Buy a Day Planner: Booking DIY Shows

Behind every mind-smushingly awesome DIY show we’ve ever seen, was a person or people who toiled away at the thankless task of setting it up. They deal with egos, neighbors, and probably even set-up the sound, all just so you could have fun. I’ve had a bit of experience from both sides of the band/booker divide so I’m going to tell you some of the lessons I’ve gathered up from the worst booking mistakes I’ve made.

When I book a show I first choose a day, then I stick with that day no matter what. I do this because otherwise it’s going to get fucking confusing as bands take the standard line that, “we can’t do Friday but how about Saturday,“ and you might even end up with two or three halfway decent shows instead of one rocking one that you were imagining. If it’s a touring band than usually I do the opposite and make them stick to a specific day. But, depending on the limitations of your space, maybe you do want to have a show every night, it’s your choice.

Another important time thing to realize is that bands need some advance notice before they play. Bands have all sorts of responsibilities, and usually somewhere between three and five people and their respectively crazy schedules to consider. If you’re polite you’ll try and get it confirmed at least two or three weeks before hand. So, for me, a good rule of hand is to at least introduce my proposal to a band a month before hand, and then make sure I track down an answer by a week or two later. For bar-booking the advance notice probably needs to be doubled (be aware bar-bands will probably have these expectations).

People say that Myspace has revolutionized booking. This might be true for the initial contact but unless you have previous experience to the contrary, assume Myspace is sucking all those messages right into Rupert Murdoch’s inbox and make verbal contact with them. If you’re not on a phone-friend basis with anyone in the band then find someone who is. Call them, leave them the what-and-wherefores, and then call them again if you don’t hear back. Don’t rely on your shaky memory that drunk-you and drunk-musician heard the same things the other night at the bar. Introduce the idea to them and find out when they can find out if the rest of their band can do it. Then if you don’t hear back from them, call them back. It’s a mild form of harassment but it helps to iron out most misunderstandings.

So now that I’ve got a set date, it’s time to think about who I want to play. This may seem like a simple decision, right? I mean, you’ve got a thrash band that you really like why not get a few more bands that those guys are in, they could play too, they’ll be there anyway. But we all know how fragmented the punk world is, and let’s be honest and admit that maybe 80% of punk bands don’t even play DIY shows. Now that all that is out of the way, it’s ok for us to say that there’s a lot of interesting stuff going on in underground communities from art-punk to queer-core and folk-punk and back to the aforementioned thrash. It’s my own personal philosophy, and very few other peoples, that sometimes it’s good to mix genres. That way you end up mixing people. And that’s fun. And that’s a decision with political implications, I’d say.

That said, just don’t bother booking bands that you don’t like, personally or musically. If it’s a Crust band and you listen to mostly indie-twee and make fun of Crust (when they’re not around) for sounding like roadkilled zombie cat in a shrinking tin can (I don‘t know), then don’t book them. You’ll do them a favor too. I say this not only because you won’t enjoy yourself, and who wants to not enjoy a hobby, but because the punk scene is as much, if not more, full of assholes than the rest of the world. It’s as simple as, some bands are just assholes and have asshole friends. If people aren’t accustomed to your venue and how it functions or what the expectations are then they will likely disrespect it, not to mention your neighbors, not to mention you. Do you really want to have to baby-sit puking 14 year olds and pull taggers off your neighbors car? Again, it’s a good time to consider what the needs and focus of your venue are. Maybe you just want to have as many rocking shows as you can before the cops show up and find your trashed house. Just be aware.

That’s not to say that bands won’t harass you to get on the bill as soon as it starts looking fun. An artist friend of mine was just telling me that artists are snobby and elitist, but that musicians are friendly because they have to talk to other bands, bookers, and sound people. I corrected him, musicians are schmoozer’s. I resisted calling them snakes. And like everyone else in the radical or underground, they can be flakes. That said, shit happens. Bands cancel. People fight and whine about the order they play in. P.A.’s blow up. What are you going to fucking do? Sometimes things aren’t perfect but don’t let it stress you out too much. Even if no one is there yet, try and start at some reasonable time otherwise you’re setting a dangerous precedent for people who come to your shows not to show up until midnight. And try for gods sake to cap the number of bands, it might be fun to have 6 bands play every once in a while, but for both people hanging out and for you, it’ll get old.

So let’s say that you do get this show set up, you get bands confirmed. It’s your responsibility to make the flier and put it up all over town, certainly don’t assume that bands will do it. It’s part of your responsibility to them. And if you want lots of people to show up you have to create what corporate types call synergy. You can call it hype. It means you put up two fliers in different places. Two friends will see it separately. They will then have the following conversation:

“What’s going on tonight?“
“I heard Bla Bla Black Sheep is having a show.”
“I heard that too, let’s go! And let‘s buy them beer!”

I realize that it’s tempting in the age of Myspace to just send a bulletin about the show and be done with it. Myspace though, like the rest of that pornhole called the internet, suffers from information saturation. There’s too many people sending bulletins about their Spring Break plans for your little punk show to get noticed. And in any case, the DIY flier is a distinguished art form, you‘re obliged to carry it on.

Money is another important issue. No one charges more than $5. Sell cupcakes to drunk people if you need to make more. For touring bands, try and get them some gas money. No expects to get rich on tour but try and get them enough to keep going. Also, for touring bands, it’s proper etiquette for you to help them find someplace safe to sleep, and unless they are assholes they will love you forever if you feed them. (My roommate just made a breakfast of quinoa and oats for this touring band from California. They filled up their bowls with it, left the dirty dishes, went to White Castle, and then left their wrappers laying around the house. Fuck California.). Something that is completely infuriating is the kids who regularly show up without a cent. These are the same people who don’t mind spending money when bars and liquor stores force them to pay on threat of punishment, but who can’t dig into their pockets to help bands or support spaces. They have a sense of entitlement (which probably comes from the background of entitlement that you can see if you look hard enough past their aesthetic), and although I’ve never turned anyone away, everyone should know that these shows only exist because people work hard, dedicate their time, and sometimes, invest their pocket money. If I were you I wouldn’t be afraid to point it out.

I think that people who book shows occupy an interesting space in DIY culture. They’re not the people in the bands wallowing in adulation (ha), or the zinesters hiding in the shadows scribbling smarmy notes. It’s really a fun thing to be able to do, you hear and promote good music, and hang out with your friends. Don’t let people make you feel like you’re obliged to deal with their every little whim, or to let them play when they just show up (a despicable practice), or that you really have any obligation other than hosting the show. You’re not getting paid after all, so don’t worry about all the bullshit that people might expect or oblige of you! Just have fun!