The Whisky A GoGo

The Whisky has long been hailed as the Holy Grail of venues to play in Hollywood. It's the place where a band, cutting its teeth on the brink of stardom, could make a name for its self; a rite of passage for the Elite. Bottom line, if you’re playing The Whisky, you had earned the rite to play in one of the top clubs in the world. It is, after all, called The World Famous Whisky A Go Go.

Only if this were true today. A lot has changed over the years at the Whisky and I am here to finally EXPOSE the truth. You see, nowadays, there is no need for a band to be good to play the Whisky. There is no need for a band to be established. The only thing a band needs is money. Yes money. The Whisky has a pay to play policy. That means, they require you to sell up to 100 tickets at $12 each to be able to play and whatever you don't sell, you have to pay out of pocket.

That's $1200 right off the bat per band! Not to mention all the money they make off sales at the bar from the pockets of the people you worked hard to bring in. And if you don't agree to do this, you can't play. This takes any credibility and chucks straight it out the window. It allows any band with money, regardless of talent, to be able to play on a stage where legends have once stood.

I recently went to the Whisky to see a show and to see “first hand” what its like behind the “Iron Curtain” of Hollywood. The band I really went to see, l’ll call Band X put me on the list as a crew member. This way I can experience firsthand how the Whisky treats their bands as an insider as well as watch the show as an outsider.

I get to the window, get my credentials and then start to carry some guitars in. I am instantly stopped by a doorman who says in a not so friendly voice “put down the guitar cases and step back”. I comply and he begins to search the cases. He pulls out 2 screwdrivers and a pair of pliers and throws them in to a box saying “these can’t come in here”. Does he not know that every band needs to carry screwdrivers and pliers to fix their equipment if something were to happen on the fly?

Then he says “hold up your arms I have to check you." He searches my entire person leaving nothing sacred. I am feeling very degraded by now. This is 10x's worse than any post 911 airport I have been too. So I finally get in and I watch to see if Band X band members get the same treatment... which they do.

With the band and the gear in, we begin to watch the opening 3 bands. All 3 bands are cookie cutters of themselves and very forgettable at that. They are obviously new bands and not very seasoned. Nothing against a young band, but I would think they=2 should learn to cut their teeth in a lesser venue. They all play their entire 40 min set and take their time to tear down and set back up.

The sound in the Whisky is barely passable. I’m sure the sound guy just got out of some school for running sound. Big deal. He has a tin ear and holier than thou attitude. Band X asks the sound Nazi to play an intro cd for them and he couldn’t believe that a band would actually ask HIM to do them a favor.

So it’s finally time for Band X to go on stage. They are setting up when Adolph soundhitler comes through the monitors with “play some kick, play some kick”. The drums are still being set up at this time so he moves on “play the bass, bass, anybody play anything, you are running into your playing time." Hold up.. Running into your playing time? Band X has been on stage 7 minutes so far. All the other bands have run late and captain nazi has said nothing to them about their time. 4 minutes more pass and Band X goes on without a line check. They begin their set and the crowd reacts greatly to a band that IS seasoned and ARE veterans of the music scene. After the 3rd song Sound Nazi chimes in over the PA “2 more songs”. Band X cannot believe this. Neither can the crowd. The singer says a few choice words to the Sound Gremlin then they continue. The crowd goes even more insane and the Crowd Control SS is sent in to stop the crowd from moving too much on the DANCE floor. The singer of Band X apologizes for the choice words and then they play their last song. When the set is done the crowd wants more but the house music is already on. So I begin to help them off stage and the singer is getting berated from one of the Meat Heads who works there.

So outside I ask Band X what’s up? Why did you play here? The singer says, “We have been getting asked to play here for 3 years and we always said no because of the ‘Pay to Play’ deal. But we did this as a favor to some friends and plus we don’t get to play many all ages shows and a lot of our younger crowd had been asking for an all ages show. We figured it’s the Whisky it can’t be that bad. We were wrong. It’s worse. We sold all of our tickets (75) and gave them all our money ($ 900) before we played and this is how we get treated? We all feel like we got raped. Shame on us for going against our beliefs.”

By the way, the 2 bands after Band X got to play their entire 40 minute sets. Band X has learned a valuable lesson.

I decide to dig a little and ask around to see if any other bands have had similar experiences. I come across another established band and here is there story. They had to sell tickets as well, except when they got the Whisky they didn’t have them all sold. Well their time slot was up and the Whisky told them go ahead and play. After their set, while loading out, they discovered one of their guitar heads were missing. After asking the club the club told them o yeah we have it in a back room and you can get it when you bring us the rest of the money for the unsold tickets. Wow.

Unbelievable as it may seem, we live in a different world nowadays. It seems, clubs are out for blood and don’t care about the music. They have forgotten where their roots lie. That finding and discovering new music and new talent means taking the chance and working with bands rather than making them feel insignificant. The Whisky was created to promote good music and be a launching pad for bands, but it now it seems to go against that philosophy. I know we live in a capitalist world, but they bring their money hungry greed up to a new level.

Here is what to expect if you want to play the Whisky

1. Pre-sell tickets (usually between 75 - 100)
2. Ball grabbing power tripping door people
3. Grade school sound techs
4. EXPENSIVE drinks
5. Gestapo tactic bouncers
6. Your time slot to be cut so the other less experienced bands can play as long as they want
7. I’m sure there is more but I have to get to my therapy session to talk about the nightmares I’m having from the door guy who felt me up when I was entering the Whisky

Last words… Go to a real club that treats you like a human being and not a sheep being herded into a coral with a cattle prod. Here is a list to help you:

THE VIPER ROOM

THE CAT CLUB

THE KEY CLUB

THE ROXY

HOUSE OF BLUES

All of these are with-in walking distance of the Whisky A GoGo.