Question about Gord's band

[Cat_Writer]

Originally posted by banjobench12:

"Lightfoot's loyal band can stand the indignity; he has made them one of the best paid group of sidemen in Canada, most earning regular salaries in excess of $50,ooo a year whether they play or not. In fact, before the current tour they were paid for an 18 month layoff. On the road they travel by Learjet and Lightfoot pays all the restaurant and bar bills."

Thanks for the information. What a nice career in music for the Lightfoot orchestra.
Jim

[Jim W.]

Originally posted by banjobench12:

"Lightfoot's loyal band can stand the indignity; he has made them one of the best paid group of sidemen in Canada, most earning regular salaries in excess of $50,ooo a year whether they play or not. In fact, before the current tour they were paid for an 18 month layoff. On the road they travel by Learjet and Lightfoot pays all the restaurant and bar bills."

Thanks for the information. What a nice career in music for the Lightfoot orchestra.
Jim

[charlene]

Originally posted by jj:
...and the price of beer has more than doubled, lol
]

>A 2006 study found that the average Canadian walks about 900 miles a
>year.
>
>Another study found that Canadians drink an average of 22 gallons of
>beer a
>year.
>
>That means, on average, Canadians get about 41 miles per gallon."

[charlene]

Originally posted by jj:
...and the price of beer has more than doubled, lol
]

>A 2006 study found that the average Canadian walks about 900 miles a
>year.
>
>Another study found that Canadians drink an average of 22 gallons of
>beer a
>year.
>
>That means, on average, Canadians get about 41 miles per gallon."

[RM]

Speaking of $$....

Can anyone offer a ballpark guesstimation on how much Lightfoot makes on each concert ticket sold ? Let's say the ticket price is $40......after expenses, Lightfoot banks ?????

I'm sure it varies from venue to venue, but just an approximation would suffice.

[charlene]

Wouldn't have a clue -

each venue has different seating capacity and they charge different rates...perhaps some places don't charge..I don't know..

and then there's the plane rental/pilot fees/dollar exchange/truck transport/driver,hotels/meals etc. when he's touring the u.s. (which he does much more frequently than Canadian tours)
I wouldn't know how much any of those expenses would be....

and he doesn't offset any of those expenses with a retail sales table of "Lightfoot" products...

but I think I can be safe saying can be safe in saying that it's worth his time to tour...

[charlene]

Wouldn't have a clue -

each venue has different seating capacity and they charge different rates...perhaps some places don't charge..I don't know..

and then there's the plane rental/pilot fees/dollar exchange/truck transport/driver,hotels/meals etc. when he's touring the u.s. (which he does much more frequently than Canadian tours)
I wouldn't know how much any of those expenses would be....

and he doesn't offset any of those expenses with a retail sales table of "Lightfoot" products...

but I think I can be safe saying can be safe in saying that it's worth his time to tour...

[louisemnnpls]

All of you guys are a "goldmine" of knowledge!!!! How do you find out all of this???

[Gord H]

Originally posted by louisemnnpls:
All of you guys are a "goldmine" of knowledge!!!! How do you find out all of this???

Well because I'm a drummer myself.. every drummer has that particular sound that can't be mistaken for anybody else. When I play CD's or LP's I usually read the liner jacket to see who played and trust me when I learned Barry Keane played on Painted Ladies I just about fell off my chair, it was a HUGE hit from the early 70's and it still gets airplay on classic hit stations.

Also Google is your friend

[TheWatchman]

He's guaranteed $20,000 to show up and play. Anything more than that is strictly between contracts.

[Doug]

Originally posted by TheWatchman:
He's guaranteed $20,000 to show up and play. Anything more than that is strictly between contracts.

So you mean, if we all could come up with a combined $20.000 he would play just for us in, let's say, Char's living room???? Sound's like great idea to me...

[Claudia]

Originally posted by TheWatchman:
He's guaranteed $20,000 to show up and play. Anything more than that is strictly between contracts.

So you mean, if we all could come up with a combined $20.000 he would play just for us in, let's say, Char's living room???? Sound's like great idea to me...

[TheWatchman]

Back in 2000, I called his booking agent or whatever you call it (can't remember his name) because several business owners in the Cleveland area wanted to see what it would cost to have him play a concert which a bunch of us wanted to do for a promotion.

There are some rules I guess with the venues that he cannot play within so many miles of a venue that he's played at within a certain period of time. We were too close where he had played at the time.

The guy that I spoke with said that Lightfoot requires $20,000 to play, he only plays with his band and he would play at a birthday party if we wanted him to, as long as he was paid the $20,000 fee, he would do it. I don't know if this was/is still true, but the person that I spoke with knows Gordon and although I can't remember all the specifics, he was at least one of the people involved in lining up concerts at the time. I think maybe he was from Tennessee?? Somewhere in the U.S. I know for sure.

[Doug]

Hm, sounds really interesting and the price sounds fair, at least to me. Maybe, if I work real hard and feed my family just bread and water ( Tap )I could afford to hire him for my next garden party. How cool would that be! And I even would offer him and his band free cost and logis - who could refuse that?

[Claudia]

Hm, sounds really interesting and the price sounds fair, at least to me. Maybe, if I work real hard and feed my family just bread and water ( Tap )I could afford to hire him for my next garden party. How cool would that be! And I even would offer him and his band free cost and logis - who could refuse that?

[Long River]

Charlene, thanks for posting that interview. It's nice to know that after all of these years they still enjoy playing the same songs I still enjoy listening to over & over.

Tomorrow night for me - at the Keswick. And count me in on that garden party, I'll pony up some bucks!!