I've been wanting to address this issue for some time now and try to share the bands heart with you the fan base as to how the economy is effecting us and the over all live music scene here in our neck of the woods. Let me start by saying The J. Factor has always been at the for-front of working for every penny we earn. What's that mean? Basically, if we have a flop night (for which all bands have at some point or another) then we always try to work with the club to make sure everyone makes money. We've never been a band to say "well, up yours pay me". We have always kept the club formula in focus, which is,... if the club doesn't make money than how can we. The whole idea of having live music or any other paid entertainment is to draw people into the club to spend money. People who would not have come out unless the band was there playing. So it stands to reason that the bands that don't draw people don't make the same as bands that pack the club. We've always been blessed enough to have a solid following, so in turn we've always been at the top of the food chain. Well, as you can image with the changes in gas prices and everything costing more, we have all had to sort of take it on the nose. It costs more to get to the club and more to keep up with gear maintence. I myself have spent around 5k this year just trying to keep up with everything on my drums. That doesn't include the sound system and everyone's personal gear like guitar amps, strings, cables and such. Todd and I each go through around 250 dollars a month just in strings and sticks. Are you starting to get the picture? Now when you look at how the clubs overhead has gone up it really gets scary. The price of beer and liquor have all went up and the price of things like cable TV (which is a must for every bar) gas to heat and cook has went through the roof and to be perfectly honest I scratch my head a lot of times wondering how these guys even stay open. It's a tough market right now.
So....I said all that to say this... We here in The J. Factor camp are trying feverishly to help keep the cost of things down as much as possible so you guys can come out without breaking the bank. But you need to understand that we can only keep the price of cover charges and drinks down if everyone comes out every weekend that they can. We can always make more money with a club full of people that are only spending a little than a handful of people spending a lot. It's all about numbers!!! Club owners will always be happier with a club full of people than only a handful, even if they only make a little bit of money. They will always feel like they had a good night.
Another thing is that you have to understand the price you pay to get in to see a band (cover charge) hasn't went up in like 20 years. So those of you complaining about paying 5 to 10 bucks as a cover need to understand that you've been going to see bands for 2 decades and only been paying 5 bucks. Come on man... We don't make a bunch of money as it is, so if you like to enjoy what we do then just pay the cover like everyone else and enjoy the show. No ones getting rich here. Also understand that events like New Year's Eve give you a ton of bang for your buck. We here in The J. Factor do this FIRST for the money, and then for the pleasure of playing music. We all have family's and need this money to feed our kids and gas up our cars. Anyone that thinks this is all fun and games can volunteer to roadie a couple weeks in a row and you'll find out quick just how much work go's into making a J. Factor show happen. .