Hosting industry night @ Stone Pony, NJ

[JaneH]

Trying to think of ideas to draw other industry people into the club from record companies, very good musicians, promoters, radio people, etc. We only want the best of the best to play that night too.

[David]

Are you paying them or expecting them to play for free?

[JaneH]

For mid-week shows musicians will generally get a percentage of the door - so their pay depends on how well they draw.

[David]

Jane:

I'm an old tired musician. In the past, I would have club owners ask our band to come in and play for the door or a percent of the door. We found that this type of thing was a hit and miss proposition, especially on the week days.

Then the club would do a talent night. Same story. They would expect us to play for free.

What I have done in the past is this.

We would start a Battle of the Bands contest to run every Wednesday for two months. The first and second place winners advanced to the next week. We paid $250 for first and $150 for second. This made it worth their while. We would only schedule four bands. Each one would play a thirty minute set. After each band played, the audience voted. Then, they would play another thirty minute set in a different rotation.

Here's how we set it up.

9 to 9:30 Band 1
9:30 to 10 Band 2
10 to 10:30 Band 3
10:30 to 11 Band4

Then we would put their names in a hat and picked to see what order they played in next.

11 to 11:30 Band 3
11:30 to 12 Band 1
12 to 12:30 Band 4
12:30 to 1am Band 2

The audience then voted by volume of the cheers from 1 am to 1:10am. The winning band would get back up on stage and play from 1:10 to 1:40am. We close at 2am.

I hope that this is an option. If you have any questions, post them here.

[stadros316]

Hi there,

I am located in Jersey City, NJ and at the present time I am working on opening a new night club in Niagara Falls, NY.

I go to Asbury Park several times a year and pass by the Stone Pony. Is it under new management now? I know the previous owner were selling it.

I heard Bruce Springstein played at the Stone Pony not too long ago.

How would I be able to get someone like Bruce to play at my place? What the costs like? and who does one contact to get more information?

Thanks

Sam

[David]

Stone Pony was the original name for the Eagles when they were the backup band for Linda Ronstadt. Boy 'm I old or what.

[JaneH]

http://cc.com/publish_static.asp?page=about Clear Channel Entertainment is one of the entertainment booking agencies for the bigger stars (also http://www.clearchannel.com/ )


A great band to book is: http://www.badlees.com/main.html
You can hear music samples on their site - we have them coming for one of our wednesday night showcases unplugged - they have real talent! Also, desol (http://desolmusic.com) is great if you want a crowd that likes to spend money! That is what they attract and they are now backed by Franke Previtt who wrote the music to Dirty Dancing - he just took a real liking to these guys and I know they want to do a tour soon. So that goes for everyone - the way the crowd reacts is amazing! Tell them Jane told you to contact them - I recommend them to everyone looking to pack places!