When you show support to others, you often see same support returned. Even if the latest venture from a friend or contact isn’t for you, that doesn’t stop us from helping them to create some early momentum and have a better chance of finding their crowd.
When you’re playing on a bill with other bands, the ‘one man and his dog’ audience scenario need never be true.
There was an unspoken rule for the shows I played, that if, for whatever reason, it was a quiet night, or a smaller turnout for a particular band, everyone and anyone in the venue would make up the crowd.
You knew that at some point (and likely many times in the past), you’d be in the same boat and might hope for the same show of support. With 2022 already bringing some new projects and creative endeavours from friends and contacts, I’m keen to apply that that same DIY ethic.
If I see someone pouring their heart and soul into their work, only to fall victim to frustrating algorithms or the general noise of social media platforms, just like those nights spent in dingy clubs, I’ll take a step forward.
This photo is from a show I played in 2006, opening for Bullets To Broadway from the US at The Opera House (now the O2 Academy Bournemouth). My friends and I were big fans of two bands the members of BTB had been in previously. This was their first time in the UK with the new band and we travelled to see them in London and Southampton on the same tour prior to the Bournemouth date.
They recognised the support we’d shown and, umprompted, wore a couple of our band’s t-shirts on stage. We hadn’t played to many people earlier in the evening, and I’m not sure how well we went down with the audience, but this gesture from Bullets To Broadway meant the world to us.
Edit: Thank you to Trevor Young who went a step further forward and bought a metaphorical T-shirt from the merch stand by sharing this post with his own connections.
Liam Toms 