DIY GUIDE - BOOKING SHOWS 101 - STEP 4: DAY OF THE SHOW

You’ve sent dozens of e-mails, printed and distributed hundreds of fliers and posted relentlessly on the Internet. Now it’s finally time to see if all your hard work paid off. There’s no reason that it shouldn’t (barring a natural disaster or something to that effect) and by all accounts the night will go off without a hitch.

Help is the first order of business. If you haven’t recruited a few friends to lend a hand for the night, you might be in trouble. Make sure they’re guys you trust and know won’t bail on you at the last minute because there’s going to be a lot to do.

Get in touch with the band at some point early in the day (if they haven’t already gotten in to town) just to touch base, make sure they know what time the show starts and where the venue is located.

Starting the show at a reasonable time is an important thing to do, especially on a weeknight. If you get started too late, things are going to run late and the last band will end up playing for the 15 people that stuck it out because they felt bad. Make sure that you’re at the venue an hour or so early to get everything set up to run smoothly. It’s a good idea to have the bands there around that time, too. That way they can load everything in, set up their merch and be ready to go before the doors open.

If you rented sound equipment, have someone relatively knowledgeable about that kind of thing there to help you set it up and make sure everything works. Make sure there are enough mic stands, extra cables and anything else that might break at some point. If time allows for it maybe do a quick sound check, but you can always do that as the night progresses.

Once everything is ready and people start lining up outside (or milling around the front door waiting for you to open it) have someone ready to take the money. Make sure you bring enough change to handle all the people that stopped and took a twenty out of the ATM on the way. Change is the one thing that’s overlooked a lot of times, so make sure you have enough. If you can, have someone standing by the door all night. That makes it easier for you to roam around and make sure things are running smoothly on the floor.

Once the majority of people are inside, have the first band start playing. Hopefully this happens sometime between 7 and 7:30. That gives enough room for each of the 4 bands to play for about 20 minutes, give or take. From my perspective, it’s always better for people to say “I wish you guys would have played longer” than to overhear someone say, “Geez, they played way too long.” If everything goes well, including 10-15 minute breakdown/setup time between bands, the show should be done by a little after 10, and you’re all cleaned up and out of there by 11 or so. This is the ideal schedule (as determined by me) but there are always exceptions.

Once the show is over and everyone is gone, it’s time to settle up with the venue and band(s). This is where things get a little tricky. Sometimes being in the presence of a lot of cash can cause people to get a little greedy. But if you want to keep doing this, it’s time to be honest. If the venue has a set price, I usually take care of that first. It’s best to keep the venue happy so that next time you want to book a show there, it’ll be a lot easier to convince them to let you use the place. If you develop a good rapport with them, you can keep doing shows as long as you want—and that’s a good thing for everyone.

Bands tend to be a little more understanding of money woes. If you promised them a certain amount, but came up just short after paying the venue they’ll probably be okay, especially if a lot of people bought merch. Ideally, the show will have brought in enough money to pay the venue and the band what they were promised, you were able to pay for the sound equipment and maybe even end up a few bucks extra.

If you do end up with extra money, there are a couple things you could do with it. If you give it to the band, they’ll be inclined to tell their friends to go through you when they need a show. Kicking back a little money to the local bands is never a bad idea, either or what I tend to do is put it aside and use it as emergency money in case the next show comes up a little short. You might have enough to do a little bit of both and hopefully that’s the case.

So there you go! You’ve put on a successful show. Now go home and prepare to do it all over again. There are bands waiting to play here.

DIY GUIDE - BOOKING SHOWS 101 - STEP 3: PROMOTION & PREPARATION

This is, admittedly, the easiest step of booking shows. All you have to do is spread the word.

First things first though—make sure everything is confirmed. Touch base with the touring band(s), venue and locals to make sure everyone is on the same page. Once that’s all taken care of start yelling from the rooftops if you have to.

Since the Internet is prevalent in the lives of pretty much everyone, some people have decided that good old-fashioned fliers are a thing of the past. Those people are very, very wrong. Even though it seems like everyone has a Myspace account or a Facebook page, there are those that don’t, and maybe those people still want to come to your show.

