On Monday, the current plight -- or blight -- of Downtown Plaza was front page news in the Sacramento Bee. 40% vacancy rate. What to do? Tear it down? Change the lay-out? Build a sports and entertainment center? The news was interesting but not particularly new. Ideas just keep recycling.
For present purposes, however, we really are not that interested in the long-term prognosis as long as the mall and the ZuhG Life store are still in business on Fathers’ Day.
After Fathers’ Day, the bigger question will be: Will Sacramento ever have a vibrant downtown again? Our Economy is a long way from recovery, and the health of downtown continues to be a victim of the downturn. The City and we city-dwellers have many issues to address. But, I am in a selfish mode: Wait until after Fathers’ Day!
Of course, thinking about Downtown Plaza brings to mind how to get people out for our performance and the mall's continued vitality as a venue. So, what do musicians have to do to help? We also have to consider what are our responsibilities to those who turn out -- whether 4 or 100.
Recently, the guru on Bandzoogle blogged about “What do you do to make a band marketable?” Of course, the advice should have carried a warning: “This is not for piddly, start-up, purposely non-serious instrumental surf bands.” It did not carry a warning. No pop-up. Nothing in bold all-caps print.
But I knew it was written for serious real musicians. The Bandzoogle guru does not write for anybody else. Of course, sometimes advice for the serious can apply to us not-so-serious fun-lovers. In the blog, the Bandzoogle guru wrote, in part, about the importance of a set list. “Build your set list in a way that makes for a great show, not just a series of songs played one after another.”
That seemed to be advice that we could put to use. Then again, that may be making too big of an assumption. We are preparing for our second gig. We still are finding our way. Are we being presumptuous to think in terms of a “great show”? But shouldn't every band or musician think that way?
Nonetheless, we want to be entertaining and playing the best show that we can. What are we trying to achieve with the order of the songs? We want to open with something the audience may recognize, lets us hear how we sound, and sets the pace for the rest of the performance. We hope to start strongly. Mix our originals in with recognizable covers. Other than Paul, we are not yet comfortable enough to put our own imprimatur on the standards. As we become more at ease in the set, we try to pick up the pace and energy as the set progresses. We really want to finish strongly with some fun, energetic songs.
Knowing what we are trying to do meant that we might be able to check something off as done correctly according to the Bandzoogle guru. We are working to build a set list which will entertain an audience whether it is 4 (our wives/fiancee) or 150 (a Pyronauts-style crowd).
In the same blog, the Bandzoogle guru added that a band is not really marketable until it has 1,000 or more Facebook Fans. Now I know why we have to be in the not-so-serious-let’s-have-fun category. We have 44 Facebook Fans and are holding. 44 to 1,000 is a long ways. Maybe, we need to promote our Facebook page during our set.
The Bandzoogle blog made me ask, “What are our goals?” Marketability? No. Making money? No. Playing night after night? No. World tour? No. Selling a few CDs? Yes. Playing live? Yes. Entertaining those who come to see us? Yes. Having people come up and say that was "cool"? Yes. Having fun? Yes.
Maybe we should take only snippets from the Bandzoogle guru’s blog -- those that allow us to work towards our goals. Work up an entertaining set and have fun!
For present purposes, however, we really are not that interested in the long-term prognosis as long as the mall and the ZuhG Life store are still in business on Fathers’ Day.
After Fathers’ Day, the bigger question will be: Will Sacramento ever have a vibrant downtown again? Our Economy is a long way from recovery, and the health of downtown continues to be a victim of the downturn. The City and we city-dwellers have many issues to address. But, I am in a selfish mode: Wait until after Fathers’ Day!
Of course, thinking about Downtown Plaza brings to mind how to get people out for our performance and the mall's continued vitality as a venue. So, what do musicians have to do to help? We also have to consider what are our responsibilities to those who turn out -- whether 4 or 100.
Recently, the guru on Bandzoogle blogged about “What do you do to make a band marketable?” Of course, the advice should have carried a warning: “This is not for piddly, start-up, purposely non-serious instrumental surf bands.” It did not carry a warning. No pop-up. Nothing in bold all-caps print.
But I knew it was written for serious real musicians. The Bandzoogle guru does not write for anybody else. Of course, sometimes advice for the serious can apply to us not-so-serious fun-lovers. In the blog, the Bandzoogle guru wrote, in part, about the importance of a set list. “Build your set list in a way that makes for a great show, not just a series of songs played one after another.”
That seemed to be advice that we could put to use. Then again, that may be making too big of an assumption. We are preparing for our second gig. We still are finding our way. Are we being presumptuous to think in terms of a “great show”? But shouldn't every band or musician think that way?
Nonetheless, we want to be entertaining and playing the best show that we can. What are we trying to achieve with the order of the songs? We want to open with something the audience may recognize, lets us hear how we sound, and sets the pace for the rest of the performance. We hope to start strongly. Mix our originals in with recognizable covers. Other than Paul, we are not yet comfortable enough to put our own imprimatur on the standards. As we become more at ease in the set, we try to pick up the pace and energy as the set progresses. We really want to finish strongly with some fun, energetic songs.
Knowing what we are trying to do meant that we might be able to check something off as done correctly according to the Bandzoogle guru. We are working to build a set list which will entertain an audience whether it is 4 (our wives/fiancee) or 150 (a Pyronauts-style crowd).
In the same blog, the Bandzoogle guru added that a band is not really marketable until it has 1,000 or more Facebook Fans. Now I know why we have to be in the not-so-serious-let’s-have-fun category. We have 44 Facebook Fans and are holding. 44 to 1,000 is a long ways. Maybe, we need to promote our Facebook page during our set.
The Bandzoogle blog made me ask, “What are our goals?” Marketability? No. Making money? No. Playing night after night? No. World tour? No. Selling a few CDs? Yes. Playing live? Yes. Entertaining those who come to see us? Yes. Having people come up and say that was "cool"? Yes. Having fun? Yes.
Maybe we should take only snippets from the Bandzoogle guru’s blog -- those that allow us to work towards our goals. Work up an entertaining set and have fun!