What was the concert with the fewest spectators you ever attended?

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Extra points for concerts with an audience smaller than the number of the musicians on stage.

― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Tuesday, 21 October 2003 22:42 (twenty-one years ago)

burning airlines, philly circa 1998/9, 8 people.

― mohammed abba (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 21 October 2003 22:45 (twenty-one years ago)

The Czars in L.A. at Spaceland late last year, about 10-12 people - absolutely criminal.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 21 October 2003 22:49 (twenty-one years ago)

haha, as a one-time promoter of shows at an all-ages place, i've seen bands perform to nobody.

best award for generating the fastest musician-count/spectator-count ratio was the Master Musicians Of Bukkake, who closed out the Rick Bishop led Beatles tribute fest here earlier in the summer. (the very same from Sun City Girls). The 9-piece band in question played a gruelingly long noisy "I Want You" for 35 minutes. Maybe one person for every five minutes, if lucky?

― donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 21 October 2003 22:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Idlewild at the Carrboro Cat's Cradle, earlier this year. Spring break had just begun, UNC had just beat Duke in basketball, meaning that most of the town was off celebrating that in the middle of Franklin Street, and Idlewild doesn't exactly have a high profile in the US anyway.

About thirty people showed up. Which went down to just over twenty after the local support bands finished playing. And half of those left (including me) were British students on exchange…

― carson dial, Tuesday, 21 October 2003 22:58 (twenty-one years ago)

4-Gazm (Great female punk from CA) in Norwich

Six people watching a five piece band who, despite suffering from flu, rocked mightily.

The local support band buggered off and took their two dozen mates with them. Dud, dud, dud.

I STILL managed to get knocked on my arse while dancing.

― Ben Dot (1977), Tuesday, 21 October 2003 23:04 (twenty-one years ago)

trumans water's Los Angeles debut circa 1992: they cleared out the entirety of the troubador within about 3-4 minutes except for about 5-6 people. the weekly had called them the next pavement or something... it was neat.

― gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 21 October 2003 23:07 (twenty-one years ago)

White Zombie, Detroit, 1986. Four or five people, at least three of whom were (if my memory's right) Mike Rubin, Barry Hennsler of the Necros/Big Chief, and me. I interviewed them afterwards for Creem magazine (their first national interview), and found out that one of them worked for Pee Wee Herman's TV show. I'm not making this up.

― chuck, Tuesday, 21 October 2003 23:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Fyi, Rob Zombie was still called "Rob Straker" in those days. (He'd mailed me copies of the band's first self-released seven inch single, which fool that I am I no longer own, and I'd reviewed it glowingly in Creem Metal.)

― chuck, Tuesday, 21 October 2003 23:11 (twenty-one years ago)

I saw Rex at Call The Office in London, Ontario. 4 people on stage, me and a friend in the audience. I only went cause it was Doug Scharin's new project (and the poster said ex-Codeine band, or soemthing like that, which was enough to grab my interest). It was 1995 or 1996, I think (they only had the debut cd out at the time). Scharin came down after the show and asked/begged us to come to the Toronto show, since we really enjoyed ourselves. Never saw them again, but own all of their CDs.

― Jonathan (Jonathan), Tuesday, 21 October 2003 23:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Hmm... good question. I remember going to a show at Tonic a few days before Christmas with my brother and there was only a handful of people there - can't remember who was playing. I remember a Braaxtaal show at the Knitting Factory's "Alterknit" theater that was criminally under-attended - less than 10 people.

― o. nate (onate), Tuesday, 21 October 2003 23:19 (twenty-one years ago)

The other week i went to George Clinton & P-funk All Stars at some renovated church in Pittsburgh. The doors opened at 8 for the 9 o'clock show. There were no more than 7 people there waiting to get in. After the opener got done and the time p-funk hit the stage it had swelled to around 50 or so...

