So, you support local music, do you?

Q: Why do bars and restaurants hire bands and host open mics?

If you answered with anything other than "To make money," you lose.

That's not to say that club owners don't love music.  Most do.  But ultimately, they have a business to run, and live music is a way to put butts in the seats and money in the till.  Or is it?

In a perfect world, it is. But there is something that occurs far too frequently, that frustrates musicians and irritates club owners.  It is the presence of The Supporters of Live Music Who Think Just Showing Up and Ordering Water All Night Is Good Enough.  They are like locusts.  They make the bartender refill the popcorn bowl 27 times, while they sip tap water and shred cocktail napkins and create a hell of a lot of mess considering the whopping $1.25 they spend over the course of an evening.

Friends, let me spell it out to you: If you do this, you are not supporting live music.  Supporting live music is about more than showing up.  It's about ensuring that your friend's band is asked back for another show.  It's about financially supporting the venue who is paying out of pocket for your friend's band, so that they might do what they love and you might enjoy the show.  It's about supporting the culture of live music, which includes not just the songs themselves, but the livelihoods of those who are making it happen.

And it's worse than you think.  Because here's a secret you might not even be aware of:  The one thing a club owner hates more than an empty bar, is a bar full of people who create work for the staff without spending money.  You think a waitress likes you taking her table for four hours, nursing a couple of club sodas, and then getting tipped 15 percent of your four hour, three dollar tab?  Do you think the bartender likes you taking up space at his bar?  I assure you, the answers here are no, and no.  And management absolutely considers this behavior when deciding whether or not to ask your friend's band back.

You say you don't drink?  Fine.  Order a couple of appetizers.  Toss in a slice of pie.  In other words, invest in the evening, and in the owners and artists who are busting their asses to entertain you.  Because the support of the eternal water glass is the kind of support all of us in the business can do without.