Re: [Harp-L] Pocket Full of Soul attendance

[Joseph Leone <3n037@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Feb 23, 2013, at 11:02 AM, Mick Zaklan wrote:

>   The Chicago show (Skokie) is confirmed.

Well I can guess that although Chi-town is now the third largest U.S. city, they still have 'hangers on' from a time when they were second. 
And their zeal is still there as if they ARE still second. Consider that Chi was ALWAYS close to N.Y. in the old days and in fact had some of 
THE very best groups around. This may have had an osmosis effect inasmuch as some descendants are STLL enamored with harp.  :) 

>  Took a quick look at the list
> of cities; I think out of 24 cities there are 10 that had to call off the
> show due to poor ticket sales.  I was kind of amazed to see that St. Louis,
> a city that has hosted several SPAH conventions, was only able to sell 4
> tickets.  On the other end of the spectrum, I was startled to see that
> Houston, Texas has sold 337 tickets!

As I recall, the whole thing started Dallas 2003. PLUS Texas has ALWAYS  been a hotbed of harp players. Especially diatonic. Oh, and one thing
I noted..when I watch the rushes, I get the impression that the documentary is diatonic centric. I am probably wrong, but that's the impression I got.
It wouldn't matter to me because I am 70 and play both. But an even OLDer chromatic player would probably not give this film a decent chance. 
EsPECIALLY if it seemed it was going to be a lot of work to get it played in their locale. Old people have no patience. They like to just 'walk in
and get served'. lol  

>  That's way beyond everyone else.
> Then I noticed that the filmmaker had done a radio interview on the local
> station there.  Amazing what a little promo can do.

You got THAT right. You have to put something INto something to get something out of it. 

>   As I said before, you can kind of look upon this thing as a census of
> harmonica enthusiasts.  Flawed of course, because plenty of players
> probably live far away from the show sites and many haven't a clue this
> film exists.  Still, the fact the 10 cities had to cancel out is a bit
> depressing.  With the exception of Texas, the film isn't playing in the
> South at all.  Knoxville, Nashville, Orlando, and Birmingham all came up
> short.

Even more depressing, when doing a canvas of harmonica players from the south west Fla. area, I find that the few that are here AREN't interested.
Most are content to ply their avocation, collect their jing, and wait for the next gig. As for Orlando, the only enthusiast that was there (at one time), as
far as I know, was the Iceman. Chromatic players? Forgeddabowtit. Randy Singer in Miami? Me in Ft. Myers? Hmmm, hardy an audience..because 
because everyone else is almost 100 years old, can't drive at night, can't drive, are lucky to be walking, can't walk, and blah blah. 

smo-joe

 
> 
> Mick Zaklan