A Call To Arms

... alright, so that blog title is a little overly dramatic. However, it somewhat accurately describes what I'm about to type. I don't know if this message will be heard and acted up on, or if it will be mocked and dismissed. But, either way, here goes.

I'm calling on bands to attend other band's shows. As a musician, I know how much cooler it is to be on stage with a room full of folks, and while I personally have been fairly lucky to not have to play to empty rooms here in Seattle, I've attended a number of shows where the bands were not as fortunate.

So, it got me thinking, there are quite a few bands in Seattle working somewhere in the neighborhood of "powerpop" as a genre. In fact, I made up a list of them back in December, which is no doubt incomplete. But, let's pretend for a moment that there are 50 bands working this genre. Now let's assume for math's sake that there are between three and four members in those bands.

That's around 175 warm bodies. That alone makes for one well-attended show! Now, of course, not every band member is going to be able to come out to every show, and it would be ludicrous to think it could happen. There are just too many shows per week and too many choices of how to spend one's time. But, if even a third of that number was to attend a given show, that's still nearly 60 people. And that's before you add in the regular club-going music lover.

My point is that if more bands started going to other bands' shows, the attendance numbers would no doubt be higher. And then clubs would be even more willing to give good nights to bands and bills for this genre. Thus, allowing for even more opportunity for folks to be seen and heard.

So, consider this a call to arms to all you bands out there. Support your fellow bands!

And, as Little Mikey Jackson once said, I'm staring "with the man in the mirror," as I'm personally trying to go to at least one or two shows per week.