In my time in the scene, and listening to some of the experiences of my wife, Angel LaVey, when she has worked for different promoters, I have come to realise that many different promoters work in many different ways. I've staretd wondering if a friendly, frank and honest debate on the different ways promoters work could prove useful or informative for other forum members and each other.
So the question is, as it says on the proverbial tin, what kind of promoter are you?
I shall start with myself:
I am very much a hands on promoter up until showtime. I work with my wife on all the bookings - we have to agree who we'd like to offer a slot to and how much we can afford to offer them. Sometimes only having two of us to decide can be difficult as we don't always agree
. I also work with Angel on the other aspects of the show. although sometimes I do go my seperate way and do things on my own steam, one example of that was getting SMELLYOURMUM.COM to be our sponsor. In fairness to Angel she does her own things also, although I am reliable informed she does check everything with me first, or else!
Even something as simple as the running order has to be agreed. We do our running orders in advance of the final day, this way seperate copies with all the relative information can be made available for or sound tech, stage hand, dressing room, compere, photographers and stage wing. A running order might sound simple for the uninitiated, but for our next show (29th November) Angel and I 'duscussed' for quite a while - we try to strike an even balance of running lengths per half, this show wasn't being easy.
On the day of the show I am again all hands on until the doors open - after that I'm forced to act as doorman. his means I now have to relinquish control to my wife, the stage manager and the compere. If something goes wrong front of stage it is upto those three to work it out. However if the issue is a sound one then I'm all of three paces from the sound tech, although again I'm only effective if the issue can be resolved between the sound tech and I. I have to work the door, I am handling the cash for the show and I doubt I'll ever find a person who I and he/she would be happy to leave with the entry fees for the walk up on the night audience.
Standing at the back of the venue is not a very exciting prospect for me. We've booked some bloody amazing talent who I've had the pleasure of hearing the music for. For my next show I can look forward to missing Wild Card Kitty, the Advocate of Deception and several others. I do try and grab a couple of beer crates to stand on, but if I see a short audience member struggling to see then I give them away - my audience being able to see is more important than my being able to see. I have used my time at the back, making sure only those who've paid get in, to examine the audience and look for flaws in our venues setup - because of this task I've been able to get more seating brought in for the next show; getting people through the door is one thing, keeping them is the next improtant task.
With the show over I can finally get to mingle and check the feedback of my audience - also a vital task for me. If a performer has really impressed larges protions of my audience I want to be told so, that way I can bring her/him back - and how can I learn what my audience wants if I don't ask them.
I much prefer the work I did at the SPiT LiKE THiS Album Launch Party earlier this month. As Angel and our regular stage manager where both performing it fell down to myself to make sure everyone was ready. At one point the show was running late due to acts taking longer than expected, the support band having difficulties getting ready and a backstage video interview with SPiT LiKE THiS taking a lot longer than originally planned. I had to hunt down the venue manager and find out if we could run late, I then had to negotiate with the band and our magician to cut the magic act short (he actually did his whole routine in half the time - phew). I was run off my feet all night setting up props, getting people into their costumes, communicating between all the sepearet parties and waving my hands frantically at one act to tell them to finnish, but I had a real blast and would do it all over again. Although I was stage right throughout most of the show I didn't really get to see much again, stage lights and peoples back really kill acts. The only routine I got to watch from the front was SPiT LiKE THiS, but even then I was sending them signals for how much time they had left on their set.
I've heard of promoters who let other people run the show or promoters that don't even go to their own shows - this is not for me, I will be somewhere with my finger on the pulse, doing something vitally important for the show. For me the payoff is knowing that I've run a show people have enjoyed and my efforts in the background have partly made that all possible.
Now I've said my piece (and a lot it was too) I shall leave this thread to others who wish to have their say.
What Kind Of Promoter Are You?
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