[Dixielandjazz] All Good Things Come To An End

[tcashwigg at aol.com]

That is absolutely true Pat:

Many years ago I had a dynamite show group which tried to emulate Sam 
Butera and the Witnesses and Louie Prima was our idol, and we were 
actually fired form a couple of casinos because we drew too many people 
into the lounge when we played away from the gaming, now that is a blow 
to the ego if there ever was one.   You bust your butt to become a 
class act and really entertain the people in the audience which is what 
it is supposed to all about and the idiot manager tells you you are 
doing too good a job and we can't afford to have you do that it is 
costing us money at the tables and the machines.   Sorry guys but it's 
time for you to move on.   Another one moved us to another lounge up 
above and behind the bartenders and demanded we play at almost acoustic 
levels  with a B-3 Hammond organ electric guitar drums vocals and three 
horns.   Yeah right  background dinner jazz that nobody can hear, we 
left the Casino business right after that gig and never went back.   
The only place to play at one is indeed the headliner room where they 
will pay to come in and see you while eating at the dinner show and 
also being tagged for a two drink minimum per person to make money for 
the house over and above your fees.


That is the big difference between Entertainers Pay and Musicians Pay  
( always has been)  they like to treat the musicians the same as the 
busboys and change girls, and cocktail waitresses, they view you simply 
as hired help and rarely respect you at all as professional 
Entertainment.   Sad but true,   Many of the more successful musicians 
learned how to become Entertainers and moved up the pay scale, while 
most just were content to have a gig playing music and never gave it a 
second thought as to how to elevate themselves.

Gotta get outta that box before they tape it up and ship it back to 
Wenetka for storage.  :))

Cheers,  P.S. Glad to see you back with us Pat.

Tom Wiggins


-----Original Message-----
From: patcooke77 at yahoo.com
To: Steve barbone <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>; DJML 
<dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Wed, 24 May 2006 23:24:57 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] All Good Things Come To An End

    We have casinos here as well as along the Mississippi gulf coast.  
Casino
entertainment directors seem to all be of a similar mindset....that is 
they have
a limit on what they will pay for entertainers, unless they are a 
headliner that
they charge a cover to see.  The purpose of entertainers in a casino is 
not to
sell drinks or food.  The purpose of just about everything in a casino 
is to
lure people into the place in the hope that they will lose some money 
at the
tables or the slots.  Whether they dance or not is not as important as 
whether
they gamble or not.

Pat Cooke
New Orleans

----- Original Message ----
From: Steve barbone <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
To: DJML <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2006 3:47:49 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] All Good Things Come To An End


tcashwigg at aol.com wrote (polite snip)

> directors have never been long on savvy when it comes to booking and
> maintaining a good situation, :))   It's all straight from the Hotel
> operators and managers training manual :))   when ANYTHING goes wrong
> or does not increase the bottom line change the band it must be their
> fault.   Cheaper is Better right?  !!  They are also fond of 
remodeling
> the lobby often.

Hi Tom and List mates:

Pretty close to the mark. In 2005 The Showboat set a record for 
attendance &
profits, both up substantially from 2004. I would be the last person to 
say
the band made any difference at all, but we were there. And we set the
folks, young and old, on fire every time. No question about that.

They spent at least a million dollars this Spring renovating both the 
lobby
and the main gambling floor. ;-) VBG

The negatives were that we asked for a raise, and that I was the oldest
musician there among some 60 that they employed, in an old guy band.
Entertainment directors there had always let the old guys go quickly 
and I
was genuinely surprised that they did not target me a year ago. On the 
other
hand we asked for that raise about a month ago and that may well have
triggered their action, figuring we would leave if we didn't get it. 
BTW, I
would have left simply because rising gas prices and the commute were 
making
it an unprofitable gig compared with what I can book locally.

They really do not know what they want musically other than they want a
change, according to our agent, and that they wanted younger musicians 
since
the House of Blues was bringing in young kids. Never mind that we 
excited
these kids every time we were there, and got them dancing. Never mind 
that
the Entertainment Director had seen this countless times and always
complimented us on the great job we were doing.

My opinion is that they have no idea what it is they are looking for in 
 a
band and no cohesive entertainment marketing strategy. But that and a 
dollar
will get you a cup of coffee. Perhaps all they seek is warm bodies as a
diversion.

It was a fun gig, got my chops in excellent shape, and got me 
physically fit
for an old guy of 71+. On the other hand, we have 2 horses in training 
on
the farm and I've got 50 outside gigs now booked between now and year 
end,
with many more in negotiation so my plate is still pretty full and I'm 
not
complaining. Life is good.

Cheers,
Steve





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