Bemoaning the lack of an audience

[arbiterusa]

What the heck is wrong with people? I know that on any given night, people will have commitments, but everybody?

Yeah, everybody. The economy has been falling through the floor for anyone who's not independently wealthy for almost 40 years if you haven't noticed. Not only is everyone working, everyone's working full time. I will be honest: the last time I saw a band that wasn't my own was about four years ago. I'm exhausted. My wife is exhausted. Our friends are exhausted. I got a guy booking my band into a Thursday night gig, 9 to midnight, $300. We promoted the hell out of it. Five people showed up besides the regulars. He considered that enough of a success that we're now in any Thursday we want at that pay rate. 30 years ago, five people at a gig would have gotten me permanently banned from a venue. Now the promoters seem to think that's a success.

My last vacation was in 2012. That's not normal - none of my friends take vacations at all anymore.

Everyone's overworked, that's the bottom line.

What was the time frame of the gig? I find that I can't get anyone to come to the old 10-2 bar gigs anymore. 8-12, yeah some will show up. People that like to go see live music just don't party until bar close like they used to.

Crucial post, actually. The local clubs are having decent success with 5-8pm and almost as much with 7-10pm. Anything later than that and people won't even go see the opener. And the bars doing this are closing up at 11, even though CA allows operation until 2AM, nobody is staying that late anymore.

 

[rtslinger]

We have a decent following and leave some space between months so people miss us I found in our area that it is the DUI penalty that has changed the game, You are lucky to get people to stay longer than Set 2 these days if you have a 9:30 start time, and forget about the places that don't serve food. There really isn't much that can be done other than a few places have shows at are from 4pm to 8pm, that is usually our best turn out venues. Sat night we had 92 paid by the end of Set 2 everyone started saying good night, 3rd set we were playing to about 12.

 

[swarfrat]

I recently found myself in the people "mildly perturbed that there even was a band" camp. Anniversary dinner. Wife wanted to eat outside. We pick a table and look up and see why it's empty - there's a cajon, snare and a guitar sitting in the corner nearby. Oh well, it was still early - maybe they won't be on until... nope.

I have mild hearing loss that pretty much only affects me trying to have conversation in noisy environments.

And as far as the cajon guys... The bass drum is not the problem. It's the cranked snare. Dude, throw a donut/wallet/or at least a moon gel on there. I dabble at drums. I like 15" snares with some beef. This snare had zero beef it was all crack, even with brushes it was obnoxious. And the cajon with just an acoustic guitar left the sound absolutely gutless. With no bass player, it sure could've used a real bass drum instead of the cajon pedal.

 

[G19Tony]

I recently found myself in the people "mildly perturbed that there even was a band" camp. Anniversary dinner. Wife wanted to eat outside. We pick a table and look up and see why it's empty - there's a cajon, snare and a guitar sitting in the corner nearby. Oh well, it was still early - maybe they won't be on until... nope.

I have mild hearing loss that pretty much only affects me trying to have conversation in noisy environments.

And as far as the cajon guys... The bass drum is not the problem. It's the cranked snare. Dude, throw a donut/wallet/or at least a moon gel on there. I dabble at drums. I like 15" snares with some beef. This snare had zero beef it was all crack, even with brushes it was obnoxious. And the cajon with just an acoustic guitar left the sound absolutely gutless. With no bass player, it sure could've used a real bass drum instead of the cajon pedal.

If I walk into a place and see karaoke gear set up, I do a 9g 180 and get out of there.

 

[Crazy_Jake]

You can't expect family and friends to support your band. I don't understand why you think they are "obligated" to come out to see your band. It's a quick way to lose friends and alienate family. I don't do "obligations" and I stay away from people who think I should.

Any band can be a "success" if they rely on their friends and family to support them and come to all their gigs - this as we have discussed already is not a realistic approach. I think the key to a band is to get a gig in a city where nobody knows them and see if you can draw people into the venue or even more importantly - keep the people who are currently in the venue. If you can engage strangers who are hearing the band for the first time you will be fine - it can still be a long haul but if your band is talented with a good songlist you will get noticed and develop a following.

 

[TwentyHz]

Yep, it's a challenge.

One of my bands is playing mostly originals, in some genre-bending style that is still emerging (what began as classic country is bleeding into a little surfiness, a little early 60s-Brit feel, a little Batman) ... we are still figuring it out. We're all in our 50's and busy, and we split up social media duties and do our best.

