Mississippi Pizza Pub

  

07-01-2015

Dan, the booking guy, is great, but this place has problems. Venue relies entirely on bands to bring customers, but won't let you charge a cover for the early show. They also won't let you charge a cover to customers who say they are going into the back bar (where they can see and hear the music just fine, thank you). They charge $70 to use the whole PA, with sound man, or you are on your own with the upgraded-but-still-inadequate bare bones PA. Venue does not promote the bands, the bands promote the venue. Hospitality is minimal - a beer and a slice or salad. This is the poster child for the bad business model in clubs these days. Venue is shifting risk and cost away from itself and onto the bands and shifting money and benefits away from the bands and back to itself. On a positive note, the staff is nice and if you have a big following you can have a decent show here. Overall, bands beware...

  

02-12-2013

The booker is difficult. And the pay is "collect it yourself." Parking sucks. Pizza is rocking, bar in the back is cool; staff is great.

  

07-03-2012

There was no sound guy here when we played, though it was not a bad stage and setting. the sound was poo but like WHATEVER it makes it extra alt. But wait I remember we didnt get paid and they only gave us some pizza or some beer or something. kinda shitty

  

09-15-2011

Good People.

Mark the bartender in back is generally very helpful and accommodating, which is incredible considering how busy the bar gets. Derek, up front, with the longish brown rockstar hair and an accent, is also pretty busy but nonetheless a great resource if the PA goes south, which it does less now that they replaced/upgraded it.

Monitors tend to be a little underpowered when the place gets crowded, and the place is small. Bummer that the show has to be over at 12:15 due to neighbors directly upstairs.

Sound is usually about $70 if you use their engineer. Worth it if you are going to have a packed house or don't have your own. Lauren is great but not always available.

Running the door is a complicated pain in the ass at MPP. Their bar, the Atlantis Lounge, is through two music rooms, so those going to drink exclusively don't pay cover, and the door person has to keep policing the room in between. To make matters worse, there's a back door by the stage that usually stays open in summer, and people stream in where the band can see, but can't do anything about it.

Their door person will cost you $30. Assuming they get someone good, it's worth it. Watch them, though. Dan the booker is also very much on the level about this and does his best to explain the gig to the door employees. If he can't find someone good, he'll often pitch in and do it himself, and well, I might add.

There is some foot traffic, and, since the band is visible in the front window, some built-in neighborhood draw, maybe 10 people on a good night.

The venue runs a tiny ad in the arts weekly but does not mention the bands. They do not do strip flyers or any other kind of promotion, they rely heavily on musicians to supply them with customers.

They do not do minimums or pay anything to the band out of pocket; the band is paid what's left over from the door after sound and door staff has been paid. The band must advertise on their own time and at their own expense, but, of course, most of that is standard in Portland, to my continued chagrin.

Two drink tickets per band member can be used toward pizza, salad, or drinks. The fresh-squeezed cocktails are great, as are the salads, bu they're not cheap, and two drink tickets won't cover both!