Are Seven

Being in a band is no big deal to me, and it shouldn’t be to anyone, really. Once you’ve done it for a while, you realize that it’s very simple: you find people who like the same kind of music you do and you get together every now and then and do it. It’s for fun, and our band is about as small time as can be. But people still like calling me “rock star”, which is absolutely ridiculous. “How,” I ask them in a response, “can I be called ‘rock star’ when, between the band members, we can name every person in the audience?”

But still, clubs can do a whole lot to actually make the bands that play there feel like…well, if not like rock stars that gets riders and all kinds of star treatment, then at least not like some crap band that is desperate to play anywhere. Our band isn’t on a meteoric rise to the top, and we certainly don’t expected to be pampered, but it’s still nice to have simple things done that make the chore part (read: dragging equipment all over the place and waiting around for hours to play) of playing out a little less of a chore. The ways clubs can do this are pretty simple:

1. Give us a place near the club to park
I realize that this might be kind of tough. It gets the city involved. But the difference between the clubs that have a place where you can safely park the car right outside the club and get your equipment in and out quickly and easily is HUGE. The peace of mind of playing at a place like the Black Cat is enormous.

2. Get rid of the drink tickets
Now, I don’t doubt for a second that clubs get totally screwed over if they offer hard-drinking bands unlimited drinks. But there’s not much that makes you feel small-time like being handed two drink tickets for the night, unless it’s being handed two drink tickets and then being told that it’s not good for the pricier beers. Which they almost all are.

3. Be organized
At one club we play at, every show is almost like the first one they’ve ever done. They don’t know when the bands are going on, they don’t know who’s taking care of the drinks or the money, the sound guy’s almost always late, and one time, they had all the microphones locked up and had to call the manager to come get them out. All we ask is that you keep bands to a schedule, you know who’s responsible for what, and you make things clear to the bands. That’s not a lot.

That’s it. We don’t have huge riders and never will and we don’t expect to be treated like rock stars because we know we’re not. We just ask for a little bit of professionalism and thoughtfulness. And a little more beer.

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