Countdown Entry #31

 

11:52 PM, Saturday, September 18th, 1999:

 

Saturday, September 18th, 1999 - 8:00 - 10:00 PM

SNAPS & TAPS

 

THE PERFORMANCE

SET 1: OPEN 1 - LOVE - PARODY 1 - UNPLUGGED

SET 2: RHYTHM - PARODY 2 - ABBEY ROAD

 

I was recovering from a kick ass cold and today was the first time I was able to breath. I felt alright, but the constant sneezing the day previous ripped my throat out pretty good. I started out ok, but wow, near the end I hurt. I couldn't hold on to notes, and I was REALLY straining. No one but Jessica noticed though, so that's cool. Then again, Jessica was half the audience...heh heh.

 

THE REACTION

 

(sigh) I'll leave my reaction for the end. My uncle and his friends loved it. They were very impressed. Didn't know what to expect and laughed quite a bit. Very cool. Now to me: PISSED. Let me explain why...

As I've explained before the owner wanted to charge $6 cover. I looked at him and said "Are you nuts? My people won't pay that much for something they can get for free everywhere else." He assured me that HIS people would come for the atmosphere, and they're used to paying $5-$6 on Saturday nights. Fine. That's cool...a whole new audience. Now I get there and he's 15 minutes late. Now I have 45 minutes to set-up. No one is there. 8 PM, my uncle and friends show up (6 people!). That's it. All night long. Todd was extremely happy. He kept saying how he loved it and wanted more like it. But, he didn't make the flyers he promised, no Other Paper ad, I wasn't even on their phone recording, and he obviously didn't talk about it like he said. No one was there. Some people did come, but they sat in the other room and watched TV until I was over so they didn't have to pay $6. (sigh) When it's over with he told me what I needed to do was come in on a night when it's crowded and set up and do A SONG to give people an idea for free. Here's where I start to lose it inside. Yeah, I'm gonna do a 45 minute set-up for ONE SONG. Then, hope they're willing to pay later. Sorry buddy - not gonna happen. I wanted to do this show for free so people could see it. But, he decided to charge a cover. No one came, and he rethinks his position. Sorry, but there's no reason for me to kill myself to make your establishment do well. YOU NEED TO DO THAT. Now, when places actually PAY for their talent, there's more of a partnership. When you're giving them HALF the door, it's a different story. He did give me $30 for the 6 people who came. That was cool. And when it's all said and done - he's a great guy. Loved talking to him and so on. But I'm kicking ass trying to make 4tvs work and to have done all this work...all the meetings phone calls and everything to have absolutely no one see the show except my friends. It's highly depressing. Will I do Sanps & Taps again? All I want are new people seeing the show. It's not the money. I'm pissed that the $6 cover kept people away. So if Todd can promise me 2 hours with people THERE...I'll do it. But I cannot do tonight over.