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fewest people at a gig with a name act


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Nels Cline Singers, last year in Asheville. Around 30 people there.. Definitely an intimate performance, and very awesome.

 

Seriously? Was that at the Orange Peel? If so, that was some ambitious booking agent!

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Just like to add, I found it funny how I could tell that most of the people went to that show because "cool, it's that guy from Wilco!"   They quickly learned that The Singers are a completely differe

Seriously? Was that at the Orange Peel? If so, that was some ambitious booking agent!

 

Yep, the Orange Peel. I could tell that The Orange Peel wasn't planning for a packed house. There were chairs set up in front of the stage, and then a huge open space behind them.. About half of the chairs were occupied. It just cracks me up when I think of the look on peoples faces after the first few notes of the show.. :blink

 

But I enjoyed the hell out of it.. Drank some New Castle on draft, got to meet Nels.. Good times.

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Maybe 5 or 6 years ago we opened for Soul Asylum in a sports bar type of place way out on Long Island. It poured all night long and maybe 40 people, and the admission was $7 bucks. They were fun to hang with though and we all laughed about it. Thats just the way it goes sometimes.

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I saw a Jorma Kaukonen/Jck Cassidy acoustic show at a place in Denver called the Paramount like 7 years ago that was mind-bendingly empty. There were maybe 50 people in a 3000-seat place. I've seen them before that and after that and there is always a decent crowd. These two are legends and for a reason. Weird night. They carried on like nobody's business, regardless.

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Saw the Bottle Rockets a couple of years ago in Columbia (SC) with maybe 25 or 30 people in attendance. It was quite embarrassing and pretty sure they will never return. Also saw Doves at the Roxy in Atlanta several years ago and there were maybe 50 or so people in the crowd. They haven't been back since I don't think.

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Read an interview with Tim Finn from Split Enz talking about one of their early tours of the US where they found themselves playing to four people in some venue in Atlanta. At some point he addressed the audience: "Is everyone having a good time?!" - no response - "well we are, and the majority rules".

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Letters to Cleo is a "name act"?

 

sure

 

yeah, whether you like 'em or not - and i was never a big fan although they were fun to see live - they had a #10 billboard hit with Here and Now, appeared on Conan, Letterman and Jon Stewart, were on the Melrose Place soundtrack and in the show, toured the world with cheap trick, had a major label deal with warner brothers, etc.

 

so to see 'em at a gig with zero people there, yeah, that was a little odd

 

a month later they sold out the TLA headlining in philly, so i would classify them as a name act, whatever you may think of 'em

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I saw Blue Mountain last winter @ T.T. the Bear's Place in Cambridge, MA. The first act was a local string band called Hot Day at the Zoo. The place was packed. People were dancing and singing along. I figured by the time Blue Mountain took the stage the place would be packed to the gills. Boy, I was wrong. Hot Day at the Zoo finished their set and the place emptied out. Blue Mountain took the stage just after 11 pm and there were less than a dozen people there. I was shocked.

 

damn, thats crazy

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I don't know whether this counts. Tuesday just past was Australia Day, and most communities had some sort of evening concert with fireworks. Most of the acts are either local school bands or Australian Idol drop-outs.

 

This year I travelled to see Mark Seymour, singer and songwriter from Hunters and Collectors, perform at the, wait for it, International Regatta Centre at Penrith. There would have been a couple of thousand people in attendance at the open air event, but I swear there were only 5 or 6 of us actually at the "gig". The rest were just getting pissed and waiting for the fireworks, and throwing stuff at the band.

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Saw Colin Hay with about 50 people too...

 

:thumbup

 

i've seen him twice and dont know whether he's a musician or a comedian

 

 

there was an Ed Kuepper show here that wasnt promoted. i did a head count and there were 21 people there (opposed to the usual few hundred people). we were sitting on the floor like being back in school again!

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The Frames @ 400 Bar in 2006?[/size][/font][/color]

 

 

The Dr. Dog show we saw was probably the smallest I've ever seen for a "name" band, i suppose.

 

Though I think when I saw them at Langerado, they were on the stage furthest to the back and it rained the night before so you had to tramp through mud to get there. There might have been less people for that than at the 400 bar.

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The Dr. Dog show we saw was probably the smallest I've ever seen for a "name" band, i suppose.

 

Though I think when I saw them at Langerado, they were on the stage furthest to the back and it rained the night before so you had to tramp through mud to get there. There might have been less people for that than at the 400 bar.

 

hah... true. and you wanna hear something funny? last year they sold out the 400 Bar packed to the gills. funny what difference a year or two can make sometimes.

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The Frames @ 400 Bar in 2006?

That's kind of funny, because I saw The Frames headlining at the Annex in Madison in ... 2003 maybe? And it was pretty crowded. The Annex is a small place - capacity maybe 150 or something - but I'd say there were at least 75-100 people there. Did they go through a popularity lull afterward?

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Long long time ago (1984) I saw the clash at the agora ballroom in Hartford, CT-800 people

Smallest Wilco show-the chance show in poughkeepsie-700 people

Arctic monkeys-mercury lounge nyc-250 people

Bob weir and ratdog-ridgefield playhouse, CT-500 people

Ive seen the posies a few times at maxwells in hoboken NJ-200 people

Joe jackson and Neil finn (separately) bowery ballrooom nyc-550 people

 

thats all I can remember at the moment

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i would think that's right about maxwell's capacity

 

awesome place to see a show (but good luck parking)

I lived in Hoboken for 3 years and Maxwells was a very big reason to stay in Hoboken. I probably saw 40 shows at Maxwells. It is always reasonable,intimate and a great energy room! I love the fact that there is no backstage and the band has to walk through to crowd to get to the stage.

 

:dancing

 

Long long time ago (1984) I saw the clash at the agora ballroom in Hartford, CT-800 people

Smallest Wilco show-the chance show in poughkeepsie-700 people

Arctic monkeys-mercury lounge nyc-250 people

Bob weir and ratdog-ridgefield playhouse, CT-500 people

Ive seen the posies a few times at maxwells in hoboken NJ-200 people

Joe jackson and Neil finn (separately) bowery ballrooom nyc-550 people

 

thats all I can remember at the moment

Were the Clash that unpopular in the USA in 1984 or was that a one off type of show? I thought they would be in a way larger venue by then!I would have loved to see them..just starting to get into them (I am very late to the game)

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Smallest Wilco show-the chance show in poughkeepsie-700 people

This was a sellout, btw. The most crowded show I have been to there since Marillion in 1987.

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I lived in Hoboken for 3 years and Maxwells was a very big reason to stay in Hoboken. I probably saw 40 shows at Maxwells. It is always reasonable,intimate and a great energy room! I love the fact that there is no backstage and the band has to walk through to crowd to get to the stage.

 

yeah, it's just about my favorite place anywhere to see a band

 

the food is damn good too

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I lived in Hoboken for 3 years and Maxwells was a very big reason to stay in Hoboken. I probably saw 40 shows at Maxwells. It is always reasonable,intimate and a great energy room! I love the fact that there is no backstage and the band has to walk through to crowd to get to the stage.

Seeing the Feelies there in 1987 was one of my favorite shows of all time.

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