Three times in the final month I have been asked the question, “what do I need to do to organize a gig?” In reality, when this question is asked it could mean several things: How do I find a Club? How do I sort out the PA? How do I get an audiences? And so on.

But there is a stage before all of this: the budget. I would suggest that the moment you start thinking about organizing an party you should write a budget. This budget spreadsheet informs you of the majority things that you will need to contemplate and will likewise demonstrate for you the risk, projected profit and the breakeven point. A sample spreadshhet is available to download from this address http://www.josaka.com/features/2005/Organize-A-Gig/Event-PandL.pdf

Assuming that the budget numbers do not look prefer they are working perhaps the gathering isn’t the right thing to be running. If you do not prefer the level of risk, perhaps you aren’t cut out to be a  promoter.

So the start point is a spreadsheet. This should include all costs and all incomes. The key headings for costs should include: performer cost, PA, lighting, Venue hire, marketing, box office costs etc. The income is prefer ly to be largely ticket sales but don’t forget the chance to add a sponsor to the event.

The spreadsheet will help you work out the breakeven point for the get together i.e. how many tickets you need to sell to cover all costs. Every sale beyond breakeven is of course profit (exluding any box office commision). The added bonus of creating an get together spreadsheet is that helps define all the key tasks to be performed.

The realisation of the forecasted numbers developing into actual figures suggests that all parties have got the deal they were looking for or agreed to. The sample speadsheet also illustrates that everyone else involved in the show is largely earning a fixed cost and as a result the only individual taking a financial risk is the  promoter.

So if you are thinking of organizing a live event I coomed you to work on the numbers first. This will stimulate ensure you deliver a excellent show and have control over the money.

New Orleans is known as the birthplace of jazz, an honor the city prides itself in. From dim lit jazz clubs lining the city streets to its annual Jazz and Heritage Festival, New Orleans is a amazing American music city. Jazz isn’t the only music being created in the Big simple though.  A lot of music clubs and Venues offer an eclectic mix of blues, gospel, hip hop, rock and more.

One Club provide ing up a diverse musical roster is the House of Blues in the French Quarter. Any given week this venue might host inspiring performers and full blown rock stars. A wide  variety of musical type ofs are present at the New Orleans location of this national chain. The heart and soul of the Club besides the music itself is the exciting surroundings and attentive staff. These features give this location its heart and make this corporate venue seem more mom and pop. The Sunday Gospel Brunch is likewise a substantially attractive weekly gathering that draws a crowd.

TwiRoPa is the Warehouse District’s premiere art and music complex. This complex houses 100,000 square feet of club s, music Venues, galleries, bars and convention space. The nearly 100-year-old building was once the web site of a mill that produced Twine, Rope and Paper. These products are also how this complex received its inspiring name TwiRoPa. Live music and deejays are all the rage at this hip location that has expeditiously made a name for itself.

One New Orleans venue that has earned its reputation over time is Tipitina’s Uptown. For over 25 years Tipitina’s has been considered the finest music venue in New Orleans. The venue is named in honor of its patron saint Professor Longhair for his song Tipitina. The venue pays tribute to the New Orleans piano man through performances of Local and national musicians. Local musicians such as the Funky Meters and Galactic frequently performance to the crowds and headliners Pearl Jam and Lenny Kravitz have furthermore graced Tip’s Big Stage. The venue is a particularly hot spot during the Jazz and Heritage Festival with its own Fess Jazztival performance series.

Another New Orleans music venue steeped in history and tradition is Uptown’s Maple Leaf. Cajun meets Caribbean as this venue features a variety of music including reggae and zydeco. The Maple Leaf is a happening spot with a packed dance floor bumping till the wee hours of the morning. Poetry readings and special gatherings round out this venue as one of New Orleans finest.

