Finding gigs for live looping

["loop.pool" <looppool@cruzio.com>]

Travis wrote:
"Rick has been an advocate of promoting these events as "live looping",
and if it helps, then do it, but I'd hate for someone trying to find
somewhere to play to think that they have to find a "live looping"
venue instead of just a venue open to their music."

Hey Travis,

I certainly respect your experience and I see what you mean by saying this,
but I was initially interested in getting people interested in the diverse 
music that came
really specifically from live looping and I realize that trying that in 
Santa Cruz may be really
different than in other cities (it is a pretty unusual place one has to 
admit) but we
were going through an incredibly dry spell in terms of places to play in 
the 
city after the
dot.com bust.

Rents of rentable venues trebled,  most nighclubs closed down to live 
music 
and went DJ only
and the remaining music venues became incredibly more conservative in 
booking anything
that was unusual.

Necessity being a mother,   I just started looking at opening up new 
places 
(or finding new places that
were just opening up).

I completely agree with Chris (aka samba) when he says that there are tons 
of places to play that are outside of
the kinds of places that I started looking at,  but a large number of the 
places that he mentioned are not necessarily
suitable for a multiple artist performance where electric music is allowed 
and permissable.

In Santa Cruz, as an example, virtually all outdoor gigs have gone the way 
of the dinasour (or $1 a gallon gasoline) due
to 1) a really repressive police department and attendant laws and 2) due 
to 
the incredible rise in insurance for events.

I knew I needed places where I could count on a date..........poster the 
show and publicize the hell out of it.

My experience has actually been that using 'live looping' as a calling 
card 
has been extremely successful but mind you,
I have completely eschewed gigs at jazz, blues and pop rock bars because I 
know from 30 years in the music business that
they are usually not really open to things that are outside of their 
defined 
boxes.

Trust me,  I tried them all originally.    The first live looping gig that 
was a monthly affair got started at a Sushi bar or all wierd things, but 
the 
booker was a fan of our music and realized that he wanted to help us 
figure 
out how to use this interesting technology
before we even knew how to do it.

Hell, I've made beaucoup bucks playing live looping based music for 
corporate parties, weddings and other hi paying gigs (1st Night SAnta 
Cruz, 
pit orchestra for the Calabash Awards, et. al.) but let's face it,   these 
are not necessarily typical gigs and, in my experience, they are few and 
far 
between (especially after the lucrative dot.com era ended in the the South 
Bay, SF Bay and Monterey Bay areas).

**************
What I have found is that a lot of people just starting out in the venue 
business (or art gallery, what have you) are doing so with a lot of energy 
and high hopes.    I just have tried to translate my excitement about our 
very, very loose knit community to everyone I have talked to.    After a 
while I found out that young electronica DJs and print journalists are 
fascinated by what the possibilities of our community are.

My whole point in starting this thread was just to say , essentially, that 
nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I have been instrumental in helping to create three different musical 
movements in my local area:  New Wave,  World Beat and now Live Looping.

Every time that we have worked our asses off to promote something that is 
brand new (there were no African, Jamaican or MiddleEastern bands playing 
the Catalyst in our town before I just badgered Gary Tighe at the Catalyst 
over and over again to book some) and gotten a really healthy scene going 
on 
someone invariably says,  "You guys are so lucky that there are so many 
gigs 
in your area."

My point is that you have to get out there and make something out of 
nothing 
if you want to create a scene.   If, as Chris says,  you can play 
Safeway's 
produce section without being busted,  go for it!!!!!      It's just 
increasingly difficult to do that were we live (as you have to admit, 
Chris.........<wink>