Give the People What They Want
My poor, frozen husband at “Summer”fest
Yesterday marked the first day of Summerfest. Yesterday also marked the first time I’ve left a concert before the end.
For the uninitiated, Summerfest is an 11-day outdoor music festival held on the shores of Lake Michigan right here in Milwaukee. With pop, rock, hip-hop, and country acts, it draws quite the eclectic crowd (read as: fantastic people-watching). Usually, it’s a great time filled with great food and great music.
This is not a story of one of those great times.
Let me set the stage for you. It’s been unseasonably cold and rainy here. Combined with the wind coming off the lake, temperatures dipped well into the 40s at sunset. On top of that, it was a weekday night. The main acts don’t even go on until 10 at night; with a full day of work before and a full day of work looming ahead, just staying awake is an endurance exercise. But these things you can kind of plan for.
What you can’t plan for is a disappointing performance.
I’m going to preface this by saying that I love Ray LaMontagne and still think his voice is a national treasure. But, damn man, way to not play to your audience.
My husband and I (and about half the crowd) left before the end of the concert. Hell, I went to an Eddie Izzard show not too long ago and suffered through debilitating vertigo through the whole thing – and I still stuck it out for the duration of his performance. When you have your audience, they can will themselves through the most extraordinary things. When you don’t, a chilly night can be the tipping point.
Whether you’re playing to a crowd, heading up your shop’s marketing efforts, or writing a blog, you have an unspoken contract with your audience upon which you have to deliver. There are some rules that you just can’t ignore:
Know Your Audience.
In a festival setting with 11 stages, Ray LaMontagne was competing for the audience’s attention. Last night, he was playing at the same time as Rick Springfield, The Arctic Monkeys, Neon Trees, Ben Harper, Clay Walker, and Bruno Mars, to name a few. Unfortunately, Ray decided to start his show with a few tracks from his new album, which was released in early May. By doing this, he’d essentially alienated the casual listeners who only know his popular (by indie standards) songs.
Maybe your audience is familiar with your music/company/brand/message, or maybe they were just passing by. You have to hook them and keep them – or risk losing them.
Know Your Venue.
There’s a time and a place for everything. A blog is not the place to write a dissertation on social justice, just as a main stage on the opening night of the world’s largest music festival is not the place to test out new, meandering tracks that border on the psychedelic. Going a different route may have worked perfectly fine in previous shows, but I’m willing to bet that those are shows that were: 1. In a more intimate setting with better acoustics; 2. Featured only one headliner (you); 3. Not stupid cold. You have to edit your content – or set list, in this case – to fit the medium.
Know Your Role.
This crowd was there to hear familiar songs from an artist they enjoy, not an unrecognizable set list. Similarly, you’re not here to hear about a Ray LaMontagne show. You’re not even here because you particularly like me (unless you’re my mom – hi, mom). You’re here because you’ve come to expect insight and useful information on Marketing, Sales, Management, and Customer Loyalty. As a performer/writer/marketer/whatever, you have to respect that relationship and try your damnedest to deliver on that promise (sorry for the swears, mom). And that means sometimes you have to throw your artistic notions out the door and give the audience what they want. It’s hits or GTFO.
Now, I feel bad for dogging on one of my favorite artists, but whether you’re a singer, a blogger, or a marketer, you have to know your audience and respect the tentative grasp you have on their attention. Otherwise you risk leaving them disappointed, bewildered, and out in the cold.
Yesterday marked the first day of Summerfest. Yesterday also marked the first time Jill of All Trades Aimee Brock Dierbeck left a concert before the end. But fortunately for you, a great article came out of a not-so-great evening. Like what Aimee has to say? Comment below or email her directly!
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