Will You Play A Private Gig?

Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 8:49 pm

So I'm listening to "This American Life" podcast like I always do and one of the stories is about how this indie musician (apparently a relatively well known indie musician) is hired by this guy to serenade his ex-girlfriend and help him get her back. It turns out to be this pretty horrible affair - like being a fly on the wall during an intensely intimate event in someone's life, like inappropriately intimate - but it works. The guy gets his girlfriend back. Flash forward a year or so into the future and the guy isn't with his girlfriend anymore, but is interested in, once again, hiring said indie guy to do the same thing with someone else.

The question is this: Would you do such an intimate gig if the money was right? Or have you done such an intimate gig before? Vote in the above poll and the tell us more about your experiences.

Personally, I remember being slipped a tip to come over to a table in a bar to play "Wonderful Tonight" to a guy and his girl - but that's as close as I've ever got to that kind of gig.

Groupie Joined: Nov 15, 2007 Posts: 76

These stories sure sound like those ones you hear on "This American Life". Educated, over-analytical eggheads with big vocabularies whining about quirky ways in which life is awkward and deals them injustices...

I'm a little fussier about what I will and won't take, now, since I now CAN be. I wouldn't do this, even if the money was triple what a usual gig would be. (Beyond that, though, the person offering would be a fool, or rich, which I would just have to take advantage of, of course...)

For such a private affair, it would seem to easily lead to embarrassment; Sounds good and romantic on paper, but, it probably won't go down as you perceive in real life...

And there's no exposure benefit for such a thing. Contrarily, for exposure promo purposes, I would play for nothing. If it lead to name-building and many people knowing of me and what I do, I'd do it pro bono, since benefit would surely come from it later. But THIS, playing for two people, like, what FOR?...

Groupie Joined: Nov 06, 2007 Posts: 85

It could make for a funny story but that's about it. I wouldn't do it. I'd actually be worried about the guys in the band getting funny. But who would hire a Black Sabbath Tribute band for something like this. That's one of the most outlandish what-ifs I can think of. It's almost something out of a made for TV movie. Maybe something staring Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore.

Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 4:21 pm

Well, the reason said indie-guy was hired for the gig was because he was the lead singer for the band they saw on their first date. I could see that happening to you - with a request for an unplugged show maybe? Although I can't imagine what you'd play for a situation like that.

Wink