Yea, thats me, playing drums with Not Your Mother.
Hey everyone, Tors here. As the year is slowly drawing to a close I've been thinking a lot about what we do at The Loading Dock and how we cover our costs. I have decided to be explicit in how we make our ends meet to give some weight and meaning to that $10 cover that we ask for at the door. We are not a bar, our place is purely about music and art, you could call us an Artspace or DIY venue or both!
Proceeds from the $10 door charge at live events and performances are split 50/50 with the musicians/artists.
For example, if we get 30 people to come our to a show thats results in $150 for the musicians and $150 for The Loading Dock. Bands will usually set up a merch table, this is another way you can support artists by buying a cassette or tshirt, usually the band members will make much of the merch themselves. The more you buy the less they have to carry around and the more they can make for the next tour.
People that come to our live events are 99% local. There is a high probability that you will run into someone that you know. Tourists seem to overlook what we have going on.
Each week 4 to 6 different local groups of musicians use the space to rehearse. This is a reliable source of revenue that for us that goes directly back into sustaining operating costs of The Loading Dock.
The Loading Dock is not a non-profit or 501c3 organization. There are no grants or outside funds that keep the place going. We are a loosely associated group of friends and bandmates that volunteer time to make things happen.
The Loading Dock is also my art studio. All the artwork I sell goes directly back into sustaining The Loading Dock's operating costs. Another good reason to buy art!
As of right now we are on track for breaking even this year, meaning our income and operating costs are just about level. That does not include any salary or additional compensation for me personally, and that is ok... for now.
The Loading Dock is classified by the town of Littleton as A Place of Assembly with a max capacity of 75 people. As of yet, we have not reached our max capacity for a live event. I would love to see that many people out and experiencing live music. I think we could reach capacity for our upcoming Halloween Horror Show featuring local legends, Time Out Timmy and Mad Cat Habitat. I suggest that you get your tickets in advance. We are not a bar, bring your own beverages and/or food, Schilling Beer Co. is a block away and do growler fills or big cans to go if you are into good beer. There is a package store aka convenient store aka north country bodega called Porfidoes that sells everything under the sun.
Tonight we have a live performance planned. First up is a band from L.A. called Ambersmoke. Listen and come to your own conclusions. I could type out a bunch of words that may make sense or may not. Just listen. After is the debut performance of Thumb Dog. This is Ben Rathman's new project, he is one of the guys that rehearses at The Loading Dock. There is nothing recorded yet, I heard one song and it rocks!