We went out to the Market Cafe in Innsbrook on Wednesday to check out the band since my husband was playing there the following night for the first time. There is a vast difference between playing the Cafe on Wednesday and playing it on Thursday. Namely, people. On Wednesdays, you can't find a place to park because there is a show at the Innsbrook Pavilion, and even the Market Cafe is packed. I don't understand that. Why go there instead of the Pavilion?
On Thursday, without a show at the Pavilion, we had just a few tables of people who knew the band. There were few, if any, people who regularly dine or drink at the Market Cafe. You wouldn't go to there for dinner anyway unless you like dried up hot dogs and wilted salad bars. Fortunately, you don't play for the door, but unfortunately, the Market doesn't pay a lot. How can they when they aren't making much money on food or beer. We were there five and a half hours and my husband made $45, so that's $8.18 an hour. I love the music business.
When we pulled up, John said, "Well, so much for the easiest load-in ever," because you could pull up right behind the stage. But there's no gate on the back of the fence. No problem. Everything was hoisted over the fence except the new bass amp which I wheeled down the sidewalk and then pushed through the patio maze of chairs. It was like playing Frogger.
The Market sells you a literal bucket of beer, a tin bucket full of ice and beer. I remember Moondance used to sell buckets of Rolling Rock, but the buckets were smaller. These were big buckets, complete with a can opener. You could get a variety bucket with all sorts of things in it. That's cool, but I don't drink, so no bucket for me.
We were home by 10, which is great. I hate getting home at 3 a.m., especially on a work night. It was a very pleasant night, and being on an outdoor patio is a nice place to hear music. There are no neighbors around to call the police.
