I don't see any problem with playing to the end of the time allotted. If the opening band is told 30min, they should play 30min, assuming it's started on time. The derig time should be factored in by whoever is organising, anyone half competent knows there needs to be time between bands. I do think it's sensible for any band to check how long they have after their set to get off stage, especially if it's anything more than a few minutes (synth bands I'm looking at you). The respect comes from having that conversation before hand. If the band is told to start at 2100 and play for 30min there needs to be a conversation about what time they need to be clear of the stage, to check 2130 isn't the clear time, check it isn't going to take the band 20min to clear their gear. As someone running a club, we absolutely expect bands to take at least 5-10min to clear off the stage, and about the same for the next band to get ready. If a band needs significantly more time, we need to know in advance so we can adjust timings... first band on earlier, later finish, one less act on the bill etc. 100% agree on sharing gear. Again I think the respect comes from having that conversation though... in advance. Don't show up on the night with the expectation of using other peoples gear (or even venue backline) but sometimes it can make sense for logistics and that conversation can be had weeks in advance - and that's got to work both ways. I've had headlining tour bands show up on the night with excuses of 'our kick pedal broke last night, can we use the support acts?', not cool. Again, on the sound check and load in thing. I agree and disagree. If a band has been told a load in time, and they load in at that time... that's not on them if sound check is already happening, that blame is entirely on the organisers. Again that comes down to planning, there should be a schedule of arrival and load in times and when sound checks are happening etc. The disrespect here is arriving late. My biggest annoyance when running shows... DON'T BE LATE. And the organisers shouldn't be telling bands to load in during sound checks. Also absolutely agree on guest lists. It's a struggling industry as it is. Guest list can be used for 'staff' if you've got a photographer or roadies or merch people and management etc. If it's for friends... make them pay! They should be supporting you and the music anyway. I generally find that the supporting bands are more professional when the organisation is more professional. If they've been booked by a text message being told to arrive at 6ish, bring whoever. It's going to be a totally different vibe than if they're given a professional schedule, a proper phonecall. Getting call sheets with contact numbers, parking, load in times, local amenities etc, makes such a big difference
Amazing video! Change is good on a side note and I support you no matter what . Thank you for your skills and inspiration and insights. Hope fatherhood is amazing . Cheers
Ben, huge fan, love ATW, your guitar playing, and youtube videos. Didn’t agree with your merch comments. I bought all four GA-20 albums at the Ryman show because I already have of all ATW albums. Let the opening band sell merch, support them man, and thanks for turning me onto GA-20.
Pretty much all of this I agree with. The merch take is just bad. I've never played a venue that didn't have spots pointed out for bands to setup their stuff. Opener or headliner, they each get a spot, booth, table, etc. Lots of those local openers bust their rumps to even get a chance on that show and deserve to sell what they got. You were once a little band in a giant pond, remember that.
Thanks for the good advice. I promise to follow these rules if my band ever opens an All Them Witches show. Best regards Ben and see you guys in Poland again.
This is such an important discussion for any performing musician or group! I've never toured, but during my time as a guitarist in a local head-lining band, there's been plenty of shows where the opener (regardless of how great their music/performance was), got on my nerves simply for going over-time or taking too long to tear down..... I'm sure there's also been plenty of times as an opening band where I've made people feel the same way, but was too naive to realize how frustrating it can be. What you said about meeting the audience expecting that the main act goes on at the time listed the bill couldn't be more true. As performers, we are working on "borrowed time:" The time the audience takes out of their day to come and see us, the time the venue has booked us for, the time it takes for the sound engineers and staff to get things ready......It's our responsibility to ensure all that time is well spent and worth the effort!!!
The opening band gets to play in front of the headliners crowd, that’s a pretty big fucking deal. Think about a bunch of different shirt designs in at least 4 different sizes.
Also if you are the opener make sure you hang around and watch the rest of the bands on the bill . The amount I see young bands packing up and leaving half way through the next set ‘cause they have something on tomorrow’ is ridiculous. Huge black mark against them in my book .
Ben, got my friends to go see y'all out in baton rouge. Third time seeing y'all and may have been my favorite. Y'all fuckin ripped. My friend is also a guitarist (as am I) and we kept just giving each other side eye because of how absolutely fuckin sick you are and how effortless you make it look.
haha, even if the stage manager meant 'one more song', i would think he wouldn't expect a 13 minute song :D - some more 'rules' i can offer are: Don't EVER give anyone the code to the bus door. - at changeover wait for the band who played before you to clear their stuff from the stage before you start carrying up your gear (maybe even help them). Oh and i think this is one of the biggest unwritten rule (which kind of falls under 'common sense' but apparently not all people get it xD) - Don't EVER EVER EVER play a cover of a song of the main band in your set. EVER..
Without being disrespectful it seems there's a big communication problem within the heading band crew and the opening band. These things could be easy to solve if there are clear etiquettes or rules to follow bc it would be easy to misunderstand. If you have 30 min to play, does that mean 30 min to literally play or does it mean 20 + 10 min to dismantle the gear and stuff. All these things must be very clear to avoid bad vibes and stupid fights.
Hey Ben, check out new Kosmodrom Album welcome to reality (my band). You are great guitar player. I saw your first show in germany in Köln. It was so great! Thank you!
