Members SpaceNorman Posted October 6, 2013 Members Share Posted October 6, 2013 It was our turn in the "dead room" barrel last night. We played the lounge at a great micro brewery / steakhouse we've played before. The place is a gorgeous room - decent size, nice accoustics, decent ambiance - a little on the pricey side so it tends to pull a little older, slightly more affluent crowd. The room typically shys away from pure "current dance covers" acts, instead booking for acts that a listening crowd will enjoy and had a history of bringing in some of the area's better R&B/Blues acts.We played there a bunch last fall and winter - however during spring and summer - the room decided to downsize the entertainment, moving to singles and duos playing more accoustic stuff. The room isn't located close to anybody in the band - so bring "our" crowd can be a challenge. We had really started to generate momentum in terms of drawing a local crowd during our string of gigs there last fall and winter. However, the room's format change and our long break knocked the wind out of that. Last night we found ourselves playing to a tiny crowd that never topped 3-4 tables / 20..ish people at any time during the night. Officially a dead room.Funny thing was, the band had a ball. We're just coming off of a string of weddings, private events and "concert in the park" type gigs - so as a band, we're in great form. The casual atmosphere of a bar gig (compared to weddings and private events), had us all very relaxed. The tiny crowd and relaxed atmosphere meant we didn't have to pump out tunes to keep a dance floor going. We joked around alot more than usual. Everybody on stage was part of the banter. We played the stuff on our playlist that we really enjoy playing (passing on much of the "gotta play 'em because it packs the dance floor" material in the process). We made space for solos - and with a lineup of bass, drums, guitar, keys and a three piece horn section consisting of sax, trombone and trumpet - we've got lots of variety in terms of soloists! The horns really worked the sparse crowd. At one point, the three of them walked out and pulled up chairs directly in front of a table with four people at it - they (the horn players) first introduced themselves to the folks at the table, gave them the "we're really glad you came out" line ... and then proceded to "trade 8's" for several cycles of solos. The folks at the table - and the rest of the room ate it up. Bottom line - we absolutely rocked our dead room last night. Our sax player pretty much summed it up at the end of the night when he said, "I was having so much fun - I kept forgetting that there wasn't anybody there!" We're back there in three weeks - here's hoping that we manage to pull a repeat of last night - just with a few more butts in the seats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted October 6, 2013 Members Share Posted October 6, 2013 SpaceNorman wrote: We're back there in three weeks - here's hoping that we manage to pull a repeat of last night - just with a few more butts in the seats! Yep! As much fun as it can be to do some different stuff and entertain those very-small crowds in an unusual manner, it's never something I'd seek out to do. As in "PLEASE give us a really small crowd so we can do all that same stuff again!"But, I do have to say, I think that a lot of the stuff we do that works with bigger crowds is stuff we learned to do while playing for nobody. Keep the great stuff and just adapt it for a different audience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jeff42 Posted October 6, 2013 Members Share Posted October 6, 2013 On Friday we had another "light" night as well. But there were some people and we did have a good time. We pulled some musicians up with us, had fun jamming some tunes we usually dont do or haven't done in awhwile. and just over all made the best of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted October 7, 2013 Members Share Posted October 7, 2013 SpaceNorman wrote: I We played there a bunch last fall and winter - however during spring and summer - the room decided to downsize the entertainment, moving to singles and duos playing more accoustic stuff. The room isn't located close to anybody in the band - so bring "our" crowd can be a challenge. We had really started to generate momentum in terms of drawing a local crowd during our string of gigs there last fall and winter. However, the room's format change and our long break knocked the wind out of that. Last night we found ourselves playing to a tiny crowd that never topped 3-4 tables / 20..ish people at any time during the night. Officially a dead room. Los of places have gone this route where I live. They have discovered there's money in food sales, and have transitioned from straight bars into restaurants. Two in particular used to have my 6 piece band every 4 to six weeks now have solos and duos and want it chill for diners. Some places i used to play quit having live music altogether, because when they did the math, the space it takes to have a band that costs them table space plus paying the band loses money for them. Will it ever come back? Maybe as the economy picks up. But (again, I'm only speaking about locally) young people here don't go to places with live bands much. The larger rock club up the street caters to the 30 to 50 crowd, and another club half a block away has cover bands playing to a rotating crowd of young people that are constantly moving from one of three clubs, two of which have no music at all except Sirius radio. Every area seems to be different, but bands have a hard time pulling and keeping a crowd of 20-somethings here. It just isn't a priority for them. Even DJ clubs here don't last. As a solo guy these days, I play dead rooms a lot- dead in the sense that they don't dance, they don't clap or holler except on occasion, and many nights like Wednesaday, Thursday of Sunday, the places might be 1/3 to 1/4 full. I do a regular Sunday night at one of the nicest restaurants in town and last evening I played to maybe 15 people all night. Yet I still ended up with 30 bucks in tips plus my pay, and i was home by 9:30, so that wan't a bad night for me. But generally, when I finish a song it's crickets. I don't know, I guess I'm just used to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dan88z Posted October 7, 2013 Members Share Posted October 7, 2013 we played a birthday party our drummer booked, for a long time coworker of his. From the get go, he sort of mishandled it. He never asked where it was going to be held, which turned out to be a Moose Lodge- which here, means smoking is allowed. At that point I was ready to bail on the gig, so he called them back and they said they could make the "banquet" room non smoking for the night. It didn't really help, but the thought was there. We get there and go in thru the back. The room is an L shape, no more than 15' wide and 25' long in either direction. The girl says "you set up over there". In a corner, in front of a giant old TV. Easily the smallest space we've ever been given. Add in that the entry door to the bathrooms was right there, which meant people would be cutting thru us. The floor on the side where I usually set up was "hilly" to say the least. Basically, the place was a poorly maintained dump. But the bathrooms were clean and the drinks were cheap, and the power didn't cut out when we played. About half the expected guest list showed up. We played 3 sets and there were no more than 20 people there, and probably about 10 when we finished. Everyone who was there had a great time, and the band had fun as well, nice and loose. They danced to "Hella Good" too! There was a "DJ Tips" jar that someone had placed on a table next to us. At the end of the night there was 54 dollars in it. A 20, a 10, 2 fives and some ones. Pretty generous guests! In the end, it was a fun night. Not the best of circumstances but we made do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted October 9, 2013 Members Share Posted October 9, 2013 I cancelled part of an annual gig. A skatepark show. The first year the bands played on a flatbed trailer at the skatepark. Then the next year bands played on our mobile stage. Of course it rained but kids stuck around hiding under the food tents except for the diehards. The next year we moved the bands into the local arts guild, which is our old firehall. It went pretty good! This year for whatever reason the gig was a bust. I don't know if it was a lack of advertising etc. but I talked it over with the organizer, and I said let's cancel the bands and then we can put that money towards better prizes for the kids at the skate park. I'll still provide a small PA at the skate park, basically SOS with a wireless mic. If the place had of been packed I would have said "can't wait for next year" but with such a low turnout, it was a lot of work for not a real good return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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