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I played and sang my mid-day volunteer gig for a group of incapacitated older folks today. Same set that usually pleases this kind of crowd. Today, no response. Flop sweat emerged (from me). I powered through a half-hour of music anyway. Trying to be a "pro" about completing the show, though they wouldn't have cared if I packed up and left.
You ever play a job where the audience really didn't like you very much? I've had a few over the years - I've remembered them all, in detail. Sometimes there's something to be learned. Other times, I think there are just some bad crowds.
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08-11-2015 02:04 PM
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The closest i came to that was when i first moved to the mountains Tenn.Carolinas,Ga. area.And noticed these folks love their music of which most could play it.So one back woods event in Ga.I figured If i play a nice Joe Passish jazz version of Ga. on my mind i'd fit in with my new neighbors.Kind of proud of how it went.When i finished the look on the small crowd was disdain.I had stepped on their heritage.I am not kidding this was years before i saw the movie Sweet and Low down.But no joke couple of the guys looked at me and said you got some learnin to do.put that thing (archtop) away and listen.Out came the Martins that were worth more than their cars and homes together and tore into Blue Grass that blew me away.not my cup o tea but DANG!!AWESOME Playing.My heart is in Jazz so i am still a fish out of water but i love those biscuits and gravey i can get at the Dairy Queen at 6:00 in the mornin.
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There could have been a number of reasons why the audience wasn't into it at a given time. Maybe lunch sucked or someone passed away or this or that. The main thing is that you persevere, maintain your professional poise, and leave with your dignity, your person, and your equipment intact. I recall an incident from a few years ago. I was a guitar for hire in a small-town rock band, playing in a nearby small town where we had established a good following over a period of some time. Then one crisp October night one of our singers referred to the evening's football game between the two towns with the following off-the-cuff capsule review: "Ha ha - we beat ya!" And that, folks was that. Local sentiment turned on a dime, and the former faves (us) became the current knaves. Mighty uncomfortable gig, and the beginning of the end of a pretty good run. Circle the wagons, grin that grin, and play the list. Some rooms are just tough. But any room can get that way in a hurry. But there are always other gigs, if you look hard enough, and don't take it personally.
Hang in there!
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Crowds are fickle. Years ago, about forty years ago, I roadied for a band who just bombed. The band was pretty good, but the crowd just was not into them.
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One more i remember that might be close.A Swank little soiree maybe 65-70 people and the dance floor was full on this one tune In the mood of course.I think ADD kicked in and i turned the band to signal a finish because another tune popped into my head so we stopped.I heard this groan of the crowd and turned around and they were holding their dance partners in mid step with heads turned toward us ready to rush the stage.I think the song went 21/2 min.i am such an idiot!!
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"Give the people what they want" is good advice except when they want someone else and you only have yourself to offer. A bitter pill, but you swallowed it and lived to sing another day. Join the club! ;o)
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You said it yourself: incapacitated older folks. Not on you, really.
And that crowd almost never cares how good you are, they need to hear familiar music. Most people's musical tastes are formed between the ages of 14-20, so do the math.
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Truth tellin'
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A dozen years ago I had a jazz quintet (G, B, D, Tnr,Voc) that was popular in my area. One week I booked a concert in the active adult community where I live, which was sold out, almost 600 tickets, and ran overtime because we did several encores to a wildly enthusiastic crowd. A few days later we did a similar concert at a nearby continuing care facility. The crowd was okay, but a number of people left before the intermission, and the overall enthusiasm level just wasn't as high as I had come to expect with my group.
They served coffee and cake afterwards, where I expressed disappointment to the activities director who had booked us, and she told me not to mind the people who had left, because they didn't like jazz. When I asked why they had attended a jazz concert, she admitted that she had advertised it as "An evening of easy listening favorites" because she didn't want to scare off the people who didn't like jazz! To make matters worse, I overheard two guys having the following conversation: "How did you like the show?" "It was okay, but I didn't care for the guitar player." Good thing I was the leader!
The redeeming thing about the evening was that I had actually played at that place five times, with six different groups, during the preceding six months (one night I was in two groups) and a number of people in the audience recognized me from all that and were glad to tell me how much they had enjoyed the night and not to worry about the grumps there, since there was a contingent who just liked to be unhappy.
In the fourteen years I've been living out here in retirement central, playing to audiences of predominantly old, sometimes incapacitated, people, that's the only gig where there wasn't a great crowd, so I can't complain. Sometimes it happens.
Danny W.
