Seriously, after reading all the debate that has been going on, i can only deduce, bands dont wanna sell tickets or more so unreasonable to pay for the unsold.
Before anything else, just wanna say that my band have played for the ultrasound/rockon gigs before. Experience is definitely invaluable. Feedback is invaluable. Im am discussing in a neutral point of view and not siding anyone.
1) Regarding the tickets o0
Look, to the bands who have this issue. If everyone actually bothers to notice, Mr. Nick, posts his gig notification way way before the gig. During the time frame, one can actually go ask around first, if any of your friends want to come and watch etc. then decide on whether u all wanna play the gig if enough people have been gathered/agreed to come/even book tickets from you(believe me it happened to me once). From the organizer's point of view, if they(organizers) have looked through every possible angle to cut cost and deliver, then one must accept the fact that the tickets are used to pay off every gig organized. At the end of the day, look at yourself first, is your band ready to perform, then look for friends. When you got the people then confirm with the organizer that u want to play. Its something like doing your homework ( sorry if my analogy is bad ). One has gotta look at the situation, consider all factors then make a decisive choice. Thats what my band and i do. For all the gigs that my band has played for ultrasound/rockon there was only once that we had to pay off 17 unsold tickets by our ownself, painful but heck, we just moved on. Dont forget, you are still playing to the others who came to watch their friend's band. Belive me majority stays. Even more so if you are the first few bands to play. The crowd is there to watch you.
2) Equipment
I have to agree, that the equipment is not really favourable. Drummers are always complaining the set moves when they play. Imagine if a really hardcore band plays. 90% chance the set will topple( taking the arts house platform for example ). The amps are sometimes faulty and the tone doesnt compliment the acoustics for the area. But who are we to complain. We can only feedback. Tell the organiser, recommend the organiser. By the way Nick, i forgot to recommend you o'lando's jamming studio in thomson. They offer equipment rental. They have grestch drumsets and stacks for rent at a more or less reasonable charge. The exact price you will have to contact them. But KEEP THIS IN MIND, its not like we have much of a choice and WE ARE NOT BIGSHOTS! Thus, we do not have the right to say "man we should have super high end amps in there super high end this and that" if everything was that high end, we'd all be playing in a major gig(ala singfest 2008 where ppl pay 300bucks for the weekend passes woot)!! Ain't that great xD
Jokes aside, even if we do have the best equipment ever, it would mean 2 things ampilfiying the great music one can play or the great suckiness that will come out. I rmb someone mentioned an expensive guitar and a carpet full of effects are not going to make you play like Paul Gilbert. In the hands of a well-experienced player, yes its going to make the sound even sweeter, but to an inexperienced padawan, it's just going to make him/her stab oneself. What i normally do in situations with equipment not to thy advantage? Make use of the setup time. I will look at the amp deduce the best possible setting play with it for as along as time allows find the sweetest spot i can find. The crappiest amp can made to sound as sweet as heaven once tweaked correctly. So advice to bands, if the organiser does not state what the equipment provided are, adapt quickly, think fast, move fast. If they list the equipment to the bands, even better do some research. Go to youtube or something look up for demos for the equipment. DO YOUR HOMEWORK.
3) Auditions? No Auditions? Demos? Blah?
Thats the whole point of it all isn't it. It's solely meant as open platform for bands who have nowhere to showcase the talent. If one hasnt realised this yet, Ultrasound/Rockon is probably one of the most accessible gigs for talents to showcase what they are capable of to the masses. Nick is not there to judge, heck if he were to comment on what my band plays, id really be interested in what he says. =3
Most of the time, all the bands that go up there to play, all play covers. Bands who want to perform should know their calibre. What's my take? i say go up there rock with all your heart and take constructive criticism to improve. Its closed minded people who dont move on. If one is really serious about music, take every praise and every insult, move on and improve.
So i say this again, think about it this way, the band is not a one person thing, its the group thing, discuss with your fellow mates, are we ready to hit the stage? If you are, be confident, go up there strut your stuff, if comments come your way all the better, cause you know people do listen and they want to either help you or just give you some encouragement.
4) Final Say
All this debate, one can really see the naive bands out there. Think for yourselves. Us as human beings have the freedom of choice. Once you agree to something like this ultrasound/rockon gig your choices are put to a list and you have to work with it. Thats why i say, choose wisely. If you want to do the gig abide, if you dont, then heck care. Dont even bother. If curious ask, its not like they are going to charge you money for asking questions, only the phone companies will =3
For the new bands, change your mindset, be an open canvas. Starting out is the hardest thing ever, believe me, my band didnt have the most pleasant time, mentally and financially. So what about the tickets, so what about the equipment, the main thing all along is that you wanna make your music heard or show to the masses that your band has the capability of covering songs well etc. Wasn't this all about the music? Look at all the debates, tickets this, tickets that, pay this, pay that, equipment this, equipment that, organizer this, organizer that. Lemme ask you all, what happened to the music? If one is thinking about moving the SG music scene up, one shouldnt let the minor things hinder you. Overcome every obstacle. In the SG music scene, it is so damm damm damm damm damm damm freaking hard to make thy bands known. But now there is a small platform for one to start. If one plans on starting big straight away, either have a lot of cajones(mexican for balls) or has an IQ of 300. Everyone starts out small. So if you manage to play the gig. Play it with everything uve got. Just wow the audience as much as you can. Dont tell me u just want your friends to notice you. What abou the other band's supporters and the other bands themselves, they will listen to ur play and notice you, they are human too. Who knows if your music appeals to them, you have just got yourselves more fans and supporters. Believe me even at small time gigs, record labels have sent ppl to look ard the scene. YOU NEVER KNOW! So play your heart out, rock your heart out. U have the stage, TAKE CHARGE!!
For the experienced bands, we all should know all this by now. we know where we stand. We know how to handle ourselves. Gigged enough to know all the happenings abt the local music scene.
My final sentence, we are humans, we have the ability to CHOOSE, a band formed by humans have the freedom to CHOOSE what they WANT TO DO, so think what you wanna ACCOMPLISH IN MUSIC then follow through with the APPROPRIATE ACTION. Thank you for reading.
rock and roll bro
