How to Cancel Your Show or Concert

How to Cancel Your Show or ConcertHow to Cancel Your Show or ConcertNobody wants to cancel a concert or show. Canceling a gig is never a pleasant experience for a lot of reasons, but sometimes calling off the show has to be done. On the how much drama, headache, and expense is this going to cause me? scale, canceling a gig can mean disappointment, some negative feedback and moderate expense for an indie or other small artist, and can go all the way up to multi-million dollar lawsuits on the arena tour level (though,hopefully, there is some insurance in place to help deal with all of that if youre headlining arenas). Tips for Canceling a Show Lets assume for our purposes that were talking about canceling a smallish club gig that you either booked yourself or that you booked with a promoter, with or without the help of an agent. Heres what you need to do to make the best out of a bad situation. These steps should all happen as soon as you know you cant make the show Call Your we rber If an agent booked the show for you, they will almost certainly want to handle all the communications with all of the relevant parties about calling off the show. They may handle most of the rest of these steps for you. Look at the Contract If there is a contract for the show, chances are it says something about cancellations. It may spell out how you need to let the venue or promoter know about the cancellation and what financial liability you are left with. If you signed it, then youre bound by it. You may be looking at paying out promotion costs and venue hire costs. Ideal for you? Well, no. But you must consider that your cancellation can leave some people holding the bag who really shouldnt be. Mind you, the lack of a contract doesnt let you off the hook for these expenses, but a contact may give you a prescribed method of coping with a call-off. Call the Venue or Promoter As soon as you know you will need to cancel the gig, call the venue and/or the promoter, con tract or leid. It is important information for them to know, and this is also your chance to mitigate the fallout from the cancellation. Whether or not you have a contract that specifies your responsibilities after a cancellation, the venue or promoter may be willing to work with you if you can offer a date to reschedule the show- as in, maybe you wont have to pay for the full promo/venue costs if you can move the whole shebang to another night. Likewise, if your reason for cancellation is a legitimate emergency, then you may be able to appeal to the good nature of the venue/promoter to be understanding, especially if your cancellation isnt that costly for them.Anyway, you slice it, be calm, courteous, and apologetic when you deliver the news. Dont expect a good reaction. A cancellation, especially a last-minute cancellation, is a blow to the venue and/or a promoter. It can have repercussions you may not have even considered, such as staff at a club who were counting on a night on t he clock being sent home with no pay because there is no show. If you are met with a major freak out, do your best to keep your cool. If communication is not working, apologize and say you will call back tomorrow to iron out the details. Emphasize your willingness to do everything you can to make the situation right. Alert the Media If you know the show will need to be called off in time for the local paper or radio station to help spread the word, great. If not, you should still let any media member who was sent information about the show know that it is not happening.Pay close attention to anyone who has requested a guest list spot the last thing you want is someone who has agreed to come down and check out your show to go to the venue and find out that the show is canceled. One caveat If the promoter has handled all of the PR, they may wish to be the ones to follow up with the press. Find out from the promoter, and if they want to do it, dont step on their toes. Talk to t he Fans Use your website, social networking platforms, and mailing list to let your fans know that the show is canceled. If tickets were pre-sold, announce how they can get a refund or if their tickets will be good for a rescheduled show. Note that it is important to coordinate that announcement with the promoter and venue. Dont make promises to your fans that you arent koranvers you can keep. Contact Your Fellow Musicians If you arranged forsupport act(s), let them know the gig is off. If the promoter or venue booked the openers, they might want to handle this step themselves. Likewise, if you had session musicians who were going to be taking the stage with you, let them know as soon as possible. Remember, all of these musicians, from your opener to your live keyboard player, may be out of pocket because of their involvement in the show. Consider covering their expenses or offering them some compensation for their time and willingness to help you give the audience a good night . In addition to financial compensation, consider making it a point to get these same musicians involved in a future show. What to Do After Youve Canceled Your Show Those are the steps you need to take in the short term. What can you do in the long term? For starters, honor any agreement you had with the promoter and venue to compensate them for the cancellation or to reschedule the show. Beyond that, put the event in perspective.If you are active on the live circuit, its not the first or last time someones life will get in the way. People get sick people have family emergencies, bands break up, planes get delayed- it happens. As long as you are not making cancellations a habit, then after youve apologized and done everything in your power to make it right with the promoter, venue, and fans, there isnt a lot left you can do but make sure your next gig is a good one.