...but i was really afraid they were gonna cancel the show...so were the promoters (all their fault really, it never got publicized till about a week before it was set to happen!)

― Phil Dokes (sunny), Tuesday, 21 October 2003 23:49 (twenty-one years ago)

VHS or Beta with Radio 4 in Detroit last year. About 10-15 people were in attendance. Two months previously I had Seen VHS or Beta play to a crowd in Montreal that was literally overflowing out the door of the club and onto the sidewalk in front. They were not thrilled with the Detroit response.

Just saw them again in Detroit last week. Crowd had grown to about 20-25.

― webcrack (music=crack), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 00:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Another Call the Office show in London, Ontario — the Waxwings. Four people on stage and three in the audience, but it was a pretty good show. And hey Jonathan, I owe you an e-mail.

― Bruce Urquhart (Bruce Urquhart), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 00:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Ben Dot, are you from Norwich? I used to live there for a while. I'm willing to bet that show was in the arts centre/church thingy/whatever - I saw Mogwai and Aerial M there, and I think there were about 25 people in attendance.

― adaml (adaml), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 00:44 (twenty-one years ago)

There were maybe 10 people on the floor at Tanya Donelly's Vancouver show.. it was sad, but oddly quite intimate.

― derrick (derrick), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 00:45 (twenty-one years ago)

the chills at st andrews hall in detroit, about 9 other people next to me. the music from the club downstairs was louder than the band. i felt bad. martin phillipps is unable to say affair, always a-fear. he struggled with it all night. the guitarist smoked a lot.

― keith (keithmcl), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 01:03 (twenty-one years ago)

my bloody valentine show, philly, 1989--about 10-15 people, including one woman who freaked out during the 15-minute feedback fest during "you make me realize" and ran up and down the aisle. sadly, there were more people to see the ocean blue open (ugh!), who then left.

― seanp (seanp), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 01:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Brian Kenney Fresno. Besides the people who worked at the club and Brian's girlfriend, I was the only person at the show.

― jack cole (jackcole), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 02:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Nautical Almanac & Pod Blatz in Providence. Lots of the locals were back in school or off on tour. A bunch of assholes from the Village Voice showed up 'cause they heard a rumor that Lightning Bolt was going to play. They left when they found out they weren't (pre-first band. Lame.) There were about a dozen people there who didn't live in the building.

― Ian Johnson (orion), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 04:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh, I saw the Fuck Orchestra at Club Heaven in DC around 1991. That was the stage show version of Squirmbo, the great tape-edit band featuring guys who put out early Sebadoh, Cop Shoot Cop, Royal Trux 7"s. Heaven was the probably short-lived venue three stories above Club Hell in Adams Morgan. Pitchblende opened, and were good. Then everyone in the club except me jumped onto the mirrored stage and began blurting on guitar feedback and tin whistles. There must have been 11 or so people up there. The soundman left. I went into the other room and lounged on the middle of three sofas. Out of the open window, everyone on 18th street was looking up with worry at what could cause these sounds of destruction. A couple construction workers wearing hard hats climbed the stairs and poked their heads in. After a while, I left.

― Ian Christe (Ian Christe), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 04:37 (twenty-one years ago)

A Mercy Union's first headlining show at the Atomic Cafe in Athens GA. Plenty of people for the opening band (some awful hard rock nonsense). After they finished, everyone abruptly left. I was the sole audience member.

Went to see Volcano Suns in Atlanta in '91 or '92. I think saying that there were a dozen people there would be charitable.

― Joshua Houk (chascarrillo), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 04:37 (twenty-one years ago)

the cruel sea - strawberry hills hotel

2 people - my boyfriend and I

they were really big then too

― katharine, Wednesday, 22 October 2003 04:48 (twenty-one years ago)

damo suzuki. probably 8 ppl there

― geeta (geeta), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 05:52 (twenty-one years ago)

young people, at the fireside - summer of 2002, 10 people tops.

― reo fordecor, Wednesday, 22 October 2003 05:55 (twenty-one years ago)

When I saw the Sea and Cake this year, we were about a dozen there.

― Baaderist (Fabfunk), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 06:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Kinda funny ... someone mentioned here a show at Tonic ... my smallest crowd was a show BY Tonic. As in the band Tonic. They were sharing a bill with Stereophonics and some other scrub band. For Stereophonics, who played second. By the middle of Tonic's set, there were a grand total of 7 people left, including me, and I was there covering it for SonicNet/Addicted to Noise, so I HAD to be there.

― Chris O., Wednesday, 22 October 2003 06:56 (twenty-one years ago)

My girlfriend saw Jewel in Paris a few years ago: 13 people.

― Etienne (Etienne), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 07:20 (twenty-one years ago)

I saw Disco Inferno in Stevenage in 1993. There were 8 of us.

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 07:27 (twenty-one years ago)

one year in university, i did campus concert bookings. our biggest event of the year was at homecoming, when we always booked the big arena. the bands were: pursuit of happiness and eric's trip (can you guess which was my personal choice?). because the goddamn world series game 7 was on (the uni was near toronto and the blue jays were in the final), there was about a dozen people at the gig - IN AN ARENA. made me feel pretty good about my job. eric's trip were great, though. oh, toronto won.

also recall seeing the pale saints at a big-ish venue in toronto with about 15-20 people there. truly sad. they wanted to quit, but we begged them to carry on.

― Rob Bolton (Rob Bolton), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 07:31 (twenty-one years ago)

i was there in 1968
i was there at the first Can show
in Cologne

me and my dog

― mentalist (mentalist), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 07:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Immortal Lee County Killers in Cardiff a couple of weeks ago was pretty dispiriting. There were maybe 20 people in the room, but only one of them had bought a ticket, and maybe five others including myself had actually turned up to see the band. For what it was worth (ie a lot) they played a fucking fine show.

― DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 09:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Does my band playing a show to two friends and the bar staff of a club count? No paying customers at all, the staff had a whip-round afterwards and only managed to provide about a fiver.

― Rob M (Rob M), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 09:48 (twenty-one years ago)

I was in a ska band that played "Harley's Road House" in Windsor, midweek. Basically, a pub. Us, a eight piece band, with two or three helpers. I don't remember anyone at all apart from bar staff. But seeing as it was a hell's angels hangout (our sax player had booked it thinking it was "Harvey's road house"), it was probably just as well...

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 10:53 (twenty-one years ago)

BJ Snowden performed for no one but the sound engineer, once in NYC.

― PeterALopez, Wednesday, 22 October 2003 13:13 (twenty-one years ago)

the lost kids @ brownies, nyc 2001. probably 8 people there, total.

― lauren (laurenp), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 13:43 (twenty-one years ago)

I saw Disco Inferno in Stevenage in 1993. There were 8 of us.

I HATE YOU.

Sorry, gut reaction there.

Anyway, either Low/Glee Club at UCI mid-1994 (10 people?) or Charalambides at Koo's Cafe (same amount if that).

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 13:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Cee-Lo and then Mc Lyte at Memphis Barbeque Festival this April in front of less than 50 people, thunderclouds on the horizon.

― avery_schreiber, Wednesday, 22 October 2003 13:53 (twenty-one years ago)

The Disco Inferno set at that Camden Irish centre gig I'm always on about was only actually watched by Alex T, me and maybe 2 others, but there were about 40 people in the building by that point so it's a bit of a cheat - it's just they were all at the bar.

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 13:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Sadly, Gary U.S. Bonds on an Air Base with my pops when i was 12 or so..i hadnt realized his import at the time, and only assumed the small crowd was there because he was some local guy and the people in the audience were his friends. He passed away a few years later.

