I have been a performing musician since my very first gig at the age of 16 and in that time I have crossed paths with many people from all walks of life, all religions, colours, creeds and preferences.
You name it… I’ve crossed paths with it.
Now, even with all of the different people that I’ve come across in my career, one similarity still remains…
Pub + Alcohol + Music + People = Chaos. Notice I mentioned the word “People” and not “Audience?”
This is because for me, an audience is defined as a group of people that WANT to experience music not just tolerate it
In my experience (mostly playing covers in a soloist or a band situation), I’ve played in venues where the audience look at the musician as an unwanted distraction from them watching sport on the big screen or, them talking about the sport that they’re watching on the big screen.
(Incidentally, I love this time of year when the AFL take a break)
In this weeks episode of The Soul Trader Podcast, Simon and I take on the roles of grumpy old musicians and discuss the pros and cons of performing live plus the unspoken rules of engagement between pub audiences and musicians.
The title of the podcast episode “Umm, Do You Know Any Beyonce?” was taken from an actual conversation I had with a drunk female punter at the Daniel O’Connell Hotel (for any of you Adelaide folk, remember that place) way back when.
The unspoken rules part of the episode description stems from a book idea I had which will attempt to document all of the best comeback lines a musician can make whilst engaging with drunk punters.
Anyways, check out the podcast episode below. You’ll be glad you did.
