Wow, so much I need to reply to, so little time... For starters:
I hear this so many times, but yet I continue to see great, poorly attended performances at Imperial Theatre by cutting edge, world class talent, of all styles. I will be the first to agree that some blame falls on Imperial's inability to capture certain demographic's attention as a "place to go" on date night, but people who continually profess to "seek out new life" but rarely appear at these shows I speak of seem to contradict themselves. I'm certainly not point a finger at you out Sean, but it's something that I hear over and over, while seeing great shows with 300 people at them instead of 800.
In the case of the Imperial, yes, they often bring in great acts. I also have yet to see a ticket for an Imperial show less than $30. On the other hand, I've never see a ticket cost $30 for a show at Elwoods, for example. It's a much different environment too. I doubt you get too many walk ins or last minute deciders at Imperial. There's also the issue of
having to get dressed up and
sitting down all night, and
only having a drink between sets. If I'm going to see... Oh, I don't know... The Shuffle Demons, or 3 Inches of Blood, I don't wanna put on dress pants and sit down all night. Sorry. Would I still do it if it was my only option? If it was a group I liked enough. But I almost guarantee I wouldn't if I didn't know the group. If they were playing at Peppers for $6, I'm much more likely to go discover something for cheaper, in a more casual, stand-up-and-rock-out environment.
And in regards to the bit about the people who whine the most never show up when they get what they ask for, I have a rolodex filled with the names of people guilty of this. And it annoys the hell out of me too. Then again, there are lots of us who end up going to gigs we're not especially interested in, because there's no alternative. So everyone loses ;)
Guys.... We can't even get people to show up at the right time for shows at Imperial, where they have tickets in advance, with the time printed on them....
This is so true of this city! Sometimes, ya just can't win... What are you going to do?
There need to be more folks like those of us who decide to stay and stick it out and improve things for everyone in this burg.
AMEN!!
Fair enough, but in your opinion why are they shutting down? Is it because they were run poorly (I suspect that to the case in many examples) or was it because the community wasn't supporting it? Perhaps both? Maybe one followed the other?
This depends on the venue... Here's my quick n' dirty n' risque opinion on a few venues:
Elwoods = poor management in restaurant and shows, kitchen fire, slow to start up again, hurky-jerky hours, no commitment to recurring events or start times, NO DRINK SPECIALS EVER!!!!
Studio 112 = Building damage & unhelpful landlord
Waterfront/Neptunes/Akhord/etc = A Mummy's curse has been placed on that location and no amount of money or gentle prayer will help a venue in that location succeed
Tapps = Crooked management - owner fled the country to avoid paying taxes and such
Callahans = Favoured the consistency of Del's karaoke stylings over random rock n roll nights (ie rock wasn't lucrative. They made a good decision in my opinion, because they're still open)
Sunstar = Ran out of money (investors pulled out, and the building management evicted to renovate the space anyway)
The Deepend all-ages venue = Lost government funding
So, based on that list, only one out of 9 venues listed stopped doing shows based on attendance. Take all that with a grain of salt and as there's always a little more going on than can be summed up into 12 words.
Yeah, and after all, I don't even think we need a sole "weirdos only" place really, just for some places to be a little more inclusive, and willing to take some changes. You can do a lot with smart bookings.... Bring in a headliner that is going to draw and that people can swallow (a top 40 cover band that's well liked for example) and have a local opener of maybe younger guys, and a middle slot that goes to an indie band passing through town. Something like that.
Anyway, I should probably shut up now before I offend someone. HA! I'm becoming the Slipperman of SJ.