An analysis of our data over the past 30 years shows the top 2000 dead car gig blow outs have been a major source of stress - for the artists, the venues and for the agent trying to find a suitable replacement at the last minute. Often, we have 30-40 minutes to find an artist to be available, dressed, car packed, gig ready and able to instantly hop in the car, drive to the venue, bump in and start playing on time.
In all those 2000 gig blow outs, 90% of them could have been avoided if the artist, checked their car during the week, left one hour earlier, had a back up plan with either RACQ or friend or family willing to help, being gig tested and ready before they hop in the car and a decent Risk Management plan in place so that no matter what happened, they could find a solution to do the gig.
Yet in all those 2000 gig blow outs, there is one story that stands out from the crowd.
The one that didn’t make it into the Top 2000.
Recently, one of our bands was booked to play at a gig out west….waaay out west. About two hours into the drive, their vehicle started to lose power and the guys pulled into the emergency stopping lane. With one loud noise and massive jolt, the gearbox had blown the seal losing all the hydraulic fluid.
The guys were then able to tow the car to the nearest town.
The vocalist jumped on his phone looking for help, while the guitarist quickly did the maths about travel time, bump in time and at what point he needed to call Manny. After the SOS call, two mates jumped in their car in Brisbane, 2 hours away from the stricken vehicle, picked up a trailer, and met the band in the small town where the vehicle had been towed.
Together they managed to load the gear in the trailer and arrived at the gig with 20 minutes to spare. All their mixer settings were saved and recorded from the last gig there, so with a smooth bump in and quick line check, they even had time to get changed before they started the gig on time.
The band paid their mates, paid for their Accomodation, bought them dinner and breakfast, paid for their fuel and ended up doing the show for free. When they added in the cost of the Tow Truck and the repairs, it actually cost them to do that gig.
When we asked the band how they felt about essentially paying to do that gig, this was their response:
“What matters is that we honoured our commitment to play the gig, regardless of what we had to do to do that.
What matters is that our gear was all tested and ready to go so we only had to put it in place and plug in the leads.
What matters is that we left early enough to cover something going wrong on the road.
The reward for us that night was the job satisfaction, and the moment that the manager said, "You blokes are welcome to play here any time."
To the band in question, you have set the bar high indeed, fellas. 😊
Nichola Burton is the CEO for The Pushworth Group, Music Brand Designer for A Little Pitchy, Product Manager for BEATbooks™ The Integrated Solution For The Music Industry, Music Business Coach for The Musoverse.
Nichola Burton Copyright 2023