The following is an example of how poor bar gigs can be for bands to play. What I have done here is calculated my portion of the expenses and share of the compensation for a recent Bottom Dwellers bar gig. It was our poorest bar gig to date.

Mileage To And Fro

This particular bar was on Geary Blvd. in San Francisco, which is about 85 miles from my house. Ivan and I carpooled.

(170 * $0.13) / 2 = $11.05

This formula is based on the cost per mile my Ford Ranger averages in a year—13¢ per mile. We took his Honda Element, though. Since I don't know what Ivan's cost per mile is for his Element—and I doubt he does either—we'll just go with the 13¢ per mile my truck gets. We were originally going to take it anyway.

Tolls

The shortest rout between the bar and my house requires the crossing of two bridges. Each bridge has a $4 one-way toll.

(2 * $4) / 2 = $4

Or you could say that I cover the way there, and Ivan covers the way back.

Food

Show time was at 6PM. In order to get to the gig one hour ahead of time (which is the standard amount of time we allow for a do-your-own-sound set up) we needed to leave at 3PM. This means eating out. However, I decided not to eat food that night. Partly because earlier that day I went to McDonald's for lunch and consumed nearly all the calories my body is capable of burning in one day, and partly because I still felt a little unsettled from the experience.

$0

Normally I don't like to play on an empty stomach, and neither does Ivan. Ivan ate at the bar, which served a traditional Irish dinner of chicken breast with gravy, white rice, gray peas, and some horribly over-cooked carrots. Pretty much everything on the menu was $7. I figure that's about how much I would have spent had I eaten. But I didn't, so this is a free-bee.

Beer

Performing music for people can be a mildly unnerving. If you've never experienced it, it's very similar to bowling or playing pool. I find I do a much better job if I've had a couple of beers. I usually try to have two beers before I play and maybe a third during the show, depending on how long we play. The average bar gives each band member 1 free beer. This one didn't.

(2 * $5) = $10

I bought a total of two beers that night. Which isn't bad, since I drank four. Ivan drove.

My Total Expenses

Looks like I did pretty damn good with $25.05 for lunch gas and tolls! Not bad for an evening jaunt to San Francisco.

Time

One of the considerations for a part time gigging band is time. While the booking party/bar owner often thinks of your time as how long you play, we in the band have to account for travel time, set-up, sound check and tear-down. We also have families and day jobs do consider. Is it going to be worth X amount of hours to ditch out on your family and make some extra money? Will we make some extra money? Let's find out!

Show time was from 6PM to 9PM. We need to account for 1 hour of set-up time, about 30 minutes to tear down and pack up, and 3½ hours of total travel time. Hey, that's 8 hours. It's like a regular work day!

Compensation

I would say there was a steady crowd of about 50 to 60 people during the three hours of music. It was a good sized bar and a high percentage of the people seemed to be having a really good time. By Sacramento standards, it was an exceptional crowd for a Sunday night.

There was no cover for music on Sundays at this bar, so I figured we would get a cut of the bar. This can be a lucrative option for a honky tonk band. We split the bill with our friends, The Real Sippin' Whiskeys, by the way.

($50 / 2) / 4 = $6.25

... The bands were given $50. Total, not each.

Damages

So this Sunday evening's trip to the city to "drink beer and play music with my friends" cost me $18.80. Under $20 is a pretty good deal for a fun trip to the city with your friends is a pretty good deal when you look at it that way. However, I didn't really make this trip based entirely on the fun factor. A normal person would probably think the $5,000 worth of gear I tote around with me to perform 1 to 4 hours of original material is a little extravagant for a hobby.

Now, before I start sounding way too pissy here, I obviously don't expect a dive bar to pay the same premium for entertainment that a wedding planner would. Despite the fact that we put the same amount of effort into a wedding performance that we put into a sleazy bar gig, bars are businesses that need to make a profit. If the 50 people in the bar consumed an average of three $5 drinks during the three hours of music ...

$50 / ((50 * 3) * $5) * 100 = ~6.7%

... is 6.7% a fair rate to pay the bands? I'll admit, I don't know the first thing about running a bar, but a business that is able to keep their entertainment expenses down to $50 a night is obviously a very efficient one.

There are also merchandise sales to factor in. We had CD's for sale for $10 each. We were unable to sell any of them. This is entirely our fault. It is also our fault for not offering other items at various price points. This is where you make the majority of your money at non-event style gigs. By non-event style gigs, I mean non-weddings, non-corporate parties, etc..

Even still, without factoring in merchandise sales, I find it odd that a band can make anywhere from $25 to $5,000 for the same amount of effort.

By the way, if you are keeping score, $6.25 ÷ 8 hours = 78¢ per hour. I won't be quitting my day job anytime soon.