Minstrel Booking

Well the big news this month was the Agranoff Imperative show with Runa, and the first event we've run to take advantage of the AIS (Asses In Seats) grant that the Minstrel was given to try to attract more attendees. And in all respects except artistic, it was a flop. The threat of snow probably kept a lot of people away, even though the predictions were not dire. I was expecting a near sellout of 170 paid. The actual paid attendance was 96. And very few of them were newcomers, thus thwarting the intent of the grant. Financially it was very bad, not for the Minstrel, but for the Project as a whole. I had agreed to a $2000 guarantee for the band, expecting to use between $500 and $800 of the AIS money to make that guarantee. As it turned out, we needed $1149 of those funds to make up the guarantee. So, while the Minstrel showed a $339 profit for the month, we actually cost the Project a whopping $810 loss.

We have one other AIS-backed show coming up in September with Rory Block. That's a much lower risk proposition. Her guarantee is only $1000, and I don't expect to use more than $200 of AIS money on that show. We might even make her guarantee with no AIS help.

As a small compensation, the show with the Kennedys on January 4 did very well, drawing 145 paid.

New bookings made since last meeting:

· May 31: Cold Chocolate, an old-timey group featuring FP member Kirsten Lamb on bass opening for Suzie Vinnick

· June 28: FP member Andrew Dunn as a feature act.

Highlights for February:

· This Friday, Feb. 1: Reeds, Rhythm, & All That Brass 16-piece big band

· Feb 22: Jacob Johnson, young guitar wizard that opened for Grover Kemble last Sept, and will be featured at Spring Festival in May