How much money would you pay to see a local band play live?
(OK, a relatively unknown local band like Red 23)
If the price included 1 drink?
If the price included 2 drinks?
**Whenever we play live, we try to negotiate with venue owners to keep the price as low as possible to encourage people to come out and give us a listen–your input can help local bands like us
Thanks,
Red 23
URL: www.red23.info
E-mail: info@red23.info
In Canada (Yes, I know I’m not in Canada anymore), I paid 20-40 to see the best bands in the world: Pearl Jam, OLP, Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day, U2, etc etc. In the rare times that I would actually pay to hear a completely unknown band it was almost always free, but costing no more than about 5 bucks. (125nt) I would generously bump this up to 8$ (200nt) and say I would pay 200nt max for the band alone, and 300-400nt for 1-2 drinks.
Josefus
You seem like a generous patron of the arts
Most people seem to balk when the ticket price for a local band is NT$400-500 even if it incl. 1 or 2 drinks
How much is the drink without a band?
I think anybody would pay 100 without the drink. Maybe 150. Personally I would mind paying 200 either.
I rather pay for my drinks separately if I go to see a band that I don’t know. At least that way, I can leave after the first few songs without the feeling that I have wasted a lot of money. Said that, I would normally still drink at least one beer. So if you add the price for a drink to the 100-200, that’s OK, too.
If I don’t like the band, I wouldn’t want to stay just for my second drink.
If I know beforehand that I really like the band, I would pay more, just because it doesn’t happen very often.
Depends-covers or originals…for a covers band I’d rather not pay anything at all. For an original unknown band that I likeI would bump it up to 500 nt…after all that is less than an hours work.
250NT seems like a good number to me. But it’d depend on where it was and who I was listening to. I still find myself paying 270NT (I think) for suck ass movies.
I bet how much you charge isn’t as important as how you go about promoting it.
If it was David Chen and the Muddy Basin Ramblers I’d happily pay NT$3,000. You all should too.
Given the above feedback,What do you all think about the following venues in Taipei for seeing live local bands that do all original/mostly original music (whether in English or Chinese, or a combo of Eng./Chi)?
The WALL
Riverside
The Living Room
The Underworld
Lounge 808
I would not pay anything to see a local band. I would pay to go somewhere and have a good time, and if there is a good local band there that would be great.
NT$200 for a normal local three band bill and no drink included is reasonable by western standards. Add maybe $50 to inc one drink, 75-100 for 2…
For a touring band the price can be anywhere from NT$1000 for the Black Keys/Lambchop/Grandaddy’s of the world, throguh to NT$1600 for Gomez size bands (all indie speak of course)
As for the Ramblers… priceless
In my opinion, I would definately be wary of forking out to see bands I don’t know. No disrespect, but the quality of local bands can be questionable. On the other hand, the wall is an excellent venue and it’s understandable that they need to charge their weekend prices to maintain the venue. Playing spring scream must be an excellent opportunity to expand your fan base, good luck.
By the way, where can I find your cd or just check out one song? I’m quite curious about u guys.
Respect
viba,
We’re just looking for honest replies, thanks for yours. No disrespect taken 
Our website has some mp3 song samples: www.red23.info
The mp3 samples on our site present us as more eclectic than we probably really are.
So, we’ve recently put a full-lengh mp3 of our song “Rain, Rain” and a longer sample of “Song For Angel” as those two songs combine many of the elements of what we do (i.e. our “sound”)
To go directly to mp3’s and lyrics page:
red23.info/songs/archives/cat_ly … p?lang=eng
You can get our CD at our shows or order it thru our site:
red23.info/store.php?lang=eng
For Chinese address/ordering info:
red23.info/store.php?lang=chi
Hope you’ll also check out the rest of our evolving site and
let us know what you think,
Thanks,
Red 23
I bet how much you charge isn’t as important as how you go about promoting it.[/quote]
We’ve been meaning to get back to what Miltownkid said a few replies up about that.
As for reaching both English speaking and Chinese speaking audiences, How would you promote a show for a local band like ours?
To reach the English speaking audience, we usu. advertise in the English language papers, post here and other English language sites, ask our friends in radio to play our songs/mention our shows, distribute fliers, advertise thru venues where we play, etc.
Any other ideas?
(Yes, the Full Monty has already been suggested, thanks.)
(BTW just curious what Miltownkid refers to?)
Me, I’d be willing to pay NT$200 without drink, and maybe NT$300-350 with one (as long as it’s not just limited to shitty beers). And as for venues, Riverside and Living Room, I may actually be convinced to pay a little more simply for the venue. Haven’t checked the others out yet.
The WALL is great if you want a loud rock experience. It’s pretty big by Taipei standards, maybe one of the biggest.
www.the-wall.com.tw
Lounge 808 is small, very small, but kinda has the feel of the Living Room since you’re right there with the performers. Lounge 808 is part of the APA music school in Shimen/Taipei but don’t let that turn you away
apamusic.com.tw/index_808.htm
The Living Room is one of our favorite places to play because you can pack the house and performers can still connect with almost everyone in the audience
(Sorry, just can’t resist the urge to plug our show at the Living Room tonite, 4/1, 9:30-11:30)
red23.info/show.php?lang=eng
I don’t mind paying any amount of money to see a band i like. i’ll usually buy a few drinks anyway so i hate having drink minimums imposed by the place hosting the band