Command performance
September 6, 2018 10:40 PM   Subscribe

One of my favorite rockstars "retired" in 2010 and doesn't play publicly anymore, though he is only in his 30s. I was thinking about offering to fly him out to where I live so he can play a show for me and my friends (and maybe anyone with $10?) I would arrange a venue somehow? How much would I pay him? (The guy is folk-punk, and has played for maybe 2k people as a headliner at most.) I have a few grand I could spend to make this happen, and the thought is totally intoxicating. Obviously I have no idea if he'd even be interested, but help me think through this!
posted by pH Indicating Socks to Media & Arts (9 answers total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: The star is likely to have a going rate for private performance if they do that regularly, otherwise what they will take might depend on their opportunity cost and whether they need money. See if they have a contract they use. Read it. Follow all the requirements to the letter.

For venues check the area you'll be flying them to, many have their rates online. Look at what personnel you'll need to provide, who you must hire via the venue, equipment rental, cleaning fees, and insurance. If you can talk to anyone who has rented the venue about their experience that is helpful.

Or if you want to be more punk about it, build a stage in the yard or on the land of some friends in a rural, unincorporated, or industrial area. Watch your electric requirements.

Do check your local regs including for noise and zoning, and know what the enforcement practices are. Many people skirt the rules but know what consequences you'll be facing first, both for the show and for long term -- it has the potential to be a very bad idea depending on the local environment. (For example, some rules tend to be enforced differently for some types of performances versus others.)

There's probably people doing these things where you live. You may want to to partner with someone who has done this sort of thing before. You would be the person providing the guarantee.
posted by yohko at 11:12 PM on September 6, 2018 [2 favorites]


Insurance is an issue. Probably not much of an issue for a house party, but if you start charging money,, your home or renter’s policy may not covr unfortunate incidents.
posted by Nancy_LockIsLit_Palmer at 3:19 AM on September 7, 2018 [1 favorite]


A couple of hundred in the audience at most?

You can perhaps hire a multi function venue/theatre that would come with a technician included. I used to do that kind of work as a tech, I could mix the artist, get a passable lighting state set up and make sure everyone got in and out as part of the package. Pay a bit more and you could have more than one of us at a time, though hardly anyone ever did.

Cheap, easy and all inclusive. From there you'd have to sort out drinks/catering, though some places can do that too, and you need to make sure the artist does their thing. Pretty easy really.
posted by deadwax at 3:30 AM on September 7, 2018 [1 favorite]


I have never done anything like this, but I have been considering putting a stage in my backyard and then hosting traveling musicians. You have renewed my interest in this (thanks). Although you seem to have a specific act in mind, the following site has a few booklet things on being a venue for such ventures that might provide a few details and tips for doing such.

Concerts In Your Home

I am glad you posted this and will be watching this thread!
posted by kabong the wiser at 5:59 AM on September 7, 2018


Best answer: I think the simplest way to approach this would be as a "house show" or "house concert."

House Concert on Wikipedia

A Musician's Guide to House Concerts from CDBaby

So You Want To Host A House Concert from the Doubleclicks

House shows don't seem to quite have the industry buzz they had a couple of years ago, but they're still pretty common. Basically you're throwing a party/potluck for some friends and a few of the artists' biggest fans in the area. Bands tend to really like them as a way to fill a dead day if they're already on tour. (Which of course doesn't apply in your case, so you'd have to pay for transportation and lodging.)

The act does an acoustic/stripped down setup. You'd need to probably rent some chairs (folding chairs are like a couple of bucks apiece from "party rental" places, if you've got a friend with a pickup truck or a van you can just pick up & drop off yourself & avoid delivery fees) and really minimal sound system stuff - like 1 powered speaker, a very small mixing board, a couple of microphones and mic stands & a few cables. The sound gear might be available from the same "party rental" place, or from a local music instrument store, or you can look around for local "event production", "A/V provider", "Pro Sound", "Concert production" companies, who will probably have this equipment available. Should cost about a couple hundred. If the artist is flying in you might need to rent them an instrument amplifier or two or a backup guitar or a keyboard, which would again be available from a music instrument store or a "backline" company. Another $150 or so.

Different cities seem to have different levels of interest in house shows. There may be a few people in your area who do house shows on a regular basis, might be worth reaching out to them for tips/assistance/possible partnership.

(Part of the reason I'm suggesting approaching this as a house show rather than trying to rent or partner with a venue that regularly does shows/events is that acts who are willing to do house shows tend to know and expect that a house show is a low-key, low-budget, amateur-run not-for-profit gig - you're doing this because you love their music, not to make bank, they're not going to ask for "private party for Coca-Cola executives" or "2K venue" money, they're not going to expect serious sound/lighting production, or have too many picky & detailed food/drink needs. Once you start talking about a show in a "real" venue it's likely that everyone's expectations and costs go up, sometimes WAY up. Put it this way - I've had bands I'm on tour with do house shows where the band got maybe a couple grand (sometimes less) plus the organizer had to spend maybe $500 for chairs, sound gear, amps, etc.; and then I've done shows where someone rents a space in a party center or a church/parish hall or a hotel ballroom/conference center where it costs a couple grand just for my company to bring in sound and lighting gear. Not saying it might not be worth it to look into a "real" venue, but definitely shop around and be aware that lots of venues will actually not be all-inclusive - the "room rental" price (often what gets publicized online) might seem reasonable, but every chair, table, tablecloth, plate of food, server, bar and bartender, door person, ticket taker, using the installed audio/lighting system (plus a tech to run it) costs more money.)

