Monday, July 13, 2009

Delayed response

A few people came to see us at Old Town Artisans on Saturday, including one of the musicians from the previous Z Mansion gig. I considered that an excellent turnout given that we had very little time to promote. But the last of our crowd left in the middle of our second set. That left the people who were there for a going-away party.

We kicked into atmosphere gig mode. That is, we continued to put as much energy into the songs as we could, but otherwise left our audience alone, keeping the talk-up to a minimum. Following each song came a slight pause, followed by brief, polite applause. The kind that acknowledges that the song has ended, and that's about it. I had no idea if they liked us, hated us, or even noticed us.

As we were packing up, though, a few people approached and thanked us for being there. They said the music had added something to their little gathering.

They'll never know how much we appreciated that. It's easy to tell if a listening audience digs you. When you're playing for people who came to socialize, it's harder to figure out if you're successfully enhancing the atmosphere.

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