Your Experiences Getting Fed On Gigs

I've never gigged but hoping to start some time in the near future, if I can get myself around people who are actually gig-worthy. This thread has taught me to pack my own food haha, thanks everyone for sharing.
 
green glass drum said:
Good thread. Great stories. But this stands out.
"Why do you think you deserve to eat from the buffet!?"........classic!
I would like to hear what the response was. Ouch...uncomfortable sitch...at THE GIG.
Red Balls (yeah nice name) Pizza place in LA. I saw that tiny stage when I got a pizza there. I went there to see that "stage."
I guess a 2 foot by 2 foot piece of plywood sandwiched between a hallway door and the counter. Not 2x2....but it was real tiny. The pizza was just ok.
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My response to the guy was, "We charged you a reasonable amount of money to play this gig, less than we would usually demand, because it was a fundraiser for a good cause, so that's why we deserve to eat from the this fabulous buffet. You see our bass player over there? He toured with The Beatles in 1966. You're going to tell him he has to eat a sandwich in the kitchen? We eat from the buffet, or we pack up right now and leave."

He went over to speak to the woman who booked us, and there was much animated waving of hands and heated conversation. She came back and sheepishly said, "OK, he said enjoy the buffet, but don't play too loud!"

We played and got paid.
 
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microkit said:
Also a nice area, I have friends from Wayne.
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Mendham is a very swanky town, for sure. That's why we were so disappointed with the scarcity and poor quality of the food served.

The Kootz used to play at the Black Horse Pub in Mendham years ago, on a very small stage. I remember we had to wait until they moved diners out so we could get equipment in. All the cars going in and out of the lot were BMWs, Mercedes, Audis, Corvettes, Cadillac Escalades, etc.
 
It happens occasionally.

An experience off the top of my head was when a previous band played at a club / restaurant that is situated on the same location of the famous ‘Marque Club’ in London.

We were all brought a fancy steak meal and drinks in the green room after our set courtesy of the venue, completely unexpected and unprompted.

Was one of the best steaks I’ve ever had. I remember looking at the menu and it was quite expensive.

Winner Winner, Steak Dinner

Made even better for our then singer being a vegan, and they rustled him up something too and the rest of us had his steak and sides between us.
 
free Yuengling drafts
for the band at the place I play locally.
One of those is Like a MEAL.
by the third or fourth you're seeing Santa Claus
 
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we never expect it, it is always appreciated though. Some venues give us free drinks, other dont too. we neve hold it against the venue either.
 
I may not get fed but the FED. always gets theirs.
 
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  • Haha
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hahaha so this just happened at tonights gig! came back from our break and this was waiting. They gave us each a plate w/BBQ chicken. It was a private club and they were eating twin lobsters and steak. we were not supposed to eat and never asked or anything. It was a great surprise. AND...they brought in a bunch of key lime pies at the end and gave us each a large piece of that too. I guess you never know!
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I managed country clubs for most of my 40+ year career after college and have played drums for over 60 years; I have been on both sides of this fence many times! As others have said, first and foremost, it needs to be specified in the contract and the logistics of it worked out a head of time. That would include what, where and when this meal will happen. If it isn't in contract and has not been discussed, all bets are off. At this point, both as a facility manager or a musician, it would be up to the person paying (or designated decision maker) as to if and what this looks like. I will say, as a manager, unless that person has approved it, no one is going through the buffet line until the host and guest have. That's not to say the band won't get to eat at some point but it shouldn't be expected if not agreed upon prior. Musicians/performers coming from the outside are independent contractors, no different than a plumber, electrician, etc.; we didn't normally feed them. As to the person who threatened to pack up and leave if not fed well..........I guess you won the battle for the day; not sure I would recommend that business strategy for the longer term!
 
I discuss the food thing early and often in the booking process. "Will there be food provided? Asking so that I can figure out gig day logistics on our end."

It's funny you bring this up because I negotiated a private event earlier this evening that had catering and agreed that a meal per member would be provided. Fast forward to day of, I sent a text once we got settled into our lodging asking "will food be out before our performance or should we have plates made so that we can eat post-gig?", to which the "day-of" contact (event planner had something going on with her kid and was set to arrive later) responded, "sorry, catering has been based off of attendee RSVP's, so food will not be provided. If there is any left you can have some but I wouldn't plan on it." I responded with "food and drink was discussed with [event planner] so I would love to iron this out and get my team fed". She had the gall to snarkily screenshot her prior text saying "sorry, catering has been based... etc" and send it to me. I called the event planner but she didn't answer, so I screenshotted our email correspondence and sent it with "okay, I'll have [event planner] mail us the check and we'll go enjoy our quiet night off from playing. Good luck this evening!"

