Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

ch-scene - Lessons learned at Mergefest

ch-scene AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: RTP-area local music and culture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Glenn / Local 506" <local506 AT gmail.com>
  • To: ch-scene AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Lessons learned at Mergefest
  • Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 08:35:04 -0700 (PDT)

As most of you know by now, I try to run Local 506 to the benefit of
the patrons - without paying customers, neither the band nor the venue
can survive. Last week, during Mergefest, I was a paying customer and
unintentionally able to test out some the theories I often mention to
bands.

1) People do not need to see every note to become a fan

Often times opening acts want to delay starting and wait for more
people to show up. I counter argue that you should start on time and
that late-comers will still see enough of your set to form an
impression. And if they only hear a few songs and dig it, they are
more likely to either attend your next show OR buy your CD to hear
more.

I arrived Friday to Mergefest right when Lambchop were going on. I've
seen them plenty of times and really hadn't kept up with their newer
records to be in any rush to get inside. So I stayed outside at first
and talked a bit, went in to the bathroom/bar and starting paying
close at attention about 1/3 of the way into their set...and THEN
proceeded to see my favorite show of the entire fest (with the last
song one of the greatest live performances I've ever witnessed.) I'm
a much bigger Lambchop fan now than before that show and I've already
spent a whole day listening to their music and will definitely be
getting any albums I'm missing...and can't wait for them to come
back! All without being there for the first song!

2) Misinformation leads to confusion which leads to non-attendance

Local bands often intentionally post earlier-than-actual start-times
or make fliers with acts listed in a different order than the show
(ie: if the opener makes the flier, they will often put their name
first even though they are not the headliner.) As I often say, if
people aren't sure what time a show starts or the order of bands, they
may opt to not to bother coming in fear of guessing wrong and either
missing what they want to see..or worse, waiting around an hour to
actually see it.

On Sunday morning, not having my tickets handy, I looked on the Cradle
website to see what time the Memorial Hall show started - no time was
listed. I then went to the Memorial Hall site which didn't even
mention the show. Later that day, someone told me they thought doors
opened at 7pm - so I did not question that. Taking a nap that
afternoon, thinking I had til 7:30pm or 8pm to get to the show, I woke
up at 7:15pm only to realize Wye Oak had already started. Realizing
we'd probably get there during AMC's set, my and my girlfriend opted
not to go (she was still sleeping when i started realizing our
mistake, thanks to Twitter!) And this was a show that we'd already
shelled out over $30 bucks a piece for - it would take a lot less for
a show I didn't have tickets to.

3) Two big shows on the same night often attract even more people for
both shows

Twice in recent weeks, I've had acts ask to reschedule their shows
after learning what they might be up against on the night they've
selected. As I've often said, the more going on a given night, the
more people who will come out in general, making the overall pool of
people bigger and likely benefiting both shows. During Merge 15, I
too was concerned and went out of my way to book anything beside indie-
rock that weekend.

Five years later, realizing that we'd often had packed shows on the
same night as the Cradle, I decided to go head to head with Mergefest,
even recruiting local bands to play that weekend. Only Max Indian
bit, but the addition of out of town attractions Magnolia Electric Co
and Benji Hughes (who had his own crowd of Mergefest refugees) made
last week one of our busiest weeks of the year so far...despite the
five sold-out nights of Mergefest.

Anyway, just wanted to get that off my chest while I was still
thinking about it...glenn/506



  • Lessons learned at Mergefest, Glenn / Local 506, 07/30/2009

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page