As far as contacting the artist, first thing to do would be to poke around on their website and/or Google to see if they have a booking agent/company and shoot the idea of a house party past them. If the booking agent no longer works with the act because retired, or they just don't seem interested in working on a small potatoes house concert, or they misunderstand "house concert" and start asking for lots of money and talking about major audio/lighting production, then see if the act has a manager/management company. If the manager is in turn not interested/not working with the artist, then you try reaching the musician directly via social media or email.

You'll probably have to sign some kind of contract and send in a deposit (probably 50% of what you're paying the act), and as the day of show nears they'll need flight & lodging info and confirmation numbers.

As far as what you pay the act, I'd say the way to approach this is first do some research and build a budget - see what chairs, sound gear, etc will cost in your area, get a general idea of what flights & hotels/AirBnB will cost (keeping in mind that the act may want to travel with another musician or two and/or an SO and/or an assistant/friend/tour manager), look at what you've got left in the money set aside and then just make a pretty straightforward offer - "Hi, I'd like to do a house concert with you, I've got $X for the act plus $X for transportation & lodging for 2 people." They may just say "No, thanks", they might respond with some kind of counteroffer ("$X 20% higher plus transpo & lodging for three people plus dinner, everyone's a vegetarian"), and then you figure out if you can swing this or make a counteroffer back. They might just say, "Sure, love to!" If they're interested try to nail down their transportation and equipment needs as soon as possible so you don't wind up in a situation where 10 days before the show they go, "Oh I just decided I want to bring my friend to play guitar so you need to rent another amp and a flight and a room for another person." (I mean, this could still happen, but if you've got contracts/an email trail you are in a better position to say "No, sorry, I don't have the money for that, that's not what we agreed on.")

Hope this helps.
posted by soundguy99 at 7:37 AM on September 7, 2018 [7 favorites]


One of my favorite rockstars "retired" in 2010 and doesn't play publicly anymore...he can play a show for me and my friends (and maybe anyone with $10?)

Consider that you are just asking him to do precisely that which he retired from (presumably with reason). Your motives are irrelevant, from his perspective, and 'come and play at my private party' to him is absolutely no different from 'I am a promoter of a venue and here is a paying gig'. I'm wondering just why he retired at such a young age - either because he doesn't want to do it anymore or because he didn't make enough money. So you need to have a counter for each argument plus add the inconvenience of him flying blind to a complete stranger's venue where he has no idea at all if you will have the right equipment, facilities or backup etc to mean he wont' look dumb or even be able to perform to his standards.

You have no real connection to the guy (no personal link, no encouragement for him to even entertain the idea) so there's no impetus for him to even answer the phone, plus no matter how motivated you are to make this happen, it will sound absolutely no different from some nut job wanting him to come out and be kidnapped for ransom. You have no established venue, no pedigree, if you will.

It's possible he would do it (maybe) but without at least some veneer of legitimacy, it would be (I suspect) WAY more than 'a few thousand dollars' for him to do it. because you have to be offering enough money to overcome all the vagueness and lack of professionalism in your out of the blue offer for something he has given up on.
posted by Brockles at 7:41 AM on September 7, 2018 [14 favorites]


Yeah, I think the big question is how retired he is. Do you have any background on the circumstances of his retirement that gives you the impression he has both the freedom and the desire to take a gig? People retire for lots of reasons ranging including burnout, injury, exhaustion, family, finances, or a record contract gone wrong. You should start by finding a booking agent or manager as suggested above, but be prepared to accept no for an answer. I guess if the guy's active on twitter or whatever you can see if other people ask him directly if he's willing to perform and how he responds to those requests, but if he retired by choice and walked away he might really want to stay retired.
posted by fedward at 8:02 AM on September 7, 2018


Even if "retired," it's possible the musician has some form of manager or representation, and there could be a proper channel to go through for booking.
posted by emelenjr at 9:24 AM on September 7, 2018 [2 favorites]


There are actually web sites that let you book acts for private shows; this includes retired musicians. The thing is, this will most likely cost you more than you think. They'll have (quite understandable) riders that will probably include flight/hotel/etc for their crew (even if it's a tiny one) and rentals (or transport) of equipment that they'll (rightfully) need for their shows.

This doesn't make it impossible, and they may be fully up for this, but it may cost you more than you would think.
posted by el io at 12:33 AM on September 8, 2018


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