Low Show Attendance

I know on Just Announced people were mentioning shows that were very sparsly attended (i.e. the mentioned Ben Folds at MPP).  I was just curious as to what the attendance was, and what shows have board members been to that had really low attendance whether it be MPP/ 9:30 etc…

Just out of curiosity.

High Strung at Black Cat backstage - about 10 people?

Juan MacClean at Black Cat mainstage - about 60?

Soulwax at 930 - less than 80 people

Castanets at Red and Black - 5 people

Primal Scream at 9:30 was just about empty.  That was one of the more sparsely attended 9:30 shows I've been do, along with Charlatans UK a couple of years back.

Past shows…

V Fest last year seemed pretty empty to me.  Maybe that was just perception - but I could walk up to the first few rows for every set.

One of the best I've ever seen was Azure Ray/Crooked Fingers at the Black Cat.  There were probably about 50 people upstairs for the mainstage show, maybe 100 tops.  Amazing set.

Now Its Overhead at IOTA was very empty.

Stellastarr*/The Killers/Ambulance Ltd @ Alley Katz - <25 people

Manchester Orchestra @ Relative Theory Records - <10 people

Sparklehorse (circa It's A Wonderful Life) @ Plan 9 Records - <50 people

Do in-stores count?

Alejandro Escovedo: Me, a friend, and the apologetic employees at DCCD.
Feist: Maybe 10-15 people at Tower Records in Foggy Bottom.

I remember seeing the Datsuns at 9:30 5-6 years ago and I'd estimate there were between 100-200 people there max. They still played like it was a sold-out Giants Stadium though, so bless'em for that.

Last night at 930 was really empty. A place like that just isn't the right location for a dj showcase for an under-the-radar hip-hop label.
Peter Brotzmann may have drawn more people to Velvet (that was a surprising, awesome turnout)


APTBS last year was sparse as well.


As was The Notwist.

Julian, wrote:
Stellastarr*/The Killers/Ambulance Ltd @ Alley Katz - &lt;25 people

Hmmm…I was at this show with two other people, and I don't remember it being that sparsely attended.  Funny that we made up that much of the crowd, in that case.

Hello wrote:
High Strung at Black Cat backstage - about 10 people?

I was one of those 10 people.

Last night's Dears show at black cat was pretty sparse.  I'm bad with estimating crowds though…

Julian, wrote:
Stellastarr*/The Killers/Ambulance Ltd @ Alley Katz - &lt;25 people

i saw this same show in San Diego, the night before Coachella and it was sold out, hardcore….probably just because of Coachella though.

There were maybe 40 people at this 930 club show:

Hope of the States / Inouk 10/8/04 (coming soon)

Looks like it was me, a few friends, and kosmo (http://www.hi-fipop.com/p16.html)  ;D

Low, the last time they did 930 a couple of years ago.  Seemed to be mayne 100 people total in the building that night.  Great show though, getting to be directly in front of the stage with plenty of room and great music.

mdh9857 wrote:
I know on Just Announced people were mentioning shows that were very sparsly attended (i.e. the mentioned Ben Folds at MPP).&nbsp; I was just curious as to what the attendance was, and what shows have board members been to that had really low attendance whether it be MPP/ 9:30 etc…

Just out of curiosity.

the Ben Folds w/ BSO show was low, for MPP standards, maybe 3000 people. but half were on the lawn that holds 10,000 and the other half in the pavilion which holds 7000.  made it look empty!

callat703 wrote:
Primal Scream at 9:30 was just about empty.

It wasn't as well-attended as the last one, but "just about empty"??  I'd describe the attendance as "respectable."

I remember when QOTSA opened for VAST a few years back at the 930 Club (2000 I think?) and there was maybe 150-200 tops at that show. They came back around about 6 months later when "Songs for the Deaf" was released and Grohl was drumming (Amazing what that can do for attendence) and the show was beyond sold out!

Christine wrote:

callat703 wrote:
Primal Scream at 9:30 was just about empty.

It wasn&#039;t as well-attended as the last one, but &quot;just about empty&quot;??&nbsp; I&#039;d describe the attendance as &quot;respectable.&quot;

Respectable would be an overstatement, I think.  I'd ballpark attendance between 300-500, just as a guess.  Just about empty might have been an exaggeration, but it certainly wasn't full.  The stage was all the way forward and there was still plenty of room on the floor.

back wrote:
the Ben Folds w/ BSO show was low, for MPP standards, maybe 3000 people. but half were on the lawn that holds 10,000 and the other half in the pavilion which holds 7000.&nbsp; made it look empty!

Sounds similar to when I saw The Kinks at MPP in 93, although I'd guess even fewer people.  We sat about 10 rows behind the pit and we pretty much had the row to ourselves.  We could have easily moved up to the first few rows, but there was really no point.  Maybe 1K people on the lawn.

A few I remember…

Vic Chesnutt, Black Cat Mainstage, 2003? Around 50 people in a little circle around the stage. Good show, he played "Isadora Duncan" on request.

Lots of sparsely attended Iota shows I can remember over the years, as in around 20-30 people. David Dondero, Lisa Germano, Micah P. Hinson, even Bill Callahan a few years back probably wasn't much more than that.

Relaxer wrote:
I remember seeing the Datsuns at 9:30 5-6 years ago and I&#039;d estimate there were between 100-200 people there max. They still played like it was a sold-out Giants Stadium though, so bless&#039;em for that.

I was at that show.  Though I think that was the 2nd time in less than a year that they had played 9:30, so that might have had something to do with it.  And yeah, still a hell of a show.

Idlewild at the 9:30 on the 100 Broken Windows tour circa ~2000.  Seemed like only 50 people were there.

Chris Whitley at the 9:30 on the Rocket House tour.