Looking for some rock in Crescent City? The Howlin’ Wolf is regarded as New Orleans quintessential rock club. Here Local/Regional and national recording artists hone there chops for legions of adoring audiences. The Howlin’ Wolf is an unassuming space with a stage, three bars and original artwork from New Orleans artists Lionel Milton and Frenchy. Definitely the spot you want to go for modern rock, the club also features Jazz Thursdays and a lot of celebrated Local/Regional artists prefer George Porter Jr.

Local/Regional performers and music Venues draw their inspiration from Congo Square, the birthplace of jazz. One of these venues is the famed Funky Butt. This bordello turned club is now the home of modern jazz In New Orleans.  Many celebrated and soon to be celebrated performers have graced the butt’s stage. The club is located in a somewhat rough part of town so a taxi is a better option than walking to the club.

Traditional jazz listeners will want to find Preservation Hall in the French Quarter. This hall does not serve or allow food, drinking or smoking. New Orleans style jazz is on the only item on the menu at this rustic hall inspiring to keep traditional jazz alive. The 35 minute sessions start at 8:15 pm nightly and includes an intermission. Preservation Hall is a historic jazz experience music listeners will want to check out.

Truly a musical city, New Orleans has clubs that cater to anyone’s musical cravings. Creative spaces and incredible skill make the city’s clubs attractive to Regionals and visitors a prefer. No trip to New Orleans is complete without a visit to one the city’s fine music Venues.

Those who have lived in Austin long enough have seen some amazing growth. Since 1980 the population of this ultra-cool Texas town has more than doubled. In 2006 the population stood at a respectable 709,000 (TWICE that for “Greater Austin”). At this point, being Austin, this abundant growth happened with style and forethought.

The “Keep Austin Weird” slogan advocate ed the city retain a diverse selection of small Regional shops and services, while minimizing the steam-roller effect of big box stores so usually associated with development. Music, art, and culture all flourished, and while the world knows about the plethora of live music Clubs here, Austin is furthermore home to numerous galleries, museums, theatres, and restaurants. Finally, while Austinites kept their city “weird”, they furthermore kept it clean, and were recognized by MSN as having “The Greenest City in America”. Still, one problem, faced by more and more Austin residents, is the traffic, just in the Northwest corridor. But that too will be dealt with, in fact the solution is scheduled to start in late 2008.

The solution – or at least part of it – is Capital MetroRail, a new light rail service that will run, in the beginning, from Leander (26 miles northwest of Austin), through Cedar Park, McNeil and the community of Abercrombie, past the Highland Mall, across Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and terminating downtown at the Austin Convention Center. This section of Capital MetroRail will cover 32 miles – with approximately nine stations along the route – from the Austin’s northwesterly outskirts to the city center. The benefits of this sort of speedy transit system to a city like Austin are a lot of, from reducing carbon emissions, to cutting down on commuter time, and even making a night out in the “live music capital‘ that much more enjoyable. Of course, plans do not avoid with just this one line.

For tax-payers, one of the best things about this deal is that, because Capital MetroRail will be using existing rail lines expenses will be significant ly decrease than a lot of other urban rail services. So,although city officials are quick to point out that future commuter rail lines will require a referendum, a lot of Austin residents are hopeful that their neighborhood will be next. Future plans include an Eastern line heading out towards Elgin, and a line heading north through Pflugerville. In addition to the Capital MetroRail lines, Austinites will also be able to take advantage of a Regional Commuter rail service that will run from San Antonio through Austin, to Round Rock n Roll and beyond. What a exceptional time to be living in Austin!

Austin’s musical lineage began in the late 1960s and 1970s when the country music popularised by individuals such as Willie Nelson was joined by a cornucopia of other styles and sounds brought by the more liberal inhabitants of the city who had moved there during the two decades. A well known Regional club called the Vulcan Gas Company was integral in the growth of the Austin music scene with seminal acts such as the 13th Floor Elevators and Shiva’s Headband playing shows there generally during the 60s and 70s. After the Vulcan was renamed the Armadillo World Headquarters it became a musical hub, promoting acts of all type of s, from bona fide stars such as Bruce Springsteen and Bette Midler to Regional jazz and blues acts.

