Know Your Venue

Know your audience, yes. But know the venue too.

We saw a band last Saturday night at a local theater, and they were amazing. They played to the crowd, the brought audience members on stage, they improvised, they encore’d multiple times. It was a terrific experience for the audience (and also, presumably, for the band).

The experience was 180 degrees removed from the last time we saw the very same band, at an outdoor amphitheater where casual fans picnicked on the lawn and chatted over Chablis. Then, the band were visibly annoyed. They chastised the audience. The audience, in turn, tuned out the band and tuned into their picnics.

Don’t blame the audience for behaving the way the venue encourages them too. And don’t try to force this venue’s audience act like that venue’s audience.

Different venue, different audience, different work.