Audience size

[hitchy64]

Just got back from a gig, we played really well, no cock ups or any mistakes.
We started off playing to 3 people and ended off the second set with 12. We still got £200, so it's a paid rehearsal really. Thats gotta be the worst attended gig we'v done, the best being 800+.
What's you best and worst????

[clarkpegasus4001]

[quote name='hitchy64' post='1368207' date='Sep 10 2011, 01:34 AM']Just got back from a gig, we played really well, no cock ups or any mistakes.
We started off playing to 3 people and ended off the second set with 12. We still got £200, so it's a paid rehearsal really. Thats gotta be the worst attended gig we'v done, the best being 800+.
What's you best and worst????[/quote]


Worst was with my last band, 13 which went down to 5!
Best was with my current band around 150+

[risingson]

Smallest was about 6, but it was a bloody good laugh! The biggest was just under 10,000 I believe although I couldn't be certain. I actually had more fun at the gig with only 6 people there. My second biggest gig is coming up next month, but it could turn out to be my biggest yet depending on how things go.

Edited September 10, 2011 by risingson

[goblin]

The smallest was with a band 4 or 5 years ago where we played for the other band and sound engineer (whom we took with us), but it was still a good gig in the end. Biggest has probably been 300 upwards, the band I've recently been playing with played the Rochdale Feel Good festival official after party, and that was a pretty packed venue. The biggest the band (before me) have done is the Manchester Christmas lights switch on - over 25,000 and I've heard that we're possibly doing it again this year.

[acidbass]

Smallest was to 0 punters - just bar staff and bouncers. The management insisted we played on anyway despite an empty venue and we got paid in full at the end of the gig!

Largest was 18,000 at a festival, that was good

[chrismuzz]

Smallest gig was when we played to the sound tech, 3 of our girlfriends, and the guitarist's mum and dad

Largest was probably about 90 people. But then we are a metal band so that's probably good!

[rOB]

Smallest was just bar staff, other bands and the sound tech with a post punk band. Pretty funny.

Biggest was a birthday party with a covers band. Probably 200 people.

[Rodders]

Smallest was the Landlord and the organiser at an open mic

Biggest was 500ish at a battle of the bands competition

[gafbass02]

Smallest was just the bar staff, (more than once) and the biggest have all been been 10,000 plus festivals and mahoosive venues.

[martin8708]

Smallest was barstaff plus Lead Guitarist's Mum + Dad ( a bit odd as he is in his 30's and his parents come to each gig? )
Biggest 500 plus at the Royal Mail Christmas party held in the sorting office in Peterborough , apparently Status Quo and Level 42 have done gigs at the same sorting office , or so we were told .

[Badass]

Five was the smallest, just out numbering the band by one, and 10,000+ on support gigs, and I had a ball at both extremes. Never really bother by the crowd size, although bigger the better.

[yorick]

Smallest to bar staff Biggest, 30, 000 people at a festival in Japan.

[hillbilly deluxe]

Smallest,about 20.Largest,(potential audience of 130,000)actual about 15,000.

[xgsjx]

Smallest was with my old rock band. I knew no one in Perth (still don't know many) so asked my work colleagues if they wanna come to our 1st gig in Perth.
1 turned up. The gig was in a separate room from the bar & a couple of folk started popping through about 5 songs in so we may have max'd 6 at one point.

Largest is @ 350-400ish which is what most of my gigs have been.

[Len_derby]

Smallest 10, biggest about 500.
I try and put the same amount of effort in whatever the audience size. Otherwise it's disrespectful to those who have bothered to turn out.
You have to put the same amount of time and work in on set-up and take-down anyway.

[JTUK]

Been lucky enough not to play to small numbers of late, and I would find it dispiriting to say the least.
The venues round here have to work very hard for numbers and the first thing a venue/pub will ask...is have you got a following?
Of course, that doesn't magic up 20 odd people all the time, which is what they really want you to do to add to their regulars but
they are also quite ruthless with bands who don't/can't do this.
Some pubs have a one booking rule and depending on that gig..however it turns out...determines if you get booked again.

Bands realise this and work equally as hard to get numbers... as of course, this determines whether you are worth the money.

Funnily enough, there are more ticketed venues about now, around here, so it is odd that people will/have to pay to see a band at one venue, that they can go
elsewhere to see them for free....
This puts more emphasise on the bands roll..... there are no freebies anymore, but if you can do the necessary, you end up as one of the bands that all venues lok out for.

Bums on seats and beer sold..it is entirely a numbers game.

[Fat Rich]

My first gig was a fairly big one at Middlesex Polytechnic in the late 80s, I didn't count 'em because I was nervous enough already but probably 500+ people.

Smallest gig was at the Stick of Rock in east London, we played to the bar staff and a bloke with a Jack Russell dog. About halfway through our first number the dog looked at his owner and jerked his head towards the door, the bloke nodded at him gloomily and they left without a word. If they'd stuck around a bit longer they would have seen the drummer's throne work it's way off the back of the drum riser and him disappear completely mid fill. We were a quality act.

[ROConnell]

Smallest was probably about 15-20 at a social club. Largest was at The Warwick Arts Centre to around 600. Only started in January though.

[Blademan_98]

At a jam night, just the landlord and myself were there for around three hours.

At the end, as we were about to pack up, a group of 6 turned up and the landlord said 'if you want to get paid for tonight, play!'

The best is a pub full.

I would love to play a bigger venue.

[JakeBrownBass]

Smallest was just the bar staff & other bands. Largest is about 25000 at a festival.

[Paultrader]

The smallest was eight at a wedding. I felt much more sorry for the bride and groom than for us!

The largest was 15,000+ at a balloon fiesta in Oxford on a gorgeous sunny Saturday - magic! I love that big open air sound from the PA when the bass is all around you on the stage, deep and throaty.

[BigRedX]

It's not the size of the crowd but their enthusiasm for your performance that counts. I've done gigs to a only handful of people but who were all going nuts to the music and festivals and big college gigs to indifferent audiences of several thousand.

I know which ones were more fun to play and ultimately more rewarding.

[Beer of the Bass]

Largest; packed 900 capacity venue on new year's eve.
Smallest; erm, 0. We kept playing, too!

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1368408' date='Sep 10 2011, 11:28 AM']It's not the size of the crowd but their enthusiasm for your performance that counts. I've done gigs to a only handful of people but who were all going nuts to the music and festivals and big college gigs to indifferent audiences of several thousand.

I know which ones were more fun to play and ultimately more rewarding.[/quote]

Yep I agree, Ive had some very recent chuff gigs to biggish crowds but they were not there just to see us, I guess thats the thing how many to see you as a band rather than how many were there anyway?

Played the castle pub up the road a few times to about 8 blokes (one might of been a woman, im not 100% sure ) and their moto is that no band can leave on the same day as they arrive! encore after encore after encore they just love it!

Edited September 10, 2011 by stingrayPete1977

[MacDaddy]

Good thread

According to publicity for a previous band I've played to 10,000+ festival crowds.

It's actually 800+ when I was in a band that won a battle of the bands final.

Smallest audience? I've done gigs where there were more people in the band than in the audience