Another gig where we quit early because the crowd left.

[TeeSee]

I played in a band in the 80's we did all of our own stuff, no covers. We actually had moderate success, playing the Natural History Museum in London for a graduation party for Viscount Lindley, did nightclubs in Soho on a pay as you play basis where they actually paid us as quote "you're the first band we've every had that's got this tough crowd up and dancing and you're welcome to come back and headline".
We played many gigs up and down the country (UK) had a couple of shall we say mismatched where we played a Working Mens Club, and we were told that crowd "didn't appreciate that druggie music" , but all in all we were doing OK. We had a decent local following when we played round our stomping grounds.
But one day we had a gig at a pub in Moseley, Birmingham and it was a well known music venue it's name The Swan, if I recall correctly, but it was home venue to many Birmingham rockers, such as Black Sabbath, ELO, Wizzard etc.
I guess it's maybe because we hadn't advertised it enough but on the night not a single paying person showed up. I mean no-one. Zip.
Obviously we ended up out of pocket, but what we did was turn it into a massive jam session by going downstairs and getting the drinkers to come up and have a go on the mike and play a couple of tunes if they could.
From a total disaster it turned out to be one of the most fun nights we ever had.
We eventually imploded just when we'd secured a gig at Covent Garden where the A&R men were coming to see us.
It's a s**t business.

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

... Acceptance is what stage of grief?

The last

 

[themickster]

We played last night at a restaurant/bar where we have been playing regularly. It's about an hour away and has a house PA and sound man. Gig was from 8-11. BL decided to take my suggestion and play an hour, then a 15 minute break, then 45/15 after that.

We had a good crowd when we started but toward the end of the first set about 1/4 to 1/3 of the crowd had left. We took a break and a huge table of people, maybe 20 people, left. Second set we had maybe 1/8 of the crowd we started with. When we went back after our second break there was hardly anyone there. I saw the sound man talking to the BL and it was decided, or the BL decided, that we would play about thirty minutes, as there were only 4 people left, and they were at the bar.

I think that the soundman has us cranked too loud FOH and it is running people off. In particular the BL's vocals, which were so loud in my monitor that I turned it away from me with my foot. And maybe it's us, too. We play lots of really old music and have a lot of extended guitar battles, having two guitars that both like to play and like to play loud as well.

However, nobody else in the band seems concerned about us not holding a crowd and we keep getting bookings in these same clubs over and over so I guess I should just take the money and not worry about it, either.

Folk left in the two breaks. Those breaks might be some time of the problem.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

When I go see a band, I’m usually out after the first set. I’m not much of a drinker and after I’ve had a main course, what am I supposed to do for the rest of the night? Nurse a Diet Coke? So, I free up the table for someone that’s going to use it. With current DUI laws, which I’m not complaining about, things seem to taper off around 10:00 and are fairly dead after 11:00. A lot of venues have changed to bands playing 7-10:00. Different areas will have different crowds, of course.

 

[el murdoque]

We played last night at a restaurant/bar where we have been playing regularly.
[...]
we keep getting bookings in these same clubs over and over so I guess I should just take the money and not worry about it, either.

we won't be making substantial attempts at improvement because our drummer has stated that he won't really be interested in spending time learning new material, which I think fits right in with the two guitar players in the bands thinking and playing styles, too.

Seems like you have two options here.
One is to adopt the mind set of the others and just keep going.
It sounds like you have to put in zero effort for that.
You won't need to practice and you will keep playing the same show in the same places - until they stop booking you and then the band dissolves naturally.

The other is to quit on the spot and look for something else. If you still have it in you to look for improvement, adapt and go with the times while the others have lost it, then it might be a frustrating experience adapting their mind set and just ride the horse until it collapses.

 

[theduke1]

I play in a trio and most of our gigs are 3/3.5 hours. What we have been doing for several years is we will play our first set for 2 hours. We do this for several reasons.
1 that is when the most people are there.
2 it will hold the crowd
3 no other band, that I know of does this
4 over the years we have noticed that when a band breaks that’s when people leave.
5 it tends to impress the club owner
We run sound from the stage so we control the volume.
On the rare occasion we do a 4 hour gig 1st set is 1:45/2:00 as well
We just completed our 10th season together May-October.
I hope this will give you some ideas going forward
Duke

 

[frankie5string]

Extended guitar battles? It's not 1982 anymore... I can't imagine bar/pub patrons today sticking around for anything resembling extended guitar battles. Weird.

 

[frankie5string]

Is it just me or is this sounding like the Basil Fawlty business model?

Bwahahaha...Is he playing in Torquay?

 

[pepj]

When I go see a band, I’m usually out after the first set. I’m not much of a drinker and after I’ve had a main course, what am I supposed to do for the rest of the night? Nurse a Diet Coke? So, I free up the table for someone that’s going to use it. With current DUI laws, which I’m not complaining about, things seem to taper off around 10:00 and are fairly dead after 11:00. A lot of venues have changed to bands playing 7-10:00. Different areas will have different crowds, of course.

