Ditto, Bill.

I ALWAYS scope out a venue before I accept anything. This stems from one incident where an agent, whom I've since abandoned, set up a gig at a lounge. I wasn't familiar with the area and when I arrived and was about to unload my gear, some jerk in a pick-up drives through the front window and all hell breaks loose. That was it. I never even opened the trunk of my van and was outta there.

Of course, you can't 'scope out' with private functions, but you try to glean as much info as possible up front.