datamusicata

This past weekend I had a wonderfully rewarding series of concerts. I have spoken before about what makes a concert successful for me, and this is very subjective. Concerts by professionals always maintain a level of professionalism and expertise; entertainment and edification. I am only talking about the level of personal joy that is sometimes experienced when one gives a concert.   I am not talking about what the audience experienced, (which is frequently a different experience than that of the performer.   And the performer cannont let a attitude impact the show, if the audience is digging it, the show is working, no matter what one thinks).

Friday night, I performed at a wonderful little space called the Trading Company. A retail boutique during the day that had never before been made into a concert venue. The proprietor, a wonderful woman named Joann, volunteered her space and she and Sharon
Abreu (www.sharmuse.com) did a wonderful job of promoting the show. Sharon also joined me in the second set for some stellar violin and background vocal parts. Be sure and check out her music at her site. She has a wonderful CD entitled Seeking Sanctuary that I recommend, but back to the subject at hand.

They put up posters around town and contacted all the local media. We had an SRO (standing room only) crowd and the donation was collected in advance to assure everyone’s place in the proceedings. They asked me if I wanted a sound system, which I always enjoy, but I knew that the room was a small one and not a concert venue. Consequently, I decided to go with no sound system. This changes the dynamic entirely.

One of the special things about an entirely acoustic show is how much more involved the audience is. They must be quiet or one can’t hear the show. They lean in and they get involved. It is a very special way to hear music. The first time that I had this experience was seeing Phil Woods (www.philwoods.com) and his trio at Hop Singh’s in Marina Del Rey, CA about twenty years ago. They used no sound system and just listening to each other, they mixed it by virtue of their ears and their own personal volume. It was a fantastic concert! The audience was completely enrolled, as they had to be to hear it.

The Parking Angels opened the show and did a wonderful job of turning the crowd into an audience. They also were professional enough to do a short powerful set as opposed to wearing the audience out with a long set, before the headlining act appears. As an opening act, I have always asked how long the headliner set was and then did an appropriately shorter set. The Parking Angels were perfect fun and very musical. The crowd loved them.

I came on and did two 55 minute shows with a twenty five minute intermission in the middle. I find doing the show this way insures that I get to interact with the audience on a personal level and that I actually sell more CD’s when I do it this way. I have found it consistently true that if you do one long set, you will not experience the same kind of CD sales.

The fact that the audience was only two feet from me, made the connection really intense and the feedback was that it was a rewarding and entertaining show for us all. And they invited me back. That’s the clue that the show went really well.

Saturday, I performed in Portland’s oldest and it’s premier acoustic room, Artichoke Music (www.artichokemusic.org), the host, soundman and one of the owners, Richard Columbo did a fine job on all of his duties and we had a goodly crowd of mostly brand new people. I love it when that happens. I mean I love performing for my patrons, those who’ve supported me thru the years, but they know what to expect and they know the songs and many of the stories, but a new audience, they know nothing, so it’s always fun to initiate them into my little world. I also went to the trouble of printing up a list of all the songs that I would be considering and put they websites on the same flyer. That way folks could also just circle the songs that they wanted and download them at their leisure.

I once again did two sets, and broke them up with an intermission. The first set was mostly culled from my brand new solo CD, The Eternal Contradiction (www.jamesleestanley.com/eternalcontra.html). I find that it is a good idea to do most of the songs from one album for a set. Makes it easier for the audience to decide which CD they want.

During the second set, a fine musician and old friend Moe Dixon did a song and delighted the crowd (www.cdbaby.com/cd/moedixon) with his expertise and his charm. The audience was wonderful and the Artichoke has invited me back to perform again in the spring.

The Artichoke is dedicated to acoustic music. They provide lessons, instruments, and concerts. I truly recommend that all of you in the Portland area check it out. I was turned on to it by Dick Weissman (www.dickweissman.com) who recommended me to the venue and who also originally played banjo in the Journeyman; one of my favorite folk groups of the sixties. The other two members of that group were Scott MacKenzie (www.scottmckenzie.info/music.html) and John Phillips (who later formed the Mamas and the Papas).

The audience response, my preparation, and the professionalism of the presenters made for an enormously rewarding experience for me and I hope the audience. And there are two more places that I can count for future gigs and a growing audience.