Columns It's not you, it's them
Everyone who has ever gone through a break up has heard the line before: it’s not you, it’s me. That’s usually not true, its more of a polite way to let someone go (even if we all know better) but for bands, that line couldn’t be more true.
It’s been a very recent revelation but I’ve noticed that depending on where your band is located you may never play to a full house of screaming fans. It’s a terrible thought, true, but I’ve been to many local band shows over the past few months and no matter what band is on the bill, no matter how popular that band is, there is no one at the venue to see the show. That’s different if the band was forced to sell tickets but ordinarily bands are playing to empty rooms.
For a while, I was thinking that it was just a case that the bands must not be very good but I’ve heard some pretty good original and local music lately. These bands deserve fans and if you see them at venues where they are forced to sell tickets you will find that they do in fact have fans. Plenty of them. But on a normal basis you’ll find very good bands playing to empty bar stools.
You might wonder why this is. I’ve often wondered why this is and I’ve come to the conclusion that, as the title of this commentary implies, it’s not the bands; it’s the audiences. Depending on where you live, you will find that your local venues are more likely to have cover bands playing on a weekend than an original, local band. You’re also likely to discover that would-be show-goers spend their time at clubs with hip-hop djs. It seems that we have entered the twilight zone where rock and roll bands go to die.
Blame it on the venues if you’d like. I’m willing to heap a fair share of blame on them. Bars do nothing to promote local, original music. They haven’t tried to get people excited about original bands by simply booking them on a weekend. Instead they fill their bar with bimbo co-eds who are thrilled to hear another cheesey cover band playing a terrible version of “Brown Eyed Girl.” Bar patrons have been indoctrined to accepting this entertainment.
Unless you're lucky enough to call a major city your hometown, I'm sorry to say that you're in the same boat as hundreds of other original, local bands. No one's listening and no one's coming out. Don't worry. That doesn't mean that you're not good enough. It means you may have to find yourself a new hometown.