Austin’s musical progression continued over the next few years, gaining a reputation as a place where struggling performers can launch their careers in front of a receptive audiences. A major influence during this time was Clifford Antone who opened one of the 1st live music Venues on Austin’s 6th Street (now broadly regarded as the center of the Austin music scene) in 1975. His Venue endorse ed start the career of blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan who went on to become one of the finest guitarists to ever grace the stage. Vaughan is revered so heavily by the Austin population that a statue was erected in his honour following his death in 1990. The Austin Music Foundation was likewise created around this time – a ground breaking organization that performance out to endorse independent performers further their career.

More recently, Austin has held its place at the top of the world wide music scene with the addition of festivals such as ‘Austin City Limits Music Festival’ and ‘Blues on the Green’, a series of free blues shows funded by Local organizations. Perhaps the most well known of all the Austin festivals is ‘South By Southwest’, an annual film, music and interactive conference and festival. The festival is ofttimes attended by most major players in the music business, on the lookout for new talent from all over the world. Along with live shows the festival furthermore screens ground breaking work by new and independent film makers as well as conferences with guest speakers from the world of music, sharing advice on making it in the music business. 2007’s party saw musical legends including Pete Townshend of the Who and David Byrne of Talking Heads sharing their knowledge of the inner workings of the music business.

Austin’s musical heritage grew to be the stuff of legend in a relatively short amount of time.  Many see this as a testament to the hard work put in by  promoters, bands, artists and Regional companies who found success on their personal terms by working together and help ing each other’s cause, a rare occurrence in the cut throat world of music. This camaraderie still continues now, with club s, Venues and hotels in Austin frequently packed with industry insiders and listeners eager to soak in some of the bustling, creative atmosphere.

With a musical lineage as rich as Austin’s, it’s not hard to see why the city’s official motto is “The Live Music Capital of the World”.

Music, in any form, whether vocal or instrumental, classical or modern is the best form of entertainment as well as relaxing. Locating a person in this whole expansive  world, who’s been untouched by the effect and magic of music is al most next to impossible. All multimedia gizmos have the provision of playing music. But quite again and again, what is music for one person, may be noise for his neighbour. In such a situation, surround sound headsets are the best way to find pleasure in your music fully in the absence of bother ing those around you.

Surround sound headsets are divergent from other headsets because they give a realistic feel to the music and bring the effect of live music. This three dimensional effect is achieved by separating the front, rear and central speakers. It boosts the quality, and shuts out all bother ances while you’re enjoying the music. The perfect advantage of these headsets is that you could listen to and find pleasure in your music even with the volume turned up to the maximum, in the absence of bother ing your family and neighbours.

The effect of the surround sound headsets is as nice as listening to music using speakers. Surround sound headsets cover the entire outer ear area and the curve of the ear, and this feature makes it much better than ordinary headsets. One could use these headsets with any music system, computer and even the television. The person gets all the perks of hearing everything in the absence of any external noise or bother ance.

The headsets can additionally be used to watch movies in private and even while playing games on your games console. Surround sound headsets are based on the sound decoding technology. This is responsible for giving tremendous clarity in what you hear. User who have used these headsets have said that listening to music using these is as wonderful as listening to a live orchestra with all the artists standing beside you.

Live Music – all of us all love it in one form or another – whether a classical orchestral concert or a Rock n Roll concert in a football stadium or somewhere in amidst, little quite gets the juices flowing than hearing your favorite song played live. If you live in South Costa Blanca or the Costa Del Sol, there is an abundance of Venues and artists.

But where’s it in North Costa Blanca?

Go to Javea or Benidorm on any night of the week you will find a bar playing live music, but try finding anything in Oliva, Ontinyent or roundabouts and you’d be lucky to find the odd publican playing a banjo.

So where is all the skill? It does exist and there are some uncommonly nice musicians around, with amazing repertoire and amazing individual ities. Each has a different musical style entertain the crowds different ly – and all are crowd pleasers. So the problem isn’t lack of skill – the problem is where to play.

