If you don't already have a fan base (friends, family or people who've seen you at other venues and will turn up based on your mailing list) you would need more than three weekends to establish a following.   Is it a 'theme' pub (Irish or Celtic) or just a generic type place? Do they have other live music, and if so do those acts seem to bring people in? Give us an example of your repertoire. Definitely you need to have a fair number of songs everybody knows. The owner treated you crappily - he could have just nicely said he didn't think it was working out, or something like that.

My trio usually does Irish pubs. We are all three members of the local Irish American Society, so a fair number of them turn up to see us. Also I run a separate folk concert series, and therefore have access to that mailing list. We do the usual pub songs which is what our audiences enjoy and expect - Whiskey in the Jar, Wild Rover, and throw in some lesser known ones as well, but most of the music is lively. Occasionally I have a chance to do a gig where I can get away with what I really like to do, which is ballads - but that has to be a coffee house type of place. I've been gigging around here for close to 10 years, so there are some folks who will turn up.

There are some places, however, that just aren't a good 'fit' and we've had plenty of those fiascos. If it's a young crowd that wants rock and roll, and a trio of fifty something's starts playing diddly dee Irish music, it doesn't tend to go over well no matter what.

Oh and I've also run up against the scenario of competing events - not much you can do about that.

If the people there seemed to be enjoying themselves that's good! We worked one place where we did pull people in - in the beginning, but the food and service were so poor that after a couple of times they didn't come back. That place eventually closed. Again - not much you can do there!