Not a good experience for my teen musicians – The Funny Stop in Cuyahoga Falls

Sam, Gabe and their guitarist Kassi have been doing a great job of getting gigs for their band, Thecolorblind. Today they had one they were really excited about.  It was at The Funny Stop in Cuyahoga Falls, OH and it was kind of a big deal to them.  It’s one of the few comedy clubs in the area and this Sunday evening “Teen Nights” promised to give them some more exposure and a chance to get their name out their.
 
But there seemed to be problems with the gig last week.  The managers were demanding that the kids promote the gig on their own Facebook pages. They also complained to them that they didn’t have videos on their own Youtube page (although there were plenty of videos available on my Youtube page and on Facebook). Apparently they were pretty adamant that there should be no parents at the gig because they weren’t allowing anyone in over 19, which seemed odd to me but I thought maybe they were trying to keep out the pedophiles.
 
Anyway, the kids get there and Sam and Gabe both told me that they thought the management was very terse and rude with them.  When they had set up the asked for the base to be miked and Gabe also said he couldn’t hear himself sing, but they said there wasn’t anything they could do about it. They were also told they could only play a very short set.
 
The kids did the best they could. Kassi’s mom waited for them outside of the venue.  After they played and had removed the drums and instruments from the performance space, they saw other bands get the exact microphone arrangement they had been asking for!  They also said they saw other bands get paid but the management refused to pay them, (a whopping $150) because they said they didn’t have a big enough crowd (probably because they won’t let parents and since parents drive teens that don’t drive, it could put a damper on the size of the audience.
 
 
Anyway, the kids were a little shocked at the treatment and felt misused.  Kassi’s mom thought they were very unprofessional.  So after posting a nice rant on FB, I think putting little complaint on my blog for the search engines to pick up is appropriate.
 
Lesson learned. If they don’t allow a parent in, particularly a parent to handle the mikes and amps, then it’s probably not a gig they shouldn’t play.  Also, get it in writing if they promise to pay
 

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