My friend and I last minute, decided to go to a show yesterday. She had been listening to one of our favorite bands from a few summers back when we lived together with a third friend. Favorite like we blasted the band’s album daily and subjected friends and boyfriends to it round the clock, whether they liked the quick tempo and our voices screaming the lyrics, or not (disclaimer: I was/ remain the only one of the 3 of us who actually cannot sing. the other 2? perfect pitch. so our sing-a-longs weren’t horrible). Anyway, she found out that the band was in town last night and bought two tickets. Boom, fun night.
Well, yes and no. We got to the venue where I got my bag checked and then patted-down by an older woman who whispered in my ear, “this is totally normal, we do this all the time” which triggered my memory that, no, i had never been patted down when coming to shows here in the past. Guess every day in the gym has been paying off, at least to the satisfaction of 50yr old women. I only got charged $10 for a double Jack and Soda from the guy at the bar, while my friend made the mistake of ordering from the female bartender and got charged $15 for the same drink. Penance for my pat-down.
As we walked down the ramp onto the floor, where about 5 bedraggled looking men were bouncing along to the DJ on stage who was blasting thumping base and mixing songs, we realized the DJ was our guy! We knew he DJ’d in the past but were both freaking out. Where was the band that toured with him and recorded his album with him, where was the quick fun tempo we loved to dance to? Most importantly where were HIS own damn music?! who wants to pay money to see some guy mix songs that aren’t even theirs? (although he did then mix a Paul Simon song and it was actually really fun).
Thank god, he read our thoughts, and with his new chrome DJ set and his shaggy beard- neither one a positive addition to his stage presence – he picked up the mic and sang 3 songs we loved and threw in one new one that was excellent as well. even with all the bass and EDM rhythm.
I think what I learned from this show, as the room started to fill with crazily-dressed raver kids and Bros with hockey jersey on (clearly there for the headliner who sounded horrible) was that our guy who now carried the name of the band on his own, had lost touch with his audience. I am ALL for artistic change, but you can’t just throw us from one extreme to the other. Before you make a drastic change, as someone who is offering a good/service to others and in return makes their livelihood, you should really examine who your audience is and why they love you. Keep some of that in mind when you are in front of them and maybe start by saying, hey this is really new and different BUT don’t worry, some of your old favorites are here too- just remastered.
He almost lost us. if he hadn’t picked up that mic while we were both questioning what he was doing, he would have.