Book the Perfect Venue
In the world of DIY shows and concerts, choosing your venue makes a crucial difference to the success of your event. Too cold, too uncomfortable, and too hard to find are just a few of the concerns you might hear from your fans if you wait to lock down a venue at the very last minute. Today’s guest post from venue comparison site Hire Space addresses a few key DOs and DON’Ts to think about when searching for the perfect music venue.
DO make a check list.
Before you begin your search, make a checklist of what you want from the venue. Location, price, and size are obviously the big ones, but think about additional necessary requirements. Do you need a stage? How big? Does the space have a valid liquor license? How’s the sound system? Get this all written down and work down your list in order of preference. It’s important to be flexible, but also be realistic — if a venue doesn’t fit your “musts,” don’t even consider it. If you’re short on time, don’t worry! Check out our pre-prepared DIY Venue Checklist.
DON’T wait until the last minute.
Your venue should be one of the first details you lock down. We’ve spoken to DIY artists who’ve had to ask the other members of the lineup whether they can switch days once they realize their dream venue isn’t available. That’s a conversation nobody ever wants to have. Plan to start looking 3-4 months in advance if you’re looking for an event with 100-200 people. And if you’re expecting 400+ people give yourself 6 months.
DO be upfront about the details.
If you’re organizing something unusual, communicate that to the venue. Let’s say you decide to host a “Freedom Festival” on the 4th of July and book all your favorite weirdos to perform alongside you. Since you’re the real deal and this is a real “Freedom Festival,” some of your peers may express their affinity to the theme by getting sorta naked or throwing lots of paint or maybe just yelling friendly expletives to the accompaniment of electric guitar. All good things. But you might want to give the venue a heads up. We know very few venue managers who want chaos on stage without at least a fair warning.
DON’T overpay.
For lots of people, the process of booking a music venue is way outdated. You ask around, do some serious google searches, call whatever number is listed for the venue, and negotiate with whoever picks up. Unless you’re cool with the booking agent, odds are you’ll pay top dollar and the club will make a killing while you scramble to cover your investment. Up until recently, this was pretty much the only way to do things; venues are notoriously hard to lock down, and the industry is full of ‘secret’ venues (and secret rates) that only those in the know, know. Fortunately, tech has changed things. Now, there are plenty of comparison sites that allow you to search prices and book a music venue online. Even better, these sites have established relationships with venues and so they take their cut from the venue, not you.
DO visit the space.
Simple, but so important. Get your list of venues down to a couple of final options and schedule time to visit, check the acoustics and play with all the AV stuff. If at all possible, take the time to walk through the venue. This will save you time in the long run, help you make informed decisions about tech and staging, and facilitate productive communication with your production partners about the possibilities (and constraints) of the space.
Please leave a comment below if you have any tips or ideas you’d like to share with the community and feel free to give Hire Space a shout on Twitter or Google+ with any venue-finding questions! We’re here to hear you.