I have to agree ... I once went and saw a friend of mine play at
Cornelia street cafe, I paid a cover, ordered kindof an expensive
dinner for myself and my date, and watched the first set. There were
about 14 people there to see him and I guess Cornelia street has some
kind of policy that if there aren't 15 people, no second set. So here
I've paid a cover, drinks, food I didn't really want (for 2) and
halfway through dinner the show is over, kaput. It was ridiculous ...
the dinner and drinks we ordered significantly exceeded the drink
minimum of 5 or 6 or more audients. I am never going to Cornelia street
cafe again. It's been years and I've stuck to that, because I think
that policy represents the absolute wrong attitude ... it's not about
the people who aren't there, it's about the audience that IS there,
that made the trip, spent the money, set their evening aside. It wasn't
MY doing whether there were 2 or 100 people at the show, I was a
customer who didn't get his money's worth, and worse, I felt like my
evening was kind of stolen from me.
So having been on the other side of that, I really try to put on the
best show I can, regardless of who is in the crowd. Or un-crowd, as the
case may be.
-- Sarth
improv@peak.org wrote:
we have this rule: my quartet plays only, if there is more people in the
audience then on stage.
No offense, but that seems a bit harsh to the people who actually came out
to your show. I play in a 6-piece band, and we have definitely played to
audient's (I love that term) before, but we figure since we are there, we
might as well put on a show. Sometimes those are the most fun, once you
get past the sinking feelings of abject failure ;-). I remember one show
in the bay area, we were on the road from Oregon and played at a club to
12 people. We went ahead and did the gig, the management gave us the
option of cancelling, we were playing for the door. We played pretty well,
and everyone of those 12 people bought a CD (some more than one) and a
T-shirt. Plus, they took up a collection, and bought us dinner from a
nearby takeout place, as well as numerous beers. We felt like we made
friends with everyone of those people, and they still come to our shows.
Now they bring friends!
I just figure it's part of our job description to play the gig, no matter
what.
when there is only five people present, we kindly ask them to introduce
themselves.
once we dedicated each piece to one of the listeners.
it was fun. sometimes these mini crowds can be great.
(once i played a duo concert for my mother, my girlfriend and the
organizer.
it was election night - no wonder nobody showed up.)
tilmann
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