If this thread doesn't hit a thousand posts, I'll be shocked.
Tonight, I had a bummer booking. Everyone has had them, and they almost always catch you completely by surprise. I had my doubts about this one, but it still frustrated me. It brought back some of my ill-remembered bummer bookings of the past.
Two examples:
I was booked at a coffee house in Phildelphia. I'd been on the road for four or five hours and when I found the place, I was greeted at the door by the person who booked me. The first words out of her mouth were "You sure don't draw well!" And hello to you, too! And i answered, "Hey, I'm just the opening act.. I have nothing to do with the size of the crowd.. why don't you tell the main act that?" There WAS a very sparse crowd, but for a change, I was glad I was the opening act and couldn't be blamed for it. And yet, I was. Sometimes you can't win for losing.
Another memorable occasion. I arrived at an area coffee house where I was booked for the night, to discover that there was a big poster in the window for someone else. When I came in and asked what was going on, the manager said that he decided he wanted to book this other guy instead. I told him to forget it... I was booked, and I was going to play. I made him take the poster out of the window and put the one in for me.
Here's your chance! I got a couple more of these, but I'd sure feel a lot better if I heard what a miserable time y'all have had..
By the way, after breaking our back to get to tonight's "booking" we didn't even get to play.