Up until wonderfully recently it was difficult to find anywhere to host live music, in part because of the Local council attitude who frown upon live music yet are happy to allow loud fireworks at 2AM. Still it’s additionally due to the apathy of the listening public. When a Club organizes live music the owner has to pay the artists. If only ten people turn up then he has lost money. Virtually all of these Clubs do not charge a cover or add to the drinks prices, they hope enough people turn up to make it benefit their while.

But imagine going for four weeks and managing to get 10 people in. Wouldn’t you be disheartened? I am sure I would. They can be wonderful people but they’re furthermore business people who make a living.

In some Venues the owners put on live music and the turnout is in disparate. The places need a regular following to keep going and only by doing so will we get to see more acts, because the acts will only come Assuming that the re is a crowd to play to – and that means you need to do something.

So how do you find out about what is going on. Well there are a number of sources. The Inland Trader for one, has a what is on  drive to keep you informed. There is also a exceptional web site www.spanishbrolly.com where you may find information about who’s playing where, and www.spanishproperty-direct.co.uk has many articles about live music and reviews of musicians.

But these sources also need the input from both the Clubs and performers.

So we have a responsibility for endorse ing to make a success of live music. If you know a Club organizing live music go and visit – you may find pleasure in yourself. Invite your companions, tell their companions, word of mouth is great advertising. The performers need Clubs to play and crowds to play to, the Clubs need our guide to keep providing us with live music, so we need to get behind the Clubs that put on live music – not next week, next month – but NOW – it’s for our value after all and what better than sitting outdoors with a nice cold drink, listening to a great band playing your favorite music. . Where else may you get free live music?

The listening public need to get behind our Clubs and help them – they do a thankless task of providing music, dealing with artists ego’s and getting paid nothing for it, so the least all of us can do is help them. Go do something disparate now and visit a live concert. See you there!!

Touted as the Live Music Capital of the World,” the city of Austin, Texas, has a rhythm of its own. With more live music Venues per capita than any other music center in the world, Austin, Texas dominates over other places known for music such as Nashville, Los Angeles or Las Vegas. The city of Austin, Texas offers a few programs to assist performers and to  encourage  their music in a variety of genre s, from country to blues.

Whether you are just arriving in Austin, Texas for the 1st time or you are a Local coming home, you will be greeted at the airport with live music at three diverse airport Venues. The Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is just the 1st reminder that you’ve entered the “Live Music Capital” of Austin, Texas (TX).

The Plaza at the Austin City Hall puts on a music showcase with divergent scopes that highlight divergent musicians and their music. Free gigs are given among April and October at The Plaza, making the music series “Live From The Plaza” one of the more popular music Clubs around. The Parks and Recreation Department likewise highlights musical performances, with summer gigs in many locations, such as the Zilker Hillside Theater.

many private businesses have emerged as a result of the hot music scene in Austin, Texas (TX). The city’s famous Sixth Street is the heart of the live music scene, with more than 50 nightclubs, restaurants, bistros and dance venues showcasing the latest artists in a variety of music styles. West of the business district lies what’s known as Austin’s Warehouse District, fast emerging as another neighborhood devoted to live music. With edgier restaurants and venues renovated from old warehouses, the Warehouse District features trendy bars, restaurants and amazing performance venue s.

There are a few theaters in Austin, Texas that spotlight more live music, such as Esther’s Follies. Located on Sixth Street, Esther’s Follies has featured live acts of magic, comedy, music and sketch comedy for more than two decades. The Frank Erwin Center hosts many concert and other musical gatherings from its Red River Street location. The Zachary Scott Theater is another place to enjoy a expansive  variety of live entertainment, from seasonal plays to old-fashioned music concert s. Austin, Texas has many other theaters located throughout the city that are just waiting to be discovered by eager residents.

