Love to you all and thank you for speaking up here!
Cindy

[This message has been edited by Cindy LaRosa (edited 09-08-2005).]

Cindy Lucas
NORTH 2 SOUTH
http://north2southonline.com