A good pub gig looks effortless. The band starts on time, the sound is decent, the bar is three deep and everyone is home before midnight. Nobody sees the work that got it there: the phone calls, the borrowed DI box, the argument about whether a drum kit can come through the front door. This is the checklist for all of that — the unglamorous, occasionally brilliant business of putting music on in a pub.
Start with the room, not the band
Before you get excited about anyone's songs, stand in the pub and work out what the space can actually do. Where does the band go? A corner by the window is fine for a duo and hopeless for a five-piece with a Marshall stack. Check how many covers you lose by putting a drum kit there — if the answer is fifteen, the landlord will notice.
Then the practical stuff. Where is the load-in? If the only route is through the front door past the bar, a Saturday night changeover is going to be a contact sport. Where are the sockets, and are they on the same circuit as the cellar fridges? Does the venue have a sound limiter, and what does it cut at when it trips? What time does the landlord want music off, and is that a preference or a condition on the licence?
Agree the basics in writing, even if it's just a text message: which room you get, what time you can get in, what the pub provides, and what you owe them. Vague arrangements are how good nights turn into awkward ones.
Booking bands that fit the night
Decide the shape of the bill before you start messaging people. A free-entry Sunday with a couple of acoustic acts is a different proposition from a ticketed Friday with three loud bands. Pub crowds are not gig crowds: they bought a pint, not a ticket, and they may not be in the mood for twenty minutes of drone. Know which of those rooms you're running.
Whoever you book, ask the same questions. A short, clear list saves a lot of grief later:
- How long is the set, and how many songs is that in reality?
- Do they bring backline — amps, drum kit, cymbals — or are they assuming a house kit?
- Are they self-contained for sound, or do they need mics, stands, monitors and DI boxes?
- How many people are in the band, and how much space do they take up?
- What's the fee? A flat guarantee, a split of the door, or a whip-round?
- What time can they arrive, and who's the contact on the day?
Ask for a link to a live recording rather than a studio track — you're booking a performance, not a mix. Confirm everything again in writing a week before, with times, address, parking and load-in details. And keep two standbys in your phone, because somebody will cancel on the afternoon of the gig.
Sorting the sound
This is where pub gigs are won and lost. If the venue has a house PA, find out who set it up and whether anyone actually knows how to run it. If you're hiring, budget for an engineer as well as the kit. A decent engineer is worth more than another pair of speakers, and it means you're not stuck behind the desk when people arrive at the door.
Keep the technical side simple. One shared drum kit and one shared bass amp cuts changeovers from half an hour to ten minutes. Put everything else through the PA if you can, so the room isn't fighting three guitar amps. Soundcheck in the afternoon if the pub is quiet, or do a quick line check an hour before doors if it isn't. Tell the bands about the limiter — if the power cuts out mid-song, they need to know in advance rather than discovering it in front of forty people.
Bring a basic kit bag: gaffa tape, spare mic and lead, a couple of batteries, a torch, and a roll of cable you can trip over and not fully destroy. Keep the speakers pointed away from open windows and shut the doors between sets. That single habit prevents most of the complaints you'll ever receive.
Tickets, door and money
Free entry fills rooms; a modest ticket price pays bands. Pick one and be consistent, because a muddled door policy confuses everyone, including you.
Whatever you choose, decide these things in advance:
- Are you doing advance tickets, payment on the door, or both?
- Who takes the money, and where does it live during the night? A cash box, not a jacket pocket.
- Do you have a float and a way of taking cards?
- How is the money split — a guarantee against the door, a percentage, or a flat fee?
- What happens if the gig is cancelled, or a band simply doesn't turn up?
Write the split down and both sides keep a copy. Settle up on the night wherever possible; chasing people for money afterwards is slow and sour.
On licensing, the venue normally holds the music licences, but confirm who is responsible for what in writing before you start selling tickets. If you're unsure about licensing, insurance or tax on a paid event, take proper advice — a call to the council's licensing team or an accountant is cheap next to a fine.
Keeping the staff and the neighbours on side
Bar staff can make or break a night. Give them a one-page run sheet: who's playing, when, soundcheck time, when you need the lights down, and your mobile number. Don't block the till with a merch table. Collect glasses when you can, stack chairs at the end, and buy the team a drink. Then pay the landlord what you agreed, on the night.
Neighbours are simpler than people think. Finish on time, every time, and keep the curfew immovable no matter how good the last song is. Doors closed between sets, no shouting in the smoking area, no line check at eight in the morning. If someone does complain, listen, apologise and tell the landlord what was said. Defensiveness is what turns a grumble into a formal objection.
The running order, hour by hour
- Day before: message every band and the venue with times, address and load-in details.
- Two hours before doors: load-in, set the backline, run a line check.
- Doors: float counted, cash box out, someone on the door who isn't in a band.
- Support on at the advertised time, even if the room looks half empty. It fills for the headliner.
- Changeovers in fifteen minutes. Next band's gear stacked at the side, not in the middle of the floor.
- Headliner on. Watch the clock, not the crowd.
- Curfew: music off, lights up, pay the bands before they load out if you can.
Make the next one easier
While it's fresh, write down what happened: how many came, what you took, how the sound behaved, whether the load-in was a nightmare. Thank the bar staff and the bands the following day, post a photo and the date of the next night while people still remember being there.
Then book the next one. A monthly night builds faster than a one-off, because the pub's regulars start to expect it. Keep the bill short, keep the curfew, pay everyone on the night — and fix only the thing that annoyed you most, whether that was the changeovers or the queue at the door. Leave the rest alone and enjoy it.
Photo: Pexels / Pixabay
