[atlantaprog] Re: Atlanta

This is as factual of a statement as I've seen on this list.  There is no
question of the talent that is in this town (from a progressive
perspective) however, the town is NOT progressive.  It is a hip hop town
for the city dwellers... meanwhile the folks that would like our shows sit
at home burned out from their day jobs.  The economy makes matters even
worse, as they work longer hours to keep their jobs.

Not to mention how difficult it is to entice new players to the scene. 
This environment does not motivate busy (but excellent musicians) to join
bands that play for 7 people.  We have been looking for a drummer now for
5 months.  The ones we auditioned could not cut it.  The one that could
lives in NASHVILLE where there are plenty of places to play.

The solution... MOVE or take your show on the road.  You are not going to
change Atlanta anytime soon.  Sorry for the caustic message... Wade just
struck an "MAJOR" Chord with me!

FYI to the group, UT can use the services of my old drummer who lives in
Nashville for the right shows... if there is such a thing here.  He is
excellent and is currently gigging with the Whooton Bros in Nashville.  We
are open to playing with other bands at some venues if there is an
opportunity.  Love to play live again for the hell of it...

Bob@xxxxxxxxxxx


Wade S wrote:
>
> 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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