Lowest attendance at a gig

Anyhow, aside from staff at the venue (a pub of some sort IIRC) there were just *TWO* people in the audience, me and this other bloke who may or may not have been one of their mates. I didn't really think they were all that great, but it would've been a little mean of me to walk out on 'em. Besides which, it was quite nice to have a few songs dedicated to me.

Hat's off to them though, they soldiered on and played a full set, and, in my humble opinion, fully earned my £3.00 entrance money.

You got that right, NickB. Some great bands and artists (read: Bands that I like) skip Detroit now because of this reputation.

Oh busy night was it? Actually improv is often more enjoyable the FEWER people are in the audience, in my experience.

It's funny thinking about the gig I saw with only two people there, because at the time I was quite young and incredibly shy (or maybe just impossibly cool!), and I totally avoided making any eye contact with the band or acknowledging their presence at all. I'm not sure I even clapped. It was all quite embarrassing really.

Not counting SOs/staff/etc. = 0.

My girlfriend saw No Doubt in Milwaukee before they broke, and the band outnumbered the audience.

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

Chris Knox played Baltimore about six or seven years ago, and there were so few people at the show that he had us all gather together right at the front of the stage so he could take our picture with his point-and-shoot. We didn't have to crowd each other much--there were probably 10 people tops.

"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."

Myself and three other friends were at this show. We actually counted the people, and there were thirty-something people there. Yeah, the thumping from the Shelter downstairs! That still happens!

Lowest at a gig I played, one person, at a pub in sheffield. Actually there were four people there, but the other three were in the other band. It was really depressing.

When I saw Borbetomagus there, though, there were definitely less than 10 people in the room.

Ah, the magic of overdubbing.

Smallest audience I've played to : 0. Even the soundman gave up and wandered off, we were literally playing to an empty room. We also once travelled 400 miles from London to some town in Holland, played to about 15 people and came home again.

You just have made it up as you went along Pashmina (maybe you do already!) and called it an improv gig.

I saw a show featuring Melissa Ferrick and Lisa Germano. About 50 showed up for that one. Evidently, unbeknownst to me, Melissa had a rather large lesbian following because at least half of the audience were female couplings and many were being rather open about their relationships with their partners. Ferrick was rather powerful in approach so when poor Lisa came on, her rather soft voice seemed to be lost in the vapors (I didn't realize at the time that Ferrick, like Germano, was a trained violinist. Neither played the instrument at all during the gig....

Anyway, it was a great anyway. I liked Ferrick and, frankly, think Germano is about as underrated as one can get as a solo artist. Her "Geek the Girl" ranks along side of albums like "Tonights the Night" as harrowing...

the 'boat once got paid $240 to play to approx a dozen people. that was (not) fun. smallest audience i've played to that didn't include band members and staff was to two people.

Least populated show of 2009 anyone?

Went to see Ignatz play some atonal blues skronk at a bar, I think that including me there were 2 people there to see him, plus the 'promoter'. There were a few bar regulars too at the other end of the room giving each other wtf looks through the din.

My friend put on Ignatz in Cardiff three or four years ago and iirc the exact same number of people turned up :(

As for last year the Foot Village show I did got I think 12 people paying in, most of those in the last 20 minutes - they were cool tho

Poor old Ignatz :(

It was an awesome show, but I was just dying with embarrassment the whole way through.

I went to see Boston HC/punk legends the Freeze last summer, the gig was originally at the Borderline but at the last minute they moved it to the Underworld and when I got there half the Underworld was closed off and there were about 10 people watching the Short Bus Window Lickers support, maybe another 10 turned up by the time the Freeze were on.

Alternatively I was one of about 5 people watching the Wankys but that's cos all the crust punks went outside for a fag after War/System played, the gig itself wasn't actually under-attended.

Hah xp I just came on here to post my own Foot Village story, actually. It was in a basement in my town maybe 3 years ago, and there were probably 7 or 10 other people in the room. It was so fucking good though.

Also I went to see my friend's band SLAW at a local bar and there were more people on stage/in the band than there were in the crowd.

I've played many gigs with very poor attendance, but I don't think that's very surprising or unusual.

I've seen American Music Club play several times in Boston and Austin and each time was struck by how few people showed up. On their Mercury tour, they played the Paradise in Boston and the bulk of the audience was comprised of me and a few pals from high school. They still managed to play a pretty mind-blowing show.

