If you want to get a gig at The Tote; read this......

About the booking process

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Contact us at: nicci@baropen.com.au

We very rarely book individual bands, most of our bookings come to us as a full line-up of at least three bands. The reason for this is we find that gigs organized by a group of people who have some connection seem to work better, and it demonstrates to us that you are part of a musical community or network.

Once we have an idea of the kind of night you want to put on, we will add your details to our data base of potential gigs, and we can look out for a spot for you. If we think a certain date might suit you, we will contact you and offer you a show.

We would love to help everyone who contacts us but it is not possible for us to do that. You will need to have played a few gigs, and gathered a bit of a following before you contact us. If you are just starting out, it will help to have some more experienced bands on the bill, the Tote is a 285 capacity venue!

A very broad range of music is welcome at the Tote.

We recommend you have a look at our website, and see the kind of gigs we put on, to get an idea of the kind of bands who play here. Or come down, have a beer and check out a show!

We don’t encourage underage bands to play in the licensed venue. Mainly because it means that most of the bands fans will be underage too and not able to come along. It also means you must have a guardian with you and leave straight after you play- not much fun. If you do have members who are under 18 and you let us know in advance we may be able to work with you in proceeding with a booking. We take this on a case by case basis.

If you turn up with under 18 band members that you haven’t told us about your gig will be cancelled.

Contacting Us

The best way to contact us is via email: nicci@baropen.com.au

In your email you will need to include:
• Some info about your act
• Links to any web demos you might have, soundcloud, facebook, myspace etc.
• A line up proposal with at least two other bands, and/or a list of bands you regularly play with and think you can organize a show with.
• Contact details including phone numbers and email addresses of your band and the other bands on your proposed bill.

Any relevant date information, for example other gigs/venues you have played, gigs that you have booked that might affect when you can play, suitable time frames for the band etc

You can send us a demo by snail mail to tote bookings, Level 2, 105 Victoria St, Fitzroy 3065 but our preference is for web access.

Requirements

Once you have confirmed a date.... You need to supply us with contact details of each act if we don’t already have them.

You will be required to provide your own sound engineer. It is usually cheapest and easiest to find one engineer to do all the bands. We can recommend some contacts if you don’t have your own. The P.A. Mics, leads etc are provided and details of the equipment are available.

You will be required to provide us with promotional material, press releases and posters for the gig, well in advance. You can get an idea of the kind of press releases we use by checking the gig guide on our website.

You will need to email us the press release (please write press in the subject heading) of roughly 100 words, approximately a month prior to your gig, and provide the venue with 8 – 10 posters, at least three weeks prior to your gig, for in house promotion.

You will be required as a group to take the promotion of the gig seriously, and make every effort to get people along.

There are all kinds of bands who play the Tote - ranging from the hugely successful to first timers. Whether it is your 1000th or your very first gig, every band member / manager / promoter should check the info provided at least 2 weeks before your Tote show, to give you every possible chance of making it a successful one!