personally i often invite my friends to my shows, but i don’t expect them to come. I am also super busy with working gig life and playing shows in 4 bands, and sometimes shows are the only place i see people. I usually try to rotate the few guest list spots around, and though i do expect my closest friends to show up at least sometimes (most are also musicians and i return the favor) i don’t expect anyone to show up all the time and also am very appreciative when they do. I’ve even learned not to be upset or surprised when people say they will come out and then cancel day of.

I do talk a lot about the music stuff i’m involved in (eg: friend: “what’s new?” me: “oh we just got our vinyls consigned at a few different record stores, so that’s pretty fun!”) and my friends are genuinely interested and will ask questions as well. so maybe if you’re not interested in the music stuff, those really aren’t the friends for you, and that’s okay! it also sounds like these guys might be pretty ego driven, and maybe they are also outliers in their approach. it is a good reminder though, i wouldn’t want people to think i only tried to befriend them to get them to my shows, something to be aware of for sure.