|  | | 
03-16-2008, 12:03 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Leander, Texas | | | We played the Senior Center!
Sign in to disble this ad
The people who run the Senior Activity Center next county over hired us to play their St. Pat's dance.
The average age of the audience was 65.
We needed to play a lot more country...they wanted 2-steps and walzes! If my voice had been up to snuff, they'd have had 'em, too. (I lost my voice...been real sick.)
It was funny...harp man and I kept telling drummer and singer that these people wanna *dance*, and don't be too mellow. Turn down, but don't *slow* down!!!
They didn't listen to us. They tried the mellow, acoustic thang.
And those old people just *hated* that! They made faces!!!
So...I told the singer...baby, just play the set. Turn down, but don't you slow the tempo none. They want to DANCE, so let's give 'em somethin' to DANCE to!!!
Baby, those old folks rock!!! They did The Stroll, complete with hands up down the row. They jitterbugged. They did the 4-squares. They got in a circle and each did their individual, funky thang. They danced cheek-to-cheek during the slow blues.
This one old Tejano dude got up and got FUNKY on our funk original. I mean, he was jammin', man!!! They loved every one of the originals best of all, and danced their booties off.
Best dancin' crowd we ever played to, and best-paying gig we've had so far! And no alcohol...not a drop. They were runnin' on coffee.
I declare...too funny!
Cherie  |
03-16-2008, 12:11 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Harpers Ferry WV | | | What happens in The Pines, stays in The Pines. |
03-16-2008, 02:09 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Charlotte, NC | | Good for you! I did that back in high school, got our picture in the paper and all. At the time it was hard to reconcil the Hendrix style band in the Senior Center (actually I think it was an Assisted Living type place); wasn't a cool venue in my adolescent mind. But now I'm gradually coming to the conclusion that its time do it again, before I'm living there!  ....... 
__________________
Ampeg Club #22
|
03-16-2008, 09:23 PM
|  | Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! | | Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Austin TX | | But I bet you did NOT play Mustang Sally, right? 
__________________ Texas Bassists Club #40, Fender Jazz Bass Club #71, Mediocre Bassists Club #27, Norwegian Bassists #35 Quote:
Originally Posted by bigthemat  No, I don't think you're a psycho. Bass players aren't psycho. | |
03-16-2008, 09:31 PM
| | | | old folks gig
we do jazz gigs for free in old folks homes and they love it! |
03-16-2008, 10:21 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Leander, Texas | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Howlin' Hanson But I bet you did NOT play Mustang Sally, right? | I think they'd have beat us up with their canes if we *didn't* play it!
Man, that was their favorite. That's the tune they did the Stroll for.
There were maybe 7 men...the remaining 30 were females. Man, and those guys were workin' hard! They had a lot of ladies to impress. LOL!
Cherie  |
03-16-2008, 10:23 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Leander, Texas | | Quote:
Originally Posted by lefty we do jazz gigs for free in old folks homes and they love it! | Well, it weren't a freebie. We didn't even know it was for seniors when we took the gig. The city hired us for a "private party". We had no idea at all until we got there. It was for some kind of activity thing the city does for the local old folks, and was in the hall the city rents for dances, etc.
I do wish we'd have known ahead of time. We could have picked up a few country standards real quick...they'd have liked that a lot.
Cherie  |
03-16-2008, 10:34 PM
| | Banned | | Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Northampton Mass | | | If you were 20 in 1960 you'd be 73 today...right?
Dam right you want your line dance and your soul music.
I bet you would have killed with girl group classics. Or those tunes that Go to the dances like..... "It's Madison Time"
Call them old....I call them Lucky, if you managed to avoid war thats the generation to be apart of.
Aj
Last edited by Andrew Jones : 03-16-2008 at 10:53 PM.
|
03-16-2008, 10:56 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Leander, Texas | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Jones If you were 20 in 1960 you'd be 73 today...right?
Dam right you want your line dance and your soul music.
I bet you would have killed with girl group classics.
Call them old....I call them Lucky, if you managed to avoid war thats the generation to be apart of.
Aj | Right? They wanted soul, classic country, and blues jumps. They loved the old Southern rock, too. We cover "Hold On" by Sam & Dave, and they were crazy for it! Man, if I'd had my voice that night...I've worked up "Fire Of Love" and "The Real Nitty-Gritty" and Aretha Franklin's "I Love You" and "Do-Right Woman".
I also know "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind", and "Rose Garden", and "You Ain't Woman Enough To Take My Man, and "Jolene", and "Tonight The Heartache's On Me", which isn't old but is in the classic honky-tonk 2-step style.
Next time...I'll be ready!
Cherie |
03-16-2008, 10:59 PM
| | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Jones If you were 20 in 1960 you'd be 73 today...right?
Aj |
thats a joke right? 1960-20-1940. 2008-1940=68.
__________________
If you wear your bass high, you play with your heart.
If you wear it in the middle, you play with your gut.
If you wear it low, you play with your balls.
|
03-16-2008, 11:09 PM
| | Banned | | Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Northampton Mass | | So I'm off by 5 years? Not surprised. My Bad.
I hope I funnier than to that to use that as a Joke..... 
Jump Blues...Sure Louis Jordon was even in Movies!
Patsy Cline...
