Warehouse is an intimate venue that has played host to the smallest local band, regional bands, national bands, and international bands. But we are in a small market, so booking is a bit complicated.

Most importantly, we book almost exclusively through email.

Other platforms all have their pluses and minuses, but we’ve all had our Facebook, Instagram, Twitter pages crash on us before. So we stick to email, which you can find to the left under ‘Contact’.

We are in a small market, which means there are a limited amount of local bands to help support touring bands when they come through. So booking small regional bands on little tours is sometimes difficult.

If you’re a band from farther away than 30 miles, but within 3.5 hours from La Crosse, you should probably inquire about getting your band onto a bigger show, rather than having your little band attempt to “tour” through. Doing a one-off by getting on a bigger show would help you create a fanbase that might come out when you actually do “tour” through.

How do you get on a bigger show?

Watch our Facebook booking page www.facebook.com/WarehouseBookingLaCrosse . We list show openings there.

If your band is interested in playing one of the shows you see listed, email us at booking@warehouserocks.com PLEASE (!) make sure your band members are all available for the gig you want to get on. You can’t even imagine all the bands that email us about a show they definitely want to play, then later back out because no one talked to Chad, and his girlfriend’s best friend is getting married that day, etc.

Note, if we list the show as having openings, it has openings. We will pull it off of the booking page when the line-up is full.

When you email to get a gig, in the subject line put the date you want (e.g. 08/14/22). This will make it easier to find your email.

Include all of your social links (Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp, Soundcloud, YouTube), make sure to link to sources of music, links to your videos, and a very brief band description with comparisons (“we’re a punk band” could mean you sound like the Dead Kennedys or like you sound like Blink-182). Tell us what bands you sound like.

Please have the smartest person in the band be the one to handle booking gigs. If we talk to your band’s chosen representative, and you picked Jeff because he’s funny, the fact that he’s funny might be overwhelmed by the fact that he’s dumber than a flower pot. If we get the idea that your band chose the smartest person in the band to do the talking, and that person comes off like an idiot, then it’s unlikely we’ll want to deal with a whole band full of idiots come show day. If you pick the smart person, and they can adequately communicate, it makes things so much easier for everyone involved.

ONE band member should be the designated contact.

We do not book Cover or Tribute bands. They have their place – and that place is not here.

This is an original music showcase venue. Bands don’t play in the corner while drunks get hammered and ignore them. If kids come to your show, they are here specifically to watch live music performers do their thing. You!

Before contacting the venue to get on a particular gig, NOTE THE LOAD IN TIME. Load-in is almost always around 4pm. If your bass player works until 3:30 and you live 2.5 hours away in the Twin Cities and load-in is at 4pm, that does not math very well. Think things through before inquiring.

Ok, so we’ve added you to a show, or perhaps booked your tour date. Now what?

First, send high-rez versions of your most recent band photo (s), along with video links if you have them, to booking@warehouserocks.com .

THIS TIME, the Subject line should first be the date (08/14/22) second two (2) dashes, third the word BOOKED, fourth two (2) dashes then fifth your band name. So if your band Moist Cadaver got booked for a gig on August 14, Subject line would look like this: 08/14/22–BOOKED–MOISTCADAVER.

Once all of the bands involved in the show get us their logo, photo, CD art, video links, music links, etc., we’ll get the event made and the posters designed and get digital copies emailed to you.

We will also print actual posters to hang. If you are local, make arrangements to pick up posters and hang them around La Crosse and the surrounding communities. If you are a regional band from 60 miles away or less, we will mail you posters to hang up in your town if you want them.

Hype the event on your socials. We shouldn’t have to mention that, but nonetheless, make sure you are hyping on all of the platforms you use.

Don’t book another gig in town within 2 weeks on either side of the booked show. Focus on pushing this single show.

This should be obvious, because bands should not play every week at a different location in town. Overplaying is the quick death of many bands.

Make every show an Event. The easiest way to do that is to spread them out.

You may want to contact the other bands on the show, and discuss sharing cabs etc.

The Warehouse is well-known for being a great multi-floor venue, but that includes many stairs. There is really no sense bringing 4 Ampeg 8x10 bass cabs up the stairs if one can be shared. Also, the Warehouse has a house Ampeg 4x10, a Marshall cab, and sometimes a Mesa cab, sometimes various guitar heads, and a house drum kit.

