Here's a bit of a rant. I am not going to name anybody or venue involved here for the time being, but something happened at a gig over the weekend which really irked me and for which I felt the need to voice my opinion (something we Pro-musicians rarely do for fear of being bad-mouthed and branded "difficult to work with"). This incident involved a venue manager and payment. Sad thing is that it was at a venue that I have played at many times with different bands and have built a relantionship (semi-formal-ish) with said manager over the last 5 years. The end result of what happened after our gig is that I have now been informed via another band member that I will never play at the venue again because of my "attitude". To tell the truth, I couldn't care less cos losing this 1 gig every 3 to 4 months at the place is not gonna make me bankrupt. What pissed me off, is the fact that I feel I didn't do anything wrong and this manager guy, after being caught out, feels guilty and is employing the "outta sight, outta mind"-tactic. Here is the lowdown of what went down:
The Diamond Dogs were booked to play at this venue. The standard deal at this venue is that the band takes the door revenue and venue gets 15% of the takings. So band gets door money minus 15%. Perfomance duration at this venue has always been 2 x 50 minute sets with a 30 min break inbetween. Starting time normall at 21:00. Entrance fee was R80 per person.
Now, I am always weary of door-deals, but as mentioned before, I've played ther before with various bands and it always turned out well.
About 40 minutes before the starting time, I was having a smoke outside and chatting to the manager (who was manning the door). He told me we should start a bit earlier and finish at 23:15 cos the place was packed-out and people kept asking him when the band was going to start. I said ok and went and informed the rest of the band. Everybody was happy with this cos this meant we could have an earlier night than planned.
So, the proceedings started and we kicked arse. 1st set done. 2nd set done. At 23:05, we played our last song and said good night. Band walked off stage at 23:12-ish, 3 minutes earlier than discussed.
Then, while I was standing at the bar, an audience member came up to me and offered the band R3000 to play an extra set. After making sure he wasn't bull-shitting and making sure it was cash (and not a promised EFT, cos we've been caught out like that before.), we cleared this with the manager (who incidently was super-keen cos it would mean more bar-revenue for him) and proceeded to play another 40 minute set. All done. Everybody happy.
As we were busy striking, I went to the office to sort out our money. As usual, the manager counted out the gross takings from the door infront of me and I verified it. He then got out his calculator and worked out his 15% and deducted that. Then he gave me the balance. Everybody happy.
No. He then asked me about the R3000 we got paid to do the last set and said he wants 15% of that. This was the moment that I realized he was trying to pull a fast one. I knew beforehand that the guy who made the deal with us, was somebody who booked a table of about 30 people and he had paid a R3000 deposit. This deposit he got back from the manager as the evening progressed and he was having such a good time that he offered that to the band to keep on playing. In my mind, the manager/venue had no claim to any of that money cos that was a seperate deal made between the band and a patron and we cleared it with management beforehand.
In a very diplomatic way, I said to the manager that I do not feel that it's right and that it was a seperate deal made with the band citing the above reasons. His retort was "But I booked the band......". I replied "In al honesty, any other venue or manager could have booked the band, so that's not a reason.".
I then said, ok let me go talk to the rest of the band and see how they feel. After discussing this with the other 3 guys in the band, we decided to give him 10% just to keep the peace. I went up to him and gave hime R300 and said that we do not feel it's right, but here's a "peace-offering" anyway.
I then packed up and went home. After I left, he went and spoke to the other band guys (who was still there) and bad-mouthed me etc.
Now, my question is this. Was I wrong in standing up for what I believed was right or should I just have nodded and said "Ok thank you boss, anything boss..." in order not to step on any toes or close any doors or burn any bridges.
Rant over. Any opinions on this would be appreciated.
The Diamond Dogs were booked to play at this venue. The standard deal at this venue is that the band takes the door revenue and venue gets 15% of the takings. So band gets door money minus 15%. Perfomance duration at this venue has always been 2 x 50 minute sets with a 30 min break inbetween. Starting time normall at 21:00. Entrance fee was R80 per person.
Now, I am always weary of door-deals, but as mentioned before, I've played ther before with various bands and it always turned out well.
About 40 minutes before the starting time, I was having a smoke outside and chatting to the manager (who was manning the door). He told me we should start a bit earlier and finish at 23:15 cos the place was packed-out and people kept asking him when the band was going to start. I said ok and went and informed the rest of the band. Everybody was happy with this cos this meant we could have an earlier night than planned.
So, the proceedings started and we kicked arse. 1st set done. 2nd set done. At 23:05, we played our last song and said good night. Band walked off stage at 23:12-ish, 3 minutes earlier than discussed.
Then, while I was standing at the bar, an audience member came up to me and offered the band R3000 to play an extra set. After making sure he wasn't bull-shitting and making sure it was cash (and not a promised EFT, cos we've been caught out like that before.), we cleared this with the manager (who incidently was super-keen cos it would mean more bar-revenue for him) and proceeded to play another 40 minute set. All done. Everybody happy.
As we were busy striking, I went to the office to sort out our money. As usual, the manager counted out the gross takings from the door infront of me and I verified it. He then got out his calculator and worked out his 15% and deducted that. Then he gave me the balance. Everybody happy.
No. He then asked me about the R3000 we got paid to do the last set and said he wants 15% of that. This was the moment that I realized he was trying to pull a fast one. I knew beforehand that the guy who made the deal with us, was somebody who booked a table of about 30 people and he had paid a R3000 deposit. This deposit he got back from the manager as the evening progressed and he was having such a good time that he offered that to the band to keep on playing. In my mind, the manager/venue had no claim to any of that money cos that was a seperate deal made between the band and a patron and we cleared it with management beforehand.
In a very diplomatic way, I said to the manager that I do not feel that it's right and that it was a seperate deal made with the band citing the above reasons. His retort was "But I booked the band......". I replied "In al honesty, any other venue or manager could have booked the band, so that's not a reason.".
I then said, ok let me go talk to the rest of the band and see how they feel. After discussing this with the other 3 guys in the band, we decided to give him 10% just to keep the peace. I went up to him and gave hime R300 and said that we do not feel it's right, but here's a "peace-offering" anyway.
I then packed up and went home. After I left, he went and spoke to the other band guys (who was still there) and bad-mouthed me etc.
Now, my question is this. Was I wrong in standing up for what I believed was right or should I just have nodded and said "Ok thank you boss, anything boss..." in order not to step on any toes or close any doors or burn any bridges.
Rant over. Any opinions on this would be appreciated.