I was intrigued by this one, since it breaks another Fringe wall, someone getting a Fringe slot and simply performing music. We have seen it before, the two years someone did Flamenco guitar and then three years ago there was the mysterious "Mayan Time Reversal" that turned out to be improvisational music. But this show is less out of the ordinary.
There is a difference between someone getting slot in the Fringe and music at the Beer Tent. The former has spent the money to subcontract the space and services from the Fringe, and is on a level playing field with the other acts like that, completely dependent on promotion in order to get a paying audience to recoup the expenses of putting on the show.
But I fear this one may fail. 10pm on Wednesday, it didn't look like there'd be an audience. I had gone over there instead of seeing more dance, but I didn't want to inflict myself on the performer if I was the only audience. Then suddenly 2 people showed up just before 10pm, so in I went. But three people isn't a good audience, and while I've not checked, I suspect it's not drawing an audience. The two other eople seemed to know the performer.
I can't judge it. It was less exotic than the flyer might suggest, yet it was music that seemed fine to me. A woman with an acoustic guitar,with a regular drumset and electric base to back her up. Lots of people like that, but she dared to show it off by getting space in the Fringe. For a while I went to the Yellow Door on a regular basis, just taking in whatever came along, music doesn't have to be famous in order to be good.
The last song, she really seemed to put more into it, I wonder if she felt the lack of the audience.
I thought it was different, like the Mayan Time Reversal it was nice to just sit for a while listening to music, which maybe takes less of the audience than a play or dance. I fear it's not different enough during such a busy week to draw an audience, which is a shame since it seems like she's more capable than some of the shows that draw tiny audiences.
An empty theatre can be so daunting to a performer, is it them or is it promotion? You can't know unless there is an audience, and then when they all hate it, at least you know where the problem is. Little or no audience is too ambiguous.
