Oh Pittsburgh....you've done it again.
Week after week, people ask me when 'this act' or 'that act' is coming to town. Simple answer: they're not. Want to know why? Sure...I'll tell you why...
I heard from a friend today. This friend is an amazing singer/songwriter/performer...who tours for a living. Nice work if you can get it, right? Right! Well, this friend had booked a show in Pittsburgh at a nice venue (I'm not mentioning names or pointing fingers...we're all to blame). My friend heard today, from the venue, that the show was being cancelled. The reason given (I won't go into detail) was pretty stupid and showed more about how little this venue trusts it's own employees to handle things, than it says about my friend (who most likely would have packed the joint). In short, what it shows is a total lack of professionalism on the part of Pittsburgh's venues, "promoters", musicians, and event staff.
My friend and I discussed the reality that most of the acts that play around here are folks playing music as a hobby...which is fine. But, a lot of people make their living from music. Playing it, selling it, using it as a tool to generate revenue, etc. Pittsburgh, once again, shows that we 'just don't get the concept'.
I've beat this horse to death...but here we go again. If you're a musician, demand to be paid. If you don't, you're fucking over other people...people that you know or might not know...but also people that you would probably enjoy getting to hear...whether it be in person, on the radio, on the internet, on a CD, mp3, whatever. By being an idiot in regards to the business end of show biz, YOU ARE FUCKING THINGS UP FOR EVERYONE ELSE! Stop it!
If you're a so-called "promoter"...do your fucking job! PROMOTE THE SHOW! This does NOT mean conning some band into selling your tickets. That is part of YOUR job. Move those tickets you lazy piece of shit! Get off your ass and PROMOTE! Make sure there are posters in as many places as you can think of. Put ads where you think they'll work. Promote the hell out of the show via social networking and the internet. If YOU do YOUR job right, people will be lined up to see the show! That translates to MONEY IN YOUR POCKET! Quit being idiots. Once upon a time, a certain local promoter accused a band, that I was in, of "taking food out of his children's mouths" by helping him move a LOT of tickets* (we were given a percentage of the sales). These are the types of morons that we in the music business have to contend with.
I went to a show last week. 2 music legends on the same stage. There were 50-60 people there (I did a head count). There was NO ONE taking tickets/admission. I was on the guest list but just walked right on in anyway. No one stopped me. No one asked for a ticket. Nothing. I'm not THAT well known. There should've been 3 times the number of people there. I looked online and no one even had the correct door/show times listed. Again, the only reason I knew what time to be there was because one of the artists told me! What? Did they think people were going to just wait around for an extra 3 hours spending money? Nice job promoter!
If you own/run/manage a venue...GUARANTEE your acts as good a night as possible. Make it worth everyone's time. If you can't...DON'T HAVE SHOWS. Leave it to those who WILL do the work. I know...your hands are tied. You don't have a budget. Then maybe your venue shouldn't have live music (or...here's a thought...create a MUSIC BUDGET!). Hire a fucking DJ and have karaoke...just like every other bullshit dive does. If the event staff working your shows ain't doing a professional job...show them the door! There are lots of people looking for work. LOTS! Anyone can be replaced pretty easily. Oh...that's a hassle? So is doing the work to book a show and getting screwed over.
NO MORE EXCUSES!
This is a BUSINESS. Treat it as such. Someone screws you over? Have a contract. Problem solved. A venue dicks over an artist? Sue them. An artist dicks over a venue? Sue them. Yes. It's a pain. But if EVERYONE treats this like a business, not a hobby, these problems will dwindle and go away.
The music scene in Pittsburgh is dying. I hate the thought of that. There are great people here, talented people, wonderful people. There are lots of venues that could be filled on a regular basis. Want to know why they're not? Because no one takes it seriously until its too late. "Gee, no one came to the show!" Well DUH! There are LOTS of reasons why. I've told you time and again what these reasons are. You're on your own now.
Whenever my show biz friends and colleagues ask me about playing Pittsburgh, from now on, I'll suggest they try Cleveland or Columbus instead. Until such time as Pittsburgh truly WANTS live music, I'll send it elsewhere. And if my home town doesn't want live music...that's fine too. There are lots of DJs and karaoke people to let you hear the same shit you've heard for 35+ years. Why change, right?
Get used to empty seats. You're bound to start seeing more of them.
* The excessive ticket sales, done by our band, led to a sold out show, which has translated into 20 years of sold out shows, by this particular artist, here in Pittsburgh. We got $130 and a case of Iron City. The promoter, venue(s), and artist have each reaped 10s of thousands of dollars from this. You're welcome!
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