The Sound of Silence
The other day I was in a bar at a festival and there were a few good going tunes. After a period of time, the musicians stopped for a breather and a blether as they(we) often do. Nothing wrong with that as it’s a social occasion too.
However, after a few minutes, the bar man cranked up some extremely loud and "thumpy" background music.
I notice this happens a lot in bars which supposedly "welcome" musicians and sessions which causes me to wonder about the mentality and thinking of the staff/management in these situations. While it may be a message that "playtime is over" for the musicians or just a lack of thought, it certainly sends out a signal which makes players feel their efforts aren’t being appreciated. Personally, I’m inclined to give staff the benefit of the doubt and they probably don’t realise that sometimes people can appreciate breaks for conversation and a bit of silence. To be fair on the chap, he did turn the music off when the musicians wanted to start up again.
Any thoughts on this?