Lizzy Borden Rocks Small Crowd

Back on May 30, 2010, I finally had an opportunity to see one of my favorite artists from the 80s: the incomparable Lizzy Borden. Lizzy and Co. played a show at Club Hell in Providence, Rhode Island and the performance the band delivered was worth the wait. The songs, the musicianship and the stage show all impressed, and I left tired (at 2:00 a.m. with an 1.5 hour drive home ahead of me) but happy that I made the trip down for the show.

The show itself was poorly attended, probably due to the fact that it was on a Sunday night during a holiday weekend. At the most, I would say there were 100 people present for Lizzy's performance. However, what impressed me most about the band was their level of professionalism.

I play in a local band, and over the past few years, have played to my fair share of empty rooms and I can say firsthand that it is tough for the band to keep the energy up when the crowd is thin. I am certainly guilty of "phoning it in" on nights like these. Despite the fact that the club was not even 1/4 full, Lizzy and crew put full effort into their set.  The show was not compromised in the least, as we got the costumes, theatrics, blood and scantily clad "victims." Basically, it was an over-the-top show that met all expectations that I had walking in the door that night.

Perhaps this is the reason why Lizzy Borden is a national recording act and I am just in a local band (and it may have something to do with the difference in levels of talent as well...), but nonetheless, I give all of the credit in the world to that band and know that if I ever have the opportunity to see them live again, there is not a chance that I would miss that show.

Comments

[Liam]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZq_SG_VGxs&feature=player_embedded

This is reallly coool!

[JAT]

I finally saw Lizzy play a couple of years ago (opening for WASP). It was when he first brought back the TV as such from the Visual Lies days. It was awesome. It was in Dallas and there was a fairly decent crowd (probably 300 or so). In reality, this music should play to a far larger crowd but whatcha gonna do????

[Bob]

Brian, I'm with ya man. I was a bar musician through the 80s and 90s, and definitely played some nightmare gigs. One time, we played on a boiling hot Sunday afternoon to a crowd of eight people. another time, we were playing a gig the night of the infamous low-speed Ford Bronco chase involving OJ simpson, so everybody had their backs turned to us watching the TV's. On those occasions, and other nightmare ones, it was very very hard to keep our enthusiasm up, yet we still had to play the gig regardless. I have a tremendous amount of respect for bands who still put on a killer show no matter the circumstances. Last year, I saw Y&T at a club here in San Diego. the bulk of the people who were there, were given free tickets because the show didn't sell well. those of us who did buy tickets were given wristbands to be up front. Despite most of the crowd being comped, Y&T played a blistering set for a little over two hours, and just blew the place away. After the first song, Meniketti said something to the effect of, "I understand what's going on. but as long as you're here, we're gonna kick some ass", and kick ass they did! You have to admire and respect that so major cudos to Lizzy Borden for kicking ass for the people who did show up. That's how it should be done even though I'm sure it wasn't easy for them.

[Brian]

Bob - I can relate all to well to those thin nights. I remember one night we were playing at a bar and the people there just weren't into what we were doing. We'd finish a song and nothing....silence. We pushed through and still had fun playing, but it was a long night.

At the end of the night, the manager comes up to us and asks us if we wanted to become the house band there...he loved us. I looked at him sideways and asked him if he was TRYING to drive business away. We turned his offer down...I don't think my ego could handle one or two nights like that each week.

And great job to Allyson, who actually found and linked the entire show that Lizzy did at Club Hell. Can't believe the whole thing is online.

[Jack]

Saw the band over Memorial Day weekend, so can verify they put on a hell of a show despite a thin crowd.

Been a fan since about 1987, and this is the first time I've been able to see him/them so I was pretty happy they didn't cut things short - esp. since it was a 3.5 hour drive each way.

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[Alex]

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