― thomas de'aguirre (biteylove), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 14:04 (twenty-one years ago)

The Mekons, in Providence in the mid-80s. I'd say 20 people, and they (the Mekons, that is) were fucking brilliant.
Dave Edmunds on a Tuesday night at the same club, around the same time. He was visibly disgusted with the turnout.

― Jazzbo (jmcgaw), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 14:13 (twenty-one years ago)

i think mine was alexander von schlippenbach in the unterfahrt in munich around 1989. not more than twenty people. which didn't prevent von schlippenbach to treat the piano like mike tyson used to treat his opponents.

― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 16:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Me, the bartender and the soundman were the only ones in the bar for Kitchens and Bathrooms playing Sackville, NB in a blizzard on March break. I think we got up to ten people by the end of the show. They were damm good too.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 16:21 (twenty-one years ago)

it's probably a tie between circulatory system and explosions in the sky. there were like 10 people at the CS show, and probably about 20 at the EITS show, but only 6 other people were paying attention. shame too, since it was the best performance ive ever seen.

― Felcher (Felcher), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 18:50 (twenty-one years ago)

i booked a great group from boston called enuma elish, who are sorta fourth-worldish music. there were two players, the drummer/percussionist/sample triggerer and bassoon/bassclarinet/saxaphone/wahwah pedal/ethnomusicologist/sample trigerer. They put on a great show for me, another promoter, the sound guy (who was redundant as the band brought their own submixer!), the drummer's wife, and the cop on duty. at the set break, the cop took us on a tour of what used to be the second floor of the venue, and what is now a utility/HVAC area. it was cool.

― Aaron Grossman (aajjgg), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 19:00 (twenty-one years ago)

The Shams, Maxwell's 1989, in front of my friend Elisabeth and myself. There were other people in the room - the opening band, the bartender and soundperson - but they were in back talking amongst themselves.

― mike a (mike a), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 22:15 (twenty-one years ago)

The Rosenbergs, some NYC club I can't remember, about 2000. They rocked as usual, though there were maybe 25 people in the place.

― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 22:25 (twenty-one years ago)

cynthia dall/charles atlas/winfred e eye, last autumn, about ten people, all of them on either the CA guest list or cynthia's. It was the day before halloween in SF, which is about the deadest night out possible.

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 22:41 (twenty-one years ago)

i saw papas fritas with 10 others. pf tapped danced their last song. they could hardly be blamed, push kings were playing in ypsilanti.

― keith (keithmcl), Thursday, 23 October 2003 01:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Probably the Karl Hendricks Trio show I booked, about five people total (forget who else was on the bill - might have been Bunnybrains and some others, I forget). Another notable poorly attended show I booked: The Monorchid/The Warmers/Harry Pussy/Tower Recordings (can't believe it as this was an AMAZING show). The Red Krayola/Gastr del Sol/Labradford show I booked went from about 300 people to about 5 people within the first ten minutes of the Red Krayola's set (they were much better the next night at the Knitting Factory).

― hstencil, Thursday, 23 October 2003 02:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Skipping 17 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

Hole in 1991 at the Republik in Calgary. If there was more than 10 people in that bar, I would have been surprised. Certainly no more than 15.

Mule at the same bar. 8 people.

― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Friday, 20 January 2006 21:43 (nineteen years ago)

Kid Rock at Bottom Of The Hill, San Francisco. 1998. Devil Without A Casue was out but "Bawitaba" had yet to break ("I Am The Bullgod" was the first single, if memory serves). Free tix. Maybe 20 people.

The Kelly Deal 6000 at Slims, San Francisco 1998. Probably about 20 people. Dura-deliquent opened, played to about 6 people and blew Kelly Deal off the stage by a long shot.

The Power Station at The Fillmore, San Francisco. 1998. 20 people at Bottom of The Hill or Slims is bad, but they are smaller venues so it doesn't look that bad. 50 people in a venue the size of The Fillmore is, as I discovered, downright embarassing for everyone involved. Robert Palmer was downright snarky the whole night. Some woman crawled on stage and dance around with Andy Taylor and it took security the full song to realize there was someone on stage who wasn't supposd to be there.

