So... my angry man came out a few days ago. And here's why:
Last weekend I went to see a friends band play at The Monk Brewery in Fremantle. Apparently they were promoting “Live Music" during January & were giving local musos an opportunity to play, which you might think is quite admirable except that it did not include them actually getting paid. Well, that is if don't include allowing $50 Bar Tab (split between 5 people) as getting paid.
Anyway, I went down along with several others to support them & have a few drinks & a meal. The atmosphere was good; the food good & the service wasn't too bad either... it was shaping up to be a nice evening out listening to some good music... that was until we went to pay the bill. After the gig our friends had decided to stay back for a quick bite as well & (amazingly) they hadn't used all of their $50 tab & still have $12 left on it (don’t ask how 5 musicians let that happen?!). So, we go to pay & they let the bar manager know that they still have $12 left on their tab & ask if they can please just put it towards the $210 bill. A reasonable request I thought. The answer left me gobsmacked. It was in immediate & completely unapologetic: "No. The tab stops the minute the band stops playing” & she refuses point blank to take it off the bill adding emphatically "as soon as you stop playing, if haven't used your tab, you lose it".
This is what I have to say to The Monk Brewery: it’s bad enough that you kid yourself you are supporting Live Music by “letting them play” & not pay them in the first place. You were quite happy for them to promote your venue for you & bring 12 to 15 friends down (not to mention bring in passers-by coming in to hear the live music) who collectively would have easily spent over $1,000 throughout the gig on meals & drinks... but then you insult them by not letting them use the (pathetic) $12 left on their bar tab towards the cost of their own meals & drinks! It was a very frustrating & disappointing end to what was otherwise a really nice evening & as I drove home I found myself getting angrier & angrier on the bands behalf.... which is exactly what I told them in an email the next day, adding, "I won’t be back".
Quite a few people I have talked to about this have said "Why would ANY band agree to pay for nothing?" (& some even suggested it was their own fault) & superficially, this is a fair question so let me answer that.
In an ideal world I agree, no one would play, let alone be expected to play, for nothing. But in the 'real world' I'm sure we've all done a "love gig" for some reason or another. Maybe it was for an opportunity to prove yourself? For some real 'gigging' experience & to get your chops up to speed? To help someone out or perhaps to encourage a Venue to "see what it's like to have a live band play" especially if they've never had one it before. Or maybe, simply because "Hey, we've got no gigs booked this weekend & otherwise we'd only be sitting at home watching TV so what the hell, let's go & play for an audience instead of just rehearsing all the time?!" (after all, it's a lot more fun to do a gig than play in your lounge room right? And isn't that WHY we are rehearsing anway? To play "live"?). Rightly or wrongly, over the years, I've known loads of musos & bands that have actually approached venues OFFERING to play for nothing... just to get a foot in the door, though that definitely wasn't the case last Sunday night. So it's not a black & white issue... not for me anyway.
My real beef on this occasion is two-fold in that it appears to me The Monk was deliberately trying to capitalize on having themselves perceived as a genuine Live Music Venue (after all, I will ALWAYS go to a pub that has a band over one that doesn't!) which they have quite clearly demonstrated they are not. And I am 100% sure that every patron eating or drinking there on that night (or any other night they have live music for that matter), would automatically assume the band IS being paid appropriately. In my opinion this means The Monk is abusing people's good will on both sides - the bands & the patrons.
Second is their pettiness & arrogance in refusing to deduct the unused $12 from the (ridiculous) $50 bar tab... off a $210 bill that included $60 of drinks! It is utterly incomprehensible to me & is what left me feeling so angry.
The following morning I emailed The Monk expressing my disappointment & frustration. I would have been happy (perhaps interested is a better word?) to hear their perspective & how they might explain themselves as well as, hopefully & at the very least, apologize for the arrogance & disrespect of the Bar Manager on duty towards the Band who did not even get a "thank you playing" I might add. They did not choose to answer so my response, to their lack of response, was to put a "rant" on my own Facebook page as well as theirs & leave them a 1 Star rating (I would have left zero Star rating but they don't have one!). The result has been quite spectacular with hundreds of "likes" & dozens of "shares" within just a few hours... not exactly viral but close enough & validated for me that my own expectations of how musicians should be treated are well & truly in line with those of the public at large who feel that that venues should both respect & remunerate musicians & bands appropriately.
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