This is why I think bar owners need to cut down the playing time. It takes a lot to occupy a crowd for over 2 hrs but if you can do that you stand a better chance to
a) set the tone for the event
b) set the pace and tempo of the gig

Basically, the gig is something that people are coming for and 100 people drinking ...food is a bonus... should be enough to sustain the cost of the band.
The model of the largest room can be pretty much the worst idea because all the costs are expontenially higher.
On my recent trips, I've seen multi bars, with food and music, achieve nothing bar the sole purpose of retaining as many people as possible but as a music gig, they were awful, and noone stayed because of it.
Whereas the specialist bar with a concise gig becomes the event in itself.
Many towns on a Sunday start music around 1pm and people basically move onto the next band slot at another venue 2 hrs later. Literally the same audience moves with the band slots. Some pretty drunk people but during the summer it can be almost a mini Nashville.
I think venues do better when they actually think this stuff through.

 

[Guitalia]

I play in a trio and most of our gigs are 3/3.5 hours. What we have been doing for several years is we will play our first set for 2 hours. We do this for several reasons.
1 that is when the most people are there.
2 it will hold the crowd
3 no other band, that I know of does this
4 over the years we have noticed that when a band breaks that’s when people leave.
5 it tends to impress the club owner
We run sound from the stage so we control the volume.
On the rare occasion we do a 4 hour gig 1st set is 1:45/2:00 as well
We just completed our 10th season together May-October.
I hope this will give you some ideas going forward
Duke

Terrific idea. If I join the startup cover band I've been talking to, I'll push for the 2-hour first set idea.

And I'd add my personal no. 6 to the list: I always hated hanging around during breaks. I don't drink or smoke, and my bandmates, though they were good guys, weren't people I had a lot in common with.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Terrific idea. If I join the startup cover band I've been talking to, I'll push for the 2-hour first set idea.

And I'd add my personal no. 6 to the list: I always hated hanging around during breaks. I don't drink or smoke, and my bandmates, though they were good guys, weren't people I had a lot in common with.

Good luck convincing the vocalist.

 

[JC BASS 91]

This is just my opinion, but I would never quit just because there wasn't anyone to play music to in the room. I'd play to the bugs in the room and the staff of the venue for the full time that I agreed to play. The venue expects, and is paying, us to play until a certain time, we (my band) are going to play to that time, regardless of the crowd. That's just how I feel.

We recently did a show where pretty much the last hour (11-midnight) of it we were playing to three people and the staff of the venue. We still gave it our all and played as if we were playing to a packed house. In this case, it was a Halloween party at the venue on the 28th of October. To the venue's detriment, there was a pub crawl going on downtown that had a costume contest where first prize was $2000. The venue we were playing had a costume contest that had a $150 cash prize. Also, it was the first cold, rainy night of the year.

The three people that were there? They were people that we consider our regulars that come to every show we do.

At the end of the night, the venue apologized to us that we didn't have a bigger crowd to play for.

 

[Tim Skaggs]

Been in the same situation dozens, if not hundreds of times. We never quit early unless the venue manager tells us to.

 

[theduke1]

Good luck convincing the vocalist.

In my trio we all sing lead and backing vocals for each other, so that’s not an issue for us.
Duke

 

[theduke1]

This is just my opinion, but I would never quit just because there wasn't anyone to play music to in the room. I'd play to the bugs in the room and the staff of the venue for the full time that I agreed to play. The venue expects, and is paying, us to play until a certain time, we (my band) are going to play to that time, regardless of the crowd. That's just how I feel.

We recently did a show where pretty much the last hour (11-midnight) of it we were playing to three people and the staff of the venue. We still gave it our all and played as if we were playing to a packed house. In this case, it was a Halloween party at the venue on the 28th of October. To the venue's detriment, there was a pub crawl going on downtown that had a costume contest where first prize was $2000. The venue we were playing had a costume contest that had a $150 cash prize. Also, it was the first cold, rainy night of the year.

The three people that were there? They were people that we consider our regulars that come to every show we do.

At the end of the night, the venue apologized to us that we didn't have a bigger crowd to play for.

Well said!
Duke

 

[pepj]

Good luck convincing the vocalist.

Agree, unless you are extremely fortunate to have more than one top line vocalist.

 

[Dave Leighton]

Sorry, you quit early on my crew without my permission, you're fired! IMO does not matter if it's music or your day job.

This type of situation has always been an issue with local live music. Even when all is going well...

You have also shared extensively issues with the various "bands" you are involved with.

IMO, time for a new hobby...

 

[40Hz]

I love me some epic, outrageous guitar solos. But never at a local bar band gig. If your band's name doesn't end in "Priest" or "Maiden" there is a low chance anyone is gonna want to hear extended length guitar solos.

True dat!

I’ll (maybe) make an exception for Peter Frampton in a concert setting…if we were back in the 70s. But what’s about it.

Very few guitarists have a genuine musically interesting extended solo anywhere in them. But “the wank is strong in such as these” as Jedi Master Yoda might put it.

 

[lordradish]

Seems like the decline of dadband is in full swing. Notice more and more stories here about people still carrying on like it's 1995 and people still want to hear this stuff. We live in a completely different world now.

 

[40Hz]

This is just my opinion, but I would never quit just because there wasn't anyone to play music to in the room. I'd play to the bugs in the room and the staff of the venue for the full time that I agreed to play.

Agree 100%.

There’s been a few times when a band I was in was playing to the crickets and the house staff. We just treated it as a full set dress rehearsal and soldiered on. It’s never wise to quit the stage early unless the venue’s management, on its own initiative, tells you to shut down. I would never once take it upon myself to end a show early irregardless of how dead the room was. It’s just shows bad form IMO.