How to set up a show:
Take a look at the schedule blogs and pick a date you want
(assuming it says the spot you want is available). If you are a local band/act
(from Lake, McHenry or Kenosha County), your first show
has to be on a T, W, or Th. If you are a non-local band, you can play any night
with a spot that says ‘available’.
P.S. You cannot play covers here. You will only hear
original music in Swing State. We like it that
way and it’s the law. We decided to not buy the expensive licenses that give us
the right to display any copywritten music/art without the original artists
permission. If you cannot play at least half an hour or original material,
don’t bother asking for a show.
Once you’ve inquired about a date, we require you to fill
out some answers to questions pertaining to this blog, so read it well. It is
fairly simple, which is how we like things to be. This process overall saves us
all time instead of having to have numerous messages back and forth about how
we do things, or worse- discussions at the show.
How we roll:
Ok, well first of all we open at 6pm. If you are the first
or second band on the bill, you can load in AT 6. But being that we only have
enough space for the first band to set up on the stage and then a small room
for the second band’s equipment, if you are in the third or later band, your
load in time is the time of your show on the schedule. (p.s. 1. We don’t let
bands load in WHILE a band is playing. 2. The time of your show is offset by
roughly half an hour. In other words, if the time of your show is 8, you’ll be
going on around 8:30)
We
have a full P.A. All you’ll need to bring is instruments/amps. We also have a
projector behind the stage so if you have any non-copywritten dvds/vhs
tapes you want to play behind you, feel free to bring em in.
Who gets in free?
Band members (not roadies, girlfriends or wives, or band
managers- if they help you, that’s nice. It really doesn’t have anything to do
with the venue. Maybe if they help you, it would be a nice gesture to pay their
way into your shows- but that’s your prerogative), Swing State
employees, and ONE extra person to run merch (this person must be running merch
WHILE your band is playing. We will be watching). (P.s.- we have one table for
merch and its first come first serve. If this is important to you, bring a
table.)
For everyone else, the show is $5 entry.
*If you are coming from anywhere besides Wisconsin
or Illinois,
everyone with you on your tour gets in free.
Payment:
We don’t pay on Fridays.
Saturdays and Sundays, you get $1 for every paying attendant
that tells us they are here specifically for your band/act (we ask).
T, W, and Th, you get $2 for every paying attendant that
tells us they are here specifically for your band/act.
We are a café/ hookah lounge that is all ages (yes, this
means ANYONE can walk in the door). We do not and cannot sell alcohol. In fact,
it cannot even be on the premises (yes, this means NO DRINKING inside, in the
parking lot, in the yard). If we catch you with it, we’ll throw you out
permanently.
As a side note, every band gets a free flavor of choice for
a hookah if they so choose (assuming they are all at least 18). And coffee is
unlimited and free.
DO NOT SET UP OTHER BANDS YOURSELF. If you have other bands
in mind to play with, tell them to hit us up about the date, and we’ll take it
from there with them.
We expect every member or your band to understand our
policies stated above- so if you have a whiny and/or ignorant band member, warn
them. We don’t put up with it. We only want good vibes at our show. Whining and
complaining from people is not our idea of a good time- even slightly. Make
sure everyone knows whats up, or we’ll cancel the show on the spot- and
possibly deny future shows. We’d rather go out of business then to deal with
people that think the world and Swing State owes them something
more than we already provide.
Our goal at Swing State is to help revive
the music scene- of all genres. Originality is suffering in our culture. We are
here to help encourage people of all types and age groups to think for
themselves, express themselves, to be unique, and to congregate with fellow
artists in a peaceful space. Peaceful doesn’t mean ‘hippy’. It means being able
to be yourself- and say and do whatever you want- as long as it doesn’t infringe
on the rights of others- without judgment.
Thanks for reading. Talk to you soon.
Peac
E
Swing State