What went wrong:
I noticed that more than half of those in attendance did not pay a single penny towards the event. While I wasn't too surprised about the usual abundance of freeloaders who come to a house show this was worse than my usual experiences. I only made about $39 dollars including the sales of drinks and I could already see that at least 30 to 40 people were in attendance. So that means about half didn't pay what I think is a reasonable fee of $2 dollars.
I'm slightly baffled as to why some people couldn't pay for what I thought was a genuine event with more than 4 bands performing, and the effort put towards organizing the entire thing. Maybe people don't understand that actually getting these sorts of things together takes effort and can't be done in just a whim of the willing. While I know my closest true friends didn't hesitate to pay (thanks again), it surely is discouraging to learn that people attending an event of a stranger will not pay up.
What went surprisingly well:
I have to hand it to Lithium and Thrill Touch (whom played in Festizo earlier this year) for putting on some solid performances that day. Maybe I am biased for it being my own event but I was more than happy with their material and feel eager to seeing them play again and hopefully with them in the future. 14 Charisma I felt had a second life this time around due to an enhanced light show and the addition of keyboard in the musical aspect, still he needs to work on his stage presence a little more.
Old Soybu was a surprise hit for me as I wasn't sure how people would react to chiptune infused noise rock. It was probably the most fun of the three performances I did that day and hope to play more under the moniker. Ghost Time's performance was rather an emotional experience since we couldn't truly play our last show the way we wanted but we were entirely grateful to have our good friends Mark and Starlon (the guy who co-owns this label!) take the stand when our singer wouldn't.
How Scandinavian's set was pretty much technically flawless for us and surprised the hell out of me when the usual spotty parts of our live renditions worked out. The performance was ultimately a cathartic one as I had been tired and worn out after so many emotions and clandestine feelings. The chilly night air resonated with much of the songs' own dark material and I felt as if I really depressed much of the viewing audience. I suppose it comes with writing/performing sad songs. Luckily we ended the night on a rather happy note and ended the festival with a feeling of completeness.
What we'll do next:
The future of what happens next is rather hazy at the moment because after events like these I tend to feel tired and apathetic. While I myself don't consider profits to be a major point of contention when I host these events I can say I feel discouraged by the lack of support from more than half the audience. Maybe I didn't make myself clear, or perhaps I have to hire big tall people to make them pay? Nah, I don't want to do that but it is rather frustrating.
If there is any sequel to this then it will be one with a much greater emphasis on entrance and attendance. All the other components I felt were spot on and if anything the only things to improve are to have a greater variety of bands on board and rationalize with the audience on what they want to hear and have available to them at a show.
We're all still learning.
>enhanced light show
ReplyDelete>the addition of keyboard in the musical aspect,