Songfight Live 2015 Venue Selection

All about the next annual live event. Are you coming?. Discuss travel & lodging. Recruit band members, discuss equipment, setlists, etc.
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JonPorobil
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Re: Songfight Live 2015 Venue Selection

Post by JonPorobil »

Caravan Ray wrote: Of the 2 SFLs Ive been to (Santa Cruz and DC) both were 'private' type affairs. Both great - but it would be good to do at least one night in a public type place if possible (I don't mind hecklers - I like them). The show Niv organised in NYC at the Sidewalk was cool.

Obviously I don't know Portland - but here in Toowoomba, there are 3 places I regularly play at open mic shows (2 pubs and a cafe) - and Im pretty sure all 3 would love to have a guaranteed crowd of about 30 eating and drinking all night. Do you have such places over there? i.e. - small venues that can only afford to pay for live music 1 or 2 nights a week - but would be happy to be offered free entertainment if you can guarantee a reasonable eating/drinking/paying crowd for them? (I assume everyone coming will be over 18, or 21 or whatever it is there?)
I agree with Caravan Ray. While I concede jb's point that we're doing this for ourselves and for each other first and foremost, I do think the idea of a general audience (or at least the possibility of one) is appealing. The venue for the Austin show was packed on the first night (thanks to WreckdoM headlining the night, mostly), but they didn't seem to mind us being a bunch of amateurs noodling around. It's all about the music.

I don't advise trying to aggressively publicize the event or pick venues solely based on factors like foot traffic and how famous they are. Nor do I advise the opposite extreme (closed venue or private space, no audience besides the performers and their significant others). I've been to Song Fight Live events in public venues, and I've been to events at more private spaces where the audience was just Song Fighters, and I greatly prefer the public shows. My favorite SFL I've been to so far was the one in San Francisco. I remember being really trepidatious when I saw the first-night venue, which looked more like a sports bar. I was worried that the crowd wouldn't be into it, and we'd be interrupting their games, or whatever. By the time we got a few sets in, I realized how wrong I was, because the energy of the crowd (including and especially the audience members who WEREN'T there just for the event) really made all the performances shine, and it was a ton of fun!

As event organizers, the choice of venue is yours and yours alone, and you get to decide which experience you want to deliver. My opinion is my own, and it's not shared by everyone here. (Plus, I won't be going this year, which bums me out, because I've wanted to visit Portland for ages.) But that's definitely a factor to keep in mind, regardless of which type of show you're going for.
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Re: Songfight Live 2015 Venue Selection

Post by anti-m »

Just to be clear, all the places I'm looking at would be public shows. That said, we may come close to filling these places up with our Songfight armada, but the motivated public could squeeze in/drop by to check things out.

Bigger/more famous venues are generally unlikely to squander a precious weekend night revenue stream on 4 hours of unknown amateurs. (I love you guys, but them's the grim realty!) Add to that the fact that Portland is smaller than a New York or a SFO. (Although, happily, we are lousy with bands and music venues for our small stature!)

I've been focusing my efforts on smaller / neighborhood joints that would be glad to have four hours of a hungry / thirsty crowd of 40. I think Pat has been wooing some of the larger venues, but hasn't had a ton of luck thus far.

Fear not, the stars will align! (By brute force!)
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Re: Songfight Live 2015 Venue Selection

Post by JonPorobil »

anti-m wrote:Just to be clear, all the places I'm looking at would be public shows. That said, we may come close to filling these places up with our Songfight armada, but the motivated public could squeeze in/drop by to check things out.

Bigger/more famous venues are generally unlikely to squander a precious weekend night revenue stream on 4 hours of unknown amateurs. (I love you guys, but them's the grim realty!) Add to that the fact that Portland is smaller than a New York or a SFO. (Although, happily, we are lousy with bands and music venues for our small stature!)

I've been focusing my efforts on smaller / neighborhood joints that would be glad to have four hours of a hungry / thirsty crowd of 40. I think Pat has been wooing some of the larger venues, but hasn't had a ton of luck thus far.

