This is a prerequisite to the next blog about the free shows. I've separated it from the next blog to not be redundant for those who live here and already know. But you should read this if you are unfamiliar with the dynamics of Northampton's music scene. Northampton has as much original music to offer as any big city. Ok, maybe not as much. But there is as much good original music as any big city. Mostly because lousy bands just wouldn't have a chance here. Here's why.
THE VENUES
Within a radius small enough to smell the Tai food take-out, you've got 8 or
9 live music venues. Only a few of them are for small local experiments. And
those venues are good for that. THE BASEMENT is a tiny, well.. basement
thats always free. A great place to find acts in their fetal stage. BISHOPS
LOUNGE, which is still kinda small (maybe 100 people) but classy and with a
nice outdoor balcony. Good spot for local $5 shows and free weeknights
where you can find an open mic that frankly kicks the crap out of open mics
in other cities. Also weighing in at an average of $5 is THE ELEVENS. The Elevens
can probably stuff 200 people into a room with more seating options, and an
actual stage with lighting. More of a venue than a bar. You'll see local and
smaller touring acts there. THE IRON HORSE is the next size up with a 200-300
capacity (depending on tables or no tables). We sold 308 tickets there, not
counting the guests, so who knows what the actual cap is. The Horse is legendary.
National acts play there. Many of them rarely play rooms that small but the
Horse draws them in. The sound system, sound man, and just plain old space makes
it the best sounding room we've ever been in (aside from our members who have
played in symphonies, but whatever). The balcony that wraps around half of the
room, the wooden feel, the dance floor,.. All of these come together to make
a brilliant intimate performance hall. And it's all ages. PEARL ST Night Club
is two rooms. Upstairs in a 700 person dance floor and a wall of speakers. Downstairs,
a punkish dark, dank, 300 person (usually all ages) room. In the upstairs, you
see a lot of national acts. Then there's the CALVIN, a 1400 seat old fashion
concert hall with the orchestra size stage, the balcony bigger than your neighborhood,
ushers with little flashlights, etc. Here's where you go to see the global acts.
James Taylor, Michael Franti, Brian Wilson, They Might Be Giants, Bela Fleck,
etc. And then in the summer we have the outdoor version of that called the PINES
THEATER, easily the best out door venue we've ever played in. The sound is partly
because of the giant pine trees that surround the venue. It's beautiful and
that's where you find Wilco, Ani Difranco, etc. On occasion, THE ACADEMY OF
MUSIC (one of the oldest living theaters in the country) will have live music
but otherwise will be showing films. And then there are a few "rent a room"s
like the WWII club or the CENTER FOR THE ARTS which will offer up a good show
a couple times a month.
So there you have it. It sounds like I'm talking about a bigger city but it's
a tiny little new England town where the tallest building is a church steeple
and so is the second and third tallest. With all of these venues, there are
about 5 or 6 shows to choose from on any given night. Some of them are quite
famous. So how do they all function at the same time in a tiny town? Well,
UMASS, HAMPSHIRE, AMHERST, SMITH, and MT HOLYOKE are all right here. Plus, Northampton
is not exactly poverty stricken. and it's right in the center of New England.
People will drive from surrounding states if the concert is hot enough.
In other places I've lived like Phoenix, Boston, or our closest neighbor, Springfield.
Business is affected by many things outside of the artistic realm. Having a
good looking band with lots of friends is how some of them actually approach
their career. Plus, these towns have bars that are sports bars and music bars.
So a band that plays in that bar will have a gig with no responsibility for
bringing an audience. In fact, the good bands from these town end up taking
a pay cut (or playing in Northampton) because these other guys will be willing
to play for free.
In Northampton, that kind of thing is squashed by a combination of venue options
and lack of population.
Why on gods smoldering Earth would anyone pay money to see a crappy local garage
band when you have all these choices? Good question. They don't. I'm not going
to pay $5 to watch some cool kid practice his scales all night while screaming
nonsence into my ears and have to clap out of pity while I pound another gin
& tonic in hopes that the drummer will stumble across the beat for at least
a measure. I'd rather go pay $10 to hear someone who's CDs have been in my car
since I learned to drive. Right down the st is Squirrel Nut Zippers. CHECK PLEASE!
Some of these Springfield bands (no offense) have no prayer in this town. In
order to get people to pay $5 to come and hear you (no, not the beer, there
are also plenty of bars with no cover. And not your girlfriend and parents either.
