I've been to a lot of concerts: a few really small concerts (a few hundred people or less), a lot of medium-sized concerts, and a handful of big concerts (arena-type shows with several thousand people). They're all enjoyable, but there's something special about a concert that's really small, for a few reasons:
1. You can get really close to the band. Often, these really small venues have no barrier or security preventing you from getting right up in front of the stage, which tends to be lower to the ground than stages at bigger venues. At the Grog Shop in Cleveland, the stage is barely two feet off the ground, with nothing blocking it. At the Heirloom Arts Theatre in Danbury, CT, the stage is about four feet off the ground, again with no barrier- when I was there, singers would get down on the front of the stage and audience members would actually sing into the microphone.
2. Even if you're all the way in the back, you can still see everything that's happening on stage. When I saw New Found Glory at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ, I was in the back for some of the opening bands (almost outside- the show was in August, and the back doors were open, and people were standing on the back porch), but because of the size of the venue even if you were outside, you could still see everything.
3. Because of the size, and small number of people there (400 versus 4,000 versus 40,000... that's a difference of a factor of 10 or 100!), small shows are more intimate than bigger shows. Band members can actually see the individual people in the crowd (and the people in the crowd can see them), and the shows are more personal. When there are 20,000 people in an arena, a singer can talk to the audience, but when there are 200 people in a tiny venue, a singer can actually talk to an individual, and it feels more personal. When I was at the CT Holiday Throwdown, a guitarist in one of the bands came up to me and said he'd seen me having fun in the crowd. The number of people you're sharing the experience with is smaller, so it's more special.
4. Tickets for small shows are usually cheaper than at bigger shows. I don't think I've ever paid more than $20 for a really small show. On the other hand, I've paid $30 to $50 for tickets at the House of Blues and ~$90 for tickets to a concert at an arena. Of course, if I wanted to see someone like U2 at an arena, it'd be in the hundreds.
5. It's way easier to meet band members. When I saw Hey Monday and Cartel at the Grog Shop in Cleveland, Jordan Witzigreuter (a.k.a. The Ready Set) literally walked by me and my friend three or four times on his way to go backstage. After the show, we met one of the members of Cartel when he was standing by the bar. I met tons of the musicians that played at the CT Holiday Throwdown. I met one of the members of New Found Glory when he was standing outside the Stone Pony (since the tour bus was right there- no special lot with extra security or anything).
No comments:
Post a Comment