Mainstreet Bar & Grill is a venue we’ve played numerous times. Every time the crowd is there for us. This time was no different. Jamison was our relatively new sound tech and couldn’t have been more attentive and courteous. By the way, attentive is THE thing you want from a sound person as everyone in this band changes positions, everyone in this band sings, we have 3 keyboards, numerous guitars, acoustic, weird intros, etc. We are a workout for any sound professional. The stage is smaller than many, so we’re a bit cramped, but that’s when Mark, Henry and Dale do their best work— as they go into the audience to play with the crowd on the dancefloor. The crowd loves it.
The management and servers are wonderfully pleasant and work hard. As a Minnesota cover band, we know our job is to keep the venues in business, so we often mention our appreciation and remind people to buy, and tip generously.
We’re having our usual blast, but we’ve got that ever-important checklist of those things that are so vital to making a show a great one: Keeping the crowd engaged! “I wanna hear you sing out this part, everyone! we know you know it!” We’re talking to people at break to say hello and get them feeling connected to the show. “This is my sister and brother from Dallas visiting” or “this is our first time seeing you- our friend told us to come”, and making sure we start and stop on time so the venue can maximize their profitability but also close on time.
We’re reminding them to follow us on social media, and also that “we’ll be back November 11th in partnership with Operation Zero for a very special fundraiser”. We fist bump and hug and dance and sing and sweat. Final cymbal crash – “you’ve been amazing – we thank you so much – and we will be back – have a great night!” Then we spend the hour + tearing apart everything we put together. Fun is a job well done.