Finding Your Perfect Venue
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Chapter Six of Grow Your Band’s Audience, as published in January 2002.
You’ve got your “most wanted” list. Now it’s time for the hunt!
Remember in the movie “The Fugitive,” when Tommy Lee Jones’ character ordered his team to search every doghouse and outhouse within a five-mile radius? You’re essentially doing the same thing. Luckily, the dossiers you just made will help narrow your search.
What are the venues within a three-hour drive of where you’re at right now, where your “most wanted list” would hang out? Start with your local alternative weekly’s list of clubs - if you’re not familiar with the music scene, just scan through the listings for patterns. Are there bands that sound like they might have a lot in common with yours? Is there any one place or group of places where those bands play out on a regular basis?
Once you have your initial list down in the journal, it’s really helpful to transfer it over to a stack of index cards, with one index card for each venue. Personally, I like the really big 5×7 cards you can get at places like Staples. I’ll show you why the size is important in just a minute.
On each card, jot down the name, address and phone number of the venue in the upper left hand corner. In the upper right hand corner, leave space for three numbers. For each venue, you’re going to assign a rating of zero to ten, based on how closely that venue matches the place you visualized hosting your perfect gig.
For instance, let’s say you visualized a cozy coffeehouse with velvet armchairs and exposed brick walls. When you find a cozy coffeehouse with velvet armchairs and exposed brick walls, that would score a ten. If you find a cozy coffeehouse with stools, that would score an eight. If you found Dunkin’ Donuts, that would score a four. And if you found a dive bar, that would score a zero. If you’re not sure how to rate a venue because you’ve never been there, that’s okay. Make an educated guess based on what you’ve seen or heard, ask a friend or even call the place and ask whoever answers the phone about what kind of place it is. Make sure you pay the place a visit within the next week.
Next, rate each of your venues on how easy you think it will be to play a gig there. (Notice I say PLAY and not BOOK.) Take into account how far away the venue is from where you live. For example, if your sister-in-law owns the place down the street and she owes you a favor, that’s a ten. If the same place is a three hour drive away, that’s a five. Likewise, if there’s a perfect place down the street but you don’t know anybody there (yet) that’s a five.
Finally, get your third number by multiplying your two ratings together. Now, you’ll see a final score of zero to one hundred. Don’t be intimidated if you have a lot of venues that rank in the twenties or thirties. The point of the exercise is to figure out which of your area venues is the most likely host for your perfect gig and which are simply wastes of time.
Arrange your cards in order - highest score first. The top five cards in your stack are the five places you should focus your hunt for your audience.
Soon, your card should look like this:
