Tanz Cafe "open mic night" 6 April

IceCreamMan

I popped off to this last night , Tanz run them regularly and i go now and again but nowhere near often enough. Tanz is a brilliatn venue and should be appluaded and supported for their involvement in local music.

40 ront gets you in , 30 if you on a guest list.

I always enjoy these evenigns cos its a pot luck ,like a kid with a lucky packet you just never know what you gonna get however you are always generally pleasantly surprised and last night was no exception. All the bands were good ,some very nervous , but generally all good but the pick of hte bunch for me was a band called Book of Thieves...wow they were awesomely good. Look out for them.

All in all a pleasant evening , a couple of beers , some good conversation and an evening filled with great music.

MIKA-the-better-one

I think what you refer to is the Wyplash Tanz showcases.....
I shall have ot say it quite bluntly..... Its a badly organised event in my opinion, and firther more not very profitable for the bands...
Bands only take R10 of the R30 you pay when you are on their guest list... They dont know until the day what time slot they are playing, AND they cram about 6 bands into one evening....
I have worked with some of the organising peoples involved int the past, and occasionally do now, and I struggle with the whole thing...
Tanz is a great venue though...... maybe swing through next week wednesday for the same event :/ :?

IceCreamMan

MIKA the better one wrote: I think what you refer to is the Wyplash Tanz showcases.....
I shall have ot say it quite bluntly..... Its a badly organised event in my opinion, and firther more not very profitable for the bands...
Bands only take R10 of the R30 you pay when you are on their guest list... They dont know until the day what time slot they are playing, AND they cram about 6 bands into one evening....
I have worked with some of the organising peoples involved int the past, and occasionally do now, and I struggle with the whole thing...
Tanz is a great venue though...... maybe swing through next week wednesday for the same event :/ :?

to be honest i did not even know the bands make any money bu dont think any band should be there for the moeny , this is a chance to showcase the band in a "real" venue. Yes they do cram the bands in and each gets about 30 minutes or so. Not a bad concept at all.

Yes, the time slots could be better allocated cos the best band of the evening in my opinion played last when a lot of punters had left already but Tanz dont know who the best band is going to be i guess.

MIKA-the-better-one

I think bands should make some money, at least considering that you are paying R30-40 to get in, and Tanz themselves take none of that, they keep the bar money...
That money generally goes in one direction, and with very little organisation I dont know if that is fair...
Bands can showcase themsleves anywhere they want really, in my opinion..... The bohemian for example, as crappy as it is there, you can use there PA, and moniters, bring your own engineer, or hire one, take all door money and boh takes all bar money... Its a fair contract...
And resorting to the whole cramming thing :-\ 6 bands in one night, is not to showcase more talent, its to maximise profits, and I have seen it dont for years... there is little attention to details of the certain bands, I would much prefer a show where bands have been paired up more carefully and further the time taken to get setup properly. What you get with lots of bands is a rush to get each one on and off, a half hearted attempt on might say....
Again a decent show would not have more than 3 04 bands maximum, thus allowing bands to start at 8pm and not be pressed to finish before 2am.....
I can appreciate the oppurtunity for bands who cannot gig everywhere or anywhere to have the chance, play a cool stage, have decent sound earn a bit of money.....But for what it is the organiser (which is not Tanz the venue) is lacking on morals and actual skill in organising a show...
Sadly what makes the situation worse is for bands like Book of Thieves (who I know and have gigged with) there are not many oppurtunities in jhb for them as a band, JHB in general as is PTA are going through a bit of a depression in local rock/alternative/indie (call it what you will) music.... Therefore they have to do shows where they know its a bit of a sour deal....

IceCreamMan

MIKA the better one wrote: Sadly what makes the situation worse is for bands like Book of Thieves (who I know and have gigged with) there are not many oppurtunities in jhb for them as a band, JHB in general as is PTA are going through a bit of a depression in local rock/alternative/indie (call it what you will) music.... Therefore they have to do shows where they know its a bit of a sour deal....

I guess some bands play for the love of playing , they may not be pro and have regualr jobs an all that.

