Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: Mixing Don Ho & toilet paper
What a fantastic day December 9th was! End of the work week and two performances!! Our first show was at WORT on the Hootenanny. We had 30 minutes to give it our all on one of Dave Zero's final shows as DJ extraordinare. The room was brimming with energy. We've been told that we put on a great show though I haven't heard a replay for myself yet.
Next up, the Klinic Bar. We've played there twice before and both times, we brought in a big crowd. We've had a little trouble with a couple of our fans getting hastled by the doorman. I figured, if I stick close to the door, we might be able to avoid any problems before they arise. As I sat at the bar, I noticed the four people at table behind me were smoking. I glanced down the bar and saw at least three more people with cigs lit up. This wouldn't be an issue except for the fact that, Madison bars are now smoke free (by ordinance) and we had fans coming to the show that work in city government.
NOTE: If you're gonna be a scoff-law, fine by me, that's your business. But, do it up front, let me know, and I won't bother booking shows at your establishment. I'm not looking for trouble.
So I tell the bartender (a very nice lady, BTW) that folks from the city are likely to show up tonight. She thanks me for the info and attempts to get people to stop smoking inside. Everybody pretty much ignores her, including the doorman and the sound guy.
In the meantime, I have been noticing that the doorman has been letting people enter the bar without paying the cover throughout the night.
About ten of our fans show up after eating dinner across the street. The first two people notice the smoke and ask the doorman what's up. They then ask to talk to the manager. The manager comes up and says, "there's no one smoking here." Mind you, I've been sitting at the bar watching people smoke. There's an ash tray sitting on one of the table littered with cig butts. But, the manager is trying to tell my friends that the smoke is wafting in from outside because there's a large number of people standing outside smoking. So I step outside with the manager so that he can make his point. Of course, the only people standing outside are our fans waiting to get in, not smoking. So, tired of being lied to by the manager, our fans leave. The manager didn't realize that one of the people he'd been lying to was my husband. Once I told him my spouse was among the group of people he chased away, he asked me to call him, have him come back and that he would try to keep people from smoking. I was able to convince my husband to come back but we lost at least a dozen people that night (friends calling other friends and making arrangements to meet elsewhere).
meanwhile, people kept getting let in without paying the cover.
Some basic facts:
1. We had two sets worked up in addition to the opening band (enough music to cover the entire evening)
2. People kept smoking throughout the evening.
3. Cover collected at the door was $205. $70 went to the sound guy. $68 to the other band. $67 to us.
4. There were at least 70 people there that night. Do the math -- at least 29 people got in for free.
Should we stay or should we go? We've never missed a show. We've never cancelled, failed to show or otherwise missed an obligation. But, I wanted to pack up and leave. Seeing how our fans were treated and realizing that we were getting shorted at the door I felt very little obligation. Our dilemma was that many of our fans did stay despite the problems I've already mentioned.
The end result: We shortened our performance to one set, rocked people out of their seats (elbow dancing was crazy!) and started packing up. When we finished the set the one bartender asked me "Is that all you've got?" I told him "No, but that's all we're doing."
To our friends and fans: We are sorry. In the future, we will try very hard not to book shows at venues that will disrespect you!
PS-If you want to know what Don Ho and toilet papter have to do with anything, you'll have to ask me in person.
Next up, the Klinic Bar. We've played there twice before and both times, we brought in a big crowd. We've had a little trouble with a couple of our fans getting hastled by the doorman. I figured, if I stick close to the door, we might be able to avoid any problems before they arise. As I sat at the bar, I noticed the four people at table behind me were smoking. I glanced down the bar and saw at least three more people with cigs lit up. This wouldn't be an issue except for the fact that, Madison bars are now smoke free (by ordinance) and we had fans coming to the show that work in city government.
NOTE: If you're gonna be a scoff-law, fine by me, that's your business. But, do it up front, let me know, and I won't bother booking shows at your establishment. I'm not looking for trouble.
So I tell the bartender (a very nice lady, BTW) that folks from the city are likely to show up tonight. She thanks me for the info and attempts to get people to stop smoking inside. Everybody pretty much ignores her, including the doorman and the sound guy.
In the meantime, I have been noticing that the doorman has been letting people enter the bar without paying the cover throughout the night.
About ten of our fans show up after eating dinner across the street. The first two people notice the smoke and ask the doorman what's up. They then ask to talk to the manager. The manager comes up and says, "there's no one smoking here." Mind you, I've been sitting at the bar watching people smoke. There's an ash tray sitting on one of the table littered with cig butts. But, the manager is trying to tell my friends that the smoke is wafting in from outside because there's a large number of people standing outside smoking. So I step outside with the manager so that he can make his point. Of course, the only people standing outside are our fans waiting to get in, not smoking. So, tired of being lied to by the manager, our fans leave. The manager didn't realize that one of the people he'd been lying to was my husband. Once I told him my spouse was among the group of people he chased away, he asked me to call him, have him come back and that he would try to keep people from smoking. I was able to convince my husband to come back but we lost at least a dozen people that night (friends calling other friends and making arrangements to meet elsewhere).
meanwhile, people kept getting let in without paying the cover.
Some basic facts:
1. We had two sets worked up in addition to the opening band (enough music to cover the entire evening)
2. People kept smoking throughout the evening.
3. Cover collected at the door was $205. $70 went to the sound guy. $68 to the other band. $67 to us.
4. There were at least 70 people there that night. Do the math -- at least 29 people got in for free.
Should we stay or should we go? We've never missed a show. We've never cancelled, failed to show or otherwise missed an obligation. But, I wanted to pack up and leave. Seeing how our fans were treated and realizing that we were getting shorted at the door I felt very little obligation. Our dilemma was that many of our fans did stay despite the problems I've already mentioned.
The end result: We shortened our performance to one set, rocked people out of their seats (elbow dancing was crazy!) and started packing up. When we finished the set the one bartender asked me "Is that all you've got?" I told him "No, but that's all we're doing."
To our friends and fans: We are sorry. In the future, we will try very hard not to book shows at venues that will disrespect you!
PS-If you want to know what Don Ho and toilet papter have to do with anything, you'll have to ask me in person.
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