crowds at shows = USA sucks

[Jasonic]

Wasn't there an article recently about a dude whose employer gave him paid leave for attending Metal concerts?
I couldn't find the article, but does anyone know what I'm talking about?

Yea, though it was from Sweden!
Further proof that Europe is better than the US for EVERYTHING!

 

[PowerMetalNerd]

Oh, and if your real-life persona is anything like your on-line persona, I'd imagine that your simple presence at a venue could bring down the mood of the entire crowd, so that might explain it too!

Neil

 

[PowerMetalNerd]

Yea, though it was from Sweden!
Further proof that Europe is better than the US for EVERYTHING!

Found it!

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=75046

Edit:

Damn! I just saw you posted the same damn article in another thread from like three days ago.
Sorry dude...I'm a little behind.

 

[The Invisible Guest]

I think it depends on the band..

I agree. I would rather be at a gig of 100 die hards than 1000 people who could not care less.

The issue of Euro / Asian crowd VS US crowd has been the case forever.

Look at how many US bands have their albums released overseas before here in the States?

It depends on the band ... people were very active for Amon Amarth when I saw them a few months back at the House Of Blues.

I also thought the crowd was quite good at The Pearl Room for that recent Symphony X show.

Britt

 

[Saladbar]

No concert that I've ever attended has compared to Iron Maiden @ Mexico City last February. I haven't been to any European fests yet though. The Amon Amrth show last December was the first that came to mind like Britt said, that was a wild crowd. Slayer crowds are wicked no matter what so I guess it does depend on the band as well.
Believe it or not one of the wildest shows for me was Anthrax with Belladonna @ HOB, I was right inside the pit too so maybe I got a different feeling from it, Chicago has always been good to Anthrax though.

 

[Jasonic]

Sure, there are always going to be select Chicago shows with a great crowd response.
I think Bob was speaking more of bigger festivals, and how it is attributable to the overall reaction to metal overseas.

I mean, its pathetic when a band like Novembers Doom or Trouble play a local gig, and 50 people show up.

 

[Dr. Pete]

An interview with Kelly from Atheist on Living For Metal illustrates this point. One of the points from it is that people in Europe don't mind traveling to shows in even other countries, as opposed to people here who sometimes don't even travel the short distances to the nearest show that a band will play.

 

[Jasonic]

An interview with Kelly from Atheist on Living For Metal illustrates this point. One of the points from it is that people in Europe don't mind traveling to shows in even other countries, as opposed to people here who sometimes don't even travel the short distances to the nearest show that a band will play.

True, though traveling in Europe across countries is easier than in the US.
Though I will admit to being guilty of not attending a show due to distance of city / venue.

 

[rms]

People are so ecleptic that not every show has bands everyone likes, I havent been to a show since PPUSA8 which I liked every band(well i guess other than VS) and I was happy throughout, when im at my hometown going to shows it's usually some random opener I like and 4 metalcore bands, and around here, it gets crazy. You really can't compare to Europe, or anywhere else though, since you've never been there and watching YouTubes and DVDs is highly irrelevant.

 

[Dolamite S. Biffle]

The venues in my area have in and out policy for the most part, so I just go outside during bands I dont like its just that easy. At the shows where I dont like the bands I just try to find the quietest spot, which is never really that quiet. I just try to make it a point to not miss metal when it comes to my town, though its not like I live in Chicago where my city gets every tour.

 

[rms]

I wish when we had an in and out policy it wasn't 10 degrees outside

 

[Redagony]

I dont think its the crowds so much. I think it is more the band lineups at each show are what caus this.

 

[Machine of Hate]

i think the exodus show at the pearl room proved that the chicago scene is still crazy

 

[GateXII]

I mean, its pathetic when a band like Novembers Doom or Trouble play a local gig, and 50 people show up.

Very true!! But the reason for that is cuz our scene here sees them as nothing more than local bands....and THAT's what's pathetic! It's the "Oh, I can just go see them next time" mentality.

No different than Into Eternity now too...they've become the local band everywhere.

