There is another slant to all of this. If you are playing NH type gigs some of the AD's prefer acts which do not require much to get setup. It seems to be a lot of trouble for some of them to provide a suitable place to setup a keyboard, speakers, stands etc.. In my area the problem now is many clubs and restaurants no longer are using live entertainment and those players have jumped on the NH gigs and have nearly destroyed the market because they play for nearly nothing. It is very clear though that "quality" means nothing to the ADs in my area - the price is all that counts. Choice of music is also an issue with some of the ADs because they are mostly very young and have little to no knowledge about the music the residents heard when they were young.

Mark, how I deal with it is to be very selective about where I work and when I work. I tell the AD up front my concept is that I am there for the benefit of the residents and no one else. If they have a problem with that I move on.

Deane