― Randy Reiss (undeadsinatra), Friday, 20 January 2006 21:54 (nineteen years ago)

Me, my date, the sound man, and one other guy enjoyed a quiet night with Cormac McCarthy once. A blizzard kept most others home. We took him to a bar after the show and bought his beer, but he was a gentleman and ordered his whiskey chasers away from the table.

― patita (patita), Friday, 20 January 2006 22:54 (nineteen years ago)

Heh. I remember going to a show so sparse that the bands took turns buying rounds for the entire bar, including the old guys definitely not there to see them.

― js (honestengine), Saturday, 21 January 2006 03:02 (nineteen years ago)

i saw ari ari play at this place called radio cherokee to almost no one, and it was so intense.

― jonathan - stl (jonathan - stl), Saturday, 21 January 2006 03:06 (nineteen years ago)

AR Kane at Maxwell's - 1993(?) -- Less than 30 people there and it was excellent.

― Jay Vee (Manon_70), Saturday, 21 January 2006 03:12 (nineteen years ago)

Will Oldham, Proud Larry's, Oxford, MS -- I don't remember there being more than 20 or so there.

― truck-patch pixel farmer (my crop froze in the field) (Rock Hardy), Saturday, 21 January 2006 03:26 (nineteen years ago)

The Apples in Stereo, Metro. Maybe 4 people or so, plus my old band (who opened). 1997? Most recently, Was (Not Was) at the House of Blues last January, perhaps the night of the 2nd, 2005. Maybe 12 people? The band was pretty good, but I couldn't help but think Don Was was distracted by daydreaming about all the free pot he could be smoking with Willie Nelson, or the catering service the Stones always hire.

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Saturday, 21 January 2006 04:41 (nineteen years ago)

The Colorblind James Experience in Newcastle - perhaps 12 people in the audience. Still an awesome show, though.

― Rick Spence (spencerman), Saturday, 21 January 2006 16:02 (nineteen years ago)

the DB's in Boston 1984. not the Rat...the Channel? IIRC it was me and the girl who dragged me there and the bar employees.

― m coleman (lovebug starski), Saturday, 21 January 2006 16:51 (nineteen years ago)

truth be told, I was never a DBs fan but was quite impressed at how they trouped through a winning energetic set despite the "crowd."

― m coleman (lovebug starski), Saturday, 21 January 2006 17:00 (nineteen years ago)

James Yorkston and the Athletes, Barfly Sheffield, 2000. Eight in the audience. Five on stage including the support acts. Good times.

― Mike W (caek), Saturday, 21 January 2006 17:00 (nineteen years ago)

"Heaven was the probably short-lived venue three stories above Club Hell in Adams Morgan."

Heaven is STILL there!

I once trudged out to see this short-lived but really fun DC/Dischord band called Branch Manager play in the middle of a blizzard, at a random bar, and was horrified when I showed up and was THE only other person there besides the band, the bar staff, and Joe Lally of Fugazi.

― Mugged Outside the Jabberjaw, 1993 (Bent Over at the Arclight), Saturday, 21 January 2006 17:09 (nineteen years ago)

Jessamine at Jabberjaw in the mid 90s. Maybe 10 or so people there.

Bailter Space at Al's Bar in 1998 or so. Less than 10?

R.E.M. at Pomona Valley Auditorium in 1983. About a dozen or so.

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Saturday, 21 January 2006 21:27 (nineteen years ago)

The Wipers in Philly sometime in the mid-Eighties with my future ex-wife. We were the only people there.

― George the Animal Steele, Saturday, 21 January 2006 21:34 (nineteen years ago)

went to a week's worth of shows of Marion Brown at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago circa 1974. The band was Marion, Fred Hopkins, Steve McCall and Muhal Abrams. They played in one of the coldest Januarys on record from Thrusday through Sunday. There were four in the band, and four of us in the audience (Friday night the crowd tripled to maybe 10 or 12).