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I had a different experience. In college, I was used to being the worse musician, the worst guitarist, the worst whatever in the music program. Heck, the head told me he let me in after 3 auditions because he liked my questions, not my playing.
2 weeks ago, I played Body and Soul at a local jam session. The piano player (in the house group) smiled and an old lady in the audience stopped me after the session and told me personally that she really enjoyed my playing. I told her that her comment made my week, and that I was used to being the worst musician in the room.
After 12 years of playing this music, it's good to hear some encouragement. But developing a thick skin is important in any vocation, especially the arts. Still hard to actually practice "having a thick skin" when you devote a good portion of your life to the craft.
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Irez: I hope not to be off topic, but your experience resonates with me. I have always preferred to be the weakest link in the chain, as it helped me to focus and dig a little deeper. But as you say, a little positive reinforcement once in a while is nice. Keep on pluckin'!
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This is why I only play for family and friends. They are not paying me and I don't care what they think.
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If I had a dime for every time the crowd thought I sucked, I could have retired at 30. I use to play bars up in the interior of Alaska, from Anchorage to Tok and all points in between. Playing country and rock music off the grid at 40 below zero and having to travel 500 miles to get to the next gig. You show up to some bar out in the middle of nowhere and some how that night 60-70 people would turn out for the show and other times, you would be playing to no one but the bar owner. We had to continue playing until the bar closed and sometime that wasn't until 4-5 A.M the next day.
I played an Alaskan Indian village way back in the mountains called Mantasta. Everyone in the village was related and everyone had the last name of John. It was like a freak show on steroids. I had never seen anything like it before. That was the worst experience the band ever had. All they wanted to do was take over the mic and testify about how much they hated white people and the drunker they got the meaner they got. The bucks sat at the tables all night threatening to kill us if we stopped playing before they were ready. They drank until they passed out and couldn't find anything else to drink. The sun was up the next day when we were finally allowed to pack up and leave. We had to travel all day to made the next gig in Caribou Alaska, showed up at 8 PM. Had to setup the stage and do it all over again.
Mantasta paid really good money though, more double what we usually charged.
They called me up to book the band for a another gig and offered to pay even more if we would show. I had to turn them down.
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I played in a pop/rock covers band for a few years, and we once did a gig in Caterham, Surrey. Hardly a rough town you would have thought, but a couple of drunks insisted that we played 'My Way' while one of them came on stage and sang. Of course we didn't know the chords properly, but we faked our way through it to avoid a row. They thought we were deliberately playing it badly to make them look bad. One of them threatened to go home, get his shotgun, and 'blow us away'!
I think that was the fastest we ever packed up after a gig!
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I did a tuba and tambourine duo at the quarterly Fisherman's Aid Society breakfast and it was not popular with anyone.
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Lose the tambourine. Everyone loves solo tuba.
Originally Posted by cosmic gumbo
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What about a nice kazoo solo? Or playing the goofus:
https://www.google.com/search?q=goof...GcdFC8upLwE%3D
heard it on some eddie lang stuff
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They usually like tunes with good hooks... Originally Posted by cosmic gumbo
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I recommend a trio with a piano, because you can tuna piano... Originally Posted by Hep To The Jive
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Can't imagine why??? Originally Posted by cosmic gumbo
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I played a lot of gigs in my day and the best line (printable) that came from the great unwashed was..."Why don't y'all play something with words and stuff." ...we were reduced to unmitigated convulsions of mirth. There's nothing like being an inveterate bebopper in bible belt southeast Tennessee.
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A town fairly close to where I live, used to be known for hosting a quite prestigious International Jazz Festival. On one occasion, I went to see the late Ray Brown's trio (w. Larry Fuller & Karriem Riggins, who were on fire BTW.) A local couple seated in front of me, sat through the first set, pulling faces, sighing loudly, looking skywards and making comments like "Do you think it will get any better in the second half ?" .
By the second set, they were then starting to remonstrate with other audience members sat nearby about "clapping too loudly". They left early. Obviously the Ray Brown trio didn't play "their kind of Jazz".
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I once got hired via an agent to play a 1 hour set of solo piano at a convention center music festival. After about a half hour, one of the organizers came up to me and said I could stop playing now. I still got paid, so, WTF.
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How did that make you feel? It would have crushed me.
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Well, like I said, I did get paid. I was playing all original stuff, some of it kind of out there. After I left the stage a couple of folks came up and said they were digging it and wanted to know where I was playing. But it was, in fact, a bit humiliating. It didn't keep me from continuing to write and arrange though. I pretty much play for myself and anyone who might enjoy what I'm doing, even now. Probably more, now. Originally Posted by edh
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