The following is an
informational list of venues in the Boston area.
[If you would like to contribute your opinion, please email
me. The opinions currently reflect mine and those of anonymous members
of the Rockerchick listserv.]
VENUES
•THE
ABBEY
general: Good for out of towners (you have to promote it yerself
tho'), especially if it's with a Boston band on the bill.
site: http://www.schnockered.com
•THE
LINWOOD
general: Bigass
flames painted on the wall behind the stage, which lends itself to the
rawk...I'm honestly not sure about their booking practices, since we got
booked through an outside promoter doing "female band nights" once a month.
I do know that they tend to book far, far in advance. [They've been booked
through July since February, apparently, so get your promo packs in well
before touring].
The food here is amazing, though not very veg/vegan friendly. Lots of
beef.
money: Getting
paid, however is a royal pain in the ass. The club takes all the cash
from the first 50 people through the door, and the bands split anything
over that, so if you're going to try to play here, be sure you have a
decent draw. Again, one slot on the list per band member.
sound: Here
it is great, and for ten bucks you'll get a soundboard recording of the
show, which has come out pretty well for most of the bands I know that
have recorded their sets here.
freebies: Alas,
the bands get no discount on the food, but you get two pitchers of bud
free.
•THE MIDDLE
EAST UPSTAIRS
general: Steve the Booking Guy is damn near impossible to get in
touch with sometimes ["We're sorry, this voicemail box is full..."], but
is pretty laid back and easy to deal with in general. He's also pretty
good at putting likeminded bands together, unlike a few other boston clubs.
[editor's note: Steve has been replaced by Chris Jackson. An anonymous
source reports that he prefers to save the best spots for his own band
and for his friends. This has not been confirmed by another source, but
be careful. No one has vouched for him, either.]
I like The Middle East a bunch. This is where you WANT to play if you're
an indie band coming through Boston.
money: Pay is OK, but not great [straight cut of the door price].
sound: Usually pretty good, but it's better if the sound person
likes your style of music.
freebies: 1/2 off food, 2-3 drink tickets per band member, and
one guest list spot per band member, although I think touring bands get
a more lenient list.
contact: upstairs@mideastclub.com
site: http://www.mideastclub.com
•SKY
BAR
general: Cheezy decor [black
lights, ewww], pretty good bar, atrocious money. It's booked by Shred,
who's one of the DJ's at WBCN, the big alterna-station here. Shred is
great to deal with, he's really enthusiastic about getting new bands out
there, and he has a knack for putting together great lineups.
money: The money's not particularly good, but SkyBar's a really
good low-pressure place to try out new material or warm up for the "Big"
show.
Occasionally you end up playing in front of the dartboards they have set
up on stage on off nights, which lends a slightly uncomfortable feeling...
sound: Um, well...they only mike the kick drum and vocals, so the
sound's pretty much up to you. They have a 12 track board and a brand
new PA though, so you can probably get fully miked if you want. The room
is small enough that you don't really need it, though.
freebies: Two pitchers of bud or miller, and one guest list spot
per band member.
contact: shred@wbcn.com
•T.T.
THE BEAR'S PLACE
general: Urgh. Some may differ, but I find Randi a bit of a pain
to deal with. She's VERY curt and abrupt when dealing with bands and has
a reputation for being somewhat vindictive. Hasn't happened to us yet,
but we're wary. [At the same time, she's been supportive of our band,
and is the most likely booker in Boston to give us good slots on the weekends.]
If you play here, you'll end up on a bill that doesn't really make much
sense -- there'll be maybe one other band that's stylistically similar,
and then two others that may be wonderful, but really don't mesh [i.e.
one Better Than Ezra-sounding band, two indie-rock bands,and someone who
wishes they were They Might Be Giants].
money: Kinda difficult to get paid, but they pay pretty well. [Of
course, our friends/fans tend to drink quite a bit at our shows.]
sound: Tends to be fairly atrocious, although we've gotten one
really good soundman there. Used to be the big rock club here, now it
seems to be for bands either on the way up, or on the decline. [Watch
as my band never gets booked at T.T.'s again now.]
freebies: Anywhere from 3-10 drink tickets per band member [we've
gotten lucky a few times], and they're pretty liberal with the guest list.
added bonus: This is one of the few clubs around with a legitimate
"backstage" area.
contact: ttthebears@mindspring.com
site: http://www.ttthebears.com/
ETC
•THE
CATFIGHT COLLABORATIVE
Founded by several Boston
rockers, this promotional group aims to promote women groups -- no acoustic
here!
site: http://www.catfightcollaborative.com