One of the best suites of shows I've ever seen.

and I was at the Vandermark show at the Blind Pig (js upthread)--there were at least 15 people there.

― J Arthur Rank (Quin Tillian), Saturday, 21 January 2006 22:04 (nineteen years ago)

and actually, it was an AALY Trio show, wsg Ken Vandermark.

― J Arthur Rank (Quin Tillian), Saturday, 21 January 2006 22:05 (nineteen years ago)

I saw the Hank Collective play a few months ago to an audience of maybe 15 people or so, only about half of which were paying attention to them.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Saturday, 21 January 2006 22:31 (nineteen years ago)

There were definitely less than 20 people at the Posies show, closing this past Pop Montreal festival.

― alex in montreal (alex in montreal), Saturday, 21 January 2006 22:53 (nineteen years ago)

Spektrum here in Perth at a festival on New Year's Day this year, closing one of the stages. Around five people in audience at the start of the set, reduced to just me by the end of the first song. The set was abandoned after three tracks.

― Mil (Mil), Sunday, 22 January 2006 03:40 (nineteen years ago)

I saw swayzak play to two people (myself and my brother) in the basement of some seriously overpriced club (ole madrid) in San Diego. Juan Atkins was djing upstairs to about 5 other people. Depressing.

― tylero (tylero), Sunday, 22 January 2006 05:20 (nineteen years ago)

Phil Elvrum solo "electronic" set in front of about 15 people last summer. It was quite awkward seeing Phil dancing around.

― van igloo (van smack), Sunday, 22 January 2006 05:34 (nineteen years ago)

I admit that I'm shocked at how many people have seen gigs by notable artists and attended by single digit audiences. I can't claim anything remotely close to that. I saw the Warlocks play to maybe 40 people last year (about 1/10th as many people as the previous time they came to town), and Bardo Pond with about 60-70 people. Oddly enough, both gigs were at the same venue, Lee's Palace in Toronto. Both gigs were great.

― NoTimeBeforeTime (Barry Bruner), Sunday, 22 January 2006 05:47 (nineteen years ago)

Zappa tells the story of a gig he played early with the Mothers where there were fewer people in the crowd than onstage, so he made the audience take the instruments and play a show for the band.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Sunday, 22 January 2006 05:53 (nineteen years ago)

About two dozen of us at some club in Toronto in '96 all at the front of the stage watching Wayne Kramer deliver (along with Sonny Sharrock) the best display of live hot-shit guitarring I've personally ever witnessed. To my surprise, probably half of the initial crowd had apparently come exclusively to see the local opening act, Change Of Heart. (Unfortunatlely not a Heart cover band. They were boring, but less so than when they opened for Voivod two years previous, I'll give them that.)

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Sunday, 22 January 2006 07:12 (nineteen years ago)

...uh, in case that needs clearing up, I DIDN'T mean to imply that the then two-years-dead ghost of Sonny was Sharrocking onstage w/Wayne. (Except maybe sprititually, who knows?)

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Sunday, 22 January 2006 07:54 (nineteen years ago)

DMBQ in Seattle in 2003 (or 04?) About 30 people in the audience at the Re-Bar, a great show.

― xct, Sunday, 22 January 2006 09:15 (nineteen years ago)

make that DMBQ show attendance more like 20....

― xct, Sunday, 22 January 2006 09:18 (nineteen years ago)

I just read this book on Finnish rock scene, and it had, amongst everything else, a list of the most classic opening lines given by performing bands. My favourite one went like this:

"Good evening, I know all of you, don't I?"

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Sunday, 22 January 2006 12:01 (nineteen years ago)

Cheater Slicks at the Powerhaus in London (capacity - 400), 1995-ish. 9 people watching the band, plus a handful of guest-listers propping up the bar. I think most of the guest list didn't even bother turning up.