BTW Book of thieves had 3 gigs this week .... speaking to the guitarist after the show they gig regularly.

MIKA-the-better-one

Yeh I expect they are some tough shows as well, like.. Tanz.
Speaking to them in the past I also gathered they want to do well, and gain a bit of momentum in SA...

PeteM

I agree with a lot of what Mika says. There is exploitation of musos going on, which is nothing new.
Are 'open mics' a blessing or a curse? Now that's a subject for another thread. (I don't want to hijack this one).

Keira-WitherKay

PeteM wrote: I agree with a lot of what Mika says. There is exploitation of musos going on, which is nothing new.
Are 'open mics' a blessing or a curse? Now that's a subject for another thread. (I don't want to hijack this one).

MIKA the better one wrote: Yeh I expect they are some tough shows as well, like.. Tanz.

as a pro i agree...... if a band performs and there's a door charge they should see the larger chunk ...... sure some must pay an engineer and gear hire(PA system which is ussually belongs to the venue) but a R10 take outa a R30 -R40 couvert is not cool.cos the ussual understanding is the venue makes it's money from the sale of food and drinks....... and then if the venue is not paying the bands a flat rate (like in most pro gigs) then the door should be predominantly the bands......

and YES too many people expect bands to play for the publicity and coin it themselves at venues ,

i did an orignal gig with another band in jhb venue where the venue was packed , we were supposed to get the door , but the venue appointed door person apparantly let 90% of peeps in for free cos they were regulars AND NOT ON THE BANDS GUEST LIST , and the bar was at capacity and did great takings and we (THE 2 BANDS ) got next to nothing ...... I WILL NEVER PERFORM AT THAT VENUE AGAIN just out of principle..... it was a deliberate SCAM and amazingly venues offer open mics and competitions and artists actually line up to play for free.......

it's killing the local music industry cos venues have worked out they don't need to pay muso's they just hold these "events" which is supposed to be publicity for the bands..but it's just a way to fill their venues and get free entertainment..... and the scary thing is it's working ........ for the venues that is

IceCreamMan

food for my thought from the other side of the coin so to speak.

Keira ,in your scenario thats deliberate cheating and exploitation and agree with you 150 % ...

Question is , why do Tanz get a full line up if the bands are being exploited? if they (the bands) were feeling cheated then they just would not perform...nes pas? is it possible the bands are playing for someting other than money and is it possible they do not actually feel cheated?

From my angle (and i am gainfully employed writing contracts) i would play at Tanz for free.(problem is of course they dont want me too ..they happily pay me not to play)

Bob-Dubery

I don't think we should equate an open mic night at Tanz to a regular paying gig. I'm also not sure it's a true open mic night in the sense that you give an opportunity to anybody who walks through the door.

So it's a showcase gig, a chance to get better known. The return for the band is not just financial.

One of the posts higher up said something about 6 acts per night. Split that gate 6 ways and that's not going to be a lot of money - especially if the performers are bands and not solo acts (seems they are mostly bands).

Venues have costs too. Tanz needs to make a minimum amount of money each night to stay open.

I do concede that is tough for up and coming bands at the moment. They need to cover costs, but venues - who also have costs to cover - are prepared to pay only so much for a band that may be promising but is an unknown commercial proposition. At least, based on what I read here, Tanz aren't charging the bands for the opportunity to perform.

MIKA-the-better-one

I just wantto specify AGAIN..... Tanz does not setup this event..... it is a private company, that takes all door money.....
I have played good shows, and this Tanz showcase is not one of them..... ?Yes bands dont have to play them, but at the moment, for most bands in JHB a crap gig is still essential to keeping afloat.....
My band played it a weeks or two back...... with no other intention than to annoy a few people, and I was curious to see if it would be a good event....

Averatu

We considered doing the audition Monday night at the Blues Room a while back, so we went to see a friends band play. There where about 9 acts that night, we paid R70 cover, they eventually played at 2am to myself, my better half, the guitarist's girlfriend and the staff. Not cool. All the 'heavier' bands get pushed to the end of the list, and they saw no money. Even thou they kicked ass, they never heard from Blues Room again either.