This thread comes from our old forums. We weren't able to migrate all of our old posts over in the switch, so here's what was said:
Natalie:
Ok Dave asked me to chat a bit about the gigs I've done on another circuit which is the Middle East & Asia hotel circuit.
The concept of the showband is basically the same, anything from a six to ten piece party band, with male and female vocals. Usually 6 nights a week, 4-5 sets a night. The bands usually try to stick together from contract to contract, as venues hire you based on your video line-up, however with so much politics involved its pretty much like the cruise lines where you get replacements every so often.
The pay is usually anything between $500-$800 US per week, however you pay commisission out of your ears, overseas agents, local agents and even your trusty band leader takes his cut, sometimes up to 35%. Your accomodation can range from a single 5 star hotel room, to a shit dumb apartment you have to share with 5 people. Food, flights, visa's and overweight luggage is included. Most of the time, you never see a piece of paper with your name on it, or anything in the form of a contract, this of course leads to trouble if you are working with money-hungry people, but can sometimes not be a problem at all. Contracts range from 3-4months.
The big difference comes in the actuall show. Most successful bands are required to play the hippest tunes on the top 40 radio list, there is NO SUCH THING as sheet music, all these musicians learn the songs BY EAR, and usually has about 2 days to learn and MEMORIZE those songs. The singers cover all styles and have to have dance choreography as well. Wardrobe is also NB, as the band's image in Asia is number one.
The countries range from UAE (Dubai), Bahrain, Oman, India, Thailand, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, KL, Singapore, Indonesia etc etc etc
That's about it.
N.
Dave:
Wow, this is a gig I've never even heard of. Thanks Natalie.
How do you get the gig? Is it like cruise gigs where you audition for the agent and they hook you up?
35% sounds like a drag. Is food provided? Do you live pretty comfortably?
Where are most of the musicians from? On cruise ships it tends to be Americans, Canadian, English and some eastern Europeans that do all the music.
Natalie
No you don't audition, basically a band leader puts together a bunch of musos, and through his connections/agents, he promotes his band for hotels and they get picked out of loads of bands. I have gained all my gigs purely by networking.
It's not a bad deal, the pros outway the cons, you stay, fly and eat for free, save money, get accustomed to the city for 3 months, meet great people and generally the music you play is great. Most bands are high energy, party dance bands with a solid repertoire in rock, pop and r&b. But there is a downside to some like I say, there's not always a contract, and you often deal with dodgy people and its a schlep getting your money without proof on paper.
The musos are from all over but predominantly Australia, NZ, UK, Indonesia, Columbia, South Africa and the Philipines.
I have done this circuit for a couple of years now and I'm about to join my first cruise, I've read up enough to know the difference now, however I'm still curious how the ship musicians will gel with my kinda background, like I say I never read sheet music, and for the first time I'm learning all these old tunes instead of the latest top 40's. I'm also trading in my Avril Levigne look for a few ball gowns 
