organizing

Saw three bands on Wednesday night, down here in SF: Seal, Elvis Costello, and UB40.  There were some other bands there at the Treasure Island party as well, but you can't be everywhere at once!  The only act I saw in its entirety was Seal.

Unfortunately it was a little bit painful.  In spite of the big-ticket sound and light systems, the free booze, and the big-name talent, there was very little enthusiasm in the audience, and very little energy in any of the rooms.  I have some theories about why.

First, I don't think you can really blame the bands.  They are all pros, and they sang and played their stuff well.  They weren't getting much energy back from the crowd, and they showed the disappointment from time to time.  They would try to get the audience clapping, and the audience would ignore them.  You could almost see the thoughts going through their heads: "OK, this gig sucks, but I'm getting paid - gotta tough it out!"  I felt kind of bad for them.

Hard to blame the audience either - it's not their job to drive the performance.  If they don't feel moved to dance and whoop and sing along, they're not obligated.

So who do we blame, if we must blame someone?

I believe the organizers were to blame.  First, this was a corporate gig, and the people got in "for free" because it was baked into their registration.  And if an audience doesn't pay, they're just not committed to having a good time.  I mean, if you shell out fifty bucks for a concert, you're going to try really hard to enjoy yourself so you don't feel like you wasted your money!

Also, the audience didn't pick the bands - it was a fixed menu.  In a normal Seal concert, everyone there self-selected because they love Seal.  Seal is great, but if I had to guess, I'd say that maybe 10% of the population would call themselves a "Seal fan."  So that's a hard place to start.  Seal was fighting an uphill battle, when in a concert of his own fans, he doesn't have to.  He may not have that skill!  He should ask a good busker how to do it.

Like most rock stars, all Seal really knows how to do when he's performing is strike rock star poses and look cool.  I couldn't understand the lyrics very often, so the songs couldn't hit me at a "meaning" level.  The melodies were sometimes artful.  The music itself was kind of repetitive.  It's the kind of stuff that really only works when you've got an audience packed with dedicated fans.

The audience almost got going when Seal sang "Kiss From A Rose" which is his most popular song, and one that everyone knew.  But he set it up with a very odd monologue.  Basically he said "this next song has a nice melody but I never really knew what the words meant - basically it's bullshit."  Ouch!  Geez man, keep your awkward inner thoughts to yourself next time.  But nobody really cared - they sang along and danced and almost got the party started.  The last three tunes were pretty high energy, and almost made up for the rest.  Always nice to finish well, since people tend to remember the first and the last thing in an event.

The other really awkward thing was the way the audience was divided.  There was a large area right in front of the stage reserved for the "really important people" at this corporate function.  Super Sponsors and VP's and the like.  So it was empty most of the time, and when Seal started singing they all sauntered out of their VIP tent with their cocktails in hand, reeking of self-importance.  They were too important to "get into" the concert, so they basically continued their highly important chatter instead. After all, Seal's purpose, in their worldview, was to prove that they were important enough to ignore him.  I wonder if they paid him extra for that.

Seal played often to a small group of "riff raff" (normal people) that were positioned near stage right.  They appreciated it a lot!  They were probably the dedicated Seal fans in the group, because they worked hard to get in front of the mostly indifferent crowd.

So here's how the event organizers performed against my back-of-the-napkin checklist:

• Got everybody drunk.  CHECK.
• Got some big name bands.  CHECK.
• Got bands that most people really liked.  FAIL. (but I don't know how they could)
• Got the audience committed to having fun.  FAIL.
• Created an contagiously fun environment.  FAIL. (because of the VIP area)

I had a pretty good time at the event, myself!  And I learned a lot about setting up a concert for success.