Blitzen Trapper live in Orlando w/Avi Buffalo

Really glad to have the time and opportunity to be able to attend this show (thanks Rob @ WPRK), knowing that their newest album will be in my Top 5 of the year, but where was everyone else?  My neighbor Frank and I got a late start for the show, so arriving around 10:15 I fully expected to get in just as they were starting their set, having to elbow our way through the packed house to get a drink at the bar and then commandeer a couple of square feet of floor space.  I was soooooo wrong and very disappointed.  Waltzed right up to the bar with little resistance and barely bumped into the first human crossing the room.  Avi Buffalo was still on stage for their set and there may have been fifteen people in the pit watching.  This is a young band with some serious national buzz!  People were actually able to stay seated at the bar and see them play.  Unbelievable.  We moved into the pit during the set change and were joined by maybe thirty people for Blitzen's set.  No jostling, pushing, and certainly no stage diving, as there were plenty of warning signs restricting that activity.  Good thing because you could have killed yourself splatting on the concrete floor if you attempted to fly into this "crowd."  There is a 10-minute video on the web from last year's stop at the Social and damn sure more people at that show than Friday's.  No wonder they came back to town.  Doubt they will again.  Techno music bleeding through the walls from Tabu, but they joked about it, even mimicking a synth line in true mocking fashion.  Couldn't even see the acoustic guitarist on stage left until frontman Eric Earley cracked wise about it, forcing a "house technician" to come out and adjust the lighting with a stick, for crying out loud!  My neighbor guestimated about 200 people at the outset, and I thought that was generous, but the numbers dwindled as the 65-minute set proceeded, so I wasn't surprised when they closed the final song and headed off stage, the front door opened and most of the remaining attendees filed out onto Orange Ave.  A gallant few urged for an encore but why bother?  OK, I realize that the two bands are Left Coast natives, and Orlando was their furthest tour stop to the southeast, but there should have been a better turnout from the faithful.  The only terrestrial radio station playing either band would be WPRK, but I heard one of the DJ's earlier in the week talking up the show but couldn't play any of the music because the CD's were in limbo, either misfiled in the library or, most likely, lifted "temporarily" by one of the staff. 
Suffice it to say that both Avi Buffalo (who played as a three-piece...I think they have four members) and Blitzen Trapper were consummate professionals, playing enlightened sets when they could have thrown out a "C" grade performance.  Here is a link to a BT show in Iowa from August, where they had a real audience.  Enjoy...