The Negotiators played at the Gaslight Tavern last night. It was a cold wet winter night and audience numbers reflected this. I don't think the show was a 'bad' one, but we have certainly done better.
Numbers were way down from
the last time we played a full gig at the Gaslight. There were 13 people in the audience when we started. This peaked at around 20, and there were 8 still there when we finished after 1 am. I've seen bands play to less at the Gaslight,
including ourselves, they have usually been fairly open with their disapointment and in some way made the audience feel guilty for the fact that no-one else turned up. Not very wise, when you think of it.
The Negotiators, however, didn't fall down that particular hole last night. In fact, we got better as the evening went on and the numbers declined. When, finally, some non-regulars came in after midnight, we were rocking and they stayed and loved it. So, we have definitely come forward in this aspect of professionalism over the past year and a half. At least we don't take it personally.
For what it's worth, my view is that we should always be playing as well as we can for ourselves, and then for those that are there. It takes one audience member to make an audience, and you have a duty to do your best and give them what you would give a hundred. Fair enough, you won't get the vibe you get with a hundred, but that's not your loyal fan's fault. So don't alientate him or her...
We played a handful of originals across the evening and they were well received. Our friend Mark suggested that I keep the opening riff in 'Killer in a Frock' going for the whole song rather than 'intensify' it, go for the hypnotic effect. Good idea. Will try it out and see if we can juggle the levels to create what I think he was hearing in nascent form.
The opening two sets were too quiet. This wasn't necessarily my opinion at the time, but I was told this opinion by various audience members later. They were not all from the same peer group, so it seems to me that there was something to this. I also know that when we turned up a bit the show seemed to be more coherent. Until then, we seemed to be searching for the flow although remaining tight.
We fell down quite a few times, always recovering. When we'd turned up, we hardly lost it at all. Perhaps this proves my theory that rock music must be loud, and the follow up thought that, if in doubt, turn it up. The trick is to do this as a co-ordinated band, not as individuals who enter a volume competition and distort the relative balances.
Terry was there running the sound desk and lights. He had purchased a couple of radio mikes, so there was less cabling than is usual. Nancy used one in the last set to wonder out into the audience while singing. I think she enjoyed this, in the right gig this will become a real crowd highlight I suspect!
My favorite moments were all in the last set, which really kicked along. Those still in the audience (or newly arrived) certainly got a good 50 min of music then! Closed out with Fucked Decisions, American Idiot and Little Aeroplane - genuine kickarse songs with attitude. The thing that made me most proud to be part of this band is that, after 4 hours of fairly hard work, we still had the go in us to play and enjoy these songs as they should be. Plenty of bands wouldn't have, on a cold, quiet, wet night in July.
Major down of the evening was some stupid fool losing his temper at one of our friend's early in the second set. Could have got nasty if our friend hadn't left at that moment - he came back later and things were civil again. I'm not a fan of violence, especially at our gigs. Mark, you are a dude!
Our next show is at Rosewater Football Club on August 12. It's a public show, so hope to see you there.
It's been four years since we played at a football club, so we are looking forward to this. After bludgeoning our way through what could have been a hard gig at the Gaslight in July, we will be hoping to do our bit towards making this one of those magic gigs which make playing in a band addictive.
