Consumption of the live music experience

On a Denver music discussion board, there's been a discussion of who best supports the local music scene.

One person suggested that if you don't get out to see a variety of different bands, you can't claim to be much of a booster.

But it occurred to me that local music scenes really depend more on fans who go see a few bands repeatedly than on fans who go see lots of bands less frequently.

Here's the logic in that: If you go to hear a variety of different bands, chances are you will encounter some you don't much care for. If you hear enough of those, you may get bored with bar/club hopping and do something else with your time/money.

On the other hand, if you limit yourself to bands that you really like, you'll have a better time and you'll also become more invested in the process. You become part of that band's community: you become a regular with the band and their other fans. It becomes sort of a "Cheers" experience -- where everyone knows your name.

So the bread-and-butter of local music scenes are repeat fans. Their musical tastes may be narrowly focused, but they are the ones who can be counted on follow bands around to a variety of venues, thus insuring a predictable flow of income for those bands.

Here's someone's blog entry on this very subject:

Dan's Review: Club Crawl Fall 2006 | TucsonScene: "It is no secret that I have mixed feelings about the Club Crawl. It is a great showcase for local musicians and bands. Perhaps some of the folks that attend will become interested in a musician or band and will get out to see them again. Obviously, that is a good thing. I walked around last night for a half hour or so and heard a bunch of bands in relatively short period of time. I spent the most time at The Rialto for Found Dead on the Phone and really enjoyed their set.

"On the other hand, the phrenetic and sometimes drunken masses can be overwhelming. After about an hour I was ready to escape and headed toward Plush. Walking into the back room at Plush was like coming home. The atmosphere there was like old friends gathering around the fire to share music and stories."

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