Weird Weekend

[dan88z]

We played one of our regular casino gigs this weekend, and it was strange. Both nights were slower than normal, and the whole casino seemed to not have as many people as usual. It rained all day Friday and I figured that's why people were not there, but Saturday was the same. It was one of those gigs where you really had to work- busting your ass to try and get people going. Even fail safe songs like "Feel Like a Woman" didn't work on Saturday- that song ALWAYS has people on the floor, last night- nothing. We'd get a few people up for one song, then a few different peopel up for another song, like that. Only a few times did the floor get a lot of people on it. People were bopping in their seats, and the area outside of the bar had a couple rows of people standing there watching, but it just wasn't like it normally is- an easy crowd to get partying.

 

Friday there was this one drunk guy who was already pretty lit when we were setting up. At one point he was trying to do 1 arm pushups in the middle of the dance floor. By the next set, he was being escorted out, and he didn't understand why. First time I've ever seen that- the casino is pretty liberal with how they handle drunk or obnoxious patrons, after all, they want their money, and who cares if they bang into the band gear or things like that. Then there was the guy who was hooting an whistling at almost everything we did for 2 sets. Then he comes up to me (while we're starting a song of course) and says "do you play any Skynrd?" I say "no, we don't" "well, what DO you play" "um, what we're doing right now?" I mean, you've been here for 2 sets, you hear what we do!

 

Ah well, sometimes that's how it is. Our next gig there will be outdoors and that's always a fun time. This time around it was too much like work!

[SpaceNorman]

Gigs like that are definitely a buzz crash - but unfortunately, they come with the territory whenever the band isn't the sole focus of the venue. There was a time when a gig like that would sorta derail my band - you know how it goes, you cop a little attitude about the situation, start fomenting a little hostility towards the crowd, exchange a few sarcastic "inside jokes" with bandmates about the situation - and pretty soon it turns into a full blown {censored}ty night. I'm happy to say that I've really gotten past that - and while I'd much rather play for a crowd that's enthusiastic and clearly into the band and the music. These days when I find myself playing one of those "weird" gigs - we tend to turn to each other and play for ourselves (i.e., really listening to what each other is doing, focus on the musical interplay between each other, etc.) and/or find that that couple of people (even on the worst nights there's always at least one or two) who ARE into what we're doing - and really play for them. We'll talk to 'em from stage, pander to them with requests, etc.

 

Once we learned to get past that sense of "WE must be doing something wrong!" when we found ourselves facing an ambivalent crowd - we found we could have a slightly different kind of good time all the same.

[Vito Corleone]

I hate that feeling of working and working and thinking nothing you're doing is right. Sometimes it's just the night and you just have to finish it out and move on. The silver lining about such gigs is there's always another one NEXT week and you can put the weird ones behind you.

[tim_7string]

 

find that that couple of people (even on the worst nights there's always at least one or two) who ARE into what we're doing - and really play for them. We'll talk to 'em from stage, pander to them with requests, etc. Once we learned to get past that sense of "WE must be doing something wrong!" when we found ourselves facing an ambivalent crowd - we found we could have a slightly different kind of good time all the same.

 

 

That is challenging to do, but ultimately more satisfying. I don't like to feel like my audience is bored or hostile, so I try not to take it personally on those bad nights and do like you suggest instead (concentrate on the people that DO like what we do). But there have been times where I let it get to me, like on Thanksgiving Eve this past year. I might have felt better about it if the weather wasn't so crappy, but that is still no excuse. The show must go on and we need to be professionals no matter what the situation.

[Austincowbell]

You're in a casino a week before the tax deadline. For discretionary income April first through the fifteenth usually sucks.

[SpaceNorman]

 

.....I try not to take it personally on those bad nights ....

 

 

An experience years ago really brought this home to me. I had been knocking around town in with a 4 piece for a couple of years, we had a decent rep and were working virtually every weekend. We were contacted by the owner of a bowling alley on the far edge of what we considered our "range" - and booked a two nighter there in the early spring. Friday night was a good night crowd wise - there was league bowling underway and a steady stream of folks coming in throughout the night - many of which stuck with us long after they finished bowling.

 

Saturday night however was a whole 'nother thing. As I mentioned it was early spring - and Saturday turned out to be that flukey perfect spring day. You know - the first incredibly sunny, unseasonably warm day of the year. Everybody was outside all day, in shorts, BBQing, hanging out, etc. Put simply, going to the bowling alley was the LAST thing on anybody's mind. Fast forward to Saturday night - we arrive to a virtually empty house. No leagues - there are probably 3 lanes worth of bowlers. It was dead. We started playing anyway. The barmaid and waitress on duty are dancing around ... but there isn't anybody else in the joint. We were three quarters of the way through the first set when the bass player ambles over to me and says ... "Hey, didja notice there aren't any chairs in here tonight?" I looked around the room and realized he was right - tables all over the place - but not a single chair! Apparently they had cleaned the carpets during the day - and then forget to put the chairs back in the room. We started screwing around ourselves - shredding guitar solos, drum solos, goofball breakdowns complete with "discussions" to an non-existant crowd - all the while laughing ourselves silly about playing a room with no chairs. We ended up having the most fun rehearsal I can recall - playing to an empty room and the bar staff.

