Post: #1

Hello all, i made a link with two talented singers here in Delta, BC. I am going to manage them and see if we can get some exposure and maybe make a few bucks. They do live music with guitars and they have their own equipment, amplifiers and such. They are in their late 30's and will pretty much sing anything. Most of their music are covers. I know it maybe a cliche but we are attempting to make a few bucks here. My question is where in the BC area would be good for us to put on a show? I am talking a specific venue. What kind of music would you suggest they play? How much could we charge for the cover? What kind of audience should we target? Ay advice on this topic will be appreciated. This is my first attempt at managing a band and I want to do it well.

Post: #2

Vancouver sucks for small scale live music venues. There are 3 main types of places where they can play.

a) house parties/private events (this is where most of the punk/metal shows are at because everywhere else gets shut down very quickly, the locations are usually on a "need to know" basis)
b) bars/pubs. a bunch of places (mainly irish bars) have live bands who play classic cover tunes. I always see the same bands playing. eg. Ceilis, The Blarney stone.
c) big venues (not gonna happen)

Its all about who you know, tons of networking. The only people I know making any money from music put in A LOT of work.

The places I see that have the largest amount of bands playing are:
rock: railway club, joes apartment, fanclub (I think so)
punk/metal: pub 340, funky winkerbeans, rickshaw aka. greasy east hastings bars

they usually charge $10-20 cover


I've played shows before, you really don't make all that much money. Most I ever got for a night was $100 and the place was pretty packed.

Post: #3

You're going to have to network heavily, IMO try finding a sweet spot of a style and work with it.

You're going to have to network to get into the social circles, and network with people who own venues, there are many niches in the city.

There are a few venues around East Van, around Commercial Dr.

Post: #4

Thanks man, I am willing to put in the work. What do you think about them playing some reggae tunes so as to maybe find a niche? I thought maybe it could be funny since they both are white.

Post: #5

Reggae is fairly popular around Commercial, I remember going to a Reggae event down at Cafe Deux Soleil.

Plenty of white Reggae music artists surprisingly enough.

Post: #6

Thanks, I will check out that street. Is there any other area that you can suggest, particularly those with open mic nights? How would you suggest I go about networking with these bar or club owners?

Post: #7

Thanks, I will check out that street. Is there any other area that you can suggest, particularly those with open mic nights? How would you suggest I go about networking with these bar or club owners?