Some things that those of you who are out there gigging (and those who are contemplating doing so) can do to help ensure that your jobs go smoothly. Have a professional marketing Kit. Big Hint MusicSponge.com is the best out their.

1. You should always plan to arrive about an hour in advance of the starting time. Whether you're doing a full-night, four-set gig, or just playing one set on a bill with a bunch of other bands, you want to get there early. You need to allow yourself time for traffic jams, flat tires and various other snafus that can delay your arrival. Showing up late will delay the start of your set, and this will certainly not endear you to the club owner or booking agent. It can also hurt your own personal reputation to be repeatedly late, and that can have a strong impact on your future ability to get work.

 

2. Aside from avoiding potential late starts, arriving early allows you plenty of time to scope out the venue and discuss with your band-mates where on the stage you're going to set up. If you're the only band on the bill, you can take your time setting up, tuning up and checking your gear. You want to make sure everything in your rig works so you don't have any surprises when you go to play that first note. If there's a band on ahead of you, you won't have the luxury of a long setup, but at least you'll be able to warm up, go over your set lists, tune your instruments, and run through any last minute arrangement changes that you might have. If you're a drummer you might even be able to get your drums out of your cases and set up some of your hardware, either backstage or off to the side.

 

3. If you're the only band on the bill and you're providing the PA, make sure to get it set up and check it out as soon as you can, preferably before the club starts to fill up. As audience members, we've all had to sit through those annoying sound checks where someone from the band says "checking one, two" about four thousand times and the monitors feed back with ear-splitting regularity. By getting the PA set up early, you're able to minimize the number of people who get subjected to that.

 

4. If you're playing a club or other venue that has a large stage, try to resist the temptation to spread out when you set up. Even though it might look better if your back line stretches from one end of the stage to the other, it will almost certainly not sound better. The more spread out your set-up is, the less everyone will be able to hear each other. Playing in a band is definitely a team sport, and if you can't hear what your fellow musicians are doing, you're in big trouble.

 

5. Before you're scheduled to start playing, make sure that each member of the band has a set list, written with big enough letters to be easily read when placed on the floor of the stage. Having a set list will help you avoid any delays between songs. Using a set list also gives you the luxury of structuring a well-paced set that showcases your band in the best light possible. Of course, it depends a lot on your material, but there are a couple of guidelines to think about when putting together your set.

 

6. Always start strong and end strong.

 

7. Structure your set list so that you don't have back-to-back songs with a similar groove, or too many consecutive songs in the same key.

 

8. No matter what type of band you have (even if you're a solo act), you can help to ensure a successful gig by relating to your audience. I've seen too many bands that simply get up there and play without engaging the crowd. Your front-person should introduce some of the material and try to develop a rapport with the crowd. You don't have to go into lengthy monologues, but it is important to make the audience feel like you're appreciative of them.

 

9. While talking to the audience is good, talking amongst yourselves isn't. Having lengthy discussions on stage about what song to play next looks very not cool. And whatever you do, never argue with each other on stage unless you're purposely trying to make your audience (not to mention the club owner) uncomfortable.

 

10. One of the ways to ensure that your band gets asked back to a particular club is to make sure you treat the bartenders and waitresses well, and that includes tipping them if they're serving you food or drink. Besides the fact that they're working hard and they deserve it, their feelings about your band are likely to get communicated to the club owner and the patrons, and you want them to be positive.