no its not gabe...its tonight...I am doing sound...come on down and say hi.

it is a shame that this was missed by almost all. Gabe put together a bill with some great acts that you aren't likely to see in your normal venues. The accident that lead me to the world was exceptional. Grow Your Own Butterflies was also very good...and guilford is always guilford...even if he is late :) btw...there are some VERY cute feral kittens behind that place that need to be rescued :(

All in time.

The Vernon is a hard sell, in addition to the 'normal' outlets for promo I think it's going to take a lot for music to really work down there. That said, I do wish Gabe and the 1st Friday series as well as all the other shows down there good luck. More venues in Worcester is a good thing.

Quote:

eawhalen wrote:
We played the Vernon last month. I thought it was a great venue. Sure you have to walk through the bar to get to the ship room but a lot people came and enjoyed themselves. There is a good sushi place across the street too, not nearly as good as BABA though... :)

Barry feel free to PM me if you want to talk about what my plans are for the night. All in time means it is going to take a while to get my promoter shoes to fit again and it's also going to take a while to get people into the Vernon.

As for the Vernon itself well, I don't know, I don't see any problem with it whatsoever. Neither has anyone that has played any of my nights from outside of Worcester. Sometimes you need to look at things through different eyes. Those 508 eyes can be pretty jaded sometimes, I should know.
I know this, I know that I stand by my word that my shows are the best music going on in Worcester on the particular night that they happen. If you like music, if music is your thing, then First Fridays are the place for you to be. If you like beautiful people and craft beer then it might not be the place for you, but I can pretty much guarantee that you will not be dissapointed with the music. Remember going to shows for the sake of the show? That's what I am trying to bring back. Maybe there is no market for it anymore and that would be a sad day for all of us, but I am going to try like hell to find that market.

The hotel is definately a viable venue and great room, I really enjoy playing there, it is however tough to get people to cross Kelley Square to go there. Hopefully the addition of Nick's (beautiful room) will up the traffic of your demographic a bit. The big thing I think the ship room needs is a cocktail waitress to ferry drinks in from the bar, I'm sure you could find someone who would take you up on it for $40.00 and tips for the night. I look good in pumps.

for the record, I support what Gabe is doing down at the Vernon. Bringing more music to the city is fantastic. All I am trying to say in this thread is that promoting music at the Vernon is hard. I am hoping we can discuss ways to get people down there for these shows. Asking how many people Matt got to his show is a way of finding out what they did to get people to their show and knowing just how many people we are talking about.

This site is here for people to discuss culture in Worcester. Just a reminder.

personally, I aplaud Gabe for his bravado.

If your goal is to provide Worcester with the second or third best music on any given night, well...what the hell are you doing?

This was the first, first Friday I was involved in, and hope to be involved in many more. I think Gabe is trying to do something a little different...like: 

Book some different acts with some stuff you won't hear in many of the other clubs

Not crank the volume to 13

Use a venue that you will not need a small home loan to go out and drink for a night

Start a little earlier...end a little earlier 

Keep beautiful people from coming, so ugly people feel better about themselves (Gabe, we need to rethink this policy). 

I am not going to go as far as to say that the Vernon is a Mecca, or that the bugs are worked out...but I will say its something new, its something different, and I think its great what Gabe is doing.

There is no doubt Gabe is taking the hard road here. The easy road would certainly be to book bands with a draw, bands we all love, in places we all know. It is going to take time for this to develop, but my hope is rather than slicing up an already small pie, that it helps to grow it a bit.

I will be at the next First Friday show, so advertise that!

(I would have made it to the most recent one but I was on deadline and put it off to the last minute as usual, but I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at the first one and the dollar drafts made it particularly easy for me to get a good buzz going and we all know what happens when I've got a good buzz going).

So like I said, I will be there!

I think everyone here agrees that any venue/person willing to showcase and support local music is a great thing. As far as the Vernon, Duncan is correct where he says the marketing needs to be aggressive. We had James Christensen from Boston come open up for us and he loved the place and wants to come back. Growing up in Worceter, many of us were exposed to the stigma of the Vernon. For him it was a cool room with people who wanted to here music. But I think there is enough of us here who support local music who would be willing to help change that stigma.

www.myspace.com/hatondrinking

nothing wrong with ice cold gansett served in thick glass mugs with a side of free baseball park peanuts

Quote:

preachahroe wrote:

 

nothing wrong with ice cold gansett served in thick glass mugs with a side of free baseball park peanuts

most congenial service i've received in a worcester bar.  they seem to genuinely appreciate the patronage.  how rare.

This story had a nice, massage parlor style happy ending.

Hey Matt, thanks for asking. Here's what I have on the next First Friday.

November 2nd, 21+, $5

9pm St Joe Hazelwood  http://www.myspace.com/saintjoehazelwood  

Cool Massachusetts folk duo who just released an album on Grinding Tapes. I'm very eager to see them in the Ship Room. I think they are going to sound fantastic.

10pm Cathy Cathodic  http://www.myspace.com/cathycathodic  

Cathy is a pretty badass MC from Boston. Intelligent feminist lyrics and awesome beats.

11pm Tiger Saw  http://www.myspace.com/tigersaw  

Tiger Saw is really an ever changing and evolving collective of musicians who come together to play the songs of band leader Dylan Metrano as well as the songs of many of their friends that they have met along the way. Playing one of their last area shows before they leave for a fall European tour it is awesome to have them here in Worcester at the Hotel Vernon. Torch songs, sing alongs and songs that will make you shake your ass, you really get it all with this band. Should be lots of fun.

I'm sold on the fact that Tiger Saw's "band leader" is a huge Prince fan, plus I caught them at the Java Hut a while back and enjoyed it thoroughly. I WILL BE THERE!

Gabe, how do you answer the charge thay you claimed that "First Friday" would have the best music in town on that night and a few blocks away Trapt are playing with Fuel that same night?

 Also, just an FYI, when searching local listings I found listings through December for many venues, for the Hotel Vernon I found this...

Hotel Vernon, Kelley Square Yacht Club, Kelley Square, Worcester
Open Mic every Wednesday night
Call for schedule

Not even a phone number. 

Unfortunately all I have control of is what goes on in The Ship Room on the night of the shows. I can make suggestions but other then that anything outside the room is out of my hands.

Barry, I listened to Trapt and I still stand by my statement.

And after all that....there is no mention of the show in Scott's column today.

i saw a nice flyer posted at coney island hot dogs

the official poster for THE EVENT:

Sorry dude. Too many percosets. I don't think clearfully lately.

Fixed.