Mike and I went to scout a venue in Brentwood on Friday. He had heard from a friend at work that they host live music and maintain a nice atmosphere. Upon entering, I noticed it did have some nice qualities, but it was mostly just an average bar/restaurant. The clientele was middle age to older and few people were in the restaurant (there were quite a few people in the bar).
The waitresses were friendly enough, and they directed us to the guy who is in charge of the music that gets played there--any potential this place may have had was lost during a conversation with this man. He spoke to us from his bar stole, asked us question after question and told us little in return. He wanted to know the type of music the band plays, other venues they have played at and how soon we could get him a CD to listen to. These questions are fair, but they were all asked in such repetition with such skepticism that it seemed liked for him, live music was more of a chore than an interest.
He is the type of manager that views music as any other item on the menu. He probably thinks, 'I don't get it, but some of my customers like it...so I'll deal with it.' That is fine I suppose, but for a band it is usually a waste of time. It can be difficult to sift through venues online or even through the way they are depicted in newspapers or magazines, but usually it doesn't take more than a brief conversation with the manager to decide what you are going to get from playing there.
Not all venues are gems, that is why I would always recommend scouting them out before playing a show there. It usually gives you a good idea of the clientele and the manager, which more often than not reflects the atmosphere. All of these elements are useful tools in deciding if it is worth the time and effort for putting on a show. Word to the wise: I have witnessed too many wasted sets and too many shows played to empty rooms not to be selective with venues.
2 comments:
Yay, I am finally able to comment!!!! I am actually surprised that a venue would not be that excited about having a band that might draw a crowd... But maybe, in their experiences, it has not actually resulted in increased sales for them. Which seems so weird in an era where people are frequenting dance clubs. People obviously want to go out, eat, drink and dance or listen to music. And you'd think a live band would be something to be excited about.
I wonder if the problem is with lack of advertising, or just the fact that these venues don't make it a rule of thumb to have a band every weekend, or on a regular basis so people just don't think to check a venue out as much to see whether they have a band playing or not.
Honestly, you're right and I can't quite figure it out myself. I think advertising is a big issue though. There really isn't any sure fire way to connect people in Pittsburgh with the local music they want to hear.
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