 

[Diabolik]

No different than Into Eternity now too...they've become the local band everywhere.

hahahahahaah, that was good. Even I never thought of that insult. I think I am rubbing off on you Rob.

It is true with Trouble and Novembers Doom falling under that catagory of, they are just local acts. Both acts though need to be exposed to a wider Chicago audience though. If say, Novembers Doom were opening for a larger national act, I am sure they would gain lots of new fans due to people who are not savy and who research bands, being surprised a band this good is local.

Again this could fall back to our discussion we had about local acts not trying and pushing it. Think about all the local acts who just are not up to par yet or are playing way to early or last maybe a year or so before breaking up and moving on. There are very few local acts who make it past the 5 year mark. So most average fans always think of that stigma about local acts with any band from thier area. It is sad, but it is the hard truth.

 

[Jasonic]

I think too, that for a local scene to develop and survive, you need a dedicated venue who is there to support the cause (IE - the Thirsty Whale, etc). Sure, there are venues that support local bands (IE - Penny Road, Nite Caps, Legends, etc). Though not many look at those places and see it as a venue where you can see a local metal gig every weekend.

I know for a while, Legends was trying to do metal every Sunday night. Something like that could get the ball rolling. Then, as that gets more popular, you can work on bringing in smaller touring bands even.

 

[Saladbar]

I think too, that for a local scene to develop and survive, you need a dedicated venue who is there to support the cause (IE - the Thirsty Whale, etc). Sure, there are venues that support local bands (IE - Penny Road, Nite Caps, Legends, etc). Though not many look at those places and see it as a venue where you can see a local metal gig every weekend.

I know for a while, Legends was trying to do metal every Sunday night. Something like that could get the ball rolling. Then, as that gets more popular, you can work on bringing in smaller touring bands even.

So tell me more about the Thristy Whale...........

 

[Jasonic]

Well, the Whale was a haven for all the local metal bands of the day. Primarily, it was for more of the glam scene, though they did house the occasional thrash show. It became the premiere suburban hangout for those into the local scene.

I think I was only there maybe 3 times.

I don't recall the exact date it folded, maybe somewhere around 1995???

 

[Rycher]

So tell me more about the Thristy Whale...........

"The Thirsty Whale Story"

http://www.thirstywhale.com/article.asp

DeCanio’s club ends whale of a run
BY TODD SHIELDS
STAFF WRITER
Courtesy of the The River Grove Messenger
(article appeared June 5, 1996)

In the dank reaches of The Cave, John the bartender tells another patron he has no farewell T-shirts or jackets for sale to commemorate the last weekend of the Thirsty Whale.

The man, hair far below his shoulders, is about 35 years old or more, shrugs, says thanks, and exits into bright afternoon sunshine, perhaps reconciled he'll never again see the rock ‘n' roll groups he witnessed in this raucous, hard-nosed club that has hosted the country’s best traveling bar bands since 1981.

Tonight, May 31, is the last Friday night show and Enuff Z' Nuff is the headliner. No kidding.

Two nights later, June 2, is the very last show with Radakka and Stonehenge. Amid the club’s bricked walls that ooze concrete and the stucco ceiling are posted band advertisements, screaming at customers in day-glow green “Goodbye!” “The Whale’s Last Weekend,” “Let’s Party.”

In the Whale’s place, after the June 7 demolition, an Amoco gas station and McDonald’s will be built by November.

Washing a stack of cocktail glasses and ignoring a Jerry Springer show on television, John says, “Seems like everyone has been stopping by for one last look. We had a small party here last night for friends, about 25 regulars and employees. It’s all pretty sad. We’re like a family, you know.”

Except for John, an Old Style deliveryman standing by the bar and a young guy with foppish hair dashing back and forth from the stage to the sound booth, The Thirsty Whale is empty.

Jimmy DeCanio, the Whale’s owner, then turns around a dark corner and walks past empty quart liquor bottles cemented into the walls.