Needless to say the pre-gig pub food was ordered and we did play after all. The best part was that the event booker (or planner? Idk) arrived, she made us plates, covered them in tinfoil, and refrigerated them so that we could take them back to the Air B&B to reheat after the gig. AND gave us a solid sized lil box of desserts as well.
 
gf2564 said:
I managed country clubs for most of my 40+ year career after college and have played drums for over 60 years; I have been on both sides of this fence many times! As others have said, first and foremost, it needs to be specified in the contract and the logistics of it worked out a head of time. That would include what, where and when this meal will happen. If it isn't in contract and has not been discussed, all bets are off. At this point, both as a facility manager or a musician, it would be up to the person paying (or designated decision maker) as to if and what this looks like. I will say, as a manager, unless that person has approved it, no one is going through the buffet line until the host and guest have. That's not to say the band won't get to eat at some point but it shouldn't be expected if not agreed upon prior. Musicians/performers coming from the outside are independent contractors, no different than a plumber, electrician, etc.; we didn't normally feed them. As to the person who threatened to pack up and leave if not fed well..........I guess you won the battle for the day; not sure I would recommend that business strategy for the longer term!
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When I booked the gig, I was told we'd eat from the buffet with the guests. Then, she tried to back out of it. It was not in writing, but a person's word should be as good as a piece of paper. At least that's how we felt. This was a one-off gig for a charitable organization, not a recurring gig in a restaurant/bar, so we weren't screwing ourselves for future gigs.

I have a feeling the woman who booked us overstepped her authority in telling us we could eat from the buffet, and never told the guy who ran the show. If that was the case, it was her fault, and she tried to cover her butt. It didn't work.

By the way, the guests loved the band, so other than the dispute over food, it was a success for us, and I believe we got a private party out of it.
 
So tonights gig was at a rehab center and they had a grilled cheese truck...they gave us each one with tomato soup after the gig!! Not part of the plan or agreed upon or discussed, they just made sure we got fed as well.
If this starts to become a thing, I am ok with that!! the sandwich was a lot thicker than the pic shows.
cheese.jpg
 
BobC said:
When I booked the gig, I was told we'd eat from the buffet with the guests. Then, she tried to back out of it. It was not in writing, but a person's word should be as good as a piece of paper. At least that's how we felt. This was a one-off gig for a charitable organization, not a recurring gig in a restaurant/bar, so we weren't screwing ourselves for future gigs.

I have a feeling the woman who booked us overstepped her authority in telling us we could eat from the buffet, and never told the guy who ran the show. If that was the case, it was her fault, and she tried to cover her butt. It didn't work.

By the way, the guests loved the band, so other than the dispute over food, it was a success for us, and I believe we got a private party out of it.
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Sounds like you are probably correct about the girl promising something she couldn't produce. Congrats on the referral gig; putting on a great show is the best marketing you can do!

I am not sure how it is where you are, but it my little world, word gets around pretty quickly about how easy or difficult a band is to work with. I know venue managers share information freely so never underestimate how important it is to be professional, polite and accommodating as a band. I have seen and heard of many times where bands that get labeled as "difficult" get shut out of potential gigs. Heck, I have not hired bands multiple times for this reason; often when they were very fine players.

I live and play in a college town that has always had an abundance of bands so competition to play is tough and has been since I was a teenager (50+ years ago!). Add the fact that all of my bandmates in the groups I am playing with are in our mid 60's........that is a marketing headache in itself! We don't need any negative press!;)
 
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I don't think it negatively had an effect on our ability to get gigs. That band worked every weekend, pretty much. We had a strong following in our area. I understand how it could get difficult for an older band in a college town though.
 
Jasta 11 said:
So tonights gig was at a rehab center and they had a grilled cheese truck...they gave us each one with tomato soup after the gig!! Not part of the plan or agreed upon or discussed, they just made sure we got fed as well.
If this starts to become a thing, I am ok with that!! the sandwich was a lot thicker than the pic shows.
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the food truck guys was also smart because you might remember his "gift" and hire him at a later time

we do a food truck/live jazz event for our high school jazz band, and all of the trucks are hired by reputation like that
 
Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX said:
the food truck guys was also smart because you might remember his "gift" and hire him at a later time

we do a food truck/live jazz event for our high school jazz band, and all of the trucks are hired by reputation like that
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yes! we are planning a neighberhood block party and I gave the organizer his card! it really sat well with me.
 
I play a lot of weddings and usually the food is included as part of the contract.. and it's usually a spectacular choice of 1 or 2 mains, chosen in advance.
The only odd situation was one wedding where the band was at the usual 'kids table' in a separate room. They served us the mains.. but we didn't get the soup that was supposed to be included. When we asked the waiters about the soup, they said, with a straight face;
'No soup for you!'
- and they were serious.. I don't think they knew the Seinfeld episode. That's all they would say. They wouldn't budge on the request.
- at least we thought it was funny.
 
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