dynamaso

Join Date 09/2004

+69

The (Live) Music Has Died Inside Me

Or at the very least it has been injured...

I’ve been wanting to post something other than poetry but to be honest, I haven’t really had anything to say that doesn’t involve repetitions of previous information about either my life or my band. But something happened recently that has been in the back of my mind, bubbling away in my subconscious. This occurred at the end of August, which goes to show how slow my mind works

The band has been going great guns. The last Friday in August was our last night of a very successful month long residency at a local venue. As we completed our second encore and were stepping off the stage, a genuine, toe-to-toe bar room brawl broke out.

Now I’ve seen more than a few of these over the years and they’ve always cast a darkness over me. But this brawl was something even worse. According to reliable sources, blokes who had been mates for life were fighting each other. I saw one smash a bottle into another’s head. I saw a different one pick up a barstool and hit another in the face with it. When he went down (as you would do), his attacker stood over him and was about to hit him in the face again with the stool. Thankfully, a friend of mine saw what was happening and grabbed the stool out of his hands. I believe he would have killed the poor bloke if my friend hadn’t acted.

It was absolutely disgusting, ridiculous and appalling. The net result is the venue won’t be putting any more live music on for a while and the police, who can’t do much else because no one is pressing charges, are going after the venue instead. Oh yeah, and of course the police are blaming the music, which just goes to show how little the police really understand the community.

In my local area, most of the nightlife is provided by ‘super’ venues, huge facilities with multiple bars catering for just about every kind of person. Except the person who enjoys live music. These places are cash-vacuums, sucking in the young and loaded and spitting them out 12 hours later broke and looking and smelling a whole lot worse than they did when they entered. Large groups of bouncers (hmm, what is a good collective noun for bouncers? How about a ‘break’ of bouncers) patrol the streets outside, generally keeping the violence to a minimum but quite often only stirring up trouble amongst the drunken patrons. As a consequence, fights between drunken young men often break out and sometimes tragedy is very close behind, be it accidental or deliberate. Do the police blame these venues? No, they usually blame the mix of alcohol, drugs and testosterone.

Live music venues, by comparison, are usually much smaller and don’t require the services of a team of highly trained hard men to keep the punters in line. In fact, it is an extremely rare thing the punters even need to be kept in line. I could say it is because music keeps everyone calm, but that would be rather simplistic. People who come to see music and bands are for the most part genuinely interested in music and therefore more appreciative, attentive and in tune with what is going on. So for the police to blame live music is just ridiculous.

The unfortunate thing is on our last night, a small percentage of the punters were only there to get plastered and cause problems. The only reason they chose our venue is purely because of convenience i.e. it was close to home. So they got themselves well wasted on whatever drugs (probably crystal meth). Then they came to the venue to drink on top of it all. I suppose if ever there was a recipe for anarchistic violence, this was it.

The upshot is it has left a very bad taste in my mouth. I’m not sure why but performing has lost some of its magic and appeal to me. I can feel in my heart, seriously. The band has not been in the same room together since but we’re planning on our first rehearsal this weekend. Hopefully, I’m the only one who feels this way. I am hoping the break might have taken some of the edge off this incident for all of us. Here is hoping…

misc

Locked Post

Advanced Search

Watch this post

Do not email me updates for this post Email me updates for this post

Successfully updated karma reason!

Gosh I'm sorry Maso. This makes me really sad.

Successfully updated karma reason!

The net result is the venue won’t be putting any more live music.... Oh yeah, and of course the police are blaming the music....

Yeah, everyone knows bar fights are caused by live music, not, I don't know, drinking.

You do a good job here of detailing the factors likely to cause a fight in general, and this one in particular. That the venue would back off (other than from police pressure) or anyone would blame the music is senseless.

I’m not sure why but performing has lost some of its magic and appeal to me.

Look, you went through an intense, possibly frightening experience. It's only natural to associate it with what you were doing at the time and look to avoid that situation again. It's a survival instinct. Remember your love of live performance, and find ways to satisfy your survival instinct that it is unlikely to happen again (maybe mentally rehearse ways to safely extricate yourself from a similar situation, or set up gig taking criteria which you feel will mitigate the possibility of ending up in another incident), and you should be doing fine.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Maso,

I'm really sorry to hear you are feeling this way. I hope the break will do you good and you find your way back to the music.

Successfully updated karma reason!

This gig was not dull! Sorry about the hassle. Hope you can hook up with a new one soon, and your muse returns for a more appreciative crowd.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Dang, sorry to hear about that mate. Hopefully it is a temporary dulling of the desire to play live.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Five bucks says they were playing video games before they came, that's what REALLY causes violence.

I don't have the skills to play an instrument, so I count on guys like you to do it for me. I really hope it's just a temporary feeling, but it might not go away until you've performed a couple shows without brawls, you know?

Successfully updated karma reason!

