Drummer Cafe Community Forum

So we play this gig at a club called the California Inn in Laurel, Md. on Friday for the standard $800. A guy in the crowd hands us four $100 dollar bills in the first set. Doesn't request anything special, just hands the money over. Crazy. The co-owner of the club had apparantly died that Tuesday and there was a memorial going on in the front lounge. Maybe this guy was flustered about that, I have no idea. Once before a few years back we had a guy give us $100 to fumble through an awful version of Stairway to Heaven, but that's it really. It wasn't like we were doing a private affair and they wanted us to play another hour or something. Any one else have any similar stories?

Yeah... I've get an odd offer like that every few years.  Some high roller wants to either tip the band *usually they are cash flashers* or people offer us money to play a certain tune.

Wish it would happen more often  :-\  ;D

I wish it would happen to me just ONCE!!! :(

I got a $20 tip for playing Wipe Out at a biker bar in Nashville last year.  ::)  Does that count?

Sure it counts. On the other hand, in a biker bar, I couldn't see myself refusing to play Wipe Out, which I ordinarily do.

Roger

My old band used to do two "oldies" floor shows... one with 1950s music and one with all 60s era stuff.  We normally only did one or the other on any given night.  Anyway, we were playing a hotel bar in Colorado Springs many years ago, and we had just come back from doing our 50s show, and a bunch of drunk salesmen pooled their money (close to 500 bucks, if I remember right)and gave it to us to do our 60s floor show.  That was a good night 8) ;)

We were offered two hundred dollars to allow one girl to come sing a (one) song with us. We were happy to oblige.

_{This of course is the much abbreviated version of this story. I just hate typing!}

First gig I ever played was way back when I was in high school. A guy called me asking if I drummed. I told him I did, and he said that his drummer was too hung over to play and needed one asap. The gig was that night. I was thrilled of course to play in front of real people! All I ever did was metal...up to that point. When I got there a few hours later, they  handed me the setlist which consisted of really old-style country stuff! (Green Green Grass of Home, etc.) That was an experience, just trying to restrain myself to play the way they wanted. But it did get me my first money ever for drumming: 75 bux for a school kid wasnt bad at all. All I had to do for 2 hrs was "boom-chick, boom-chick, boom-chick ad infinitum; any time I strayed from that, they gave me the looks, lol. And of course I paid the price next day when my metal buddies found out about mah country playin'  . ;D

That should be the standard fee!!!  It will just about cover the pain and suffering.

With how I feel about Wipe Out - I hold out for $50-75. ;D



Per man? That sounds right.
This scenario requires band members to be on-demand psychologists. Therapy ain't cheap. Any less is charity and should be a tax write off.

So,.... you didn't clarify with him why he gave YOU guys $400????  Maybe he thought YOU guys were collecting money for a memorial fund or something.  I guess you were.  That gig has now been memorialized in this thread!

It counts, but they didn't pay you nearly enough, IMHO.  

About a year ago, I actually played the song, in spite of my own policy of not playing it.  I was playing a club gig after my show, and (wouldn't ya know) some drunk yells out "Tell the drummer to play Wipeout"!)  The bass player knows how much I hate this song (my apologies to all you "Wipeout" lovers), and grabs the mic and says "Hey, our drummer only plays that song for at least fifty bucks".

With that, someone out of the audience came up to the stage and grabbed our tip jar, and walked around the club to each table, and asked the other customers to chip in some money so they could hear the song.  He came back to the stage, and that tip jar was CRAMMED with bills.  

I played "Wipeout" (and actually played it about double the length of the normal song time, for obvious reasons) and we took a break after that.

During the break, we took the money out of the tip jar and counted it.  It totaled up to almost $150.00.

I decided that "Wipeout" wasn't really THAT bad of a tune after we counted out the money.  

:-)

Regards,
drumz1

We were playing some bar that Vietnam vets hang at and were about to pack up and this old vet comes slowly walking up with tears in his eyes and asks us to play "Can't ya see" - Marshall Tucker. Said it had special memories. He was holding out five bucks. Man, this guy was 60 something, with a cane. I rounded up everyone and we plugged in again and put him on stage handed him a tambourine and played the most inspired version you've ever heard.

No -- we did not take his five bucks ;)

Several years ago a guy offered me $100 to play "Wipe Out"....I said I'll play it for free, just buy the band a round of drinks. On each end of the stage was one of the old "go-go dancer" cages with bars. We started playing and 2 sisters each took a cage and went wild. While I'm doing my solo, one of the gals boob fell out of her halter top. I just kept playing and she kept dancing and never noticed it. Meanwhile the guy comes back to the stage with drinks, throws up $100 on stage and says "Keep playing until both fall out." I lasted for about 20 minutes and she never noticed until her sister told her. We were laughing so hard it was very hard playing. The place was packed....   ;D

St Pats
Playing with a Celtic group (4) members
Cardiac Surgeons private party
Surgeon has been drinking Scotch since 8
We finish at 10:30
He gives us an extra GRAND to play for ONE more hour - Of course we did it!:)

Funny thing is that we were out of tunes - so we just re-did what we had.