A want record, by nature, is idealistic, however I’m upset to report that none of my 5 needs have come true.
Final week, I attended a restaurant live performance after greater than two, perhaps three, and even 4 years, and virtually instantly remembered why I finished going to exhibits at institutions that are not primarily live performance halls. The presence of a everlasting stage space doesn’t assure that the venue is able to host concert events, or a minimum of geared up with a sound system loud sufficient to drown out chattering audiences throughout performances with out interrupting diners on the opposite facet. of the restaurant. who needs to speak
The expertise additionally jogged my memory of this bucket record I put collectively for pub gigs in October 2018, a time when the world was a considerably totally different place earlier than the pandemic. A want record, by nature, is idealistic, however I’m upset to report that none of my 5 needs have come true. Most exhibits do not begin inside half an hour of the listed time, venues do not cease bar service when the act is enjoying, hardly any artists promote merch, I’ve but to see a particular menu, and in Mumbai the place vivo, loyalty playing cards are usually not supplied.
However as a result of I stay an everlasting optimist, a obligatory default setting to get by means of these typically darkish occasions, I’ve considered 5 extra adjustments I would like to see. Fingers and toes crossed, right here goes:
live performance guides
I spent most of my journalistic profession placing collectively weekly music charts for stints at three city-focused magazines and web sites. They helped rank readers and my efficiency life and doubled as a terrific indicator of the altering panorama of reside music. Now that I am self-employed, I nonetheless make gig lists for myself, albeit erratically. If I had been extra constant and had a few free hours each different day, I would publish them publicly, perhaps on Instagram. As an alternative, I sometimes share them with buddies. The dearth of a single supply for all the metropolis’s exhibits means we’ve got to depend on accumulating info from a number of sources, equivalent to ticketing platforms and particular person social media pages of the venues we frequent and the acts we host. we love. It hurts a bit of each time I hear somebody say they missed a live performance as a result of they did not know. Impartial musician Pankaj Tak has been working to right this example by means of his WhatsApp teams Some Good Gigs and his Instagram account. As with every professional bono train, it will be way more full if Tak had entry to extra assets.
ticket counters
At the moment, tickets for many exhibits are bought in a number of phases. You could miss out on early hen reductions, maybe because of the absence of the aforementioned live performance guides. Or you possibly can simply delay shopping for tickets upfront. A counter that exhibits what number of tickets are left in a selected tier, much like the way in which e-commerce websites present what number of items they’ve in inventory of various sizes of a selected product, could possibly be an incentive for music followers to lastly make that buy. .
Extra reside bands on weekends
I’ve railed about this many occasions earlier than: most weekend slots are dominated by digital music DJs. These of us preferring to observe bands can solely see them on weekdays, normally Wednesdays or Thursdays, in the course of the work week if you’re typically too overwhelmed or too drained to exit. With nearly each demographic seeming to be consuming/consuming/enjoying for revenge this 12 months, there’s a big hole out there for these for whom “reside” will at all times imply seeing an instrument, somewhat than a pc, in the marketplace. surroundings. This viewers could also be bigger, however it has a bigger disposable revenue. Sure, a band will at all times be costlier to ebook, however most followers appear to agree on paying a small premium for artists they have not seen within the final two years. Venues have to have a greater stability of live performance choices, and people caught with the previous concept that the weekend beckons the “get together” will not know what they’re lacking except they experiment a bit. The suitable performers will draw a crowd, any day of the week.
QR codes
Have you ever ever heard an artist you have by no means heard earlier than and immediately fell in love with it and wish to take heed to their complete catalog by the point you get dwelling? It is probably the greatest facets of the reside music expertise, and whereas many artists be sure that to finish their performances by telling attendees the place to comply with them on-line and the platforms their music is obtainable on, a QR code is included on the digital ticket. and even inserting it someplace within the room would make it a lot simpler for folks to search out your music with out having to seek for it or, in sure instances, keep in mind uncommon spelling.
buddies passes
This has already occurred due to the pioneering pondering of Hindi post-rock group aswekeepsearching, so my want is that extra bands and venues undertake this method. The idea is kind of easy: in case you purchase two tickets as an alternative of 1, you get the second at a cheaper price. Most individuals do not go to concert events alone, and I, for one, typically accompany family and friends to exhibits by artists they’ve by no means seen. Identical to aswekeepsearching did, these ‘buddy passes’ generally is a restricted batch and with the aforementioned ticket gross sales counter telling you what number of are up for grabs, I am fairly positive they might help increase gross sales. It looks like a no brainer.
I really feel like this time, my ideas are a bit of simpler to execute, so I hope that once I write my subsequent record, the rating is not zero out of ten!
Amit Gurbaxani is a Mumbai-based journalist who has been writing about music, particularly the nation’s unbiased scene, for almost twenty years. he tweets @TheGroovebox
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