So, last night’s gig was a mix of lovely and awful. The venue is wonderful, the audience are responsive, and the hosts are welcoming. HOWEVER, I performed on a walkway above the main room, and at either side there are stairways (and an elevator) for people to access each level.
Rather than walk the few extra meters to get to each side, throughout my ENTIRE show, people walked across the walkway to get to the washrooms, stepping over my equipment and causing me to have to keep stopping playing in the middle of songs to get to the other side!
The walkway is not much more than a meter wide and not only did I have a lot of expensive equipment that was in danger of being damaged, and cables snaking across the floor that could have caused people to injure themselves, I find interrupting the show like that incredibly disrespectful.
If there had been no other way to access the first floor, I could understand, but the stairs were fully functional, as I accessed them many times myself while playing my violin, to go to the lower floor.
I CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE GALL of some – many – people that they find it acceptable to basically walk across what was the stage area when an artist was performing. Especially because in doing so, it disrupted the show.
My bowing arm was moving half a meter, plus the length of the bow, the bridge was a meter wide, then me, then guests walking past. Do the math.
Even during my final piece – someone requested I play Pachelbel’s Canon in D, someone was trying to step across. I pointed my bow at her and said, “NO. This is my last one, YOU WAIT.”
Next time I am there, I am bringing my own rope and tying the area off at both sides. At one point during setup a woman with a damn push chair wheeled it across the cables I was connecting, shunting my violin case out of the way. If I didn’t like the management, I wouldn’t play there again.
As it is, I will play there again, but with regulations. So, if you are ever at a venue with a performer, please show them respect and don’t walk across the stage area.
To be so disrespectful makes musicians not want to entertain. And evenings are not so much fun in silence.