RTP-area local music and culture

[James Hepler <jameshepler AT yahoo.com>]

You're welcome, and...nudity.  We need more nudity. 
It doesn't have to be you perse.  But yes, nudity.

Hep

--- Local 506 <local506 AT earthlink.net> wrote:
> Thanks for all the kind words regarding 506...and
> much thanks to those
> of you who've come out.  Yes, as Ross mentioned,
> running a club is
> much tougher than I ever imagined.  After two
> months, my 80 hours
> weeks are now only about 60 hours.  Not band til you
> factor in that
> I've yet to take a penny back from the club.  That's
> why I still have
> my other job (which isn't factored into the hours
> above.)  Plus, I
> have two other people, the under-appreciate John
> Dzubak and my intern
> Stuart Cullian both adding another 40 hours to the
> mix.  So, if you
> see me at a show, and I'm not my normal friendly
> self, it's probably
> cos I've been working 10-12 hours already that day.
> 
> I'm not complaining; however, there are some things
> that can be done
> to make things easier for any venue, not just 506.
> 
> 1) Be willing to pay more at the door.  Ticket
> prices for local bills
> are generally $5, which is what they were when I was
> in college in the
> late 80's!  Still, we have people balk at those
> prices.  For the
> record, it cost me about $100 to open my doors each
> night (for a sound
> man and door person.)  I'm not looking to profit
> from the door -
> however, I'd like to not lose money either.  Not to
> mention, I'd like
> to see bands be financially rewarded as well.  Right
> now, I'm taking a
> loss on most nights so that the bands can get a
> decent amount of
> money.  Heck, I've had to pay a couple bands out of
> my wallet since
> the door didn't make much (and I didn't want them to
> leave
> empty-handed.)
> 
> 2) Come early / stay late.  I know most people don't
> want to spend
> their entire night in one spot; however, it is very
> frustrating when
> people pay to get in - and then immediately head to
> another spot for a
> drink...or rush out once the band is over to go to
> another bar.
> 
> 3) Buy something besides PBR from time to time. 
> Since the door money
> goes toward the bands (and the cost of having them,)
> my club only
> makes money from the bar - and it's really tough to
> do that at $2 a
> pop.  We probably sell 25 PBR's to every import beer
> we sell.  That's
> a tough way to make a living.  If everybody who
> drinks PBR exclusively
> bought one higher-end beer a night (and I'm talking
> upgrading to
> Budweiser or Rolling Rock) - I could sleep a little
> easier at night
> (as opposed to today, where I had to rush a deposit
> in early to cover
> this week's bills...)
> 
> Similarly, just about every show, we have someone
> complain about our
> bar prices being too high.  Keep in mind that the
> average bar doesn't
> need to own a PA or lighting system, doesn't have to
> pay a sound
> person each night, doesn't have to advertise in the
> Indy each week,
> etc.
> 
> And more importantly, the average bar doesn't have
> to charge you to
> get in.  Believe me, I'd love to have more shows be
> free - and pass
> the hat.  I mean, the door charge is just another
> hurdle for a venue
> to make money (and for new bands to develop fans.) 
> There are so many
> people who walk by this club, poke their head in,
> see the door person,
> and move on...and probably end up next door at the
> Sports Bar.
> 
> That's not to say that the club doesn't have a lot
> of room for
> improvement to accomodate some of these concerns. 
> For the record, I'm
> trying to address all the needs that have been
> expressed to me.  We
> have a new air conditioning unit.  We now have tap
> beer (from the
> Carolina Brewery.)  And, starting soon, 506 will be
> starting shows
> earlier with first bands going on at 10pm.  So no
> more 1am start
> times!  Despite rumors to the contrary, I do not
> want bands playing to
> 2am.
> 
> If there is anything you'd like to see the club
> improve upon, I'm all
> ears.  I've been a sponge to ideas all summer and
> there is no shortage
> of thing we could be doing even better.
> 
> Glenn / Local 506
> -- ch-scene: the list that mirrors
> alt.music.chapel-hill --
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ch-scene
> 



        
                
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