I see an increasing trend lately in Austin: local bands getting used up.
And I can't seem to figure out if this is caused by the bands themselves or the clubs and the booking agents. I know that the first thing I do when trying to book a line-up is I go to several bands websites to see who is over playing and who isn't (Of course some bands purposely don't post all of their shows online for this reason).I even go as far as asking bands to try and not book any competing shows within the same week.
But lately, I've seen good bands playing too much. A friday and a saturday in one week in the same town! then a free show the week before and after.
Is there a strategy to this overplaying that I don't see? I am not a believer that playing as many shows as possible gets you more recognition. It might actually work against bands. Every time one of these overplayed bands has a show fans might just say "oh, I'll see them some other time, they always play out".
And then there is the $$$ issue. Maybe these bands don't care about the money, but do they care enough about the clubs? I mean, the clubs are always seen as the bad guys or as money grubbers- but really, they've got rent to pay as well don't they? And Employees to pay?
This is a topic I will have to come back to. Sometimes I think Austin should follow the model of cities like San Francisco- the clubs have strict rules that any band can only play once every 2 weeks. Makes sense to me...