 

I realized right then and there that I don't need a crowd to have a great time playing - and ever since then have been able to find something to enjoy about virtually any gig I play - even the ones where there's not much in terms of crowd. That night was a "growth spurt" for me in terms of developing my on-stage professionalism. (Face it, anybody and everybody brings their "A" game when they're in front of a large, friendly crowd. That's often NOT the case when the crowd is sparse and/or not paying attention. Lots of players and lots of bands implode in those situations!)

[TIMKEYS]

Our weekend started out pretty strange. Our front man was sick and was not able to go on. We tapped another front man thats been doing a set with us for a couple winters, and a solo performer thats been doing tuesdays solo. We have all backed these two people prior , but had not worked up enough stuff to do a three hour show. We threw it together at the last minute and played the fri night gig. We had a pick up harp player thats in town from colorado windsurfing sit in and it turned out to be a great night. LOL, we have a weekly sunday jam night so its not unusual for us to work on the fly. All of these players have been up on stage with us on sundays so it was pretty easy to do a pick up band.

[Kramerguy]

one of the worst gigs I thought we ever did - nobody danced, everyone just stared at us... I felt totally deflated, yet afterwards, people posted on our site how much we rocked.. everyone told me how great we did, etc...

 

It sucks when you feel like you just did a deflated gig, but remember, there's always at least ONE person who is diggin what yer doin; unless of course, the place is empty.. then you got real probs

[mstreck]

Amy and I were at the show on Friday - the band was absolutely kickin' it!!!! The casino crowd was sparse for a Friday, but the dance floor was active the whole night!

 

We were thinking the whistling guy may have been homeless - he seemed like he might have been "a half a bubble off". He was definitely enjoying what you guys were doing, though!

[Hegmatronicon]

Our gig on Friday night was off to a bad start before we even started loading in.

As we pulled up we were met by someone from the Club telling us that there was some sort of promotion happening in the Poker Machine room until 10pm that night - and that we'd have to play "really quietly" so they could hear the announcements. Then, when they were finished - we could play louder. Great.

So we load in and start to play. Probably the quietest we've ever played - quieter than we PRACTICE actually. We're able to talk to each other on stage without raising our voices too much.

Into the second song (3am by Matchbox 20 - not the loudest of tunes). 1 chord in and we get the "turn it down" request. I turn my amp to "1" on the volume knob. Bassist does the same. PA goes down in the main faders to approx halfway. Drummer is tapping. "Still too loud" after we finished the song.

Sorry mate - we're on "1" now. Any lower...and all the amps are off. We have the guitar volume knobs rolled back, the PA is BARELY on and the drummer may as well not have been hitting anything. I stand out the front.....it sounds like a tape deck playing in the corner. We decide to cut the first set short, stay off until 10pm and then go back on and play.

 

10pm rolls around - we get the nod that the promo stuff is finished with. We start playing - 2 songs in - "turn it down" the oldies in the pokie room are complaining a little. Umm...we havent really turned it up yet? The volume was barely above what we finished the first set at.

This went on for a little while....the crowd of about 10 ppl enjoyed it....we hated it and i doubt we will go back there again. I dont understand venues that book bands that obviously dont have crowds that WANT bands. You cant cater to 80yr olds that want to play the pokies all night AND 20 yr olds that want to drink and dance in the same venue without separating the rooms a lot!

Our facebook page the next day had numerous add's from ppl at the venue....all saying they cant wait until we come back again and how much they enjoyed the show, and where are playing next etc etc.

Venue FAIL.

[dan88z]

I didn't even think about tax time... mine have been done and my refunds have been back for weeks now. Good point!

 

We always try and keep a good attitude when gigs like this happen. No sulking, no animosity. We turn inwards and play for each other and have fun. It's always a treat to play with the people in this band so even if the crowd is thin or not responding, we always enjoy ourselves. We played an outdoor gig last fall, at a brand new place that is in the middle of a bunch of farmland, and they decided to have bands in a tent that was on the other side of the parking lot from their place. It seemed like it was a rash decision, an afterthought. It was an interesting "rustic" setup- hay bales, straw on the ground. About 10 people came into the tent on their way out from dinner. We had a blast, it was a private show for my wife and a few of our friends who came out. The owners loved us and want us back this summer, but I haven't pursued it.

 

We definitely had fun this weekend, but it seemed like more work than usual. And it was great to see Mike and Amy out!

[Howie22]

I played a hotel gig the weekend before that was similar. Since it's a hotel, I never know what to expect.

 

I've played nights where the lounge was absolutely packed and I made over $100 in tips! I've also had nights (like last weekend) when I played to maybe a dozen people and made less than $10 in tips? Just weird sometimes.

