[atlantaprog] Re: Atlanta

Atlanta just has so many bands, so many venues and so many things to do that 
it makes it difficult to have a crowd at any shows.  As I've said before, 
I've been playing in Atlanta since the early 90s and I've only been in 2 
bands that had good crowds in Atlanta - and Cobweb Strange is NOT one of 
them :-)  Smaller towns don't have as much to offer and as a result, there 
are more people out when a band plays.  I don't think that we should stop 
playing in Atlanta, but we don't play here very much because it seems like 
we really aren't growing much here.  You guys are mostly the only people at 
our shows and you already know us.  We get paid better and play to more 
people in smaller towns, so there just doesn't seem to be much point in our 
playing here very often.  In addition, so many of the clubs here just aren't 
organized.  We never have anywhere near as many problems with cancellations, 
double bookings, wrong times, etc. in other cities.  (speaking of which, our 
show at the Beer Mug on June 1 was just cancelled)

As for longer sets, we often play for four hours without any other bands 
when we're out of town.  We throw in covers to keep people interested and it 
works pretty well in other cities.  In Atlanta, it just doesn't work.  There 
aren't places to play that have a built in audience and as a result, clubs 
with live music depend on the bands to bring the crowd.  That means that 
having 7 bands play for 30 minutes each gives the club a better chance of 
breaking even because you have 7 bands bringing a few people each.  It's 
frustrating, but I can understand it from the clubs point of view.

I don't know what the answer is for Atlanta.  I've been talking with other 
people in bands about it for years and so far, no one else seems to know 
either.  From hearing about the Lord Only and Mindworm shows this weekend, 
it doesn't sound like this group is even helping much with attendance at 
live shows and if a group of musicians and fans of Prog can't even pull 
together an audience around here, I don't know what can.

-Wade

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