Of course, the “Live Music Capital of the World” would not be complete with out music festivals, and Austin, Texas (TX) hosts a few noteworthy ones. Try out the Austin City Limits Music Festival, a 3-day celebration of Austin’s music. The Southwest Music, Film and Interactive Festival highlights world wide skills in each category. The Urban Music Festival and the Old session tler’s Music Festival are two more popular gatherings just right for the whole family members.”

Around the pubs and venues in the United Kingdom (UK) there are still many performers playing for only several pounds to demanding fanss who concurrently request Chuck Berry and the Arctic Monkeys. Keeping all these varying people in the fans happy is never easy, but not impossible either. With good stage craft and clever of songs at a particular Club, a good band could make anybody at all happy.

The organization of these performers is extraordinary. They must find prefer minded artists that are committed. Then they must find somewhere to practice. This isn’t simple as most can’t do this at home. If you are fortunate to have a house big enough, it is un prefer ly you can get round the neighbours, as it is so loud! It can’t be turned down as everything must be as loud as the drums. A performer ofttimes hires a room to practice, at excellent fee to themselves.

A band must furthermore spend literally thousands on equipment. PA, lighting, guitars, drums etc.

The next hurdle is transport. For some reason most drummers can’t drive! Cars are again and again inadequate as you would need a fleet of about 5 for your gig, very expensive on the fuel, and impractical. Many performers have to hire or buy a van, again at wonderful cost to themselves.

When they have finally rehearsed all there material over weeks or months, they are ready to play live. It’s an exciting day, one of wonder, excitement and slight fear. You turn up to the Venue to find one man and his dog. And that man is wonderfully drunk, wants to be your manager, and giving you all the benefit of his ‘wisdom’ in the music game! The landlord is also drunk, and you cannot work out if he prefers you or not.

You get poorly paid, if you get paid at all, and return home generally out of pocket.

Nonetheless the real rock heroes come back for more. They find the perfect Clubs, gain a reputation, and performance at some great places. Sure they still have bad performances, but the nice ones make up for it. They make it look so easy, but it isn’t. One such band can be seen at http://www.thehalfmonty.tk

The Half Monty have had there share of ups and downs. They have been ripped of at shows, played in the most dodgy Venues, and heckled to death. But they’re still here, bigger and better than ever having learnt from their early days.

So recall, when you see a Local performer advertised at a pub or club, go see them and help them. It isn’t simple for the lads and lasses. Perhaps buy them a beer after the concert if you really enjoyed it. , for these are the true heroes of rock.

I’ve spent hours and hours practicing my instruments and I’ve spent thousands of dollars on my education. I could come up with 20 Reasons. But I’llstart with 5.

1. Classier: The right performer adds a certain amount of class to any event. A pianist playing a Grand Piano in a tuxedo of any get together adds romance and dignity. A deejay behind a record player never will be able to create that effect.

When you hire a live band or performer, you are telling your customers and companions, ” I am a class act.”

2. Versatility: DJs are limited by their recorded product and tempos on the recordings.

Musicians will a DJ ust to their surroundings. If the dance floor is packed, a band could keep the song going and won’t be limited to the length of the original recording.

A artist can also differ his tempo to the activities in a room. When I see a romantic couple dancing to Frank Sinatra tune, I’ll often add that spark that I feel for my wife.

Granted, a deejay may have a repertoire that’s only limited by the amount of compact discs they buy. But a nice musician knows thousands of tunes.

I know I have might forgotten more tunes than I learned over the years. You will love watching the band ‘fake’ their way through a tune they have not played in years.

That kind of spontaneity is only possible when you use live music instead of a DJ. Which brings us to Reason #3.

