Editor’s Note: I was originally writing this to the venue itself, but then I felt it was only right to share with fellow musicians on indieonthemove.com, but then I realized I should also share it with possible venue patrons on Yelp, and then I figured I might as well blog it on my soap box that is thepleasantsmusic.com. Enjoy.

So, I was really looking forward to getting to play The Lily Pad in Cambridge, MA this Friday. Amidst all of the factory farm venues that make up the “Boston music scene”, it seemed a refreshingly musician friendly venue… by email. The fact that they give two thirds of the door right to the bands is respectable, but it doesn’t make up for the lack of respect we received at our show on Friday. We showed up and weren’t told a thing, no mention of load-in, sound check, or hospitality. So we carry our gear in to the venue, and the owner and sound guy are just staring at us. We don’t know wether to proceed with load-in, or bring everything back to the van, so we continue loading in. The next band finishes a half hour later than scheduled, which is cool because that happens. Especially with jazz heads, they’re always a little behind the beat. What is not cool is that we got stuck with paying for the lack of leadership that the venue exhibited, by not being allowed to play our last song. Our family and friends had come a long way in to the city to see our show because I had promised them that this was the venue to come see us at. So when the audience was yelling, “Encore, Encore” the venue owner/runner was saying, “No More, No More”. His reasoning?  His band wanted to play! The applause quickly died, and some really awkward moments passed. Then since the atmosphere was so weird, everybody just left instead of hanging around the merch table, so we didn’t sell anything. As I was loading up, talking with some friends that were too young to leave for the bar next door with the rest of the crowd, the venue operator interrupted us and said,”We didn’t collect the cover charge, so if you want any money you had better make an announcement to [your family] that you need money.” WTF!?!?!?!?! Really? I just quietly sipped my $3 dollar beer he had made me pay for, and tried to go back to enjoying my friends. After we were all packed up, I decided I didn’t want to stick around for the last band, and would just go ask for any money put in the tip jar for us. (NOTE: I always make a point of listening to every band on the bill. This is the only way that any music scene will grow. But this venue had a revolving door attitude, similar to most NYC venues we had experienced like The Living Room and Rockwood. When ever the band changed, so did the audience. And after how we were being treated…) So I went back into the venue, and got a bit of satisfaction when I saw the whole venue empty, except for the bar girl and the band’s GF’s, but then I lost it. The two guys playing horns in the venue owner’s band were the same two guys I had to ask to either be quiet or take there talk outside several times during our set. I don’t mind people talking at a bar while we are playing, that’s expected. But this was a listening room situation, and everyone else was enjoying listening. So I did the only thing a reasonable human being could do. I started screaming, “WHERES MY MONEY? WHERES MY MONEY?” over and over to some very confused looking jazz players. Finally when most of them had taken their dumb instruments out of their dumb mouths I yelled, “PEACE!”, and peaced. The funny thing is the owner/runner/jazzhole had already interrupted my bandmate earlier to awkwardly hand her our tip money, very unprofessionally, in front of guests of the concert. It’s embarrassing enough to only get fifty bucks for a show, but can you please not advertise how poor you are making us. The cherry on top was that they illegally recorded our entire performance with out asking our permission, and of course have not sent us any of the recordings.

Now I have played a lot of venues in a lot of different places, some worse then this one (i.e. Canceled Bills w/ No Notice, Police Tape Around The Venue, Meth Deals, Triple Homicides…seriously). But none have ever driven me to the point of writing a review of the events. I usually just take them with me, and laugh about them with friends at the next show down the road. But I feel like it’s my responsibility, neigh (sp?) civic duty, to tell the world about what transpired this particular night, because it is the perfect microcosm of the music world today. Not in the way that it is biblically un-good, and should therefore be foreclosed upon, deemed unsafe for any musical creation to inhabit. But a microcosm in the sense, that with some careful care, attentive attention, and respectful respect this “should-be” music scene will flourish into this generation’s musical mecca.

To conclude, I have a problem with people that point out problems…but don’t propose any type of solution to said problem. So, in my next spblog, I will present the solution in the form of one of the best indie music venues on the scene today, The Oak and The Ax in Biddeford, ME. But that’s next time, kitties, for all of this ranting has expired me. Can’t wait for the show tonight, The Red Door is a great venue!

Give Care,
mike of (THEPLEASANTS)