To heck with club gigs

[marc61]

So my son and I go to Prospect Park in Brooklyn yesterday because the Dead Weather were playing. In my attempt to teach him a little about economics, I told him we could not spend money on tickets, but would enjoy listening to the show from the outside. As usual, he brought his trusty guitar and amp to keep him company while we waited.

We made a stop at the front of the ticket holders line to say hello to a friend. As we started to walk away, people starting saying "hey play us a song". So he takes the guitar out and starts to play. Before you know it, people are clapping, shouting out requests(he has a pretty good ear and can fudge chords as long as he knows the song). Then they just started approaching with money. I was reluctant to accept it, but Evan was not , Before you knew it, one of the road crew came out, took a short video of him doing a Dead Weather song, and sent it to the tour manager who was having dinner with the band. They all got a kick out of it, and we got free tickets to the show.

The kid took in more money in two hours then we've made at most of our shows.

Here's a brief clip -

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[ajish4]

So my son and I go to Prospect Park in Brooklyn yesterday because the Dead Weather were playing. In my attempt to teach him a little about economics, I told him we could not spend money on tickets, but would enjoy listening to the show from the outside. As usual, he brought his trusty guitar and amp to keep him company while we waited.

We made a stop at the front of the ticket holders line to say hello to a friend. As we started to walk away, people starting saying "hey play us a song". So he takes the guitar out and starts to play. Before you know it, people are clapping, shouting out requests(he has a pretty good ear and can fudge chords as long as he knows the song). Then they just started approaching with money. I was reluctant to accept it, but Evan was not , Before you knew it, one of the road crew came out, took a short video of him doing a Dead Weather song, and sent it to the tour manager who was having dinner with the band. They all got a kick out of it, and we got free tickets to the show.

The kid took in more money in two hours then we've made at most of our shows.

Here's a brief clip -

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WnnN1EfZRr0&hl ... ram><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WnnN1EfZRr0&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>[/youtube]

Hey Marc,

That's a great story!

I think I'm going to move this to MY GIG FORUM, but I'll wait a bit and see a bit.

Thanks for sharing it with us, that is great!

[marc61]

Yeah Tony, I probably should have posted it there but, technically, he's not a member of the forum

[jdogric12]

Shoot, put it where it will get the most traffic!!! Neat story! I got paid once... to STOP singing!!! (I speak only truth.)

[cjj]

Hey, totally cool story! Any more video of this "gig"?

[elreydlp]

Great story and a nice gesture on the part of the band's manager.

[jps]

I guess Evan did learn something about economics.

[marc61]

Hey, totally cool story! Any more video of this "gig"?

they're starting to pop up on youtube. if you search Dead Weather Evan you should find some.

Tonight we went to try and sneak in to a special performance of the band at a small club. Unfortunately, while the organizers wanted us in, the bouncer would not allow Evan in because of his age. Anyway, it was cool. Everyone recognized him including the band(we saw them outside), and the opening act from last night.

[marc61]

Interesting(hijacking my own thread here)...my son wants to make a regular thing out of going to the park and singing/playing. I have looked into local laws and discovered it's not legal(without permit) to make amplified sound in public places. The permit is expensive, and only applies to specific days. I like the idea of what he is trying to do as performing in NYC clubs can be a dead end. Especially at his age as while we try to respect the law, club owners don't wish to be educated in it.

I remember when Jazz guitarist Stanley Jordon was coming up in the world he was a street performer. Club owners would approach him and offer him dates, to which he would refuse. He was making too much money in the streets.

[jdogric12]

Do you need a permit for acoustic?

[marc61]

Do you need a permit for acoustic?

Nope but our plan was to do mini sets with a mic and everything. Looks like we gotta find a cheap acoustic and bass for our "busking"