You can all kiss my hairy...

[Vorago]

***! all these ***holes who promise to come to a big gig of ours, in the middle of the city, for free, on an excellent stage, with excellent sound, on a day that no one has any classes.

I invited at least 10 people personally and NONE of them showed up.


**** you mofos.

[stedtale]

yeah, spread that love, baby.

[SnoMan]

Dude, I told you. If it hadn't been for that freaking ocean in the way...

[MakiSupaStar]

Love the flakes. This is one of my least favorite parts of being in a band.

[john turner]

i would've been all about it. but i can't swim that far .

[T. B. Player]

Flanders!!!

That's a geographic location? I thought it was Homer Simpson's neighbor!

Sorry - I was in Illinois looking for the nuclear plant.....

[slackdaddy]

I figured out a while ago that I get about a 10% attendance from the folks I invite to shows. In other words, if I have personally asked 100 folks to come out I will get 10. This has been the case for years. That doesn't mean all the shows have poor attendance but I am personally responsible for those 10 folks being there.

[Jeff Martinez]

Originally Posted by slackdaddy

I figured out a while ago that I get about a 10% attendance from the folks I invite to shows. In other words, if I have personally asked 100 folks to come out I will get 10. This has been the case for years. That doesn't mean all the shows have poor attendance but I am personally responsible for those 10 folks being there.

Exactly.


Here's my observation on the mathematics of local music:

-You tell 20 people (friends, co-workers, etc...) about the show
-15 will say that they would love to come
-9 will say that they are definitely going to make it
-2 will actually be there

[Naggon]

Yeah, you just can't escape this...I don't know if it's just this day and age or what, but the average person just doesn't seem to like live music at all, at least where I am. My band's been playing consistantly for 3 years, won tons of battle-of-the-bands, etc, and people who hear us all seem to think we're pretty good - but we STILL can hardly draw a crowd, even with thousands of posters, myspace notices, and facebook event invites. But we still have fun...it's all about the music. Even if nobody shows up (which has happened to us plenty), we just rock out as hard as we can anyhow, as though we're playing a big stadium, and have a hell of a time. It's the only way to stay sane :P

[Lazylion]

I shudder to think of all the printing and postage money I've shelled out over the years. And the time spent! We used to spend days designing flyers, going to Kinko's, writing each address by hand, licking every stamp, etc.
All part of the paying of the dues, I guess. Thank goodness for e-mail!

[casualmadness]

I remember once in college I was in a band that was actually a really good band; one of the few bands from my past that doesn't make me cringe in horror when I look back.
We did a show one night and told lots of people who all promised they would be there. No one showed. I don't just mean no one as in none of our friends. I mean no one. Not one person showed up at the club that night. It was literally the band, the bartender, and the door guy. That's it. Talk about wanting to throw in the towel...that was a tough night.

[TrevorOfDoom]

i was in a band where everyone came either for the drummer, or the singer. i learned early on that though my friends claimed to care about me, they wouldn't come see me. and not once did anyone i put on the guest list ever come to a show. and this is over a period of 6 months, at least 2 shows a month, so it's not like they never had a chance.

here's the deal. we're the bass players. the only time we're noticed is when we aren't there. and this is coming from a man who'se presence was a huge part of our stage show. never-ending stream of praises and compliments from the audience, telling me that that was the most intense live show ever, i was amazing, blah blah blah... but never did my friends show.

[casualmadness]

[quote=TrevorOfDoom;4724128]i was in a band where everyone came either for the drummer, or the singer.[quote]

I was in that band...except it was the singer and guitar player. We actually had quite a following for a while. But people who came to the shows would literally crowd in front of the singer and the guitar palyer when we were on stage. I never really cared because I don't need a pat on the back. But damn...
The really bad part about it was the drummer did so much of the work with putting the band together and promoting the band and booking shows and marketing our stuff; he even had shirts made out of his own pocket. But the singer and the guitar player were the only people in the band as far as anyone knew.

[stedtale]

[TrevorOfDoom]

Originally Posted by casualmadness

But the singer and the guitar player were the only people in the band as far as anyone knew.

indeed. the drummer is a hoss, but nobody cared until after he took off his shirt. and the singer, well, she's pretty. it was the guitarist who did almost all the work. but onstage, he was no fun to watch. just stood there, swayed a bit, rocked back and forth, occasionally walked to the drum riser, that's about it. i was all over the place, and mostly, i just got asked to move because some chick in the front row couldn't see the drummer. ick.

[alanbass1]

Never mind

[casualmadness]

Originally Posted by TrevorOfDoom

i just got asked to move because some chick in the front row couldn't see the drummer. ick.

I think that I might ahve "accidentally" spilled my beer on her or something.

[Tony G]

Same thing happens to me as well. I've just stopped inviting people. If they ask me when my next gig is, I'll gladly let them know. Or if I meet somebody new who is interested in the band, I'll give them a card with our website on it. They can check it out and come see us if they want. But, almost all the times I ask somebody if they'd like to come check us out, they will just graciously say yes, but then I never see them. So, if you have the interest to see me and my band, just ask and I'll tell you where and when. Don't expect me to go whoring myself out to get people to come to gigs anymore. I'm past that.

[Phalex]

Originally Posted by T. B. Player

Flanders!!!

That's a geographic location? I thought it was Homer Simpson's neighbor!

Sorry - I was in Illinois looking for the nuclear plant.....

Stupid Flanders!

[Thor]

None of my coworkers have ever made any of my rather
infrequent shows. I've stopped inviting them.