Gigs cancelled "due to Covid"...?

RocknRollDave

I play in a functions/ wedding band. 

I am not playing tonight because my gig was cancelled - some weeks back, I should add - "due to Covid".
Similarly, my gig NEXT week is also cancelled with the same reason being cited.
As is my New Year's Eve gig.
Both November gigs were to be weddings, whilst NYE was a private birthday party function.
No cancellation fee for any of these is heading my way.

The argument is thus:
If our agent** didn't include a force majeure clause in his contracts - which effectively allows people to cancel gigs at any stage with no financial obligation simply by stating "well, Covid, innit?" - clients would not be prepared to take the risk of booking a band at present.

Needless to say, every cancellation this year has been "due to Covid".
Given that it is the one reason clients can give that gets them off the hook financially, one is inclined to suspect that some clients* may be tempted to use Covid as an excuse when it is not the actual reason for the cancellation. 


Anyone else on the gigging scene experiencing the same thing? Or do you insist on some kind of cancellation fee, even when Covid is the (official) reason?







(*I have not spoken with any of the clients of these three gigs in question. I shall assume for the record that their plans have indeed been impacted by Covid, and put this post out as a general "What if?" question, not an accusation against them in particular.
**He's been very good with pursuing cancellation fees in the past, and is absolutely 100% straight with me over money, so I am not for one second criticising his business practices. This hits HIM in the soft parts just as much as it does us.)

mudslide73

A bit of both I reckon. There's an obvious saving to be had by no longer having a band and sometimes things change financially. I remember our wedding costs spiralling (esp. when my mother-in-law got involved) and the chance to bin some stuff after we'd committed would have been welcome. On the other hand a few years back my wife's friend postponed her wedding due to the death of her father (non covid).

RocknRollDave

mudslide73 said:

A bit of both I reckon. There's an obvious saving to be had by no longer having a band and sometimes things change financially. I remember our wedding costs spiralling (esp. when my mother-in-law got involved) and the chance to bin some stuff after we'd committed would have been welcome. On the other hand a few years back my wife's friend postponed her wedding due to the death of her father (non covid).

Oh yeah, I mean...I totally get both sides of the argument. I don't blame the clients per se.

To be honest, with a (very late in life) career change recently, I am turning down as many gigs as I am taking on these days, and any cancellations are met with ambivalence in me rather than disappointment. It's another Saturday I get to spend doing the other things I need to do instead of gigging. Win/ Win (or Lose/ Lose, depending on the mood I am in! )

My band mates, however, have taken the NYE cancellation badly, not that I blame them.