Names, such as Toxic Walsh ‘93, Goldenrod Ronnie, Greenpeace Guy ‘92, The Bong and Big Eclipse, are etched into the bricks.

“Hey, be right with you,” booms DeCanio, whose hearing went bad years ago, most likely during the heavy metal days of the mid-1980s.

Within the last two weeks, a number of newspapers, especially Chicago entertainment publications, have requested interviews with DeCanio, who lives next door to the club on Grand Avenue and River Road.

Up in his second-floor office, surrounded by CD and cassette tapes, old stage lights and dusty, discarded telephones, DeCanio sits behind his desk and talks about 25 years in the rock ‘n' roll business.

An electrician by trade, he says, “I started out running the Rusty Nail (rock) and High Society (disco) on Belmont Avenue in Chicago. Not especially because I liked the music, but I liked this type of business.”

Famous bands
Admitting he prefers light rock of the early 1980s, DeCanio says he'll miss the friends and musicians associated with the club, but it’s time to go.

On his wall hangs a list of once and now famous bands that passed through the Whale: Molly Hatchet, Black Oak Arkansas, Zebra, Foghat, Johnny Winter and Grim Reaper.

DeCanio has no plans for other businesses or careers, yet he’s unfazed by that prospect — he’s leasing the corner property to the two huge conglomerates.

DeCanio’s ease is made more apparent when his wife, Peggy, steps into the office, wishing him well before leaving for Denver. An airline stewardess, she reaches up to kiss her husband.

“You know what?” he beams. “This is my new life — my wife and 4-year-old son. I'm a family man now. And after 25 years of working in a club seven nights a week, I'm going to love it,” he says after she leaves.

In explaining his exit from the nightclub business, DeCanio says breaking even has become difficult in the last five years. In addition to stricter liquor laws that limit drink specials, such as 2-for-1 happy hours, he says people don’t have the spending power now as they once had in the 1980s.

“A working guy’s first priority is to pay the rent and buy food, which chews up his entertainment money. Everything has gone up in price these days, except wages.”

He also blames the use of “riders,” meaning a band’s insistence that club owners throw in contractual benefits in addition to their performance pay.

“I agree on a performance price, then the band wants me to pay for the hotel, meals, beer, cigarettes. It happens constantly now and it’s getting out of hand. I didn’t adopt these bands.”

Thanks patrons
On a farewell note, DeCanio says, “I want to thank all the people who stuck with me. And to the other 10 percent who I made unhappy in this neighborhood with all of their complaining about weekend noise and traffic — get a life. This was a commercial district long before they built homes here.”

On May 31, the Whale’s last Friday night show, Enuff Z' Nuff lead guitarist John Monaco, says despite the group’s national following and seven recordings on the market, he will miss the club.

“This is the closing of a chapter for us. We started out here in 1984 and we still draw well. Even though we signed with a recording label in 1985, we come back here to play,” he said.

“No one needs another McDonald’s and part of the problem today is that towns are trying to close out the live music scenes. Young people need a place to hang out, have fun and listen to music,” he added.

A cocktail waitress at the Thirsty Whale for five years, Sue Milbratz says, “She has seen it all while working other music bars, but this place is the greatest.”

Balancing a trayful of Miller Lite bottles, she yells over Enuff Z' Nuff’s version of the Beatles’ “Revolution.”

“We've got the greatest people working here and the greatest customers. It’s kind of a sad day.”

Seated at the bar, Leslie and Diane have been customers for 12 years.

“I'm bummed. We need more places with bands, not less. Downtown Chicago never has enough parking, so the suburbs are perfect for a place like this,” says Leslie.

The Bathroom Wall/Forum on the Thirsty Whale website is an entertaining read, with plenty of trolls abound and a few people that try to actively promote local metal shows.

 

[Saladbar]

I recall reading it closed aroung mid 1996, I moved to this area late '96 so I didn't get a chance to go. It seems that everytime I chat with someone about the local scene it is divided in pre-whale and post-whale days. The local definition of "old school" is when someone says "I saw those guys back at the Whale". Pretty funny.