With new feelings being brought to light, I feel it is time to amend my comments, which, by some, were taken a bit beyond their intended meaning.
We have tried to do something special here, and we may or may not have done too much.
Asking for cover to pay bands, say, on a Wednesday night, has been a tough go because, as an ANONYMOUS commenter said, if the high quality band isn't there, the cover shouldn't be there either.
As far as Phog being a cash-grab band-hole, that is a bit heavy-handed...even on our most obvious of successful nights.
Point noted. We asked for too much. We supplied goods, but asked for you to pay for it. This has been on our minds for some time. This is certainly something we have noticed, and are changing because of its impact on general (regulars) attendance.
The most clear situation is that Phog is not alone in its plea for more bodies.
The arts community, as a whole, is much smaller than any of us could have imagined. It is a group of committed, interested, APPRECIATED people who have made this music scene what it is.
We bring the bands, you make them want to come back, and tell all their friends about it.
BUT, with the community in such a disconnect, art galleries, coffee shops, music venues, and more are in need of a uniting factor.
Free art openings, with FREE SNACKS AND BEVERAGES are attended like funerals, as if they were mandatory because you know the person on display.
Money is not the only issue for the fallen arts/music fans.
We need to make more people feel welcome to begin with.
We must invite more people into this community. How? Don't quite know yet.
But, the changes are in the works, and only good things will come from it.
For those of you who took our last posting to heart, personally, please look beyond yourself. We aren't clueless, and we know what has made Phog great. The community. Simple.
In order to properly appreciate and thank our crowds, we ask for suggestions, and we look forward to improvements. The suggestions are few and far between, except for the men's room requests...
Things have been going very well at Phog. Very well indeed. The concerns, and the cause for the impending changes are not a result of money issues. They are not because of slow nights when bands from out of town come here. They are a result of an awakening toward the group we serve, and love to serve.
The music venues in Windsor, all of them, take a hit during the week, with or without music. The topic of bands becomes extraneous. People aren't out AT ALL on the nights when attendance is poor at Phog. Generally, when attendance is poor at Phog, attendance sucks everywhere that shares our crowd. I realized this when planning the P.A. Festival with Tony at The Avalon, watching the absence of people at Sky Lounge, and Vermouth... Money isn't the issue, the lack of paticipating (drinking or non-drinking) customers, supporters of the arts, is the issue. We are so few. And this must change in order to breathe a bit of new life into this community.
To reiterate,if anyone took the previous post personally, we apologize. Clearly, some of the message was directed at a select few, a select few who know who they are because they HAVE SPOKEN TO US...TO OUR FACES. When there is no communication in a community, until a blog post draws a whiplash response, this is a sad reality. Communities are open. They are full of discussion and suggestion. They make the group stronger by pointing out the weaknesses and problems AS THEY OCCUR...not after fingers start getting pointed (figuratively and literally). This kind of communication must be constant, not explosive. Nobody benefits from explosive.
We look forward to more of your comments and suggestions.
By the way, thanks Anonymous for your comments. I think, if you re-read the posting, you may get a better sense of where I was coming from. "The attendance is less-than-stellar," and, "We hoped for, expected, assumed that if we brought the bands, the show-going public would come. What has happened, is that we have gotten a clearer picture of how many customers we indeed have, and how difficult it is to light a fire under the rear-ends of music lovers," means just that. Our crowd is small. In other cities, with smaller populations, their attendance is much more blatant. We have failed to open our doors wide enough. You have failed to share you thoughts with us sooner.
Phog
