Some advice for local bands from someone who runs a music venue here in town
So, I run a smaller dive bar and music venue here in Portland, and this month alone, I’ve had two separate occasions where bands have canceled shows with us that were booked months in advance, but never thought to reach out and let us know.
I usually send out an email on the day of the show to remind bands of our typical operating agreement, load-in time, and all that sort of stuff, even though we’ve already confirmed everything beforehand.
And today was the second time I’ve received a response to that email saying, “Oh no, we canceled the show and forgot to tell you.”
I just want the smaller bands in this town to realize that when you do that, almost any venue or booking person is going to immediately add you to a list of people they never want to book again. I’m not necessarily going to tell you that, because I don’t really want people bitching at me about the consequences of their own actions.
But you have to understand that it’s a really huge hit to a venue to cancel a show on the day of, and it means that in the future, we’re not going to take a risk on you.
Additionally, if your band is the only point of contact for the show with the venue, it makes the other bands on your bill look really, really bad.
Just some food for thought.
**edited for typos and formatting