As a teenager, I had so much fun going to shows that I decided one day I wanted to start putting them on myself. So I let it be known and soon enough, I got a bite. A nice, Weezer-esque band from Ohio (this was around 1997) contacted me and I set it all up. I booked the Faubourg Marigny Community Center (more on that in a minute); I made fliers and let all my friends know. I bought food to cook for the band. I cleared off the couch.
The night of the show, the sky opened up and poured rain, real stay-at-home-and-damn-sure- don’t-go-out weather. No huge deal, though. The band was in good spirits, even when we showed up to the Faubourg and found just a handful of sympathetic and soaked friends waiting under the balcony.
I had the band and I had people not in the band to watch them. I had a venue. What I didn’t have was a P.A. As a total novice to show promotion, it was the one critical detail that I had been completely unaware of.
So we stood outside, just barely out of the downpour’s reach. It was awkward and depressing. At one point, a good samaritan offered to go find some microphones and they even took a cab on their own dime to retrieve them. But in the end, I came up short and there was no show. I collected $50 from the ATM and paid the band. They were nice about it but I still felt the sting of defeat.
I went ahead and booked a second show. This time, I made sure to have a P.A. Everything went off really well. A lot of people showed up and had a good time. The bands killed, and all involved were paid enough to eat at Shoney’s afterwards, the hallmark of any successful gig. Together with friends and roommates, I booked a bunch more shows through the years, some in my living room, and had a blast most of the time. I made friends from all over the place and learned a great deal about the music machine, lessons that I keep with me today.
My point is, it all started at the Faubourg Marigny Community Center (the much more grand Maison stands there today), which in the late ‘90s was the epicenter of all-ages shows in New Orleans, a place where young people like myself could test the waters of live music production, from booking shows to playing that rickety stage, without the regulations and restrictions that come with bar culture. With the recent closing of the Big Top, I feel the collective pangs of defeat once again, like when the A.R.K. shut its doors and before that, the Faubourg, and before that, the Abstract Cafe. New Orleans needs venues like this. I really hope we can pull something together soon, because while I do appreciate the clubs of this city, to me this whole music community thing starts way before legal drinking age. Let’s make sure the kids have somewhere to start.
—Dan Fox
