Re: Re: Re: shows all the time
Posted by DJ Rick on 2005-09-02 1:41:12pm
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:"other touring bands need not have shows for them set up here. "
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:for reals, if someone is boreing and generic and just plain whack, then dont set up a show for them.
If someone is excited enough about a band to set up a show for them, then it's fair game even if you think it's generic and boring.
I really don't think there are too many lame touring bands coming around these parts. I think the problem is more that more people are becoming jaded and overly critical.
There is a problem with certain local bands playing too often, but I don't blame the local bands so much as I blame the bored youth of Sacto and Davis for not starting more new bands. Remember how even though Sexy Prison didn't wanna play too often, it was kinda unavoidable because of the fact that they were the only Sacto or Davis band doing anything that was dance-accessible, noisy, and weird. (I guess that could also describe Uberkunst, actually, but no one wanted to clean the floor after their shows.) So, of course, when a touring band that was dance-accessible, noisy, and/or weird came to town, the first band to get asked to perform in support of them would be Sexy Prison.
Eat the People has become the de facto weird psych band that gets tapped to play with every touring artist that plays anything similar. Different configurations of Living Breathing Music participants are also in high demand. Fortunately, though, you can configure them so many ways and thereby create local support for a wider variety of touring bands.
Bottom line is we need mew local bands, and a good variety of them.
As for how Davis shows do...
The big problem is that there's usually no real venue except for the UCD Coffeehouse and Tuesday nights at the G Street Pub. Actually, G Bar is more accessible for booking than I ever thought. Tim from Losin' Streaks knows the ins and outs and has been more than a few successful shows there for his band. But other than Tuesday, it's not usually a good venue for "our" kindsa musics, and it's 21+.
The Coffeehouse was so awesome in the 80's up til about 1992, but in the last couple years, the variety of bands has gotten better thanks to a couple new people that have ambition and know what they are doing. It could still be totally 400% better than San Diego's Che Cafe if there was more interaction between the Council and people like us who are in touch with bands....at least, that's my opinion.
UC-Davis doesn't go back to school 'til later this month, so trying to book something there for October or November is difficult to impossible. The Council doesn't convene until they get back to school.
I've got an inside track of Lightning Bolt in November, but it seems doubtful that I can hang onto the date long enough before it's possible to work something out on campus.
As for house-shows, there's less places this year than last year to book those. When Pirate House and Crunk House were going simultaneously, I think he might've been having more house shows in Davis than in Olympia...and damn near as many as Oakland! It was amazing. But it was also too good to sustain and Crunk House got evicted and Pirate House got intense cop scrutiny and neighbor problems.
Cops in Davis never seem to bust a show in progress until after 10:00, and usually not unless there's a large crowd gathered in front of the house. At DAM House shows, we manage the behavior of the crowd like school crossing guards, telling people where to stand and not stand. People are totally cool being shepherded actually, and cop appearances are very very rare here.
I wrote a "how-to" column for doing house shows last year based on our success secrets, but everytime a new house does a show, they let guests walk all over them and it draws cop attention. Charred Doghouse seems like the only other viable house right now. A new house on Cypress Street promises to be a good place for 10/29's Space Hawk show, but it also has an eyesore of a yard which probably draws ire from owner-occupying neighbors who wanna believe their houses are worth a cool half million despite the modesty of a 70's tract home. We'll see...
Donations at DAM House shows draw about an average of $2.50 per head. In the last year, the totals collected for touring bands have varied from $80 to $220. We raised $136 at last week's under-attended Business Lady/Silver Daggers show, but both bands said that it was the best house show they'd ever played and wanted to do it again.
At other houses, I've often been in charge of gathering donations, and it's usually far less...sometimes coming out to a dollar per head.
I really think that having free food and drinks at shows helps to spike the donation intake. People might chip in extra if they're saved a few bucks for food/drink. But then you have more cleanup and *YOU* wind up spending a lot of your own money, so it's really the house-party-hosts' call.
I don't recommend booking three touring bands for any house show in Davis or anywhere...short of an Oakland warehouse on a bill that's too good to deny. Grandma's House charges at the door now anyway, so that makes it rather like a legit venue. But in the days of passing the hat, touring bands playing Grandma's House were lucky to get enough money to afford a fast food meal for each band member...let alone a tank of gas to make it to L.A.
I'd like to think more shows can happen in Davis this year if there are more houses open to having a bimonthly party with bands, but it's not too likely. And I'd like to think that the Coffeehouse on campus will be more accessible to our best ideas like Lightning Bolt in November or Mae Shi in December. It's also the only real mid-week venue. And with the shows being free (at least for students, but usually for everybody), better-promoted shows get HUGE turnout. I mean HUGE!!!
G Street will never totally lose its Elimidate setdrop vibe, so it's probably best for rockin' bands or bands that actually wanna get a negative reaction.