First One There / Last One To Leave
I’m about to give you a cheat code that you can use, not just in your band’s career but, for the rest of your life. You may be shocked…..
Always…ALWAYS show up early to everything the band does. You should ALWAYS aim to be the first band there. This gives you time to meet with the bartender, the sound guy, the staff, and the promoter. As you should already know by now first impressions are everything and being late to a sound check or load in will get you a one way ticket to the shit list.
Meet all the bands that come in. Talk to them. Become friends! Watch their set and support them. WATCH EVERY BAND’S SET! I know you may have to warm up, you may have to get food, you may have to load in, you may have to watch the merch table. That’s fine. Go do that and then come back. Make sure at least someone is supporting and always talk to them after the set. Again, become friends.
When the show is over pick up your garbage, pick up the other band’s garbage, pick up the venues garbage. Clean up. Say thank you to everyone who works there. Do an idiot check and make sure you have everything.
Be the last one to leave. Sometimes you get to play games with bands and staff afterwards. Sometimes a fan forgot to get merch at the beginning of the show.
“Supporting the scene” also means bands need to support one another. I know it gets late, you get tired, you want to hook up with that hot girl/guy, or you may not like the band that is playing. None of that matters because this is your job for the night. You can’t leave work early because you’re tired, you want to hook up, or you don’t like the person you have to work with. Do you job and you’ll go far.
Of course there are times where you are running behind or maybe you have to hit the road early because your next drive is 13 hours away. I understand that happens but don’t make this a regular thing. Always tell someone you are running late and you could tell someone that you have to leave early due to something important not because you don’t want to support.
Always be the first one there and the last one to leave.
The End