Blog #5: Tour Diary 10.10.24

Howdy folks!

Last night was a hell of a learning experience, although don't take that as me suggesting it wasn't an amazing time. It was a very real challenge though, and it taught me a lot about what I'm doing and how to do it.

I've been playing at Stone Church for many years now, and it's always been one of my favorite places to play. They believed in me long before anyone else, and the owner Robin has always been an impassioned believer in the idea of investing in artists with potential by supporting them even before they can draw. So back in 2017ish, he would pay me many times more what anyone else would pay me, even if I couldn't draw enough of a crowd for them to make money on my show. So they were super excited to see that investment paying off last night when I was able to sell out the venue.

It wasn't anything like I'd ever done there before though, because although I've always performed a somewhat similar type of show to what I do now, the crowd was completely unexpected. Un-expect-ing as well! They didn't all seem to know what they had signed up for at all, and despite having their phones locked in a pouch and seated in a church, there were definitely still audience members who were expecting a traditional rock concert. There was someone who kept holding up a big sign in the audience trying to get my attention, and a couple people in the front row making full-volume comments on the show as it was going.

And while I've learned over the years that different areas will of course have different cultures and types of audiences, I didn't expect the very specific leanings of this area. While I've played in Brattleboro many times, this was my first time selling Brattleboro tickets to a more general public, as opposed to a tiny cult following full of faces I recognized or my more expected type of audience. I think there's something about the culture of the area that brought out a very specific type of audience as a result of this - it seemed like this show had a much larger than usual portion of the audience that is more "fandom" leaning, if that makes sense.

Particularly young, particularly alternative, and based on how disproportionately hard my joke about Tally Hall fans hit, I think maybe particularly involved in online fandom culture. That part was also pretty evident from the fact that one audience member managed to destroy their phone pouch to get their phone out mid-show and left the pouch on the floor. Not cool dude! My girlfriend hand-made those! We told you you could get it unlocked at the front in case of emergency, so it's clear you just couldn't stand to be without your phone for a couple hours and/or wanted to leak the show, so you wrecked a hand-made craft that my partner designed and created and then trusted you with... weirdo! I promise you, the internet is not that important!

The folks I've mentioned were of course outliers! But they were examples or indication of a portion of the audience whose vibes posed a challenge for a guy like me. The audience was fantastic; really supportive and enthusiastic, and it was super fun to perform for them. But it was a challenging one nonetheless, because it was a very intense and youthful energy in the room, and I tend to feel like I have a harder time connecting with the younger and more online audience members. Even if they aren't the majority, their energy can overwhelm and their presence can intimidate. I think we have less in common in our general worldviews, and they will be very vocal about things they don't agree with. They also don't understand when I make jokes about things from before their time... So I have to hold back my edgier jokes, be careful with certain subjects, find a way to punch up things that require a generational acknowledgement, and approach the songs in certain ways. But they can also be easier to read in the sense that I know they'll appreciate the more viral moments in my career and music so I can focus on those. So adjusting for them can be a little bit of a mindfuck, which can throw off my flow a little.

I did an announcement before my set over the sound system, pretending it was pre-recorded, (it will actually be pre-recorded in the future) to try and send a message about getting pouches unlocked, why they were required, and asking the audience to please not "be the guy" who ruins the show, and I did it with some jokes I had worked in. They didn't laugh much. I turned to the TM backstage with me afterward and said "they fucking hate me!" I was terrified, absolutely sure this was about to be an absolute trainwreck. This isn't the kind of show where I could just switch gears completely and improvise if they hate it, it's far too scripted. So I was possibly about to be in for the most painful two hours of my life.

When I hit the stage I was practically in a state of panic. Dry mouth, tremors, fight-or-flight lack of bodily control. I immediately botched my lines and then played a horrendously messy rendition of The Main Character. I slowly regained my footing from there, and ended up getting a really positive response from the audience throughout the show. It was a blast, but one with a lot of big misses in my playing and singing, as well as a lot of fumbles in my jokes. They still all landed, and landed really hard, but I had to find a way to fix them on the spot, which is a high-risk task. The audience seemed to end up having a great time, they called for an encore and screamed along to Bones, but it wasn't easy at all, to put it mildly.

After the show, I hung out on the fire escape and overheard some fans talking about the show. One dude was quite loudly sharing all of his knowledge about me to his friends, and it was really funny because every single word of it was wrong. Ironic considering a fairly large theme in the show is the fact that the story of "Will Wood," as he exists online, is absolutely not reality. It was a lot of the opinions/perspectives and beliefs I've heard about people sharing in the online fandom, so yeah it was a lot of "he hates his fans!"

A couple fans walked by and said hello, and we ended up talking about faith, religion, and other stuff I talk about in the show, and it was really nice to connect with them. It's really interesting to meet real-world fans, the cross section of different cultures and worldviews and all that is fascinating. From what I've gathered online, there are assumptions about what a Will Wood fan is, and much like the rest of the conversations I've seen, it's pretty inaccurate. While this show was more like what I think the fandom would expect, there were also a couple of people in the front who after the show were discussing how they were probably the only right-wing Will Wood fans - you're not guys, I promise, they just know they can't talk about it online. The folks in their 50's and 60's often say similar things - you're also not! If my fans want to hear more music like what I write, it's all from the 60's and 70's. I'm sure I've said this before, but of course the online fandom gets the sense all of my fans are XYZ types - online fandoms are all those types! I promise y'all, I have better data. Heh.

Anyway, the main lesson I learned is that I should be using the VIP meet & greet and Q&A session as a hint as to what sort of audience I'm about to work with so it comes as less of a surprise, and to be ready to adjust moment-per-moment. I also learned to caffeinate with coffee and not things that will make my mouth sticky. And to hold back more on earlier songs in the set so I don't die at the end vocally. I mean, some of these things I already knew on some level, but I'm putting a lot more discipline into things these days and trying to hold more productive perspectives.

Coming to terms with disorder! Leaning into challenging moments! Damning torpedoes!

Tonight my big challenge is going to be trying to meet City Winery somewhere in the middle on runtime. My show tends to be an hour and 45 to an hour and 55 minutes, and they want an hour and a half. I'm going to try and tighten up parts that run too long, cut jokes that don't land hard enough, kill some darlings, etc. I bet this will teach me a ton about what works and what doesn't work. The show needs to be around that length for the sake of the eventual film anyway, so here's hoping I get closer to knowing what truly works this way!

Looking forward to tonight's challenge! See you cats out there!

With love and gratitude,

-ww