Aj
Last edited by Andrew Jones : 03-16-2008 at 11:12 PM.
|
03-16-2008, 11:09 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Leander, Texas | | Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkMyWordsXx thats a joke right? 1960-20-1940. 2008-1940=68. | Those folks were in their 50's, 60's, and 70's, with most in their mid-60's.
They'd have been in their late 20's, for the most part.
We had this one old guy holler..."You call yourselves a rock band? Then do "Wild Thing"!"
No one else in the band knew it but me. I managed to croak it out with my hoarse throat, and screamed some parts. They ate it up like kids eat candy, man. 
Cherie |
03-16-2008, 11:11 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Leander, Texas | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Jones So I'm off by 5 years? Not surprised. My Bad.
I hope I funnier than to call that a Joke.....
Jump Blues...Sure Louis Jordon was even in Movies!
Patsy Cline...
Aj | Our singer did "Crazy", but she wouldn't let us play it with her, and she didn't do a very good job. She did it just her and her guitar, and didn't keep a tempo, which meant they couldn't dance to it. I can sing it better...but I'm not allowed to. Whaaaaatever. I know plenty of other Patsy tunes.
Every jumpin' blues tune was a big hit. They were jitterbuggin' everywhere!
Cherie |
03-17-2008, 12:07 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Fort Atkinson, WI | | | People here need to remember that "old people" nowadays (meaning over 60) were roughly college age when the Beatles started to break into America, and remember the heyday of 1950s rock & roll before that. For the most part, they don't want to hear old folk and swing standards...they want oldies rock & roll!
__________________
Wisconsin Bassist Club Member #31. Fender Am-Stand P, Fender Am-Deluxe Fretless J, Music Man Bongo 4 HH.
|
03-17-2008, 12:27 PM
| | | Quote:
Originally Posted by txbasschik Those folks were in their 50's, 60's, and 70's, with most in their mid-60's.
Cherie | Woa easy there. I am in my 50's and still rock hard. I ain't ready for no old folks home or a walker yet. |
03-17-2008, 02:36 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: South Jersey, USA | | | Our lead singer is 75 years old, Im 62 and lead guitar is 61 .. we play at senior centers just for the food and the applause. We make so many mistakes they cant hear them.
They think were great and pass the hat.
These people are 70 to 90 years old ... we play "A white sport coat and a pink carnation" for them and they stay seated until we play "Johnny B Good" or some fast two step country number. remember the 60's are the new 40's.
__________________
Fender Jazz Bass/Hartke LH500/Hartke XL210 X 2
Hartke Club member #155
|
03-18-2008, 08:32 AM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Fort Collins, Colorado | | Quote:
Originally Posted by dbase Our lead singer is 75 years old, Im 62 and lead guitar is 61 .. we play at senior centers just for the food and the applause. We make so many mistakes they cant hear them.
They think were great and pass the hat.
These people are 70 to 90 years old ... we play "A white sport coat and a pink carnation" for them and they stay seated until we play "Johnny B Good" or some fast two step country number. remember the 60's are the new 40's. | I'm 57, our drummer is 60 and the youngest one in the band is probably 52. You're DAMN right that people in their 50's, 60's and up like music that moves the body and the feet. There was PLENTY of hard-driving music around when today's seniors were young.
I'm not a bit surprised about the gig - and I'm sure it was a great time.
__________________
"...awesome as a monkey wearing a tuxedo made of bacon, riding on a unicorn!'"
|
03-18-2008, 11:29 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Leander, Texas | | Quote:
Originally Posted by eotpr Woa easy there. I am in my 50's and still rock hard. I ain't ready for no old folks home or a walker yet. | Wellll, the flyer said "only age 50 and over admitted". Not very many 50-somethings, though. Mostly 60 and 70-somethings.
They sure did rock! No walkers were in evidence. There was one man in a wheelchair, but he got out on the floor with his wife, too. She took his hand, and he'd twirl her, then spin in his wheelchair. Pretty cool...the guy had moves, man!
Cherie |
03-18-2008, 11:31 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Leander, Texas | | Quote:
Originally Posted by dbase Our lead singer is 75 years old, Im 62 and lead guitar is 61 .. we play at senior centers just for the food and the applause. We make so many mistakes they cant hear them.
They think were great and pass the hat.
These people are 70 to 90 years old ... we play "A white sport coat and a pink carnation" for them and they stay seated until we play "Johnny B Good" or some fast two step country number. remember the 60's are the new 40's. | Yeah, our group liked the old rock tunes a lot, too. There were die-hard country fans, but most of the crowd were people who'd been in their 20's back in the early 1960's, and wanted to rockRockROCK!
Cherie |
03-18-2008, 11:33 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Leander, Texas | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Pilgrim I'm 57, our drummer is 60 and the youngest one in the band is probably 52. You're DAMN right that people in their 50's, 60's and up like music that moves the body and the feet. There was PLENTY of hard-driving music around when today's seniors were young.
I'm not a bit surprised about the gig - and I'm sure it was a great time. | I tell you what, I love nothing more than a crowd that will really get up and dance. So many younger people seem so...inhibited. The women dance, and the men stand around watching until a couple of brave guys venture onto the floor.
But not these older folks. They *all* danced! All of them that could dance, anyway. They weren't worried about looking cool...just having fun. I said into the mic, "Y'all ROCK! I wish we could take you all to every gig, so you could show the kids how this is done!"
Cherie | | Thread Tools | Search this Thread | | | | 
Posting Rules
| You may not post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off | | | |