You don’t have to overdo it, but printing up a couple hundred quarter sheet fliers will cost maybe eight bucks and go a long way. Give them out to everyone you know, plaster school campuses, bus stops, record stores, coffee shops and anywhere else you can think of. It’ll take a little time to get all those places, but the end result will be well worth it.

If you have no idea how to make a flier, don’t worry. Photoshop can do wonderful things, but if you aren’t that tech savvy there are a number of other options. First, you could ask/beg one of your friends that know how to do that kind of thing. Or second, you could go old school. Print out the names of everything you need (i.e. all bands, venue, address, date, time and price) cut them up and glue them to a photocopied picture. Then photocopy that. Boom. You’ve just done it the same way people made fliers in the 80s and early 90s when only rich yuppies owned a computer.

Now, just start posting it everywhere you can—both in real life and on the Internet. The better job you do of spreading the word, the more people will show up and the more fun everyone will have.

If the venue doesn’t have sound equipment, you may have to rent some. Performance Audio or somewhere similar usually has everything you need for a reasonable price. You’ll have to pick it up, set up and return it, but it’s better than trying to find a professional sound guy to bring his own equipment. That usually costs three or four times as much. Securing sound is really the second hardest thing to do after finding a place to let you set everything up.

Once you have those and a good jump on promotion, you’re pretty much set and ready to go.

Tomorrow, it's all about what to do the day of the show and how to pull everything together.

DIY GUIDE - BOOKING SHOWS 101 - STEP 2: FINDING BANDS

Let’s assume that after following the brilliant instructions from Step 1, you’ve found a place that will let you have a show.

Now you need to actually set it up.

Booking touring bands can either be the easiest part or the most difficult—it just depends on how you go about it. If it’s your first show, it’s probably better to start off small, which means one band. One touring band will be plenty of work on its own. You don’t need to dive in head first on a 4-band tour package with contracts and guarantees that you probably can’t afford. The smaller the better and once you've got an idea of how things go, you can start moving on to bigger and better shows.

With the Internet (Myspace especially), any 5 guys with vague knowledge of how to play an instrument are able to cobble together 18 minutes for a set. They also think that since they have this 4-originals plus a cover song set, they need to go on tour. They don’t need to and you don’t need to book them.

You don’t need to go after big name bands, but don’t start with a band that no one has ever heard of either. Those mid-level road warrior bands that tour 10 months a year are a good place to start. They usually have something tangible to support (a full length, a new EP, etc.) and know how touring works. They’re going to make your life (and your first show) a lot easier.

One downside to booking shows is that once you’ve started doing them, it creates a snowball effect. Every single band that’s been together for 5 months (like the one mentioned earlier) is going to get in touch with you about setting up a show. In a small scene (like Salt Lake) be aware of how many shows can be supported. Sure, you’d like to help out every band, but doing 3 to 4 shows a week is going to take a toll on everyone and you especially. The more small shows you do, the less people are going to come. As much as they may love hardcore shows, a lot of people either can’t afford or simply don’t want to see one 4 days a week.

Start browsing sites of good bands and see if they have an open date. Usually a good place for a Salt Lake show will fall between Southern California or Las Vegas and Denver or Boise. Some bands are willing to drive through the night for a show on an off day and some aren’t. It never hurts to ask. Send them a message (a good rule to follow is to put exactly what you’re asking in the subject headline, i.e. “Salt Lake show on 3/10?”) to see if they might be interested. If they have a tour booked already, they may be down for another show to avoid the money they’ll lose/spend on a day off. They may want to spend an extra day in the warm weather, but it never hurts to try.

If you can avoid dealing with booking agents, do so. If you have to, you have to, but bands have to pay the agency a portion of the money they make off a show booked through them. If they book it themselves, they keep everything. That’s always a little bit extra incentive. Booking agents also really like contracts, which for DIY shows are never a great idea.

A lot of DIY bands will be happy with whatever you give them, but to put them at ease, just be up front with them. The best way I’ve found is to break it all down piece by piece. Once they’ve agreed to play and set a date, just give them a list of expenses.

The venue costs X amount of dollars.
I’m charging X amount of dollars for the show.
I’ll pay the venue first, and whatever is left over after I’ve paid for expenses like water and fliers, you guys get.

Even easier, “80/20 split in your favor after expenses, which total X amount of dollars.”

