What if you played a gig but no one showed up

[Patrick Thistle]

When Threatin played Bristol: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/whats-...ke-fan-2204472

[Stumpy Pepys]

An old flatmate of mine worked in the bar at the University of London. A band called Suede played and not one person came to watch. They played a full set for the bar staff and security.

Nine months later, they were huge.

[Benjm]

Ol' Threatin can't be short of, ahem, self belief if he thought that the numbers would somehow right themselves by showtime.

The playing to three men and a dog story is a badge of honour for bands to recount once they become successful. I suppose we don't hear so much about the ones who were so dispirited by the experience that they jacked it in that same evening.

[johnr]

My band - never the easiest listen - played to an audience of about 30 a couple of years ago, and I (the drummer) was in a mask that meant I couldn't see beyond the front of the stage. At the end of the set, I got up, walked through the door at the back of the stage to the dressing room, and waited for the other two. After a minute or so when they didn't appear, I went back out; they were packing away, having realised that there was no point in going 'backstage' when the only people left in the venue were the bar staff, and DJ.

We're still going.

[elguapo4]

A mate of mine played a gig once and he went full on with it, posters all over the place, interview on local radio, he even managed to wangle a piece in Hot Press magazine about it,in the end twenty people turned up, every one family and friends.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

I think the responses to this thread are more appopriate to the thread title than they are to what is really the point of the underlying story, which goes way beyond playing a gig and nobody turning up. Jered Threatin has devoted countless hours and substantial amounts of money to creating a comprehensive totally falsified back story. He's obviously narcissistic and dishonest to the point of mental illness. Fuller story (quite long) here:

https://www.sickchirpse.com/guy-paid...LUIXNXss9N759U

[Ray de Galles]

An old flatmate of mine worked in the bar at the University of London. A band called Suede played and not one person came to watch. They played a full set for the bar staff and security.

Nine months later, they were huge.

I presume that was when Ricky Gervais was both Suede’s manager and assistant Ents Sec at ULU.

[Snake Plissken]

He's taking the Tommy Wiseau path to fame and fortune.

[Jah Womble]

On the other hand, Seasick Steve did it the right way - hint at a humble backstory and then let the world work it out once you've made it.

That Jered Threatin exposé is both disturbing and a little sad, really.

[Duncan Gardner]

The lads at OTF stalwart Calvert's gaff

[Stumpy Pepys]

I think the responses to this thread are more appopriate to the thread title than they are to what is really the point of the underlying story, which goes way beyond playing a gig and nobody turning up. Jered Threatin has devoted countless hours and substantial amounts of money to creating a comprehensive totally falsified back story. He's obviously narcissistic and dishonest to the point of mental illness. Fuller story (quite long) here:

https://www.sickchirpse.com/guy-paid...LUIXNXss9N759U

Fair enough, but he's not the only artist to invent a backstory. Bob Dylan anyone?

[Stumpy Pepys]

Although admittedly this story is more in the realm of financial fraud.

[Jah Womble]

Well, he by-and-large appears to have defrauded himself, if anybody - the venues all received payment upfront from his supposed promoters/management (ie, Threatin himself). Okay, it was on the understanding that he was some upcoming rock star, but they'd not have lost out in that department. (Threatin would be out of pocket to the tune of tens of thousands, however.)

The guy has pretty much made an international laughing stock of himself, but, given how the web works - and given the gullibility of those that use it - could even pull together some kind of 'career' out of all this.

That name bugs the hell out of me, though.

Fair enough, but he's not the only artist to invent a backstory. Bob Dylan anyone?

Seasick Steve, as I mentioned upthread.

[EIM]

I think he's a fucking hero. What a blag.

[Stumpy Pepys]

I think he's a fucking hero. What a blag.

Potentially leaving owners of small music venues out-of-pocket is hardly sticking it to The Man.

[EIM]

Here he is. Buzz Killington with his facts.

[Jah Womble]

All they'd have lost out on would've been their cut of the non-existent ticket sales anyway, so even less-so.

[Benjm]

How significant are bar takings in making the finances workable for the venues?

[Stumpy Pepys]

Plus costs such as security.

[Jah Womble]

For a gig at that level, security probably wouldn't amount to much.

Bar takings would be a worthwhile consideration, yes - but some of the venues that had bands ready to open for this guy then made the gigs free to enter, so they'll presumably have shifted a few lagers.

[ursus arctos]

Whose kid is he?

30,000 quid may sound like a lot, but there are hundreds of Angeleno parents who spend that on kids’ birthday parties.

The Italian and German tour dates are also weird.

Ranica has fewer than 6,000 people and while Weinheim is bigger, it really looks out of place with London, Birmingham, Manchester and Paris.

[Ray de Galles]

How significant are bar takings in making the finances workable for the venues?

Pretty much essential. Very few venues could survive on outside hire fees/ticket income alone.

[ursus arctos]

The rental fee quoted in the article did strike me as seriously low.

[Hot Pepsi]

I believe it was Mike Birbiglia, one of my favorite comics, who did a gig at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where he only had about seven people show up and all of them had left by about halfway through.

Or maybe it was another comic I listen to a lot. But anyway, it didn't mean they had no future in it. I've also heard that the EFF is just kinda like that sometimes. And stand-up comedy is like that. I listen to a lot of podcast interviews with comics and apparently it takes at least five years go get remotely good at it and even then, it may never happen. But it requires a lot of trial and error and eating a lot of shit, as they say.

I can't imagine doing that, but I do wish I'd heard more stories like that as a kid. Somehow I got the idea into my head that if you weren't at least pretty good at something within the first few months of trying it, you probably never would be and you should move on to something else. I didn't have much exposure to the punk ethos until much later and the not much about living in the moment or spirituality as such until much later than that.


Everything I know about how bars and live-music work I learned from that one Mike & The Mechanics video.

[ursus arctos]

Following “major” sports in the US can definitely give one that impression.

i would expect that the guys on your high school football team actually had some idea of what they were doing.