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Soprano's Comment
| Message Board > General Chitchat > Soprano's Comment |
| Matteus User Info... | Okay, so I don't want this winding up in the Quarantine section, so... Reading the whole shit show that went down there, there was one comment that theme that stuck out that I wondered about.... "The owner doesn't like bands because it's low bar sales" or something to that effect. It got me to thinking about how some places around town don't take to shows because of that very reason but why? I think it has to do with the irregualrity of the shows going on at "said place". I remember having to wait 10 minutes to get a drink at Steamers on a Friday show. I don't think that their bar sales were hurting that bad. But then again, can an establishment only do shows "once in a while"? I mean, look at Lucky. It doesn't have bands in all the time, it fills it in with DJ's and it seems to do just fine. But is Lucky an acceptation? Does a venue have to pigeon hole itself into that one category of "band bar?" Logan's does the pub gig and they have shows/gigs most of the nights from what I understand. Maybe I can paraphrase what I am asking/saying... 1. Does a bar have to ALWAYS be a live venue to have good bar sales? 2. Are shows like Sopranos bound to fail due to the irregular showings? Do bar owners need to see the big picture (more shows)? 3. Can't someone open another Steamers? Is there not a void that needs to be filled? 4. Do you think a lack of bar sales is justified when you do one live act a week? Thoughts? Comments? - Mon, 30 Mar 2009 10:43pm Edited: Mon, 30 Mar 2009 10:44pm | ||
| CL User Info... | The problem with running a live music venue (or one of them) is that, although you can make good money DURING the shows, you have expenses (rent & power for instance) that run all day. So you either have to make a royal shitload of money in the three hours of a busy show, or you have to make some money throughout the rest of the day. Here's where that gets difficult: if you have a reputation as being a hangout for "weirdos" (read, punk or metal fans), then normal people (God, how I hate 'em) aren't going to come have a drink after work. But if you try to appeal to the normal people (God, how I hate 'em) then you're going to lose some of the cool factor that makes your place a good live venue. Here's another BIG problem: shitty shows. Ill-attended shows are a disaster for all concerned. If the band has a guarantee the bar is completely fucked, because not only are they not making money at the door to pay the bands (because nobody's coming to pay cover) they aren't making money at the bar (because nobody's coming to buy booze.) If the band doesn't have a guarantee they hate the bar, because they (the band) aren't making any money. But THE BAR isn't making any money, either, because nobody came to the show. Ya see? YA SEE?!?! - Tue, 31 Mar 2009 1:42pm | ||
| Matteus User Info... | Valid point Chris. By normal people, do you mean suits? (Business people) Again back to Steamers, I thought that had an environment that was conducive to a mixed crowd. The different "sections" of the room perhaps had something to do with that? Architecture sure can fuck with the mind. Or perhaps having different kinds of shows/genres created that? There were only a couple nights of "regular" gigs at Steamers that I know of. As for shitty shows, that happens any where any time. - Tue, 31 Mar 2009 1:57pm | ||
| CL User Info... | "As for shitty shows, that happens any where any time." True, but it's one big reason most bars don't want to do live music at all. - Tue, 31 Mar 2009 2:24pm | ||
| JDL User Info... | we just played soprano's on saturday night... it was busy; there was karaoke between sets; but most everything went fine... Things got a little delayed at points(due to the karaoke between sets) but all in all I've played worse shows, in terms of horror stories. - Tue, 31 Mar 2009 5:20pm | ||
| _Griphin_ User Info... | I saw DOA w/Micky Christ at Sopranos (was The Icehouse when I saw em), but like I've often said to the bar manager, get the live acts in. I don't agree with Karaoke there, but that's more a personal preference. The place is cool in the afternoon's cause it's near empty (I read and drink when I go there, go figure). But I'm unimpressed. I grabbed my usual $5 sleeve today, only to find out the price of beer went up by a quarter. It's too expensive to drink there (I also get pissed that Murphy's Place (eg. Tally Ho) charges $5.05 for something other then Blue (mugs of blue rock BTW.) Why can't they take the 5 cent loss?) Oh BTW: Tally Ho saved my life, so ya gotta support that bar, and I love watching the horses. Alas, I babble... - Tue, 31 Mar 2009 7:09pm Edited: Tue, 31 Mar 2009 7:13pm | ||
| TheBlack Pixie User Info... | I'm so disappointed that Karaoke is not getting the treatment it deserves. Yet, it can be tacky, corny, lame, and all that. However, karaoke is actually a great place to start out as a singer, getting use to crowds, stages, mics and all that. I started as a karaoke singer, then managed karaoke for a bit and now I am...,.(haha lame I know...)-don't-have-a-band-right-now-because-I'm-finishing-a-degree-and-i've-taken-up-show-promotion-instead-but-would-still-like-to-shoot-for-another-band....vocalist. The problem with Sopranos is they do karaoke everyday. It gets done and worn out and should only be done once or twice a week, so it becomes more of an event rather than just some common thing that goes on everyday, there is nothing special in that. Sopranos has a terrible sound system, I can never hear myself sing and I can barely hear the music. There isn't a strict rotation, it always gets messed up. And I'd like a larger selection of songs. Well thats just my two cents - Tue, 31 Mar 2009 8:41pm | ||
