Thanks for the input, gents. No huge surprises, but I wanted to get a sense of how money and live music mix.

I'll especially remember the part about the dog.

Besides the music, it's really just about treating musicians like human beings.

What's the expectation for a band playing for 'donations'? For instance, on the Lower East Side, there's often no cover, just a bucket passed around 2/3 of the way through the show. The audience just passes the bucket from hand to hand and then gives it back to the bartender. I assume an up-and-coming band just splits that however many ways it goes?

(I saw one bizarre music-via-performance-art troupe at 1am on the LES. Strange comedy and every so often they'd swing into a musical piece, and their musicianship was up to snuff so you didn't feel they were having you on. The "bucket passing" was done by the bandleader, with a blindfold on....he stumbled around the tables and chairs, practically tripping over people and shoving the bucket in their laps. Very effective)

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