Scattered Applause for Geniuses

Scattered applause is when the audience is so thin that you can actually tell how many people are clapping for a performance at a given time. This often occurs not because the performer is lame, but rather because the performer is so great that not many people actually get it and come to the gigs. I was listening to a Townes van Zandt record of him performing in a club when this occurred to me. I heard clap, clap...clap, clap...clap clap clap, and then a "Thanks, everyone" from Townes. Complete genius, but little popularity, except among fellow musicians and hardcore music fans. Of course, he was known to shoot himself in the foot, but still. The typical performance I watch on YouTube has anywhere from a couple thousand views to maybe 30 or 40K. At this level, everyone, performer and audience alike, is in it for the love. Think about how some of John Coltrane's great live recordings were from the Village Vanguard, which holds maybe 80 or 100 people. Okay, was this whole post actually about me indirectly patting myself on the back for being hip? No, of course not.