I can't quite get my head around a venue (and venue's staff) that has a handful of bands show up to play and then spend the entire night treating everyone in the club as if they were a massive inconvenience. Sure, it's a sunday night, and the club is far from packed, but still... we've played empty houses on off nights before, but none of those venues greeted band members or audience members with the "I'd be having a better night if all of you decided not to show up" vibe.
The best example of this happened to Michelle-- since there was no guest list (in much the same way there were no drink tickets), she wanted to pay for someone who was coming later. The response she got was "That's a huge inconvenience."
"Can I do it, though? Can I pay for him now and you just let in when he comes?"
Keep in mind that, at the time this conversation took place, the girl at the door had... er... processed about three people. This includes taking their money, making change if necessary, and applying a stamp to their wrist. She'd had to do this three times. Being asked to take money in advance, she said, was "a huge fucking pain in the ass."
"So... you're not going to take my money?"
"I didn't say that. I just said it was a huge fucking pain in the ass."
Understandable: she was swamped. I think she had to send detailed information via text message about everyone she processed, and the workload was astonishing-- she was slaving over her cell phone for most of the night. She didn't actually have to process many people (it was a slow night), but the amount of time she spent typing into her phone was astonishing. Whatever they're paying her, it ain't enough.
Most of the people who worked for the club had similar attitudes... it makes me want to break out the word "pissy," which doesn't come up in conversation much, but is definitely applicable here. Pissy attitudes about having to deal with the inconsequential bands of the night (obviously beneath them) and the poor saps dumb enough to pay to enter their establishment.
The weirdest bit, to me, is: if you hate putting on these little, off-night shows... why do them? There are other venues that size that don't book bands on Sundays or Mondays or any night they think isn't going to bring people out... in much the same way there are plenty of other venues that are perfectly happy to put on smaller shows and slower nights, happy to see the bands come out, and treat the people who come out like worthwhile human beings. It just doesn't make sense to book the show and then treat everyone in attendance like shit.
This particular place has a reputation for being unpleasant: we have people who wanted to come out, but just didn't want to go there... I've sort of defended this place in conversation against friends who call it the worst club in Seattle (the attitudes of the security staff and the quality of sound on the main stage are the biggest complaints). My response has usually been "It's not that bad," which was all the defense I could muster.
It's not much, but I never bore this club any ill will... but after last night, who would waste their breath defending this place?
And I've met the owner of the place: good guy, nice to talk to, always treated me well. He was not at this show. His employees are the kinds of people that give this venue its reputation... the kind of place that, even if you like the bands playing, you just don't want to be there.