Fear not, the stars will align! (By brute force!)
Sounds like you're on the right track.

You may wish to check out the pages for past years' venues. In Austin, we held both nights at Kick Butt Coffee, which is pretty close to the vibe you're describing, IMO. The Spokane show was held at a similar coffeeshop/panini place, Empyrean Coffee and was similarly successful. Using precedent might help you see if you're on the right track with the venues you're talking to.
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Re: Songfight Live 2015 Venue Selection

Post by jb »

Send me a pair of your rose-colored glasses, Generic. ;)
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Re: Songfight Live 2015 Venue Selection

Post by anti-m »

Just got a nibble from a place that would be KICK ASS should it come together. What I could use from you, potential attendees, is links to some of your best work. He'd like to hear a bit of what he'd be getting into. :) You may PM me so that I don't further clutter this ballooning thread.
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Re: Songfight Live 2015 Venue Selection

Post by irwin »

anti-m wrote:He'd like to hear a bit of what he'd be getting into.
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Re: Songfight Live 2015 Venue Selection

Post by Rabid Garfunkel »

SFL PDX: Hoodoo & Voodoo

(This is harder than it looks!)
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Re: Songfight Live 2015 Venue Selection

Post by fluffy »

Stumps & Mumps
(you know, because it's Stumptown, and the huge number of anti-vaxxers there)
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Re: Songfight Live 2015 Venue Selection

Post by anti-m »

fluffy wrote:Stumps & Mumps
(you know, because it's Stumptown, and the huge number of anti-vaxxers there)
Sigh. If you can work the anti-flouride sentiment in there, you'll have a slam dunk. :P

Hepcats and tinfoil hats?

(alternatively leather spats and tinfoil hats?)
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Re: Songfight Live 2015 Venue Selection

Post by fluffy »

Cherries & Caries?
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Re: Songfight Live 2015 Venue Selection

Post by Rabid Garfunkel »

Stumptown & Hoedown?

& Throwdown?
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Re: Songfight Live 2015 Venue Selection

Post by anti-m »

OK, I have it. Wiccans and Chickens.
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Re: Songfight Live 2015 Venue Selection

Post by Caravan Ray »

Lumberjacks and Songwriting Hacks?
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Re: Songfight Live 2015 Venue Selection

Post by johndisk0 »

Afternoons and coffeespoons

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Re: Songfight Live 2015 Venue Selection

Post by Niveous »

johndisk0 wrote:Afternoons and coffeespoons

-jd0
That only works if we're doing Songfight Live in Manitoba.
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Re: Songfight Live 2015 Venue Selection

Post by jb »

I like Wiccans and Chickens
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Re: Songfight Live 2015 Venue Selection

Post by anti-m »

jb wrote:I like Wiccans and Chickens
It certainly captures a large swath of the Portland demographic! Coffee spoons/afternoons seems a little too TS Eliot to me, which is to say, way too high class for our purposes. 8-)

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Re: Songfight Live 2015 Venue Selection

Post by Niveous »

anti-m wrote: Coffee spoons/afternoons seems a little too TS Eliot to me, which is to say, way too high class for our purposes. 8-)
But it's also very Crash Test Dummies.
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Re: Songfight Live 2015 Venue Selection

Post by Rabid Garfunkel »

Nothing nicer than the sound of chickens clockle-ing coming through the morning fog.

Well actually, there's a whole helluva lot nicer, but...

And don't see much coffee-spooning around town ;-)
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Re: Songfight Live 2015 Venue Selection

Post by johndisk0 »

http://www.kgw.com/story/features/2015/ ... /22381875/

I don't know if I can make it... anymore... I have a thing... to do... somewhere else other than there.

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Re: Songfight Live 2015 Venue Selection

Post by fluffy »

johndisk0 wrote:http://www.kgw.com/story/features/2015/ ... /22381875/

I don't know if I can make it... anymore... I have a thing... to do... somewhere else other than there.

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Re: Songfight Live 2015 Venue Selection

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blippity blop ya don’t stop heyyyyyyyyy
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