General Booking Inquiries
Please send an email to booking@thepennyarcade.net with the following information:
* Name of your band
* Hometown
* Band website/Link to EPK
* Contact Information
* Style of music
* How many people can you bring to a show (please be realistic)
* What other venues have you played?
* How long have you been together?
* What type of crowd do you draw? (all ages or 21+)
* Availability

Traditional press kits and demos are not necessary. Website/MySpace/Pure Volume links are preferred. If you don't have a website with an audio clip, you need to get one. Do not email MP3's to us.
If we've heard of your band and feel that you will draw people, then you may get a show on merit. If you are a new local band or from out of town, what you're going to hear 9 out of 10 times is that you need to hook up a show through a local band. You may contact many of these bands via our links page.
If you have never played at The Penny Arcade before, don’t ask to be booked as support on a big show. We reward the bands that help us first.
We are looking for all styles of music.
If you must sent a hard copy of your press kit, please mail it to:

The Penny Arcade
Attn: Booking
4785 Lake Avenue
Rochester, NY 14612

Please include:
A 3-4 song demo on CD
A high quality photograph for advertising
A bio that includes venues played, bands you have played with, style of music and contact info
Also put your contact numbers on your CD

Draw
Local bands are expected to be able to draw a minimum of 15 people, regardless of the day they are playing or their spot on the bill. 30-50 is considered a solid draw and 50+ headlining material. If you cannot draw the minimum 15 people then please do not contact us until you have built your crowd. No band wants to play to an empty room!
Don't wear yourselves out in a market. Try to spread out your Rochester area dates as much as possible. This is for your benefit as well as us. You want all of your shows to be successful.

Stage Times / Etiquette
Load in is one hour before doors. If you are not here on time, you may get bumped off the line up. Sound check is for your benefit more than anyone else's. If you are running late please contact the club, booker or someone you know that is already at the venue so that we are aware of the situation.
Find out how long your set is supposed to be and don’t go over. Most sets are between 20 and 45 minutes.
When putting together your stage show, consider the club. If you break it, you buy it. If you mess it up, you clean it up. If it seems unsafe to do on stage, it probably is. You will be held accountable for cleaning up messes you make as a band. We will clean up after patrons, but we will not clean up after your band.
We reward bands that have their crowd come early and stay late to support the other bands on the bill. It is also expected that bands stay the entire night to support the other bands on the bill. If you are not interested in the bands that you are playing with then why did you choose to play the show with them? If you leave early you will also forfeit your pay for the night.

Guest List
Bands are allowed two guests or crew for local shows. Don't ask for any more - The answer is NO. If your friends/family don't want to pay to see you, then they are not supporting you. You get paid based on how many people pay to see you at the door.

Pay
All bands are paid after the show. We take the first $250 for expenses and the rest goes to the bands based on their draw. (You need to bring the minimum 15 people to qualify). This is for local shows only.
Bands wanting to open for national shows must sell 20 tickets minimum at the advance ticket price. Time slots are determined by how many tickets are sold.

Promotion
ALL BANDS MUST PROMOTE THEMSELVES. There is no exception to this.
We expect you to promote whether you are headlining or not.
There is free admission for band members who come to the venue to promote for a TPA show. If you can't make it in person, mail us the flyers and we will put them up.
Please email your band logo to us for use in advertising. You may find our logo to use for advertising/flyers down below.
Tips for promotion:
* Make flyers to bring to the venue at least 3 weeks before the show. Make them attractive and legible and put them everywhere you can, especially local record stores, bars, colleges and anywhere else that you can LEGALLY post them.
* Make handbills (small flyers) and hand them out personally at shows you attend.
* Tell everyone you know to come see you play. The more people that know, the better, including family, friends, co-workers, etc. Don't assume someone knows.
* Contact the press. At the very least have your event listed. Some examples would be:
o The Insider
o Freetime
o City Newspaper
o Submit your music to Frank DeBlase on the Sunday Night Shakedown on 98.9 The Buzz.

NO OUTSIDE ALCOHOL AND NO UNDERAGE DRINKING!!It is expressly illegal in the State of New York to bring your own alcohol into the club. If you are caught bringing your own alcohol into the club, you will be ejected. If you are under the age of 21 and attempt to drink alcohol, you will be ejected. No excuses - Just don't do it. That way, we can all have a good time and keep the club open for more shows.

Our booking policy is the combined policies of these clubs and we wanted to give credit where credit is due:
New Brookland Tavern - Columbia, SC
31st Street Pub - Pittsburgh, PA
I-Rock - Detroit, MI
Tremont Music Hall - Charlotte, NC
Broadway Joe's - Buffalo,NY
Dexter's - Riverdale, NJ
Dingbatz - Clifton, NJ
40 Watt Bar - Athens, GA
The Masquerade - Atlanta,GA
The Blue Note & Mojo’s - Columbia, MO
North Star Bar - Philadelphia, PA
The Trocadero - Philadelphia, PA
Peabody’s Down Under - Cleveland, OH
The Chameleon - Lancaster, PA
Toad’s Place - New Haven, CT
Thanks from Nancy, Tom and Chris