Gigging thing - opinions, please!

[mrph]

(With apologies to diffrentcolours for poaching the title...)

There's been a fair bit of debate about gigs and promoters elsewhere on LJ today - mostly about a specific incident, but with some discussion of what should be expected/provided, good practice and all that sort of thing.

And thinking about it, there are a few musical and promotery types reading this journal. So...

What advice should be in a FAQ/guide for first time gig promoters?

Or, from the other point of view, for new bands who are about to start playing gigs?
Edit: actually, there seems to be a very decent take on the band's checklist here. Which the gigging thing lyrics indirectly reminded me of... :)

Comments

Re: Addendum 2

[shermarama]

Check if the bands have done a flyer; in some cases they might have come up with something better!

I'd like to chime in from my own point of view, which is as a musician.

Sound - the sound engineer is the centre of the whole experience as far as the bands are concerned. The house sound engineer is not God, I've met some very bad ones, in fact the last gig I played saw me doing most of the work of chivvying bands and gear on and off stage to try and get a soundcheck for any of us. I don't expect to have to teach a sound engineer how to use a multimeter to check if a lead is dodgy but I did that night.

And, I view contracts as pretty much a waste of paper unless you're getting into bands with serious management. What's supposed to happen if you don't do something that's written on the piece of paper? There's not the slightest chance of being able to claim redress over anything without good-will between the parties, in which case you don't need a piece of paper. What's the point in being able to wave a piece of paper and complain if the gig turns out rubbish, in the case of either party's fault?