[jeff42]

Friday end up as a pretty good show but there were many problems starting from almost the moment we loaded up.

 

* our singer forgot the setlists, we turned around halfway to the gig and drove back to get them. The gig is only 10 minutes away so no biggie.

* Our guitar player's effects board died he had to use a crappy little fx box he had in his bag.

* We had no less than 3 bad cables and some "lovely" humming in the monitors.

* right before we started we realized the band Tshirts we were giving away were still sitting at our practice studio. We usually have a silly dance contest or a crowd yelling contest and toss out a couple band shirts and whatever the local beer distributor gives us. The only things we tossed out were bottle openers and a Moosehead hat. We had nothin' much.

 

and finally...

 

* The smelly woman that I made a thread about.

[riversitter]

"well, what DO you play" "um, what we're doing right now?" I mean, you've been here for 2 sets, you hear what we do!

That's the funniest thing I've heard in a long time.

[jamieb]

(Tried to post this once already, but it disappeared. Weird. Anyway...)

 

Played Saturday with my "other" project at a Country Bar. All about dancing, including line dances. Starched shirts, Wranglers, and Stetsons. I don't think there was a single song that somebody didn't dance. But the crowd seemed indifferent to the band. Lots of requests, but very little applause. Couldn't get them to sing along on otherwise "sure-fire" crowd-participation tunes, even later in the night, when the "rowdiness" usually kicks in.

 

However, the owner wanted us for more dates, so that's a good thing.

 

Totally opposite of another place we play with this group; They'll sing along, holler and clap. But you'd be hard-pressed to get them to dance if you were pointing a flamethower at their feet while they were standing in a pool of gasoline...

 

jamieb

+++++

[Vito Corleone]

 

(Tried to post this once already, but it disappeared. Weird. Anyway...) Played Saturday with my "other" project at a Country Bar. All about dancing, including line dances. Starched shirts, Wranglers, and Stetsons. I don't think there was a single song that somebody didn't dance. But the crowd seemed indifferent to the band. Lots of requests, but very little applause. Couldn't get them to sing along on otherwise "sure-fire" crowd-participation tunes, even later in the night, when the "rowdiness" usually kicks in. However, the owner wanted us for more dates, so that's a good thing. Totally opposite of another place we play with this group; They'll sing along, holler and clap. But you'd be hard-pressed to get them to dance if you were pointing a flamethower at their feet while they were standing in a pool of gasoline... jamieb +++++

 

 

Maybe it's a multi-tasking deficiency. How are these crowds at walking and chewing gum?

[matt greeno]

The weirdest thing ever was at the Beltzville Bar N Grill. When we were soundchecking, the string snapped - on my BASS. A rarity. And it wasn't the G, it was the LOW B (5-string) of all things - the thickest, least played string!

[jeff42]

 

The weirdest thing ever was at the Beltzville Bar N Grill. When we were soundchecking, the string snapped - on my BASS. A rarity. And it wasn't the G, it was the LOW B (5-string) of all things - the thickest, least played string!

 

 

Totally Off topic but how is that place to play?

[jamieb]

 

Maybe it's a multi-tasking deficiency. How are these crowds at walking and chewing gum?

 

 

It wasn't one of "those" crowds. I really think they were just focused on the dancing. The people were complimentary during our breaks, and stayed most of the night.

 

I did make the observation that they danced to everything the DJ played during our breaks, too. From Easton Corbin to Lady Gaga to Rednex ("Cotton-Eyed Joe"), so if they could catch the tempo/rhythm, they'd dance.I did notice, however, that they struggled once our drummer managed to get less blood in his alcohol content, and his tempo began to fluctuate.

 

I did a little research, and this place actually has dance lessons during the week. They have a FB page for Huntsville (AL) West Coast Swing.

 

If we go back, we've gotta do some stuff with more of a "cha-cha" feel, as well as some 3/4 or 6/8 stuff for waltzing. And some Bob Wills!

 

jamieb

+++++

[pickinatit]

Any of you guys ever play the dreaded "Dry Wedding" ?

[jamieb]

The Billy Idol Song? ("...It's a nice day for a...Dry Wedding!) LOL!

 

Seriously, though;

 

I have. Mine didn't turn out that bad.

 

jamieb

+++++

[mstreck]

Any of you guys ever play the dreaded "Dry Wedding" ?

 

Never played one, but have been to a few. Playing would have probably distracted me from wanting to poke my eye out with a spoon.

[jeff42]

 

Never played one, but have been to a few. Playing would have probably distracted me from wanting to poke my eye out with a spoon.

 

 

hahah me too! Uggh what a horrible time!

[matt greeno]

 

Totally Off topic but how is that place to play?

 

Last time I played (2006) it was horrible. No one even knew when there was a band playing, because they had the jukebox so loud in the bar area. The room where the bands played was completely separate.

[jeff42]

 

Last time I played (2006) it was horrible. No one even knew when there was a band playing, because they had the jukebox so loud in the bar area. The room where the bands played was completely separate.

 

 

Thanks!