sequenced/lipsynching cover bands?

[spade2you]

I didn't witness it myself, but a local said he was at a bar in another city and was noticing how dead-on a band was sounding to the recordings. Eventually he noticed that the bassist was getting a slap tone with fingerstyle and the guitarist was still wailing away after the solo was over. Apparently there was a local band around here in the late 90's that never played a single note and nobody cared.

Anyone heard of this?

[Ubersheist]

I've never heard of a band going all sequenced. That's just plain lame.

However, I do remember when I came to the realization that many bands that play big stages that do not have at least some sequencing going. I was watching Ozomatli play at the county fair several years ago, and I could hear a bunch of stuff going on in the background, and thinking that these guys were absolutely amazing! Then I realized that it was canned.

Then I realized that me and probably 2 or three others in the audience of several thousand realized this, and they sounded awesome. Lastly, I realized that I want in, so I bought Fruity Loops. We haven't worked it into our set yet, but we'll have some sequenced stuff before long, too.

[MatticusMania]

I was hosting gigs at a local coffee shop and this hardcore/emo band had a laptop set up for some sequencing. The sequencing sounded much better than the guys playing their instruments.

[Godbody]

Originally Posted by MatticusMania

I was hosting gigs at a local coffee shop and this hardcore/emo band had a laptop set up for some sequencing. The sequencing sounded much better than the guys playing their instruments.

I had to double check where you live to make sure you're not talking about a band I'm friends with; you described them exactly. Apparently its getting more common. The band has a guitar, bass, sequencer and a lead singer who runs the sequencer. You can't possibly hear the bass or guitar over the synths, the bass player has what must be the quietest full stack in the world. The guitar never stood a chance. I WISH the vocals were canned.

I'm good friends with the guitar player and regularly collaborate with him, and friends with the other two, and I like the sound they're going for, but it doesn' work on stage. They spend way more time worrying about lighting than sound reinforcement issues, but most people in the audience can't seem to tell the difference between the sequenced sounds and what real guitar and bass sound like. Its almost distressing.

I'm playing a set ahead of them soon as a hired gun, and I don't know if I can watch them, even just to be polite. All the cute girls that'll be around to dance with might make it ok...

[baalroo]

Seems like a good idea. The point of a lot of cover bands generally is to sound as much like the original recordings as possible and give the audience something to look at/connect with while they dance/drink. Why not give them the best of both worlds? Let the audience hear the original version (which is ALMOST always "better") while still getting the excitement of a "band" up on stage. It's exactly what the audience wants: a "live" jukebox.