12/30/2023 0 Comments Sofar sounds redditSuch was the case for Vermonters Kat Wright & The Indomitable Soul Band last year. Sometimes touring artists in Portland for a paying gig have also played a Sofar show. But the performers have also included one string quartet, the Amarantos Quartet. About 30 people signed up and attended, and that number has grown with each additional show.Īcts that have played Sofar Maine shows have included new and better-known Maine-based acts, including Max Ater and the Marshalls, Sara Hallie Richardson, Lyle Divinsky (Phil’s son), Dark Hollow Bottling Company, the Ghost of Paul Revere, Spencer Albee and Eric Bettencourt. With help from others, including business owners and musicians, they put on their first show in June 2014, in the Old Port Wool and Textile Co. In 2013, he contacted Sofar Sounds offices and quickly connected with two other Mainers interested in starting a chapter: high school teacher and musician Phil Divinsky and Griffin Sherry, also a local musician, of the Maine band The Ghost of Paul Revere. In Maine, Kasprzak, a 47-year-old financial adviser who lives in Kennebunk, was intrigued by the concept as soon as he started reading about it online. Organizers say 70 to 75 people is about as large as they want the shows to be. Musician Phil Divinsky, left, and Tom Kasprzak, volunteer organizers for the Maine chapter of Sofar Sounds, confer over details before the start of a recent show. Support the musicians (applaud and consider buying their CDs). With Alexander, they came up with a few simple rules to attend: No talking. The three were disgusted with what they saw as a “disconnect” between the artist and the fans, and they decided to host a show with local musicians in a tiny London apartment, said Davis. The music competed with clinking glasses, screaming and laughing at the bar, and people not even watching the show. Sofar Sounds began in 2009 after three music fans – Rafe Offer, Rocky Start and David Alexander – went to see a show by a band called Friendly Fires at a club in London. “It’s more of a listening crowd this way.” “It’s more fun, more exciting, not knowing what you’re going to hear,” said Christine Rogers, 51, of Portland, as she sat with two friends before the show at Urban Farm Fermentory. Plus there’s the excitement of knowing you may see a band you’ve never seen before, a band that other hardcore music fans have selected for your enjoyment. None of the local organizers or hosts get paid.Īn attentive audience at the Urban Farm Fermentory in Portland listens to a local band during an event organized by the Maine chapter of Sofar Sounds – a global member-based network that puts on small shows in intimate and sometimes unlikely spaces.įor fans, the shows eliminate the elements of concert-going that can distract from the pure musical experience: elbow-to-elbow crowds, long lines, late nights, expensive tickets, chatty crowds or general rowdiness. He said all money taken in is “reinvested” to pay the expenses of putting on Sofar shows.īut Sofar groups, including Sofar Maine, are mostly run by volunteers. People pay a $10 suggested donation for each show, with the money used to hire professional sound engineers and photographers to record videos for the bands, said Dean Davis, global community manager for Sofar Sounds. Started in 2009 by three British music fans, Sofar is a for-profit concert organization that links and promotes shows, which are run locally by volunteers and held in atypical concert venues, such as homes or small businesses. It’s one of more than 200 chapters of Sofar Sounds around the world. The Maine group has put on five of these nearly secret shows since the summer of 2014. Who else but people with an intense love of live music would sign up months in advance for a concert without knowing who’s performing? The organizers of the show, the Maine chapter of Sofar Sounds, say the unusual setup draws a crowd ready to focus on the music. Even the accidental breaking of a bottle of hard cider, one of the fermentory’s products, didn’t distract from the church-like focus on the musicians. “Feel free to take pictures, but please remember to be in the moment.”įor two hours and three acts, the crowd sat quietly, eyes front, just as Kasprzak had asked. “We ask that there be no talking, and please keep your eyes on the musicians,” Tom Kasprzak, one of the concert organizers, announced to the crowd at 8 p.m. Subscribe - Holiday Gift Subscriptions Sign In My Account Logout Primary Menu ☰ X
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |