For me, it depends.
If I'm playing at a casual club, pool gig, condominium, retirement village, or private party, nobody seems to care.
If I'm playing at what around here amounts to high-society, how you look is probably more important than how you sound. It's not every gig, and perhaps 10 in a normal year, but they pay well.
The guests dress to impress, and have gone through the trouble of wearing tuxes and gowns and looking as spotless as they can. The person doing the booking expects the guests to do the same.
This advice was first given to me in the late 1970s by the biggest booking agent in South Florida, Walter B. Walters. He was so concerned about looks, that he would drive around in a stretch limo and do business in the back. He also booked the best and best paying rooms.
He wanted to book us for a special party held in the Eden Roc hotel on Miami Beach. Before offering the gig to us, he came to one of our gigs, checked up on our appearance, asked us if we had tuxedos, and pointed out a few spots on our equipment that we should tidy up before doing the gig. The guitar player was playing a worn guitar, and he asked him if he had a blemish free guitar. The guitarist said that he had, and the agent said to bring that one. I had recently had my sax overhauled and relacquered, so it looked fine.
He said that when playing society gigs, we have to look as good or better than the average person in the audience. If the audience is blemish free, we need to be blemish free.
I've kept that in mind ever since.
I get these gigs where other duos of equal talent do not, simply because when we show up, we look the part.
Other musicians that say the audience is being too superficial, and they don't need those jobs. I say the gigs pay well, are pleasant to play, and they lead to a lot of other spin-off gigs.
These gigs are most common around here in Miami Beach, Palm Beach, and Vero Beach (actually just north of Vero Beach). I don't mind dressing the part, and personally, I like a nice looking sax, so it works for me.
Insights and incites by Notes
If I'm playing at a casual club, pool gig, condominium, retirement village, or private party, nobody seems to care.
If I'm playing at what around here amounts to high-society, how you look is probably more important than how you sound. It's not every gig, and perhaps 10 in a normal year, but they pay well.
The guests dress to impress, and have gone through the trouble of wearing tuxes and gowns and looking as spotless as they can. The person doing the booking expects the guests to do the same.
This advice was first given to me in the late 1970s by the biggest booking agent in South Florida, Walter B. Walters. He was so concerned about looks, that he would drive around in a stretch limo and do business in the back. He also booked the best and best paying rooms.
He wanted to book us for a special party held in the Eden Roc hotel on Miami Beach. Before offering the gig to us, he came to one of our gigs, checked up on our appearance, asked us if we had tuxedos, and pointed out a few spots on our equipment that we should tidy up before doing the gig. The guitar player was playing a worn guitar, and he asked him if he had a blemish free guitar. The guitarist said that he had, and the agent said to bring that one. I had recently had my sax overhauled and relacquered, so it looked fine.
He said that when playing society gigs, we have to look as good or better than the average person in the audience. If the audience is blemish free, we need to be blemish free.
I've kept that in mind ever since.
I get these gigs where other duos of equal talent do not, simply because when we show up, we look the part.
Other musicians that say the audience is being too superficial, and they don't need those jobs. I say the gigs pay well, are pleasant to play, and they lead to a lot of other spin-off gigs.
These gigs are most common around here in Miami Beach, Palm Beach, and Vero Beach (actually just north of Vero Beach). I don't mind dressing the part, and personally, I like a nice looking sax, so it works for me.
Insights and incites by Notes