Gig Swapping – Play to Packed Rooms When Performing Out-of-Town

[MEGALOUD]

THIS ISN'T JUST FOR NIGHTMARE BANDS!

HOW DO YOU PUT NEW FACES IN FRONT OF YOUR STAGE? GIG-SWAP!
Bands and solo artists "Hook up and help each other make an impact" in other parts of the country/ WORLD!

In this Web world where every artist is just a blog post away from being hailed as the “Saviors of Music,” it has become increasingly more difficult to make positive press actually mean something, or at least translate into physical bodies in front of the stage at a show.

Sure, it might give you a whiff of cred, but a nice review probably won’t convince anyone to turn off their Playstation and go to your next show. Unless you’re blessed with that perfect storm of hype, media saturation, and industry connections, chances are you’ll have to earn your fans the old fashioned way, one at a time.

So how do you make touring work for you these days...by Gig Swapping! Sure, you can write promoters and club bookers directly and I absolutely say do this! But everyone of you knows you still might find yourself playing with a mismatched, under-promoted bill on an off-night to an empty room.

A better approach is to perform with a friend’s or New Friends band who lives in that town, a band that has the connections and fans in that market to pull-off a great live event. “But I don’t have musician friends spread out across the country like that!” I hear you say.

Well, with MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and online touring networks springing up all over the place that are modeled after www.CouchSurfing.com, a musical partnership is just a click away. Find a band that compliments your style. Ask them to set up a show in their town where you get to open for them.

Then when they travel through your town, return the favor. A shared investment. It is pretty simple, (as with most things, that work) it's about REAL human relationships / connections.
Often times, these kinds of negotiations can lead to lasting friendships that will result in many opportunities in the future as well.
SO WHY NOT?

Nightmare works with artist from all over the USA, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Italy, UK, France, Brazil, Japan, and more...

So throw up a post of your next show, see if any other band wants to join you, in trade for a show in their area OR an even better idea is to JOIN up with www.Couchsurfing.com

Get out in front of NEW FACES and spread your message of music to the world.

 

[metal evilution]

Totally 100% agree with your post dude.
It's definately the way to go and who else will look after the bands properly but each other.
We have many bands here in Australia we deal with that you can approach us about if your an artist from another Country.
Just drop me a line and i'll see if we can hook you up with some similar bands here.

Nice work as always Nightmare!

p.s. Have cut and pasted this thread to our forum too to create the same interest back.

 

[Valkyrie Lycan]

yes was thinking along similar lines and will look into it more - sounds like a support network which involves bands and fans plus people in the industry alike.

I will as well post this threat in our blog sections, plus put it up on our official website.

 

[SpaceKev]

Gig swapping is a great idea. Friends who can help each other out is a great way to build a community and an audience.

It seems to me that punk "genre", is really the only genre to embrace gig swapping. I have met and seen many bands and enjoyed some fantastic music, simply because somebody acted as a host, chaperone and promoter for another band when they were making their way through town.

Just like you mention in your post, my friends who were in bands that had done some touring had their hospitality reciprocated when they found themselves in unfamiliar territory. It didn't matter if they were playing a gig 2 hours away from home or if they were in a completely different time zone.

I have seen it work, to a lesser extent, with merch too. The bands have swapped CDs, t-shirts, and what nots, with another band and sold them at their own shows. Sometimes, they mailed the other band their portion of the profits and other times each band pocketed whatever they could get for selling the other band's merch.

Gig swapping is a great idea. It is something that every band that wants to gig should do.

 

[halcyonwayband@aol.com]

Halcyon Way is based in Atlanta, GA and we're willing to pretty much play anywhere if we can be matched up with a band in that area with a draw. We're more than happy to return the favor as well, and there's a good metal scene here with Hoyt at Pathfinder Promotions setting shows up all the time. It's common for us to have a couple of local acts anchoring a bill for an out of town act to come in and play with.