Probably a different thread, but a band I played with in the 1980's once played to no people whatsoever. Even the soundman and barmaid wandered off to the main part of the pub, although the soundman came back after a while and berated me for my lack of stage presence.

― Matt #2 (Matt #2), Sunday, 22 January 2006 12:12 (nineteen years ago)

Danny Lethargy in front of a crowd of 11 at the Reading Empire back in 2003.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Sunday, 22 January 2006 12:34 (nineteen years ago)

one of my own...election day 2004. "benefit show" with us and a jazz band...four people in the audience (this show was to promote voter turnout haha!) anyway, early show, depressing beginning to a depressing evening.

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Sunday, 22 January 2006 19:13 (nineteen years ago)

I hear that my favorites Black Box Recorder played to about 20 people at Maxwell's on what surely must have been their last US tour. I missed the show and still can't forgive myself.

JS, do you write for the Ann Arbor News or something?! (My first guess was my old hang the Michigan Daily, but they don't seem to have a dedicated local-scene beat).

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Sunday, 22 January 2006 19:19 (nineteen years ago)

us maple, salt lake city, utah, summer 2004. maybe 20 people in attendence, at a small, all-ages venue. us maple put on an outstanding performance.

― Palpatean Mists, Sunday, 22 January 2006 19:23 (nineteen years ago)

Palpatean, I'm guessing that was at the Kilby Court?

Mine was Zumpano & Six Finger Satellite, Denver, June 1996. There were 6 people in the crowd. I became an instant devotee of both bands.

― casey (t. fiend), Sunday, 22 January 2006 21:26 (nineteen years ago)

I saw The Stereophonics playing to 15 people in Ipswich before they "broke", it went down to 12 when my mates and I left to play pool in the bar next door.

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Sunday, 22 January 2006 21:53 (nineteen years ago)

casey, yes, it was at kilby court.

― Palpatean Mists, Sunday, 22 January 2006 21:55 (nineteen years ago)

Kornrulez, I'm right there with you. The Glands, 2000/2001, Memphis, about 8 people in the audience. Sad thing was, I saw them again at a different Memphis venue a few months later, with an improvement of only about 4 people, bringing the crowd up to 12. Excellent shows both times, and I felt so bad for them it hurt.

― belle haleine, Monday, 23 January 2006 01:57 (nineteen years ago)

I saw Kid Congo Powers play in Nottingham not long ago at the Rescue Rooms to about 15 people. They were asking £10 advance, £12 on the door, and at least 4 of the people in there (if not all of them) had been guestlisted by the support band, Copter, to avoid a humiliation.

And KCP was AWFUL. Copter rocked a fattie though.

― beaux knee (boney), Monday, 23 January 2006 01:59 (nineteen years ago)

I'm in Kid's band. That was an embarrasing show - thanks for coming anyhow. I wanted to kill the soundguy that night - he had muted me through most of the set until the last two songs. I was the idiot playing tamborine as a result through some of the set.

― Jay Vee (Manon_70), Monday, 23 January 2006 02:07 (nineteen years ago)

And Copter was the band with the robot, right? You must be joking.

― Jay Vee (Manon_70), Monday, 23 January 2006 02:08 (nineteen years ago)

Cotton Casino at the Rescue Rooms played to about 10 people when I saw her. Two of whom, my friends who'd come with me, left before the end. She was awesome.

My band (The Chemistry Experiment) have had quite a few - notable ones being with Luna in Leicester, when about 12 people showed up, half of whom were there for us (instead of Luna? WTF?), and with the Essex Green in Hull, which admittedly was a last minute show, and I don't think there was time for any publicity, but only about 3 people paid to get in. It was a brilliant show, though, and the lack of people meant that we got to do fun stuff (duelling flutes!).

Most recent one, I think, was The High Plane Drifters and Dooley Wilson at the Social in Notts - just me, my ex-boyfriend and their driver. Still, they played a blinder and we got incredibly drunk for the next two days. It all worked out well in the end.