3. People Love To See Other People Screw Up: Let’s face it. Musicians are human beings. we make mistakes prefer everybody else. Why is American Idol so popular? Because we all want to see a person fail. And succeed! Your friends and customers will love to try and “stump the band” when we are playing at your Sales gathering or Product Rollout. (Watch their amazement when we succeed.) “Music is a Manifestation of Emotion.  The feeling must always override the Technique” – Jan Hammer (Keyboards for Mahavishnu Orchestra and Jeff Beck)

4. Intimacy: There’s something remarkably intimate about seeing a person performance an instrument and establish music on the spot. Music is magical. It is al the majority surreal. could a disc jockey performance with emotion? Intimacy? individuals love to watch my hands as I performance the piano. It is as If the music appears out of nowhere. When a artist performs for you, it feels like they are creating just for you — right on the spot. Magical!

5. Interaction: Not only will a excellent entertainer a DJ ust his show to a live listeners. A live performer will interact with each other onstage. A DJ is only one person. Indeed a DJ can and will interact with his listeners. But a nice performer will interact so much better. additionally, just imagine the added dimension a live performer will bring to your next business Event. A live performer will interact with your listeners AND the performers in the band. If you have ever had the pleasure of listening to a group of performers ‘hang out’ after the gig, you know what I am saying is true. A DJ has only an listeners for interaction.

Music is truly the universal language. It transcends any barrier — geographic, cultural or economic. Hiring the right Musical Act will enhance your ability to reach your customers and clients.

Most individuals who find pleasure in seeing live music acts take for granted that live entertainment don’t come cheap. Music festivals a lot of the time have a high price tag, but are generally well benefit the cost. If you attend Regional shows at performance venues the ticket price may be twice as much as one would pay for say, dinner and a movie. Even venues that specialize in Regional or Regional acts have cover charges. You would expect large tourist towns prefer Branson, Missouri to charge a hefty price for name acts and elaborate shows, and they do. Entertainment is something all of us all expect to pay a price for. Free live music isn’t a common experience.

One place where you might go see major national acts in performance for a price and also see much free entertainment as well is Nashville Tennessee. Nashville has an advantage over many other music oriented tourist towns. It’s a working music city. Folks go there to make it ample in the music business. The place is full of performers. Additionally,since there is so much competition in town, many of them are quite nice at their craft.

On Broadway street downtown Nashville, you’ll find venue following venue with the sound of live music pouring from their interiors. All you got to do is step in, have a drink or two, find pleasure in the show, and then mosey on down to the next bar. You can do this all day if you want because many of these venues have live acts starting early in the day.

With so much recording being done in town and so a lot of musicians making their home there, Nashville is one place where al the majority anybody at all you pass on the street might be a musical star of some kind. And,even though Country music is what the town is known for, a lot of other styles are practiced all around town as well. There’s a heavy Americana scene as well as Bluegrass venues and even Blues bars.

Nashville is a center of music production, management, and business in general. This offers many potential opportunities for folks to catch great live music. I willgive an example of something that happened to me that proves that the the majority unexpected things may happen in a city so centered in the music business.

During the time of a recent Americana Music Conference I has been hanging around town for a couple of days. I has been checking out as a lot of venues as I may and had tickets to the awards show on Saturday night. On Friday after noon I has been looking for CD’s in a south 8th a Club record store called Grimey’s. I saw a poster on the wall saying that Tony Joe White has been going to be there the next after noon. I’d been a large fan of the Swamp Fox for a lot of years and thought it would be excellent to get him to sign his latest disc for me. I has been there early the next day.

The record seller was full of folks as I expected. They had pushed some of the CD  bins back a bit to make some room. I was surprised to see a drum kit performance up. There were some amps too. Some guys wandered in and started giving out free beers. Somebody said they were part of his crew. Tony Joe walked in with his guitar, and sat down about ten feet from me and plugged in. He did an hour performance. I was amazed. I’d have been glad to part with a hundred extensive ones to get a occasion to see the Swamp Blues King. Here he was, close enough to touch, playing for free and he bought me a beer as well. This never happens where I come from.

The whole story has been that Tony Joe had offices in the same building and has been friends with the store owner. That’s just Nashville, folks. That type of thing is possible in a town overflowing with music. can be you will not have the same type of luck but when you’re in Nashville, the possibilities are always there.