[mplpost] GIG ON: House concert Sun Feb 3 in Little Britain

[Bill Usher]

Gregg and I have talked off-line about this particular event but I did want
to pick up on Harry's thread. This is a good suggestion and I wonder how
others have dealt with this over the past?

As some of you may know I've had long stretches in my career producing
children's records and performing school and family shows across the
country. So you get a reputation.... When I opened my two act one man
theatrical show a few years back I had to find a way to let people know that
this was a show with 'mature' themes and was crafted primarily for adult
audiences and their offspring - as long as they were at least in the teenage
range.

We eventually decided on putting the "PG-14" label on the promotion and
crafting the promotional blurbs to get the message across.

James.... What do you do when you bounce back and forth between audiences?

On a related topic, I share an anecdote... My album Drums! won a Juno in
1987 and as a result I traveled the country a couple of times doing concert
hall performances of the one hour family show of the same name. Drums! is a
theatrical mixture of story and song - the show was dramatically scripted
and had some loud scenes and some quiet reflective scenes.

Back in 1987, you would get parents and grandparents with kids in tow all
the way from babes in arms up to 11 or twelve. Drums! was aimed at audiences
from 5-6 and all the way up. Years of experience performing for all ages
builds up a tool kit of appropriate responses to various little ones in the
audience who are either having a bad day or at the other extreme, having too
good a time. 

But at one show I needed divine intervention. I arrived out on stage on my
opening cue (marching to the music of Springsteen's Born in the USA) to
discover across the footlights that the first three rows of seats were
occupied by preschoolers each with their own little drum banging merrily
away with the music - some of them even in time.

I managed to stay in character and, I hope politely, suggest that this might
not work for an hour.... Fortunately, the two enthusiastic teachers
accompanying the kids to the theatre realized their mistake and quickly
scooped up all the drums and took them to the safety of the lobby.

Bill


> From: Harry Bryan <harry_bryan@cooperators.ca>
> Reply-To: maplepost@icomm.ca
> Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2002 07:07:48 -0500
> To: maplepost@icomm.ca
> Subject: Re: [mplpost] GIG ON: House concert Sun Feb 3 in Little Britain
> 
> Gregg's question is a good one and one I've been meaning to suggest for
> a while.
> 
> Our daughter is 14 years old and loves all kinds of music.
> 
> When posting gig announcements it would help, I think, if it said
> somewhere if it's all ages or not.
> 
> Thanks,
> Harry
> 
> Gregg Lawless wrote:
>> 
>> ...depending on nap times, this might work out for the Lawlesses...
>> would you be o.k. with a "family" coming?...we would, of course, get the
>> hell outta there if the kids started makin' a fuss...
>> 
>> Ggg
>> 
>> p.s. If the answer is "oui", can you forward directions?
>> 
>> On Wednesday, January 30, 2002, at 07:22  PM, Bill Usher wrote:
>> 
>>> Hello all,
>>> 
>>> I'm doing a house concert this Sunday afternoon in a heritage farm house
>>> just outside of Little Britain north east of Toronto. It's being
>>> organized
>>> by Shirley Wheatley and friends. If any of you are nearby and would
>>> like to
>>> drop in just let me know.
>>> 
>>> I'll be accompanied by Steve Briggs (Bebop Cowboys, Brothers
>>> Cosmoline). The
>>> show starts at 2:30 pm.
>>> 
>>> Steve and I have just started into the studio this past week with John
>>> Switzer co-producing on my next album. I'm very excited by the way the
>>> songs
>>> are taking shape. More as it all progresses.
>>> 
>>> Bill
>>> 
>>> p.s. Anyone got any first drum stories?    :)
>>> 
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