Last year I was the only paying customer for a gig which a) was moved away from the promoter's regular night, b) had managed to go through 4 changes of lineup with bands pulling out, and c) was plagued by technical problems.

The last act on was some absolute nutter intoning "yeah baby"-type lyrics over minidisc of industrial beats - audience was me, the previous act (also a one-man band), and this guy's "manager" who was whooping and punching the air; act #2 and I were both looking pained and gathering our stuff to leave when the minidisc broke and the gig was abandoned

Bought the first guy's CD out of sympathy; told act #2 I liked his set and offered to buy him a drink but I think this was mistaken for a chat-up line and rejected; made a note to avoid act #3 if he ever gets another gig

Yeah Eitzel does tend to suffer from this, especially in solo mode. Last time he played solo in Vienna there were like 20 people there. xp

lololol spacecadet that's proper pathos right there. love this country! every one of those performers is a hero, especially last guy imo

Saw frog eyes open up for sunset rubdown to a crowd of about 20 people 2 years ago.

good show

saw the moore brothers in denver, and i think i was the only one there to see them -- there were maybe 8 or 9 people from the opening bands still hanging around. probably one of my favorite gigs of the year though!

Clem Snide in Trenton at a time when they were fairly popular I think - maybe 6 or 7 people showed. I chalked it up to being in Trenton and in this shady venue that was just reopening.

Wasn't there for Clem Snide - don't really like them. Although it was there covers album and they did a sick ass rendition of War Pigs.

When The Beatles played Aldershot, there were 18 people in the audience.

This was 1961 though.

On their Mercury tour, they played the Paradise in Boston and the bulk of the audience was comprised of me and a few pals from high school. They still managed to play a pretty mind-blowing show.

― Moodles, Friday, January 15, 2010 10:00 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

I was at that show and can confirm the small crowd and great event.

Sam Amidon played a show in London this past summer. I had a show the same night and couldn't go. Apparently, he had been placed first-of-four, and after the sound man plugged him in, he was left alone in an empty room with wood panelling. He played an entire set to wood panelling. People entered in for his last song.

Sad, cause Sam is great and London is big.

That's really sad!

How sad but awesome to keep playing anyway. Hadn't heard of the guy but he gets hero status for that alone.

Most of my low-attendance gigs were local or unsigned bands not worth naming on ILX, but I did catch the Electro Group on a UK tour supporting Hirameka Hi-fi in 2002. Can't remember how many people were there, about 5 I think. There was a large fishtank in the wall of the venue (now part of the Oxford O2 Academy) and we were definitely outnumbered by fish.

Thing was, Hirameka Hi-fi's Gringo Records had started doing some distro for other labels and their merch desk was stocked with loads of great stuff from various labels. The guy running it said he'd made more money on merch out of me and my friend that night than out of all 30+ people at their previous gig. embarrassed.jpg

between 4 and 8 people at broken social scene in peterborough a few years a go. lol cuz there are loads of people in bss. still, they played a good show.

yeah, haha, i take it back, my lowest attended gig of 2009 was a gig my own band was playing. we were opening for arms & sleepers, who for some reason, our guitarist thought would be a big draw. I think maybe 5 people were there, and they were all in the back at the bar.

Dizzee Rascal in May 2005, supporting Showtime. My friend and I joined fifteen other people at a club. Very depressing.

was he any good though? i think it'd be really cool if dizzee just kicked back and had a bit of fun

i saw gold chains, (this was years ago, don't hate) with about 10 people in attendence at joseph's well in leeds, he went through the motions as if he was playing to a packed club :-/ it was painful to watch

I did catch the Electro Group on a UK tour supporting Hirameka Hi-fi in 2002. Can't remember how many people were there, about 5 I think.

Awh that sucks, I love the Electro Group, don't know Hirameka Hi-fi tho

I went to see some local Reading band play at the After Dark Club in 1995 supporting the Nubiles who were some shit Britpop band who I think had just been supporting Elastica or Sleeper or someone - the place was quite busy while the local band were on, pretty much the entire audience either left or went to the bar while the Nubiles were on. Think there were about 5 people left when me & my mate went "this is shit" and went home.