BACKLINE INFO DETAILS

About a week out from the date, contact us to verify load in times and any other details. Use the same email, with the Subject line the same format as above. Date, the word Booked, Band Name.

Arrive on time for load-in. Come to town early if you’d like, there is a great guitar shop, great drum shop, the Mississippi River, excellent restaurants and coffee shops, etc. For the locations of any of that, certainly, feel free to contact us.

Load-in is through the front door. If you can grab street parking in front, that’s fantastic. Parking is tight around here, and as you can imagine, bands are the momentary pariah when locals want to park right in front of the other businesses on the street. If you cannot find parking on the block, you can double park with your flashers/hazards on, and quickly unload. It is a two-lane, one-way street, with parking on both sides. If you pull up in front and stay in the left lane, allowing people to drive by on the right side of your vehicle, no one will get bent out of shape. Just be aware that if you park in cars parked along the curb by stopping in the lane, at some point they might want to pull out. You may have to move your vehicle so they can pull out. Sometimes this works out great as people pull out and you can park your band vehicle in their parking spot.

When unloading in the left lane, please stop no closer to the intersection than the venue’s front door. That intersection is high traffic, including delivery drivers who move like a bat out of hell. Park too close and you’ll have a Jimmy John’s car up in your trailer.

We have orange traffic cones just inside the door. Please feel free to use them, but return them to where you got them, so other bands can use them.

If we gave you a slot on a big national show, once you’ve arrived please follow the signage which will answer many of your questions. Venue staff should be available to answer any questions that may not be covered by signage. Make no mistake, they are getting ready for the show and have other things to do, but they will gladly help you out with questions if you first check the signage.

Please don’t pester the national headliners. Chances are they are great guys, and they will eventually approach you to discuss life in general, gear, the music business, maybe even the new Churrito at Taco Bell. But don’t make them remember you because you’re a nuisance. You have no idea what is going on in their life, so do not expect them to all be happy-go-lucky music advice dispensers. National musicians are human too. If it seems like they don’t want to talk, then be smart and leave them alone.

Be professional on stage. If you are an opener, talk as little as possible. Get out on stage and use your time slot for getting your music to new fans. Tell people who your band is (slow down, enunciate, speak clearly) a couple of times, but that’s it. It will be tempting to talk, but no one wants to hear you talk. They want to hear you go from one song right into the next, blowing them away with your musical talent. Remember, you get ONE CHANCE to make a first impression. Don’t lose that energy by stopping between songs to talk, tune, etc. If you need to change tuning, then get another guitar as soon as you can afford it so you can just quickly change guitars between songs, instead of tuning for 2 minutes. This is what you want to do for a living so take it seriously. All of the other bands are taking it seriously.

Don’t botch up your set by stopping between every song to ask people how they are feeling, hows about the weather, what people think of Wisconsin cheese or what this song is about, etc. Swearing on stage is about as impressive as shitting your pants. It doesn’t make you sound tough, it makes you sound like you’re TRYING to BE tough, and failing. Do it if you want, we don’t censor anyone. But for kids who go to shows every week, trust me, you will come across as simpletons if your go-to between-song banter is all tough-guy swearing.

Although we firmly believe that any band that is not a legit national touring band for a living should be at their merch table every moment possible, meeting people, befriending people, and moving merch, bands can have one person to man their merch table.

But for the sake of your band’s future, make sure at least one band person is also at the table at all times to meet and thank fans, etc. Your merch guy sitting there staring at his phone instead of engaging potential new long-term fans can cost your band a lot of money. Band members standing behind the table to more easily reach out to shake hands and help with merch sales make a world of difference. Your merch guy/girl does not care about your band as much as you do.

Clear everything off the stage as quickly as possible. Don’t remove cymbals from stands, perfectly wind up guitar cables, etc. You can do all of that offstage. When you finish your set, get everything offstage, and THEN break it down.

Please do NOT load out during the time another band is performing. It is a distraction, its rude, and its dangerous on the stairs. If you absolutely have to load out after your set, check with the soundman to discuss the situation

If you are local and you have hung posters for the show, try to get them all taken down the next day or as soon as possible. Overexposure, in the form of your logo on a poster that people keep seeing for weeks or months after the show has happened, makes people numb to your brand and blind to future advertising.