When I wrote a week ago about my sadness and bittersweet hopes for Sydney's live music scene I was yet to re-integrate myself into the sweaty, noisy melange of pub music. In my head the schooners were fresh(ish) and the crowd were noisy, enthusiastic, maybe even dancing. On Sunday I checked out a gig that got me rethinking my whole approach and reinforcing that you get what you pay for.
Firstly I'm going to plug the muso, because although the afternoon was a shambles Donavon Frankenreiter put in a solid performance and it was through no fault of his that... you know what we'll get to my rant all in good time.
The deal was simple: free gig as brought to you by popular beer company seeking cachet in a sympathetic demographic. Couldn't be simpler and I was sold on the price but if I'd stopped and thought about it for a minute I might have come up with this...
The venue is looking to the crowd; they garner an international headliner who is sure to draw the punters at little to no cost. It's a one off drawcard for an already popular Sunday arvo. Throw in the drinks, as put on by the sponsor and why try harder? Chances are (if I'd thought about it) the place will be too crowded, with local gronks and poorly ventilated. It's in the venues interest to get as many in as they possibly can.
The promotor is looking at their product. For a lot of gigs that's the music but here the music was just the gateway to 'where you'd rather be'. Once the crowd were in the mission statement was to sell them some beer. That means drinks promotions, giveaways and plenty of time to get to the bar. Chances are they'll spend more money putting up point of sale material than making sure the sound system is adequate and they're not going to care if the gig starts late; that's just more time to drink.
Now the crowd were the wildcard. They had it all put on for them: great show, cheap drinks, beachside location, all they had to do was turn up. It was too easy! When you give away something for free though it's very difficult to expect people to value it highly.
When I buy tickets to a gig I'm usually shelling out fifty to one hundred dollars, even a local club gig can cost twenty dollars on the door. Inside everyone is excited about the music; they've come out, paid big, a hush falls as the band comes out then everybody cheers! People are there coz want to listen to some music.
A free gig? People might listen if they get bored but otherwise they've got their mates to catch up with. One girl found her friends at the tab in front of us, turned her back to the band and at one point I think she said something like "who's the rude guy playing his guitar over our conversation"!
So if I'd thought about it I might have guessed that the room would be crowded and stuffy, the gig would start late, the sound would be crap with everyone talking over the music. And it was.
Take home message: pay for the music you care about. People don't care about free stuff, they throw it in the top drawer and forget about it. With free, or almost free, music becoming ubiquitous through the 'net its value as a primary (not background) source of entertainment is diminishing. Spending even a few dollars at the door is your guarantee that the people you are listening with care about the band.
I hope free gigs continue in pubs across Sydney and I hope some of the local bands out there get even half the crowd I saw on Sunday. When I head out though I'm going to remember my free gig lesson and be far more willing to shell out at the door for a night with fellow fans...
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