I have been put in charge of hosting a live show once a week at a local restaurant and was wondering what is typically the best night of the week, in terms of turnout, for live music? So basically when are people most likely to come out to a show? We shut down the restaurant and only have the bar going with the exception of a few appetizers. It's pretty big for a restaurant. Could probably fit around 500. Butts in the seats means I get to keep my job. They picked me to run it since I'm a performing musician but I've never really paid attention to audience numbers on specific days. I'm always just happy to be doing what I love. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Best day for turnout? You may choose only one Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Votes accepted from (11/02/13 12:00 AM) to (No end specified) You must vote before you can view the results of this Poll

Its Saturday. Fri you have the hassle of getting home from work, changing, blah, blah blah. Saturday, the punter can easily sort out their pre-gig logistics and make an event of it.

Quite what the financial implications are of shutting a restaurant down on a Saturday night I do not know.

IT depends whether you're going for mass audience on a prime "going out" night, or capturing a niche audience on a night when they're likely to be free.

The busy night round here seems to be Friday. But it's a noisy, hard-drinking night, not one for sitting down and appreciating music. Saturday is dead.

Ask the venue what their quietest night is, and see if you can attract a new clientele.

Age group?
Location?
Local noise restrictions?
Drink (mainly beer, wine, spirits)?
Budget for band?
Cover charge?
Performing space (room for 2 or 12)?

If you're going for a Jazz duo then Thursday seems to be popular, folks don't need 2hrs after work to get dolled up. A Saturday night Abba spectacular is different.

A Reggae Sunsplash will probably not be allowed during the week if you're in a residential area, weekends you may get away with it.

Is there a useful sound/light system? Hiring in does change the economics a bit.

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Ohm's Law states, "Your PA isn't as powerful as you think it is".

The bigger the following you have, the less it matters, in my opinion. Still, you can't beat good, ol' Saturday Night for pulling in the punters.

(unless you're completely arse).

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www.thediplomatz.com

Ah, maybe I misunderstood. Are you the act? If so a few of those questions are answered.

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Ohm's Law states, "Your PA isn't as powerful as you think it is".

Age group?
20's-30's
Location?
One block over from a very busy bar/club scene
Local noise restrictions?
No restrictions
Drink (mainly beer, wine, spirits)?
Beer and spirits mostly
Budget for band?
$500 for winner; $100 for loser
Cover charge?
$10
Performing space (room for 2 or 12)?
I have built 2 removable stages that can easily fit a 6 piece band on each one.

The music is most genres of rock. I'm actually putting on a unique battle of the bands. The two stages are so both bands can be set up at the same time and they go back and forth battling song for song. So after Band A performs one song, Band B performs their rebuttal which is then responded to by Band A. It goes back and forth like this for the first set, a short break is taken and then it starts by Band B going first in the second set.

I've already hosted one of these last Friday and everyone loved the format but there were only about 30-40 people there. One of the bands that wants to compete mentioned Saturday's being a better day for turnout so that lead me to asking about it here.

Actually made more money on alcohol sales for the 3 hours of the performance than what we did in food/beverage sales while the restaurant was open for the dinner crowd. The profit margin was much better too since food cost is a lot higher than alcohol cost.

Take it you're in the US?

Quote Scramble:

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Take it you're in the US?

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I am. But please don't hold it against me.

Quote atonofclay:

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The music is most genres of rock. I'm actually putting on a unique battle of the bands. The two stages are so both bands can be set up at the same time and they go back and forth battling song for song. So after Band A performs one song, Band B performs their rebuttal which is then responded to by Band A. It goes back and forth like this for the first set, a short break is taken and then it starts by Band B going first in the second set.

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I'd be wary of this format. Having played in these style BotB before I can say I absolutely hate them and would never ask/tell 2 bands that's how they're gonna play - as a muso you can never get the feel for a set. The stop/start nature makes it hard to really get into what you're playing - remember lots of bands work hard on set construction (musically!) so this could be a real struggle. One set then the other, or minimum 3 songs each would get better performances from the bands. All IMO of course.

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www.sda-audio.co.uk

I'm also generally wary of this format but if you're going to have a presenter running the show I'd quite like to see an opportunity for musos to discuss the music in a "Later.... with Jools Holland" kind of way. I realise you're not in the UK and I don't know if this format is prevalent elsewhere. As a player I don't often have the chance to discuss anything beyond a song title at gigs, a presenter asking a couple of introductory questions would lead an audience through the process in keeping with the event.

Maybe not on a Saturday night, though.

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Ohm's Law states, "Your PA isn't as powerful as you think it is".

Quote Stef Andrews:

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I'd be wary of this format. Having played in these style BotB before I can say I absolutely hate them and would never ask/tell 2 bands that's how they're gonna play - as a muso you can never get the feel for a set. The stop/start nature makes it hard to really get into what you're playing - remember lots of bands work hard on set construction (musically!) so this could be a real struggle. One set then the other, or minimum 3 songs each would get better performances from the bands. All IMO of course.

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Absolutely a great point. One which I did not consider. Thank you! I have played in this style before too and personally loved it. It gave it more of a "trading blows" feel which I really liked. But I can completely understand how it might be off-putting to a lot bands with a fine tuned set.