We accept and kind of embrace the fact that we just aren't going to effectively build a social circle that follows us to gigs. Nor are we going to stumble into becoming the new house band for an audience of bar regulars. And - hey - we choose to play our own weird originals... it's just not likely to evolve into 'the show' that is so universally attractive that everyone in town will be open it.

(I may have posted this elsewhere - can't remember)...

So, we've affirmatively decided that our gig goals are festival/mini-fest multi-band events, and/or opening for other bands in bars.

In those settings, we can offer variety, and yeah... we can attract friends and family, and some other folks who do like to catch us out now and then, and we can work hard to cross-promote & help make the event a success.

Perks for us are that we can spend time with family and friends enjoying the other bands, and get to hangout, network with other musicians, and at times sit-in with them and/or have them sit-in with us.

For us, it's a lot more fun than trying to keep a barroom of cell phone holders entertained for 3-4 hours.

 

[Cheez]

I've believe one of the makings of a successful band is not allowing the happenstance of a small crowd to negatively affect band attitude, playing or performance. But, I also believe it can be challenginig!

 

[One_Dude]

One of the bands I play in is Bluegrass centered. It seems like young folks mostly don't care for Bluegrass and we see very few of them in our audiences. That puts the bulk of our audience in the 40 years and older range; and I think most of these folks have so many choices and responsibilities that live music winds up low on their priority list.

At one venue we are the house band and it's taking a long time for the crowd attendance to build. At another venue we share the bill with a second band, and it seems like whoever plays first has the larger crowd, which is still pretty small. By the time the second band starts the audience has thinned. It really doesn't matter who goes first, the second one always has the smaller audience. We usually play between 6PM and 10PM.

We have increased our play list to include a few well received originals, Blues, Country, Americana, and a Rock song now and then. What has worked better for us is playing at festivals during the good weather season. They tend include several bands with one hour sets each. And we sometimes will get other jobs from the festival exposure. There is only one local Bluegrass band that has much of a following here, and I am pretty sure they play for tips all of the time.

I agree that some of the best venues (we don't have any in my area) draw their crowd regardless of who the band is. And that audience is more dedicated to the bar or club than to they are to the entertainment appearing there. I also wonder if the cutting of music classes in schools (a cost saving plan) has a significant affect on audience turnout.

But as someone else said; "better to play to a small crowd than to not play at all".

Thump on,

One_Dude

 

[Kevorargh]

Interestingly enough, as I struggle to get my solo band off the ground that the gigs I have gotten are all 7-10 p.m. or 8-11 p.m. Nobody is staying out late anymore it seems.

 

[Eekum]

Maybe the venue sucks. On a Friday night, most bars around me have a good draw. Not too mention the ones with live music.

 

[buldog5151bass]

I often play at places that have a dinner crowd. A lot of times people will talk to me as I am loading in, and I usually will tell them to stick around, and tell them what we are playing. It's not unusual for them to do so - I've even had people drop off the rest of their party and return.

 

[jamro217]

Yeah somehow the savings never appear do they? You go to the grocery store, check yourself out, bag your own purchases, and never save a penny on the tab. Pretty soon there won't even be a bartender, much less a 5 piece band.

Not only that, when we're all out of work none of us will be able to afford to go out.

 

[Jack]

One of the things I've learned from my time on TB is that the music scene is very, very different in other parts of the world or even between neighboring cities. It's also a very different environment depending on your chosen genre and level of professionalism.

Where I live every pub has a built-in crowd. On the plus side, I always have a good crowd. On the flip side, I know that they're just in their local and they go every weekend. They're not there to see us, they just go anyway...

I can't see inviting your friends being a long-term solution. Hell, I wouldn't even go and see Iron Maiden every weekend for years just to support them. I've got other monkeys in other zoos. Play support slots under bigger bands. Play private parties. Be sociable and support your band through marketing and social media.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Maybe you'll have better luck when the Stanley Cup playoffs are over. The sad truth is that as a society we've been conditioned to do our own service work rather than pay for it. The idea first started in the '70's at gas stations. Instead of having an attendant wash your windshield, check your oil and pump your gas while you just sat there, you saved $.01 per gallon by doing his job. Everybody wins. You win by getting the smell of gas on your clean suit, the attendant wins, because he can stay home and collect unemployment for a few months before losing his home, and the corporation really wins by raking in billions of dollars every year through the forced free labor of its customers. Now, as musicians we either have to provide the venue with its customer base or pay them to play there. Either way we're forced free labor.