Jon Langford at an 80s Mekons gig: "You are a small but perfectly formed audience."

On their Mercury tour, they played the Paradise in Boston and the bulk of the audience was comprised of me and a few pals from high school. They still managed to play a pretty mind-blowing show.

― Moodles, Friday, January 15, 2010 10:00 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

I was at that show and can confirm the small crowd and great event.

― dad a, Friday, January 15, 2010 10:14 AM (48 minutes ago)

Did you go to Brookline HS in the late 80s/early 90s?

yeah, haha, i take it back, my lowest attended gig of 2009 was a gig my own band was playing. we were opening for arms & sleepers, who for some reason, our guitarist thought would be a big draw. I think maybe 5 people were there, and they were all in the back at the bar.

― tylerw, Friday, January 15, 2010 11:36 AM Bookmark

This happened to me with several bands we opened for ("This band has the keyboardist from the Black Crowes AND some guy from the Detroit Cobras - it's sure to draw!"

^^^would totally see that band. well, maybe not.

I was in this band the Kiwis since 2002 and we put out a record, had some good years, and then the final 3 years got more and more dismal. I was thinking of quitting after this one show we had coming up at some new local DIY space, and when we got there about 3 people stayed to watch us play. By the end of it 1 person was left. It was a pretty fucking sad way to end a band.

when merzbow played in london a while back, I was sure it was going to sell out, so got there early. me and the other six people managed to squeeze in somehow.

the worst-attended gig of all though was, of course, my own band, years ago. we were a last-minute addition to a punk all-nighter at dingwall's in london, headlined by UK subs. we took the stage at six pm to a crowd consisting of one barman and a whole lot of empty space. best set we ever played, too.

it's definitely a bummer to play those kinds of gigs. makes you wonder what exactly the point is. but if you can rally the band and play a good set, that's the best response to low-attendance. easier said than done, of course!

was he any good though? i think it'd be really cool if dizzee just kicked back and had a bit of fun

He worked the stage like 20,000 people had come out to see him even though he played about 50 minutes worth of material. Fun show indeed, but, wow.

Boy in da corner, couple of guys by the bar...

nothing I saw last year can rival Giant Sand 1993 (4 people) and Voice Crack 1999 (3 people).

i saw giant sand in 93 or 94 -- they were awesome. don't think it was particularly under-attended ... where was your show?

I saw DJ Krust doing a 4-piece band version of heavy Drum 'n' Bass in Boston (at Axis maybe?) and there was pretty much no one there.

Kind of too bad because it was a pretty cool idea that I haven't seen anywhere else since.

i saw even as we speak at the bull and gate in london. there were 7 in the band and about as many in the audience.

(saw them 8 times that year and by the end of it the places were packed out - everybody who saw them went back the next time and took a friend)

Blonde Redhead at the PrimaveraSound Festival. There were 30 people gathered around at most.

supporting the Nubiles who were some shit Britpop band

Ha, these guys were from Oxford and are quite the fondly-remembered local heroes to people slightly older than me (I never saw them but can't see the attraction from the recordings I've heard)

I saw Derek Bailey's set at an ATP and I remember the room seeming pretty much empty, though there might have been 20 or so people there. At least I am fairly sure it was Derek Bailey but since I remember it being a set of laptop noise and no guitar I may be having some kind of memory failure. Someone I'd never met bought me a flashing raver bracelet as a goodwill gesture to anyone who would go on their own to watch improv in a dark room at 5pm.

giant sand/howe gelb shows in frankfurt usually sell out. they are in locations hardly twice as big as our living-room these days though. i'd say the average of the four shows i went to was about a hundred.

tyler it was in Eugene OR (many xposts)

and yeah they were awesome. I bought the "Rock Opera Years" official bootleg series #2 CD and I still have it.

yeah, i had never heard of them (i don't think) when I saw them -- they were on a bill w/ Grant Lee Buffalo, who had more buzz at the time, I guess. Giant Sand pretty much blew them off the stage.

i forgot the show in munich which was in a big venue and kind of sold out. we arrived at 10 past 8 and they had already started (kick-off was supposed to be 8). they were great as always. but after one hour the headliner polly jean harvey arrived. and she blew them off the stage like daisy petals. she had the energy of a thousand nuclear reactors. such a small person. totally amazing.