Cyberspatialniche

This is a pic from our gig last night at the George and Dragon British Pub. The night started off rather slow with only a few tables occupied during our first two sets. Given that the full British tourist invasion hasn’t yet begun, this wasn’t too much of a surprise. We’ve played for fewer patrons, so we were grateful that the people present were enjoying themselves and our music.

During the second set, Patrick and Beth arrived. Things had picked up a little, but there were still a few tables open. Then, during the third set, a whole flock of high school-aged kids showed up from strip nearby. For those of you who haven’t been to International Drive in Orlando, its basically this long strip of shops, restraunts, hotels, and minor attractions that stretches about 6 miles from Sea World to the Belz Outlet mall. If you’ve ever been to Orlando, chances are you’ve stopped somewhere along I-Drive.

So yeah, these kids turned out to be high-school seniors from Michigan (and a few from Tennessee) down in Orlando for their senior trip. They heard our music, saw a largish patio area where they could dance, and just sort-of invaded. To the owner’s credit, instead of kicking them out since they had mostly just asked for water from the patio bartender, he simply asked that they all take care of the band and the bartender. This they did, quite nicely too.

The actual patrons of the pub didn’t seem to mind them much and in fact might have hung out longer because of the instant dance party atmosphere that the kids created. After playing our full four sets, Charlie decided to keep us playing a bit longer to keep the party going. Unfortunately, the kids had to be back to their hotels by midnight, so the extra only lasted a few songs.

Yeah, playing for an audience that’s enjoying themselves and the music is definitely the way to go. Even if its fake, a happy audience makes for great music and good times. Contribute when and where you can. You’ll make some musicians smile.