Check these two free lists BEFORE booking a show!
There are two free lists you need to check before booking a show. Smart booking agents and marketers use both every day to avoid conflicts and book better gigs.
Check these two free lists BEFORE booking a show!
Shore Fire Media’s Best Calendar for 2025 lists all the holidays, cultural and music industry events and more that can enhance or compete with the show you’re about to book.
Complied by PR and marketing firm Shore Fire, the calendar lists everything from Groundhog’s Day to the Grammys and the Superbowl to SXSW.
Checking it before you confirm a show can avoid costly mistakes as well as reveal opportunities to brand a show with a holiday or event happening nearby. The right theme can turn “another show from Band X” into “Warm-up for Floydfest with Band X at a pre-festival party!”
To access the Shore Fire Best Calendar for 2025:
Bandsintown is the other list you should check before you book a show.
Searching the world’s largest database of live concerts for local competing shows can also avoid mistakes.
By changing the location in right side of the top banner of Bandsintown.com, you’ll see all the announced shows in the area you’re considering booking.
That same info can be used to create special opportunities as well.
For example, ss your band right for a unofficial Metallica after-party near the Arena their playing? Could that free afternoon street fest feed fans into your nighttime show?
If you’re trying to find the best places to play, also check out these “3 legal Bandsintown Hacks I’ve used to book hundreds of live shows.“
Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, a Berklee College Of Music professor and founder of the Skyline Artists Agency