I'm talking about the people who show up in their own car) is to offer them
something interesting. Something that makes them need to dance. Lyrics that
make them laugh or ponder. Musicianship that makes people say "@%#* YEA!"
a few times throughout the night. I guess what I'm saying is, offer a product
that makes people feel good. They'll not only pay for it, but they'll be happy
to.
There are good bands from other cities too, of course. But the self serving
bands that I mention above have an easier time getting gigs in those cities
and so the city will end up having plenty of them. Northampton has less room
for it, hence less of it proportionally.
Please don't think I'm tooting my own horn here. I do count the Primate Fiasco
in on these fabulous local bands but I'm equally talking about Rusty Belle,
Amity Front, Alchemystics, Shokazoba, Thungs, Pete and Maura Kennedy, to name
a few current names. Not to mention Dinosaur Jr, Jurassic 5, Mobius, Sonic Youth,
Roger Saloom, and on and on. These are bands that, despite the steep competition,
can play in town. Even on a weekend, these bands can fill a room at $5, $10,
sometimes $15 per ticket.
The Northampton audience has no reason to patronize. They can have whatever
they want. The only real problem is when two great shows are on the same night
and they have to choose. They aren't going to go see their locals unless their
locals can bring it.
When we first started, we were interesting on account of our ancient style and
unusual instruments. But the novelty would have worn off quickly. We really
had to pay attention to what made a fun show and what would make our music more
exciting. It's been a constant struggle to keep up with these heavy venues.
We've since sold out the Iron Horse on more than one occasion at a $13 ticket.
We've also held our own at Pearl St's upstairs and shared the stages at the
Calvin, Pines, and Academy. But we never would have progressed in this way if
we were still in AZ, or in Springfield, or Albany. We would still be the hottest
thing around for $5 and never go up. We'd also travel out of town and not be
anything to talk about the next day. We would still sound the way we used to.
People like to complain about the company that owns more than half of the above
venues (Iron Horse Entertainment Group) and how they're not priced for local
bands. The overhead is too high. The tickets are too much. The drinks are too
much. Check one two.. Is this thing on.. THESE ARE PROFESSIONAL VENUES. They're
used to dealing with household names. Its going to be the same way in any other
city that brings in the rock stars. No one said you had to play there. But look
around. I know all you musicians have had the same experience. I know. You had
to work your ass off and you didn't make as much as the venue did. Guess what.
You sound better than you did before. When you get pushed out of the nest, you
might actually fly. If you'd rather be drunk at rehearsals and spend more time
playing video games than promoting, writing, and practicing, than you're free
to do so. Just don't do it at the Iron Horse. People are expecting more than
that. Instead, maybe you should move about 30 miles south where you can play
for free and you'll have a huge audience (until the game ends and they leave).
DEMOGRAPHIC
Another challenge/attribute to these bands is the demographic that we have to
play to. This is not a huge city. If you want to sell tickets, you can't be
picky. You can't only play to the punks. Or only the hippies. As for the folks
that think they can play for only the jazz crowd, well.. have fun in your time
machine and pick me up some Jelly role Records while you're back there. There's
just not enough people to go around. The bands that I've mentioned PACK these
rooms. And when you look around, you see everyone. Kids, baby boomers, college
kids, and all walks of life from each. Amity Front doesn't just play roots rock
for roots rock people. Wouldn't that be a wonderful neon lit evening? They play
a version of it that is juiced up to a level of craftsmanship that anyone with
ears will have to notice. Shokazoba is Afrobeat. Seriously? You want to try
to go that narrow? No way. They get the same people that you'd find at the rest
of the shows. These bands know how to open it up to a demographic we call "human".
I'm not talking about watering it down to make it radio friendly. The water
takes the strength out to keep it from being too much for the lame ass TV audience
to stomach. I'm talking about just the opposite. Spike it. Crank the flavor,
the potency. Pay close attention to what people like and then create something
that's even better than what they've been getting.
So anyway. Thats how we do it. The bands in this town who are holding their
own on these stages can thank the competition. And of course thank themselves
for bleeding and sweating all over the stage like it's a cage fight with the
audience. A fight that finally ends with a battered and bruised audience that
kneels down and hands over the sword via a high decibel roar of approval accompanied
by the low rumble of the architecture itself. If it were easy. We'd all be doing
it. And we'd have no reason to.
-Dave DelloRusso