weekendwarriors

The Events Team is negotiating with several venues with a view to creating a circuit for newly established WW Bands. The circuit is planned to cover SEQ but no more than 2 hours driving from Brisbane.

These will be paid gigs and there are a couple of requirements that will need to be set in place to ensure it doesn't all go pear shaped.

One- will be a code of conduct as we can't recommend bands that will not comply with professional standards in ability, conduct and attitude.

Two- will be that each band must show proof of holding a public liability insurance policy in the name of the band.

Three- will be that the team will need to see those bands wishing to be invited on to the circuit play at our jams to demonstrate they are ready to be paid to play.

You can register your interest on here and feedback is appreciated.

Bob McMahon

as discussed count us in you little beauty bobby
Cheers
John

Does anyone have any info regarding the PL Insurance? Is there a set amount? Is there a particular company that is preferred?

Bobbimac wrote:Two- will be that each band must show proof of holding a public liability insurance policy in the name of the band.

Please forgive a question from south of the border. Can you please explain under what circumstances a band, that has been booked to play at a venue, would be held liable for injury or damage to the public and would need to have PL insurance? (Aside from physically assaulting or throwing things at the audience).
Is there specific legislation in Qld that we don't have in NSW that drives this requirement?
Thanks,

At one of our paid gigs, a woman on the dance floor lost her balance and fell. She hit her head on the bass guitar, and landed on her back on a foldback monitor. She was married to a mate of our lead guitarist so thank heavens no law suit eventuated. Now if she wanted ot, she could have sued us as a band and individually as wellas the Club. The Club had public liability and their insurance company would have been quick to place the blame on the band. With n pblic liability we would have had to hire solicitors and possibly barristers to defend the action. Win lose or draw we would have been up for huge expenses. Is it fair, no, but do you leave yourself open or cover your back?

Bob

PS Some venues up here will not allow you to play without PL. Venues won't hire premises to sports clubs if they don't havePL, that started in NSW

SFX wrote:

Bobbimac wrote:Two- will be that each band must show proof of holding a public liability insurance policy in the name of the band.

Please forgive a question from south of the border. Can you please explain under what circumstances a band, that has been booked to play at a venue, would be held liable for injury or damage to the public and would need to have PL insurance? (Aside from physically assaulting or throwing things at the audience).
Is there specific legislation in Qld that we don't have in NSW that drives this requirement?
Thanks,

hey Bob how are you going with the paid circuit any further responses?
Cheers
John

reset wrote:hey Bob how are you going with the paid circuit any further responses?
Cheers
John

Hi John,

I have three looking good. I'll be in touch next week.

Bob

Thats great Bob, see you 2morrow nite.

Cheers
JK

Here is where I am at.. a city fringe venue was keen to have bands play after Bronco home games on a Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately their games have been scheduled on Friday nights. The venue has looked into insurance and wants bands that carry their own public liability policy.

Another venue is around an hour out of Brisbane and we have arranged a trial night in August which should lead to regular gigs for Warrior bands. The manager is very enthusiastic and would prefer bands with public liability cover. I'm not sure if that means they must have it yet.

Another venue is a country pub that I'm still negotiating with and could become a great weekend away for our bands. I'm still exchanging email with the manager there.

There is a chance we may run a Warriors social afternoon or night and put bands on for a nominal amount at Underwood or a more central location but that is still under discussion withing the Events team. So there you have it. I can't disclose the venues until something concrete is set in place.

Are any bands willing to be involved in a trial (unpaid)?
Cheers,
Bob

Alan T wrote:Does anyone have any info regarding the PL Insurance? Is there a set amount? Is there a particular company that is preferred?

Hi Alan

Marsh Insurance will provide musicians with Public Liability Insurance, the only catch is that the band must take out cover for their equipment as well. So a typical 4/5 piece band will pay between $600 - $700 per annum for instrument and PL cover ($10,000,000). CGU are another company who specialise in musical equipment cover but not sure about the PL side of things and there may be other companies as well and it may be worth a ring around to find out. Other factors that the insurance company will take into account when deciding the premium are - number of gigs the band performs annually, the band's annual turnover and the average number of patrons at band gigs.

Playing rock music in a band used to be such a simple matter ...

Cheers
hg

......all the more reason to add keys & horns to a basic 4 piece rhythm section !!


Saxual Healing

There's also a mob called Duck for Cover who offer PL insurance for individual entertainers for around $200 per person pa. The down-side is they have a common due date (ie for everyone) in August. So, if you join in July, you fork out the $200 then a few weeks later you're up for another $200. There's no discount for time elapsed. That aside, this could be a good option - in August - because, being a personal cover, you can take it with you if, say, you're playing in more than one band. Or - perish the thought - you run into some "artistic differences" with your current line-up and give them the coke-and-sars. There's a website so just Google "Duck for Cover". There's a few things they won't cover like blowing fire and puppetry of the penis so that'll stuff it for a few of you.

Another option I've been meaning to look into and haven't is via APRA. If you're a songwriter and join APRA to protect your copyright, you get access to a number of discounted services including PL insurance. I believe their insurer is CGU. Strangely I couldn't find "PL Insurance" mentioned on the CGU website so maybe it's an exclusive deal for APRA members? It costs nothing to join APRA and, apart from the insurance, it's probably a good idea any way if you've got a couple of decent tunes lying around. If I ever get off my arse and join I'll let you know what's involved. Unless anyone else has been down that path and can fill us in?

By the way, that old line about mailing yourself a copy of your tune by registered mail is not worth a cracker in a court of law as proof of copyright. So if you've got a million-seller in your back pocket you'd better hurry up and join APRA. (Memo to self: join APRA you idiot)

Negotiations are at a stage where I need to know how many bands are genuinely interested in some regular paid gigs. Email me privately if you like but here will be some conditions attached.

We need to see the bands perform before we recommend them.

We need to see a current PL insurance policy

We need contact details and to organize a calendar.


Email me here
Cheers,
Bob

You guys may be interested to know that we already have a regular Friday night paid gig in place now at the Venue that hosts our Warriors jam/band nights.

This came about as a result of the success of the Warriors nights leading to the club manager asking if any of the bands would like to play on Friday nights (yes, and get paid). Naturally, we jumped at the chance and now three of the Sydney Warriors bands are playing once a month, probably through to December. These bands are: WD50, Ill Prepared and The Generators.

The fourth band in the rotation is a local club scene band, who are also friends of the Warriors bands, called Mid Life Crisis.

When we get a 5 Friday month, we then get another Warriors band to fill that date as well.

So now, as a result of the Warriors Association, this club is now a regular live venue and interestingly, some "pro" players are now sniffing around the "honey jar" , trying to get gigs at our club. Fortunately, our club manager is a great guy and has told me that he is perfectly happy with the way things are going with the Warriors bands, so he doesn't intend to book these other acts on Friday nights. He may consider having them play on Saturdays instead...so everyone benefits

Hi Bob,
This is a great idea.