Full Audiences, Listening Audiences
Posted on June 16, 2012 with 0 comments
Last weekend in my mini-tour with Alicia McGovern we were lucky to play three shows in a row with fantastic audiences. All three shows had generally full (or full enough) rooms and audience who paid attention to our playing and singing. Neither of these things can be taken for granted in the world of a performing singer-songwriter, and the combination of the two is magic – it’s when performing music is a joy.
One of the nice things about the full audiences on this tour was that although I contributed to bringing people out (I was especially impressed at the Portland show to have lured people down from both Waterville and Lewiston, neither of which is particularly close) it wasn’t entirely on my shoulders to bring the audience. Sharing the show with others helped, because in all cases they also brought people out to the show (Shanna Underwood joined us – in fact, she organized it – for the Portland show, and helped bring much of the audience there.)
Also in all three locations the venues themselves came with something of a built-in audience. (That was particularly true of the show in Kingston that was organized in honor of the birthday of the café owner’s mother.) Presumably those of us playing had to be enticing enough to be worth it, but a good house concert or music venue will have a series of regulars who at least pay attention to upcoming shows at that location, and at best turn out for shows with the faith that whoever is playing there will be worth seeing.
Even more important than having a full audience was having a listening audience. All good music is best experienced when you pay attention to it, but there are some types of folk singer-songwriter music that can be enjoyable even if you’re not paying close attention. That’s not really true of my music, for which the payoff comes from listening to the language and understanding the stories. Between the White Lines is a good diagnostic: I can tell when the audience is paying attention by the looks on faces when I get to the last verse – if they’ve been following the story they are enchanted by the resolution and it shows.
And it becomes a virtuous circle – I am better able to deliver songs when I can tell that people are paying attention and enjoying listening, and they enjoy the listening experience better when I’m delivering songs well. A listening audience leads to a better show and vice versa.
A musician friend of mine asked me, when I was telling him about the great audiences of these shows, how much of their listening had to do with something I was doing. And, in truth, I’m not sure how much of it did. Some of it was the expectations set up by the venues. Both Blue, in Portland, and the Lower Falls house concert, set themselves up as listening venues. (That’s particularly impressive at Blue, which is basically a bar – but it makes it clear that its purpose is a listening room.) Once people start out listening, they’re more likely to continue to.
A few other things made it more likely. In all three venues we used sound amplification; at the Orange Cat (in Kingfield ME) and at the house concert that was because I brought it along. Playing through a sound system makes it easier to play in a nuanced way that you know can actually be heard. I think the sound system particularly helped at the Orange Cat, because the seating area was set up across two different rooms, and there were other activities (henna, eating) happening further away from the show. Having a sound system focused the attention of those sitting in the concert seating on what was happening, rather than allowing for the other activities to distract.
Playing with others helped too. In the two Maine venues we played some version of “in the round” (in Kingfield switching off after three songs; in Portland switching off after one), which gave the audience continued reasons to focus on what was happening. And Alicia is simply a compelling performer – her voice, her focus, and her songs all seem to draw the audience in. Playing with her, I think, increased the extent to which the audience got in the habit of paying attention.
I would love to think that I’m getting better at getting the audience to listen even without all that other assistance. I think I have gotten better at introducing songs in ways that get people to focus at the beginning of the song; it’s then my job to be compelling enough at presenting the song that they want to continue to listen. For the most part, for whatever reasons, that happened on last weekend’s tour. And it was wonderful, so I hope I can make it happen again.
One of the nice things about the full audiences on this tour was that although I contributed to bringing people out (I was especially impressed at the Portland show to have lured people down from both Waterville and Lewiston, neither of which is particularly close) it wasn’t entirely on my shoulders to bring the audience. Sharing the show with others helped, because in all cases they also brought people out to the show (Shanna Underwood joined us – in fact, she organized it – for the Portland show, and helped bring much of the audience there.)
Also in all three locations the venues themselves came with something of a built-in audience. (That was particularly true of the show in Kingston that was organized in honor of the birthday of the café owner’s mother.) Presumably those of us playing had to be enticing enough to be worth it, but a good house concert or music venue will have a series of regulars who at least pay attention to upcoming shows at that location, and at best turn out for shows with the faith that whoever is playing there will be worth seeing.
Even more important than having a full audience was having a listening audience. All good music is best experienced when you pay attention to it, but there are some types of folk singer-songwriter music that can be enjoyable even if you’re not paying close attention. That’s not really true of my music, for which the payoff comes from listening to the language and understanding the stories. Between the White Lines is a good diagnostic: I can tell when the audience is paying attention by the looks on faces when I get to the last verse – if they’ve been following the story they are enchanted by the resolution and it shows.
And it becomes a virtuous circle – I am better able to deliver songs when I can tell that people are paying attention and enjoying listening, and they enjoy the listening experience better when I’m delivering songs well. A listening audience leads to a better show and vice versa.
A musician friend of mine asked me, when I was telling him about the great audiences of these shows, how much of their listening had to do with something I was doing. And, in truth, I’m not sure how much of it did. Some of it was the expectations set up by the venues. Both Blue, in Portland, and the Lower Falls house concert, set themselves up as listening venues. (That’s particularly impressive at Blue, which is basically a bar – but it makes it clear that its purpose is a listening room.) Once people start out listening, they’re more likely to continue to.
A few other things made it more likely. In all three venues we used sound amplification; at the Orange Cat (in Kingfield ME) and at the house concert that was because I brought it along. Playing through a sound system makes it easier to play in a nuanced way that you know can actually be heard. I think the sound system particularly helped at the Orange Cat, because the seating area was set up across two different rooms, and there were other activities (henna, eating) happening further away from the show. Having a sound system focused the attention of those sitting in the concert seating on what was happening, rather than allowing for the other activities to distract.
Playing with others helped too. In the two Maine venues we played some version of “in the round” (in Kingfield switching off after three songs; in Portland switching off after one), which gave the audience continued reasons to focus on what was happening. And Alicia is simply a compelling performer – her voice, her focus, and her songs all seem to draw the audience in. Playing with her, I think, increased the extent to which the audience got in the habit of paying attention.
I would love to think that I’m getting better at getting the audience to listen even without all that other assistance. I think I have gotten better at introducing songs in ways that get people to focus at the beginning of the song; it’s then my job to be compelling enough at presenting the song that they want to continue to listen. For the most part, for whatever reasons, that happened on last weekend’s tour. And it was wonderful, so I hope I can make it happen again.