Bands like that kind of thing. They like to get an idea as to whether or not the show will be worth traveling to.

Once you have a touring band, you can add a few locals to the show. One headliner and two local openers give the touring band a great spot right in the middle. Four bands is the perfect amount for a show (especially on a weeknight) so try to not overdo it. You don’t have to be a jerk, but have some common sense when it comes to shows. Don’t say yes to every band that wants to play because you'll end up with 8 bands on a show that no one is going to stick around for.

Next up is promotion, preparation and all the other fun/stressful stuff that comes along with booking shows.

DIY GUIDE - BOOKING SHOWS 101 - STEP 1: LOCATING A VENUE

So you want to book a show, huh? Well, we want to help. Between Dan, Sias and myself, we’ve set up dozens of shows all over this fair city. Unfortunately, we don’t have much time to commit to it anymore, but we’d love to offer up our insight and see if it can’t help inspire someone from the next generation of Salt Lake hardcore to take up the task.

Booking a show can be the most fun, or the most stressful, thing ever, but it’s almost always worth the hard work. The beauty of this guide is that it not only applies to hardcore shows, but also to any kind of DIY event. Let’s get started.

Finding a place to hold shows is always the hardest part. With Salt Lake City’s finest cracking down and enforcing nonsensical and poorly clarified laws, some businesses are scared to risk paying fines for ordinance violations. But there are some that would love to help because everyone loves a good live show -- and as a small business, $100 or so for a couple hours of racket can make a big difference.

Look anywhere (and everywhere) for a space big enough to hold a small crowd. It doesn’t have to be huge, and it most-definitely doesn’t have to fit the mold of what most people consider to be a "venue." I’ve played shows in shacks in the middle of junkyards, the driveways of pizza places, abandoned hotels, college auditoriums, church utility rooms, skate parks and tin-foil covered basements. With a few honest-to-goodness clubs here and there, too. Try and think outside the box when it comes to looking for new places.

Dozens of shows have taken place in SLC with the help of small, local businesses. It can be a daunting task, because you will be turned down more times than not, but eventually, if you stick with it, someone will say yes. [See: Baxter's Coffee, Artopia, Wild Mushroom Pizza, The Black Box, Uprok, Red Light Books, Undergroundz Coffee, Connections Skate Park, Wagstaff Music, New Hope Center and Tower Theatre, for proof.]

Here are a few things to remember:

1) Be friendly and professional. You don’t have to be a suit-wearing business man by any means, but at least be respectful. Tell the owner that you’d love to rent out a space to hold a concert. Explain that you're accepting small donations for touring musicians and that the venue will receive a slice of the pie. Or, hold benefit show! Not only are they a great service, but some venues love the idea of "doing some good."

It may take some convincing, but stick with it. If they say no, don’t get angry and tell them where to stick it. They may change their mind and be willing to help in the future. Provide them with your contact info and thank them for their time.

2) It’s okay to exaggerate a little bit. Even if you’ve never booked a show before, tell them you have. It’s a little white lie and they might be more inclined to work with you if they think you know what you’re doing. Don’t tell them you used to run a booking agency or anything outlandish, but a simple, “I’ve booked a few shows here and there before but the places either closed down, moved or changed owners. I’m just looking for a way to get some local bands a little exposure,” will go a long way.

3) Confidence is key. Act like you know exactly what you’re doing. Telling a potential venue that you’re willing to pay them a portion of proceeds usually sweetens the deal. It gives struggling businesses a little extra incentive, too. If it’s a coffee shop, tell them that you’ll give them a flat fee, but there will be people there to buy drinks and snacks all night long. Business owners generally look at the bottom line above anything else. If it helps them pay their bills, they’re interested.

The key is to be diligent and to not get discouraged. Keep trying and eventually you’ll find a place.

Once you’ve got that down, everything else is a piece of cake in comparison. Like most things, the first step is always the hardest. But once you’ve got that, it’s pretty much smooth sailing from there on out.

Tomorrow we’ll look at the best way to actually put a show together. That's when we get to the fun stuff.

*Ed. Note - I broke this down to four parts, and if anyone has any advice to add (that maybe I forgot), drop it in the comments. I'd like to try and make this an awesome comprehensive guide for anyone that wants to try booking shows. Salt Lake needs more of them.