It’s That Time of Year, Musicians

Eight days ago I was out at the beach and looking for some lunch.  There is a spot out there that I had been to once before and was going to be a suitable source of “filling the hollow spot,” as my great aunts used to say.  If you do the math, you’ll realize that it was a Sunday afternoon.

A Sunday afternoon in what then was September can only mean one thing.  Yup, you guessed it, NFL games.  For that matter, it’s not only Sunday afternoons, since there is a Sunday Night Football broadcast AND, of course, Monday Night Football.  Plus, go anywhere at all that has TVs on a Saturday and it’s going to be college football, college football, and, of course, college football.

Nowhere in there did I mention live music.

That’s not because these places don’t have it.  It’s because the two obviously just don’t go together.  Live music and football games blaring from a television can peacefully coexist just like picnics and rain.  In other words, it’s all poor planning.

So this place I ate at last week Sunday had the early games on, with the audio, of course.  And then there was the solo act who was setting up his gear and tuning his guitar.  Wow did I feel bad for him.

It’s time to make lemonade out of lemons, and I don’t mean by asking the bartender.

What you don’t want to do is stand there performing with a look on your face that says, “I don’t want to be here,” which is exactly what I read from this guy.  After all, as much as football has likely overtaken baseball as America’s pastime, there are still people out there that aren’t interested in it.  Don’t believe me?  Go to a Super Bowl party and find the room where people are gathered and talking, absent a television in the room.

In addition to having a more pleasant and appreciative look on your face, you need to be an active participant to minimize the damage.  It’s called asking questions.

When you book the gig, nicely (I’ll say it again, nicely) ask the booker if they will be playing the TV audio from the football games.  It’s a nice way of planting the seed with them that maybe they ought to just keep the sets on ‘mute.’  When you arrive to set up that day, broach the subject again.  Nicely (there’s that word again) ask the point person about it from the standpoint of, “Adjusting my volume accordingly.”

In the event that it seems like it’s going to be the longest three hours you’ve played in recent memory, perhaps test out a new song you’ve been wanting to play live.  Minimize the talking (to the audience), since – as you’ll see when you’re scanning the crowd while playing – yes, most of them will be focused on the game and not on you.  Worst-case scenario, remember that you are getting paid to be there.