Do you shop on line to save money, rather than buy from a brick and mortar store? Do you use wholesale clubs and buy in bulk?

 

[silvertone]

I suffer from similar empty room blues - but I chalk it up to trying to gain a following in a town completely over-saturated with live music - from National Touring Headliners to regional bands to hundreds of local acts. There are dozens of cliquey scenes in and around San Francisco and the Bay Area. Attempting to attract the attention and gain a following is close to impossible. My rock band is 2/3's (4 out of 6 players including me) over 50. Nobody's beating down the doors to see us play original rock, even though I think our songs are good and the band is tight.

I get that cover bands bring in the drinking mammals that club bookers demand.
But it definitely irks me that peeps are uninterested in original music unless it's already viral....

The real question is, just what the hell are us music-motivated, gigging is just as much a part of our lives as breathing, eating and sleeping, people supposed to do about it?

 

[arbiterusa]

Do you shop on line to save money, rather than buy from a brick and mortar store?

Interesting you should mention that. I have found that with almost anything I buy, if the local stores have it the item will be substantially less than online, the only exception being brick and mortar stores that have an online presence (Home Depot for example) in which case there's no cost difference but if I buy locally I can have the item in fifteen minutes instead of four days.

Amazon in particular is guilty of grossly overcharging for common items. It's a fight between laziness and saving money, and laziness wins for most people every time.

 

[Sparkl]

Not looking for a solution. I'm just venting.

Last Friday, my band had our fifth gig. It was our first time at a bar/restaurant with a bar/music venue downstairs. It's a great venue for us - great PA, bar provides the sound guy, who also runs lights.

The show went pretty well from a performance angle. Here's the problem - there is no built-in crowd at the place and, despite inviting dozens of people myself, the place was nearly empty. This was an important gig for us to show well. I'd love to be invited back, and would love to use this performance to get into the other venue owned by the same guy. But I was embarrassed by the lack of people willing to come out. I wouldn't rebook us if I was the venue manager. Such a waste of an opportunity.

Of all the people that I invited (phone, email, text, Facebook, face-to-face), only one person showed up, in addition to my wife. Similar poor showings from friends/family of the other band members. Without friends and family to give us some support in the early going, I can't see how we develop a following.

What the heck is wrong with people? I know that on any given night, people will have commitments, but everybody? Does Netflix really have that much hold on people? I just don't get it.

Do people not go out anymore? Or maybe it's me?

Just venting. Everybody seems to have an excuse.

Oh so this reached the US as well? We’re doomed.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Interesting you should mention that. I have found that with almost anything I buy, if the local stores have it the item will be substantially less than online, the only exception being brick and mortar stores that have an online presence (Home Depot for example) in which case there's no cost difference but if I buy locally I can have the item in fifteen minutes instead of four days.

Amazon in particular is guilty of grossly overcharging for common items. It's a fight between laziness and saving money, and laziness wins for most people every time.

Don't see that at all. People can go on line and price match without lifting anything but a finger. Brick and mortar have reacted the best that they could, and in most cases, they price match as well. If you can get better deals in person, I hope you never shop on line.

 

[jamro217]

Do you shop on line to save money, rather than buy from a brick and mortar store? Do you use wholesale clubs and buy in bulk?

Yes, I do, but I support local brick and mortar retailers more often than not. I don't go to into a store, demo the wares, then go home and spend almost as much time online looking for a cheaper price on the same items. Maybe that makes me old fashioned or stoopit, but I would rather support my neighbors than some behemoth multinational corporation. Of course, the products themselves would be identical. In some cases, dealing with a local merchant gives you the opportunity to finagle a bargain, especially if you're a loyal customer. Even large items that require delivery can be done quicker because the merchandise is already in your area, not three time zones away.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Yes, I do, but I support local brick and mortar retailers more often than not. I don't go to into a store, demo the wares, then go home and spend almost as much time online looking for a cheaper price on the same items. Maybe that makes me old fashioned or stoopit, but I would rather support my neighbors than some behemoth multinational corporation. Of course, the products themselves would be identical. In some cases, dealing with a local merchant gives you the opportunity to finagle a bargain, especially if you're a loyal customer. Even large items that require delivery can be done quicker because the merchandise is already in your area, not three time zones away.

That makes you better than most. I see too many people complaining, then then blaming the "greedy" companies.