― emil.y (emil.y), Monday, 23 January 2006 02:15 (nineteen years ago)

Cotton: I write for Current Magazine (whose website is permanently stuck in '95, due to our publisher's belief that the web is a "fad" that's going to go away any day now...) and a couple of other places, but I cover local music for Current.

― js (honestengine), Monday, 23 January 2006 17:36 (nineteen years ago)

i was at the hank collective show mentioned up-thread! they were great and deserved much better, i hope the experience didn't sour them to playing in ny again.

still, it was better attended than my old band's attempt at touring - we played the black cat for 3 people once. 2 from the opening band, the other booked the show.

― bell labs (bell_labs), Monday, 23 January 2006 18:36 (nineteen years ago)

Went to see the Jazz Butcher at the 40 Watt in Athens, Georgia, in the spring of 2000, with Death Cab for Cutie inexplicably opening for him. There were maybe 30 people there, 20 of whom left once Death Cab finished. It was mighty depressing, since any number of local bands could have opened and brought more folks in.

A few months before that Royal Trux played the 40 Watt in front of between 25 and 40 people. There was a big ice storm that night, and many folks I knew stayed in. Elf Power and somebody like the Gerbils were supposed to play in Atlanta that night, couldn't make it, and wound up going to the Royal Trux show instead. So like ten people who were there were only there because they couldn't make it down 316.

― ample parking (Garrett Martin), Monday, 23 January 2006 19:32 (nineteen years ago)

oooh, Elf Power too probably had less than 10 people, and I'm not sure how many people are part of the "opening" band (who played after Elf Power as part of some impromptu arrangement)

― alex in montreal (alex in montreal), Monday, 23 January 2006 20:01 (nineteen years ago)

Belle, which of those Glands shows was at the Deli? I was there that night and thought they were decent. Deli shows are always kind of weird tho.

xpost

― JAS, Monday, 23 January 2006 20:16 (nineteen years ago)

"James Yorkston and the Athletes, Barfly Sheffield, 2000. Eight in the audience. Five on stage including the support acts. Good times.

-- Mike W (mik...), January 21st, 2006 5:00 PM."

I put The Zephyrs on in Dundee at the end of last year and they told me that the last time they'd played in Dundee (on a short tour with James Yorkston & the Athletes and Malcolm Middleton) it was in front of around half a dozen punters. Thankfully they had a slightly larger crowd the night we played with them :)

I've seen Mt Eerie/The Microphones play to maybe 10 or 15 people in the basement of a pub in Dundee. It was brilliant.

― Michael Lambert (Michael Lambert), Monday, 23 January 2006 20:44 (nineteen years ago)

I think it's unfair to include, like, shows no one knew about in the first place by bands no one had ever heard of anyway.

But we had a show once in Greenville SC at the Handlebar (which is the premier venue in the area, as I understand it, pretty good-sized, etc.) and we were opening for this hippie-hip-hop-jam-band called Granola Funk Express. I knew they were going to stink, but we were told "Last time they came through they brought 100 people, and this time we're expecting even more." Well there were about 10 hippies in that audience, whirling away with as much space as they could want. Granted it's not like we drew anyone -- it was our first time in the South and we had no press or promotion or anything.

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Monday, 23 January 2006 20:45 (nineteen years ago)

JAS, I don't remember exactly the date, it was sometime 2000 or 2001, when the Glands were touring for their self-titled 2000 album. The Deli show I saw was particularly sad because at one point when there was a longish pause between songs, someone who worked there turned the PA back on. The band just stood there for a minute, with the house cd or jukebox playing, and then put down their instruments and walked off the stage. I had the distinct impression that the show would not have been over right then if that hadn't happened. Before that indignity, I thought their performance had been great.

― belle haleine, Monday, 23 January 2006 21:28 (nineteen years ago)

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