As to back ground music before the main act goes on is good but if anyone out there has ever played a Ground Round you know the true meaning of the word, hell. They use to have the music playing while someone is singing happy birthday and then there's you in a corner singing wondering all the while, why the hell am I here?
Now a days before the gig I tell the bar owner…no TV on or music in the background when I am playing. If anyone wants a good concert setting they might try it. But yes I know in bars it can get, well nuts sometimes. This one gig I had years ago was a trip. The crowd was so loud in talking it was hard to listen to yourself sing. They only would listen to you if you did a song just like the radio hit songs. So I did everything but and they still did not pay the lest attention except when I mooned them and told them to kiss my ass. I was thinking I was going to get kicked out but the bar owner asked me, "Is this where the party is?"