Location, Location, Location.

There is a slogan in the real estate industry that applies to a property's worth, "area, area, area" or "location, location, location." They use this data as one guideline to determine a property's market value. A choice location is always an important consideration as to its desirability. 

I only mention this bit of information because it had a significant bearing in how it impacted this particular event. As it turned out, the location had a lot to do with the success or failure of this endeavor.

A few years back I had the occasion to play in a Big Band (about 16 musicians) for a leader by the name of Ron Bagnotto.  He was a very capable clarinettist and had successfully done a lot of work in the Toronto area for many years.

There's always a first time for everything and this was it. (Fortunately, these situations don't happen very often.) Let's put it this way. This dance set some kind of record. Actually it was a record for non-attendance.  No one came. Yep.  Zero, Zilch. That evening there was just the band members and some staff.

As it turned out, it was a brand new facility and perhaps this dance was the grand opening.  It was a first for the Hall, a first for the band and a first for the organizer. (Maybe it was his last.)

The would-be entrepreneur that "master-minded" this dance most likely enjoyed the music of Big Bands.  It amazes me that this guy did so little research to assess the feasibility of such an undertaking. I guess he was blinded by his own enthusiasm (and money).

The organizer had a good product (a good band) but chose a brand new venue in north Toronto in an area that was still under construction. It was so isolated that the musicians themselves could barely find it.

The streets weren't even in the most up-to-date Pearly maps. We only had a vague bit of information how to find the place.  Further, you couldn't ask anyone to confirm directions (if you got lost) as there wasn't anyone around. In other words it was in the middle of nowhere.

When we did find the place, we discovered that it was in an obscure construction site. It was obvious that this area was still under development. There was machinery and construction material all over the place.

I remember the road to get to this place eventually turned into gravel, an indication that we were now out in the countryside. You could conclude that if we had difficulty finding the place, it might also be difficult or impossible for customers to find it. (That is, if they knew about the dance and were even interested).

To top it off, this "business man" announced this "gala" event in the regional paper that was a freebie periodical for the locals. It begs the question "What locals?"  The nearest residential area was about ten miles south towards Toronto.

The way the situation appeared we became concerned that we not jeopardize the contract in any way. We all agreed to adhere (strictly) to the ten minute break per hour (as deemed by the Musician's Union) and no more.  As Ron explained, he wanted to get paid for this fiasco just as badly as we did.

It was the first and last time we played together and not to a packed house but to an empty building.  I must say we played very well and went from tune to tune as though we were performing for a huge audience.

Now Ron Bagnotto had a limited library, as he didn't do this kind of big band work very often. We soon ran out of music that was barely enough for a one-hour set. We just rotated what music we had and just kept repeating it.  That meant that we managed to play Glenn Miller's IN THE MOOD four times that night. (Perhaps this was a record as well.) 

If the organizer liked the Miller sound he sure couldn't complain about not hearing his favorite Miller recordings.  In any case it was all we had. It turned out to be a very worrisome four hours.

We would talk about that night for some time to come. Sixteen musicians would always be able to ask, "Did you ever play to an empty Hall?"  However, we were eventually paid for the debacle so that's one in the "plus" column. 

That area today is thriving and completely built up. As you would expect, it is densely populated with a mixture of houses, business establishments (malls) and the usual buildings that make up a community. Today that area is called Vaughan.

Looking back at the experience you can't say much for the planning and organizing that night. However, you have to admit, they did have good "crowd control."

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