Guess The Attendance At The Casbah
Going to check out Jolie Holland at the Casbah tonight, and wondering what the attendance will be like for this show. Based on the Sound Team turnout from two weeks ago, where there were more tumbleweeds rolling through the place than actual people, you realize that just having some buzz on the internet isn't enough to make people flock to the show. The only show I'd ever seen less people at at the Casbah was Marah. Both shows had the effect of making you wonder if you had made some sort of mistake, if there was some terrible secret about both of these bands that everyone else knew about and somehow implicated you by being in the audience, like if it was well known that both bands brashly endorsed child molesting from the stage, and you just happened to miss that fact when deciding to purchase a ticket.
Though tonights concert could easily be considered the least accesible of the three, I predict a higher turnout than both Sound Team and Marah combined, (Note: that sounds impressive, but that is probably only thirty people.) I don't know why I think that, maybe because Jolie Holland has been around for a while, or because you don't get as many female solo artists headlining the Casbah, or just because her records are better than both of those other bands. On the other hand, there hasn't been much chatter regarding her latest, "Springtime Can Kill You," and I don't particularly like it as much as "Escondida" or "Catalpa," so we could be in for another uncrowded evening at the Casbah.
Lastly, no review ever gets printed without mentioning that Tom Waits is a big fan of Jolie Holland's music. But just as universally, none of those reviews ever mention where on earth they get that information from. They just leave it at that and move right on. Well I haven't found any specific interviews with the man, but could all of this press stem from the fact that Waits nominated Ms. Holland for the now-defunct Shortlist of Music Prize back in 2003? If so, that's a hell of a lot of mileage to get out of a man's nomination. You have to wonder if the Orchestra Baobab is still packing in the crowds based on their Waits nomination from that same year. Nevertheless, without that little blurb mentioning TW, I probably would have continued skimming right over the article the first time I saw it, so some press person somewhere should be complimented for their work on that one.
Comments
I went to see Holland a few years ago at the Casbah. She was opening for someone, can't remember who, but I do remember that I was surprised at the low turnout then.
Posted by: Jeff | June 28, 2006 09:30 AM
50-60 people would be my guess.
She has played there a few times in the past right..? What was it then?
Posted by: T | June 28, 2006 10:07 AM
She has, in fact I read somewhere that the other guy performing tonight, Sean Hayes, nearly stole the show last time they were there.
Posted by: Conor | June 28, 2006 10:11 AM
So how many people went?
Posted by: Ron | July 26, 2006 10:25 AM