And You Consider Yourself a Music Fan?
During the past two Saturday nights I have seen two live concerts, both were inspiring in very unique ways, but both had something very much in common. Last night I went to my friend Tyler’s band, Take One Car, play in an unairconditioned VFW bingo hall in Manchester Connecticut. There were five bands on the bill for a low admission price of $7. Yes, some of the bands were fresh – the opening band was playing its second live show ever, despite having lost their lead vocalist just 10 days prior to the show, but they still rocked it out. And last Saturday night, while dinning in Middletown, we stumbled into the Fishbone Café Music Lounge to see Jazz/Blues legend Melvin Sparks. This guitarist has played for the past 40+ years with the likes of Lou Donaldson and Sonny Stitt and here he is 10’ from me blasting away.
The one thing that both of these back-to-back concerts had in common: no one was there! For Mr. Sparks, we arrived during a band break and unknowingly sat next to the young band members seated at the bar, but there were only about four other people in the Lounge. Last night, for five bands performing, the majority of the crowd of 12 were other band members waiting to perform but listening intently to their fellow musicians. Five bands for seven dollars and no one shows up? Where are the music fans of today?
My fear is that, much like our national fascination with winning the Lotto and getting that quick buck, we now have a greater interest in who is the next American Idol; who will become an overnight sensation. While you sit on your fat ass and watch from the comfort of your couch as other people’s dreams come true (or not), thousands of bands across the nation are emptying the van, loading the van, driving two hours for their next show, setting up the equipment and lying in the parking lot trying to fix the steering rod that just dropped out as they pulled in. Thousands of these bands struggle, financially, because getting your attention away from the TV set for more than an hour or two is nearly impossible. Getting you to drive to a town 30 minutes from your nest seems like an impossibility what with the kids, the babysitter, the gas prices, there’s crime to worry about, it’s a weeknight for fucks-sake, $3 beers, do they allow/prevent smoking and maybe it will be too loud. “I really don’t want to get tinnitus you know.” Here’s an idea – move to Florida and then just wait to fucking die.
And one more thing – stop buying your kids Jonnass Brothers, Taylor Swift and Hannah Ray fucking Cyrus music. Half the band members of the Take One Car are less than 18 years old and they’ve got more talent in their big toes than any of these other tween-folk you pay $100 to see live. If you want to inspire your kids with music, get them paying attention to what their peers are doing and not the fake, made up TV tarts of the day. Stop watching America Can’t Dance reality and go with them to their live shows and support them, physically, by helping to moving amps and drum kits! And don’t just send them to voice lessons. Get them engaged with other musicians. Being a part of a band or drum corps or dance group gets them skills they’ll need for the rest of their lives by teaching them about collaboration, cooperation, promptness, patience and public speaking/performance. The world doesn’t really need any more pre-Madonna’s.
Not all of this your fault though. Most of it is, but not all of it. While most of the bands that I’ve seen in the past few weeks are probably spending several days per week and several hours each day practicing, what they are failing to do is market themselves. These are the glory days for easy music distribution; Take One Car’s music is available on iTunes and Amazon, among other places. But getting heard above all the others on the digital music landscape is really the core task. And getting the attention of potential fans to actually come out to see live shows seems like it would be easier in our new Twitbooktube world – that doesn’t seem to be the case from my last two experiences. Bands really need to pay attention to creating engagement with their “street teams” - though they need better names and schemes.
For example, just two hours prior to last night’s show, I found myself in the epicenter of all things cultural within Manchester, CT - the Manchester Mall – actually “The Pavilions at Buckland Hills.” And even more precisely, the Newbury Comics store WITHIN the Manchester Mall. For those outside New England or unfamiliar with this retail store, Newbury Comics is actually only about 15% comics and mostly about music and movies. If there is a more ideal place to find music lovers within this little town, I’m not aware of it. During my visit to Newbury I picked up the new CD from The Dead Weather, the new CD from Son Volt and the new remastered edition of Beastie Boys Ill Communication. Beyond all this “newness” I picked up a handful of used music DVDs including A Tribe Called Quest Video Anthology, WAR’s – Funkin’ Live in England, Jerry Lee Lewis’ Last Man Standing Live and Eek A Mouse – Live in San Francisco. But I digress. The point is that during this 40+ minute music shopping experience, at no point did any one of the members from the five bands performing last night approach me with a flyer, coupon, sticker or tickets for the show. Would the staff at Newbury prevented that from happening? Highly doubtful. What about the coffee shops, book stores, music stores, cinemas and other points where you’re likely to find younger and open minded music fans? Were any of the band’s members at those places hours before the show attempting to engage and develop a potential audience? Not from the small audience I saw.
This Friday I am looking forward to attending the Music Fest in Provincetown MA. I haven’t decided which of the dozens of bands we will focus on yet. Hopefully a few will stop us in the streets and invite us to enjoy their music.
-pjc