........................................
A note to club owners and agents and our wonderful fans.
.. ..
We had our three piece rock, blues, original music and fusion
band together for about 8 months. We had quite a few gigs and we appreciate the
opportunities we’ve had. Some clubs asked us to come back, some didn’t and
there were a few that we didn’t want to go back to, not because we didn’t like
the people but because we didn’t think we were a good fit for some places and
some places weren’t a good fit for us. We were not your typical juke box dance
band; we were more of a concert type experience. I don’t say that to condescend
or elevate us above anyone, I’m only describing what (who) we were.
.. ..
Audiences enjoyed this band where ever we played. We didn’t
generally have a packed out dance floor but we had a lot of people that I call
“chin rubbers” who sit back and take it in and appreciate the performance and
the music. They drink and they spend money . . . in a different way from the
usual rowdy crowd. I have heard the comment “you don’t fit in here” or more
pointedly; “what are you doing here?” quite a bit. People don’t understand that
if you are not an arena or a national act and you need to play and build a
following, the clubs are your only choice.
.. ..
Nightclubs have a format that they decide upon and want to
stick to and I understand that. Once, back in the early 90s I had a band that
played progressive blues, jazzy blues and blues rock. We played at The Slippery
Noodle on the big stage and brought down the house, the audience loved the
band, which only confused us when the club gave us the cold shoulder and
wouldn’t book us back in there. I now understand that they had a basic or back
porch blues format that was what they were known for and that’s what they
wanted to keep going, regardless of what the audience thought. It’s kind of sad
if you think about it; that people have to leave and go to another city if they
want to hear a progressive band in a nightclub. If you are a forward thinking
artist or at the very least a non jukebox band or you’re not a classic rock
band and you’re in ..Indianapolis.. or southern ....Indiana.... you are dead.
.. ..
The conundrum to all of this is that everywhere you go in ..Indianapolis.. and southern ....Indiana...., with a few exceptions, attendance
has died! In 1972 to 1980 we had more people in the ....Holyoke...., The Bell 40, ....62nd Street...., The Banyan Tree, Patches
etc on a Monday night than these places have on Friday and Saturday combined.
On a larger scale, we sat attendance records in ..Atlanta..
and Augusta GA, ..Columbia.. ..SC..
and ....Daytona Beach....
that still stand to this day. Artists and bands had more control of their
format back then and clubs and agents were more open-minded. Generally, if you
went out to see a band back then, you got snazzed up a little and prepared for
an event because you were going to see a show, not a band as background noise
taking 2nd place to a food menu and a bunch of TV sets all over the
place.
.. ..
I know, I’m preaching to the choir . . . whatever. In the
end it doesn’t matter and I’m not here to try and change the business habits of
anyone, it’s their money and I don’t care. All I’m saying is that there are a
lot of people who don’t go out to clubs anymore because they can’t hear what
they want to hear or see what they want to see. They stay at home because they
can spin the music that they dig on their home stereo and not have to deal with
the idiotic atmosphere that has developed in the nightclubs here. I am just a
very tiny voice in the mix of a very large and LOUD problem and club owners and
agents will not hear what I have to say, it’ll never reach their ears but as
they count their numbers and ring out their cash registers at the end of each
and every night, maybe they’ll think about it for a fleeting moment.
.. ..
Flash forward twenty years when my Grandchildren will come
to me and say; Grandpa, would you tell us about when you used to go to
nightclubs and there was REAL BANDS playing with real ....Marshall.... amps, drum sets, pa systems, light
shows and all that other stuff we see on the History channel? You know? Before
nightclubs became places with TVs, Video Games and electronic or piped in music
and how the clubs wouldn’t do anything to change it and it became what it is
now?
.. ..
Anyway, thanks to all our fans and Three Point 0
enthusiasts, we appreciate your support. The members, Larry ‘..Bongo..” Brannon, Dan Davis and Lo Woods will go
separate ways for now but you just never know about the future, I’m sure we’ll
meet back up again sooner or later.