| Doc User Info... | How can you need a selection bigger than 50 thousand songs? Anyway, about the live bands thing. I think that the real problem when we have bands at Soprano's is the door cost. Example, when we have local bands come to play on weekends and the cover is regular $5 or $7 or whatever it is, then we make out pretty well on door revenue and liquor sales. The problem arises when we get out of town or bigger name bands comming in. For example, when Dismember, Augury and UTA played at Soprano's the ticket price was like $25 after service charge and low and behold, bar sales sufferred. I think that continuing live music at Soprano's could work well for all if we just continue to bring in the local acts, and keep the door cost reasonable. As far as going to Karaoke only a couple of days a week, I don't think that it will happen. It may start out slow on some nights, but you get a surprising number of people comming out to sing (yes, usually badly) every night. ~Oh, this isn't vodka oficer, I just left my potato juice in the sun too long. Doc - Wed, 1 Apr 2009 9:21am | ||
| Matteus User Info... | Thanks for that info DOC. I would like to see local acts there too. As it's been said, the sound gear needs a bump up though. Nothing crazy. I can't agree with the Karaoke between sets though. Just seems... cheesy/wrong. So perhaps if a couple of nights were dedicated to bands something could work out? Keeping the cover to $5 maybe? - Wed, 1 Apr 2009 10:49am | ||
| Doc User Info... | I think $5 is the usual door cover. The only time that I've seen it higher is if we have an out of town show, or if we do a Salmon Kings after party. In the second situation we off set the higher door cover by allowing people in for free with their ticket from the game (we have a mutual promotion agreement with the Kings). As far as no karaoke between sets goes, the only time that I've seen that happen was when we had the dismember show. It was felt that the style of music did not lend itself well to karaoke. It is something that a potential promoter would have to discuss with Paul though when they were setting up the show. ~If peace sells, then why is the world constantly at war? Doc - Wed, 1 Apr 2009 12:17pm Edited: Wed, 1 Apr 2009 12:17pm | ||
| JDL User Info... | As far as the karaoke between sets at our show on saturady; it made things run a little later than we would've liked but only by 30 min. Sure half of the participants were TRAGIC, to say the least; but EVERYONE was having fun regardless. Soprano's is a KARAOKE bar; not a bar that does karaoke "sometimes". It would like Monty's Showroom pub with only 2 nights a week of it actually being a "show room". Wouldn't fly. Where I think things can be mended, in terms of live acts @ soprano's, is a PROPER system for karaoke before during and after sets. I was mostly annoyed at the Dj who kept saying "this'll be the last one and the band is up" when in fact it was more like 5 more songs and it'll be close to the last one. I think with a PROPER sign up with discretion to the live bands on those nights would help make things run WAYYYY smoother with far less complaints. But that's just my 2 cents. Again, it sux that this place has a bad rep. here on the board; I had absolutely no problems with a)the staff, b)management, or c)sound(despite a few hiccup's but that goes without saying). I've played FAR FAR FAR worse shows in my life than what people would consider a "horror" to play @ soprano's. - Wed, 1 Apr 2009 2:53pm | ||
| Yesser User Info... | I don't go to Logan's anymore because it is filthy. Dirty ALL the time. GROSS. - Wed, 1 Apr 2009 6:58pm | ||
| CL User Info... | Yesser, do you often feel like you have bugs all over you? - Wed, 1 Apr 2009 7:07pm | ||
| trevor corey User Info... | I stopped in at Logan's in the afternoon a couple of weeks ago. There was a grand total of three crusty, old barflies sitting at the bar, and some special needs dude, wannabe bouncer in a red mac jacket trying to suck off the grumpy bartender. I don't know how these bars survive. The owners must have a real passion - Wed, 1 Apr 2009 7:23pm Edited: Wed, 1 Apr 2009 7:51pm | ||
| CL User Info... | Hey! Hey! Hey! This thread is supposed to be about how shitty SOPRANO'S is, not how shitty LOGAN'S is. If you want to talk about how shitty Logan's is, we should start a new thread! - Wed, 1 Apr 2009 8:13pm | ||
| trevor corey User Info... | I never said Logan's was "shitty". I like Logan's. I was just thinking it must be a tough gig to keep a small bar viable. - Thu, 2 Apr 2009 12:35am | ||
| Ty Stranglehold User Info... | What is key to this thread is that Steamers was bullshit and the city is better off without it. - Fri, 3 Apr 2009 11:56pm | ||
| _Griphin_ User Info... | Steamers was better when it was the Kings! - Sat, 4 Apr 2009 12:19am | ||
| grimlord User Info... | Ahhh the Kings. I remember getting rip off for some shit there got into a big fight and was told never to come back,and I was like 17 at the time so I didn't care . - Sat, 4 Apr 2009 12:34am | ||
| trevor corey User Info... | Santa, sigh. - Sat, 4 Apr 2009 2:37am | ||
| Kyle User Info... | "What is key to this thread is that Steamers was bullshit and the city is better off without it." Yes. - Sat, 4 Apr 2009 8:47am | ||
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