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Beres Hammond and Bob MarleyTyrone Reid, Staff Reporter
Poor turnouts at stage shows usually result in poor responses from many artistes today. Many of our local acts usually shy away from performing before small crowds.
Over the years, this practice has grown considerably. It is now commonplace for many of the well-known acts to be present at an event that they are billed for, but do not perform due to the minimal crowd support. This was evident at the 'Reach Out 2002' show held recently at the Rainbow Skateland in Half-Way Tree recently as the majority - if not all - of the billed acts turned up at the venue, but failed to give a performance because of the small crowd that was on hand.
The question is why do the artistes choose not to perform and, secondly, are not those present deserving of a performance? Did they not spend their hard-earned cash to enter the venue?
According to Brenda Sutherland, managing director of XL Agency and manager of recording artiste Baby Cham, the unwillingness to perform may stem from a misconception on the part of the artiste. "This is sad to say, but a lot of artistes get their vibes from the crowd, so once the crowd is not there to cheer them on their performance is going to be weak. But it should not be so, because a good performer should be able to ignite the crowd," she stated. Her point was shored up by the upcoming Jeffrey 'Assassin' Campbell: "Some man have dem mind-set the inverse of the way it should be. Dem waan feel the vibes from the crowd, when it should be the other way around. The artiste should be the one that fuels the audience with the energy."
The reluctance of some artistes to perform at stage shows with low turnouts was denounced by the long-standing and highly respected crooner Beres Hammond, as he thinks there is no rationale behind not performing due to a low turnout. "Why wouldn't they want to perform?" he asked.
"Weh puss have him gi him pickney. It nuh matter how much people turn up, yuh affi work. Yuh cyaan do nothing else. Who do dem ting deh nuh love the craft. If two turn out the show must go on," emphasised Beres.
The notion raised by Beres that acts who do not perform if there is a small audience are not genuinely in love with the music found support in deejay quarters. "You cyaan look pon it so, because if a 10 people come fi get the message, the message affi deliver, full house or not. Some man a deejay fi get forward and hype, but mi a do it from the heart," said Frisco Kid.
THE STAR's deejay of the year for 2001, Elephant Man, also supported the opinion of the revered lovers rock singer, but also pointed out that not everyone in the business thinks along these lines. "Ten different bredda, 10 different mind," noted Elephant. "Mi nuh know bout a man, but me know bout miself, so if ah two people show up mi ago perform same way."
There is a remarkable tale in the book Marley and Me by Don Taylor, his former manager, who is now deceased. The book reminisces on one of the great Bob Marley moments, where it tells of a show on a Bob Marley US tour early in his career. The venue had but a handful of people, but the original gong insisted on performing the full set with band and all.
Bob's shoes are hard to fill, but his footsteps are ones that the young and upcoming deejay Assassin desires to emulate, as he told The Sunday Gleaner that not performing due to a low turnout is not his cup of tea. "Well that is not the case with Assassin. If a one man deh deh mi ago perform. From the people dem pay dem money fi come see you, yuh fi perform - and don't dweet like seh ah 10 people deh deh either," he said.
Frisco Kid. aka 'The Ancient Monarchy', was on the same wavelength as the youngster. "All when a one person deh deh mi ready fi bus di place, cause mi know seh dah one person deh is a fan of mine, so the amount of people in the venue nuh affect whether or not mi perform," he said.
Refusing to perform because of the number of people present at an event can prove to be detrimental to the life-span of an artiste's career, because if the patrons turn up at a venue to see you perform and he or she does not anger of the disappointed fans will more than likely be directed at the artiste and not the promoter.
On the contrary, if the act does perform in front of a small crowd and gives it his all, it will only bring him accolades and strengthen his credibility, since good news spreads like wildfire. According to Mr. Hammond, an artiste who displays such loyalty to his profession, and especially to the fans, places himself in a 'win-win' situation.
"It would do wonders for his credibility. Him nah go loose nothing. A man have to realise that is this the Father give him and him fi use it to the best of his ability," he reasoned deeply.
He added: "Sometime ah di most beautiful show you can have, because of how intimate the setting is, yuh can see all the faces and know who the music is touching in a special way."
Apart from casting a shadow on the entertainer's trustworthiness, it is being classed as 'downright slackness and a disrespect' to the fans of the music. "Hell yes! It is a disrespect, if 10 people come out to see you, you should perform and at your best, because those 10 people are your fans. I think the artiste has an obligation to perform," stressed Mrs. Sutherland.
Her viewpoint was reiterated by Frisco: "Of course a disrespect that. If a fifteen people come ah di venue, that mean seh a fifteen fans and not performing is a big disrespect. If the people dem come fi hear me, mi ago blaze it cause ah mi job that."
To some degree, Assassin disagreed with Mrs. Sutherland and Frisco's mutual point of view. Even though he thought that not performing would be the incorrect procedure, 'disrespect' was too harsh of a word to be used to describe the nature of the situation.
"Probably disrespect is too strong of a term, but I would say that it is unfair because the patrons put out their effort to be there and paid their money," stated the youngster.
The fans are not at all pleased about non-performance for small crowds, because they also think that it undermines their faith. This is very unfortunate because without the fans, there will be no music industry, which will eliminate becoming an entertainer from the list of trades. "I'd beat them to death. If I'm only person there they better get their skinny ass on-stage and perform. I don't pay my money to be there with other people, I pay to hear them sing," reasoned a 26 year-old fan.
A low turnout is not a good enough reason to not perform, nor is it a valid legal out either. According to an article written by this reporter on Sunday, June 16, 2002, if the show is cancelled due to a low turnout by the promoter, the patrons can sue for breach of contract. "It's a simple breach of contract," noted Nicole Foga of the law firm Foga, Daley and Company in that article. "If the artiste does not show, then they haven't produced what they promised and the patron would be able to sue or report those in question to the Fair Trading Commission," explained the attorney-at-law.
The attorney also stated that the reasonable reward would be admission to the venue, but usually the amount to be recovered is left up to the judgement of the court. Therefore, if the artiste chooses not to perform on his own merit without the consent of the promoter, then the promoter would be able to take him to the courts if he pleases.