The world needs music and bands to play it. I hope you guys continue to do so despite the rowdies.

Successfully updated karma reason!

I know that there's always and forever will be fights in bars. But it seems like these days...I dunno. We used to go to a cool little smoky venue ALL THE TIME where the booze flowed and the rock 'n roll was raucous and LOUD and, best of all, LIVE and hardly ever did we witness even a scuffle.

Now it seems like these days...I dunno. What's changed? What's with these times now?

But for those of us who still love it live, keep the music playing Maso. We need people like you and need you desperately.

Successfully updated karma reason!

But, hey, learning a martial art couldn't hurt, either.

Successfully updated karma reason!

That was really horrible for you guys to experience after what should have been a satisfying night. It's awful when the small few spoils it for those who like what you do Mark. I'm really sorry it ended that way.

Here's hoping this won't be the last of live music for you and your band and that there will be a turn-around. I used to enjoy going to concerts and they were always fun but yes, there were the few bad eggs in the crowd. I hope this isn't the end of an era there.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Tex,

This makes me really sad.

Me too. It also frustrates the heck out of me. I didn't detail it in my original post but one of the other major issues with losing the venue was the amount of work we'd put into booking and promoting the place. I'd spent a month on the phone talking to everyone I could and getting bands to come along and check the venue out. On the night in question, representatives from three different bands turned up and were really loving the vibe of the place until it went pear-shaped.

Gene,

other than from police pressure

You've hit the nail on the head. This is exactly why the venue backed down. The threat of very large fines was just too much for them. The funny thing is, early that night I met with the owner and the manager of the venue who were both very happy about how I was running things. Funny how much can change in a few short hours.

It's only natural to associate it with what you were doing at the time and look to avoid that situation again. It's a survival instinct.

You know, I've been trying to rationalise my feelings this way too. But I sure appreciate hearing it from someone else.

Remember your love of live performance

You're dead right. As I said, I am hoping once we all get back together to rehearse, the magic will return. Thanks so much for your sage advice, Gene. You're a good man.

Kelly,

Music will always be an inextricable part of my life. Performing, however, is going to take a little more work, I think. But with the support of you good people, I'm sure I will bounce back.

Whip,

Thanks very much. Just what I needed.

Doc,

Gigs will never be a problem for us. But as for playing them, well, we'll have to wait and see.

BlueDev,

Hopefully it is a temporary dulling of the desire to play live

Yes, I sincerely hope so too. I have to say writing about it here has been somewhat cathartic.

Jythier,

Five bucks says they were playing video games before they came, that's what REALLY causes violence

Yeah, that and the violent movies they were watching before they came out. I guess when it comes down to it, I should be blaming Hollywood and games manufacturers, right? How ridiculous. I've played some of the most violent games available and am a big fan of tear-their-heads-off horror movies and I've never felt even remotely like hitting, punching or in any other way damaging persons or property. Again, it just shows how out of touch the police are with the community. I'm not saying the police don't do a necessary job but sometimes, they just don't necessarily do a good job.

I count on guys like you to do it for me

See, it is you guys who make what I do a joy. Happy, appreciative people who are only there for the music. I wish there were more of you. Thanks for you kind words.

Mason,

The world needs music and bands to play it

I agree completely. Actually, this is a discussion or another post I would like to write. The crux is music is NOT to blame for and individual's bad behaviour. The individual is the only person responsible.

Roy,

We used to go to a cool little smoky venue ALL THE TIME where the booze flowed and the rock 'n roll was raucous and LOUD and, best of all, LIVE and hardly ever did we witness even a scuffle.

I've been to small bars, medium venues and large entertainment centre gigs. More than I can remember or count, in fact. I've been to gigs as a punter, a reviewer and as a performer. I can honestly count on one hand the times I've seen bad behaviour at any of these gigs. One hand... Yeah, sure, music is the root cause of all problems. Yes, Mr. Policeman, you really know what you're talking about.

What's with these times now?

Self-absorbed, selfish, wasted violent people who have little regard for anything or anybody around them. Man, not even the punks I used to know were this bad.

We need people like you and need you desperately

It does my heart good to hear this, mate. You rock...

Jythier,

learning a martial art couldn't hurt

I do know a couple of martial arts and these have only taught me violence is no answer. But your point is well taken, thanks.

Serenity,

It's awful when the small few spoils it for those who like what you do Mark. I'm really sorry it ended that way.

Yep, once again it was a case of the few idiots ruining it for the many. This includes all the hard work put in to get the gigs happening too.

this won't be the last of live music for you and your band and that there will be a turn-around

I hope so too, I really do. I love playing live and feeding off the energy of a tightly packed, sweaty room. There is nothing quite like it.

Thanks to you all for your considered responses. As I said, just writing it down has been a good thing in itself. Hopefully, I'll be able to come back in a few days and let you all know our rehearsals were really good.

Successfully updated karma reason!