I’m Talking To You, Mike: The Gift That keeps On Giving

Live music!!!!

I’m biased, of course, but there’s nothing better, imo, for ELEVATING a bar from ordinary to special. There are millions of juke-joints, I’ve been to more than a few, and the ones that I remember had that one commonality, musicians pouring their guts out for anybody that cares. It doesn’t matter if the audience is sitting quietly in rows or enjoying the social life at the bar, they hear it, they are affected by it. When it’s good, and presented well, it makes the world a better place.

Imagine yourself as a musician coming to play a venue for the first time- it could be a concert hall, a night club, dance hall, bar, etc., but you can tell right away how much the presenter cares about what happens there. It’s nicest, of course, when you see your name up in lights on the marquis, but let’s not count on that. Go on in, what do you see? I like to see what the audience sees when they watch the band. Is the band in a strong location, visually? Good lights, of course, adequate sightlines from at least the “good seats”.

But foremost, how about the stage? Is there one, or is the band just stuck in a dark corner, more of an afterthought than a planned live music setup? Virtually every dedicated music venue has a stage, and most of the really good music clubs. It’s a no-brainer– it ELEVATES the music, before a note is sounded. As a player, just stepping UP on the stage make you feel like what you are about to do is special, not an afterthought. Obviously the artist and the audience can see better, but it actually makes you play better (trust me), just knowing that somebody cares. Everybody in the place gets more bang-for-the-buck (and you know the cats blowing aren’t thinking about the money, in the new “music is free” paradigm we live in…)!

It doesn’t need to be a big, expensive platform, could be 9-12″ high, big enough for Danny and Robert (drummers can sit on the fucking floor). It would show every bar patron that you really believe in the art, yours and ours, all of it. It’s about perception- it doesn’t matter how good it looks or sounds, it has to be perceived to be felt. Is that too much to ask?

PS if it is, wtf, I’ll pay for it.