Double duty

Booking specs at the Call and Century Lounge

by Bob Gulla

Bill Kramer

We've all been there -- if not once or twice, a couple of dozen times. An excellent band shows up in town, a band whose gig you've anticipated for months. You get to the show early 'cuz you think tickets will be a problem and -- nuthin'. Nobody shows. When you get in, six other paying customers are loitering around, one of them the guy who thought it was Max Creek night. No one knows that scenario better than a guy like Bill Kramer at the Call and the Century Lounge. Kramer, general manager and talent buyer for the club tandem down on Elbow Street, runs a well-oiled ship that walks a fine line between serving up quality music and booking guaranteed draws. He knows how difficult it is to lure people out of their cozy confines. "Ever since the blizzard of '78," he says, "people have been afraid to go out. Thanks to the media, people are now paranoid to leave their homes. They won't go out. They try to find more reasons to stay at home."

Q: What is the capacity of your venues?
A: The Call holds 300 and the Century Lounge 200.

Q: Do you provide sound and lights?
A: The sound system is all Myers boxes with Crest Audio mixers and power amps. The Myers boxes were from the actual "wall of sound" that went out with the Grateful Dead tour, and it's famous for clarity and response. The system was installed by techs from the Grateful Dead. It features a three-way, full-range system and three to four separate monitor mixes onstage. Ample can lights.

Q: What is the age group? And the bar situation?
A: We're all ages, except certain shows, and we have a full bar with 18 varieties of beer on tap. We open at 8 p.m. with a night menu and stay open till after 12 p.m.

Q: Do you have dance/DJ nights?
A: Sunday in the Century Lounge is "Digital Soul" from Volume Productions. Tuesday in the Call is Grateful Dead Night where you can swap live Dead tapes and listen to some great bootlegs -- it features tape duplication and T-shirt and other give-aways. Thursday is Exodus Reggae DJ night at the Century with DJ Paul Michael. Thursday in the Call is a Swing DJ night, with DJ Swing Daddy.

Q: How often do you have local bands, regional bands or national acts?
A: Sundays, Fridays and Saturdays for local bands, once a week for regional, and twice a month with national acts. Monday at the Call is the electric open-mike night with drums, amplifiers, and keyboards all set up. Wednesday in the Century Lounge is the Open Blues Jam with a similar back line provided.

Q: How do bands get paid?
A: Generally, bands get compensated according to their draw. A following is not easy to develop, but we do what we can. Some touring bands have guarantees on weekend nights usually.

Q: What kind of local bands do you book?

A: All styles. We do quite a lot with jam bands. There seems to be so many around and they have a lot of friends that come out to the shows. We don't do much in the way of hardcore, because the Met and the Living Room get many of those shows. We do some punk bands from the area.

Q: In your opinion, what makes people like a band?
A: Some bands are incredible, but can't knock out the room, and some bands are truly awful and get a huge reaction. I've played in both types of bands myself so I am serious when I tell you I have no idea what makes an audience go crazy. We had James Cotton here, just one month before he received a Grammy award, just days after he appeared on both Letterman and Conan. It was a Thursday night, which should be a good night for music. We did 140 people. Demographically, there should have been a line out the door for that show. Ten years ago you wouldn't have been able to get in the place.

Q: What are some of the biggest mistakes that bands make in regards to their performance?
A: Not doing it as professionals. Too many bands in the Century treat their show like it was a rehearsal party. They don't have any endings to songs, they say stupid stuff into the microphone, they noodle on their instruments between songs. They don't put on a show. All bands should invest in a tuner -- and learn how to use it. The Call is no problem. The acts that play there are top-notch.

Q: What is the sound of the Providence music scene?
A: The sound is varied. All the way from Gruvis Malt to Freak Show. It's the same crowd but different music. We have schools in the area that keep turning out new bands, bands that will disappear over the summer or break up when someone graduates. Some bands like John Brown's Body take off. Now they're touring the nation.

Q: Are you getting the talent from the local scene that you need to successfully book your club?
A: No! Well, yes. They just don't have any friends that will come to their shows. In the Century, some bands definitely draw. Some don't. The Call bands always cover. Young Neal always does well. His shows generally pack the place whenever he comes and he always puts on an incredible show. Lately, it's been a little lighter, but Neal is still the great musician and songwriter he always was. So why less people?

Q: If you find talent that is really hot, but completely unknown, how would you develop them?
A: We advertise on WBRU, WRX, and Hot 106. We have a Web site and a Phoenix ad. I have tried to break bands -- putting unknown acts repeatedly opening for a variety of other bands that draw -- but it never has worked. Years ago it worked, but not now.

Q: How much responsibility is on the shoulders of the band to draw?
A: I'm not calling them begging them to play.

Q: Why?
A: We don't have a built-in crowd. I would love to run a club where there was a regular crowd that just hung out.

Q: Why is it so hard to break a scene?
A: There are tons of bands. Too many bands.

Q: What would you do for the local scene in your club if you had the budget?
A: Get bigger names. Then the local bands would play here more. We don't have the capacity to attract the bigger acts. They all go to Lupo's. Jewel and Susan Tedeschi were talking to us about coming here, and in the end they went to Lupo's. We just can't compete on some shows.

CLUTCH PLAY. I had the thrill of spinning some demos from Delta Clutch this week and lemme tell ya, the guys now have something to boast about. Pip, Chris, and company have come up with their most interesting and exhilarating material to date, marked by classic rock undertones and modern rock overtures; every track on the unnamed demo disc turns up memorable melodies and spot-on performances. Produced by Tim O'Heir at Sound Station 7, songs like the roiling "Ladderback," the swooning, patient "Din Of Love," and the searing "Better Get Her" sound to me like the band is poised to take it to the next level. Truth be told, groups like the Wallflowers and other mid-decibel rockers got nothing on our Delta Clutch boys, which is all the more reason why you should head down to the band's show this weekend.

Delta Clutch will play the Green Room on Saturday, May 20 with Medicine Ball and the Dublin band Mr. North.

WANDERING EYE. There's an exciting night of quaint indie rock at RISD this Thursday (May 18), and a free night at that. The Bangs, Kill Rock Stars' latest shambling hope, headline, while chirrupy Northwest singer Sarah Dougher and One AM Radio -- billed as a cross between Elliott Smith and Red House Painters (bring your hankies!) -- also bring the charm. A P-Squared Production, of course! And it happens at the Tap Room on Benefit Street, with the music beginning promptly at 9:30 p.m.

Bob Gulla can be reached at b_gulla@yahoo.com.