17 Things Local Bands Just Don’t Get

[Entwistle Fan]

Steve Harris would disagree with #4 on that list.

 

[OEW3]

Steve Harris would disagree with #4 on that list.

Steve Harris wore cargo shorts at a maiden show? I definitely missed that tour. I always picture him wearing the striped spandex type outfits from the Powerslave tour, which in hindsight are pretty funny. I doubt he wears that stuff anymore though. But I don't know that for sure. Haven't listened to any new Maiden since FOTD.
Lists meant to make sense "for everyone" seldom do.

 

[Richland123]

3. Looking like a rock star isn’t as important as sounding like one.
4. Image is actually important. Cargo shorts are for dads at a barbecue. Not for musicians on stage.


So, if I sound like a rock star BUT wear cargo shorts, where does that place me?

It places you in a cargo shorts wearing boy band.

 

[Imaginary Pony]

It places you in a cargo shorts wearing boy band.

That is so Gross!!

 

[RandalPinkFloyd]

Seems to me I know a lot of local bands that know all of this. It really seems more like a rant than anything. Rather interesting seeing #3 and #4 right next to each other. Image doesn't matter... oh wait yes it does. Work ethic means more than promotion... what about one's work ethic at promoting? etc...

It doesn't say it doesn't matter, it says it's not as important as your sound.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

It places you in a cargo shorts wearing boy band.

I feel like I should start an appeal for donations for additional clothing items for these paupers as they seem to lack shirts and belts and clearly two of them have experienced recent weight loss too, given how poorly their shorts fit, so they also urgently need donations of pies and donuts.

 

[billiam5billion]

Don't go on tour unless you know you're going to get crowds? That's the worst advice I've ever heard. And impractical-how the hell do you know what the crowds will be like before you go on tour? And also, being popular in your hometown don't mean squat to somebody 1000 miles away. Tour just to do it, to know the grind and get practice. Who waits to get well known before they tour? The whole point of touring is to cultivate the audience.

 

[ggunn]

... I'd say that under no circumstances should a man wear Hawaiian print shirts, ever, period, with the possible exception of actually being in Hawaii.

I have at least ten Hawaiian shirts and I wear them frequently, including on stage sometimes. <razzberries>

 

[socialleper]

I have at least ten Hawaiian shirts and I wear them frequently, including on stage sometimes. <razzberries>

A lot of people get away with that and I don't get it. My dad wore Hawaiian shirts. That's all I need to know about them.

 

[ggunn]

A lot of people get away with that and I don't get it. My dad wore Hawaiian shirts. That's all I need to know about them.

I get away with a lot of stuff that others don't get. 'Sno biggie.

 

[Feral Feline]

Yeah, the list keeps contradicting itself. As others have pointed out, #3 & #4 for example: rock star look isn't important vs no cargo shorts... BUT What made me laugh was #5: "Being respectful and friendly will take you much further than being superior and entitled."

How 'bout respecting other people's right to choose what the #$%^&* they want to wear on stage, ie #4 – no cargo shorts. Author feels superior and entitled, it seems.
As pointed out already, there are rock stars who wear cargo shorts, there are rock stars who wear suits. There are dipsticks who wear cargo shorts, there are dipsticks who wear suits. Whatever...

As far as promoting/supporting etc.
I went to a show last night to see a friend's band because ...
A) I got an email (I'm on the email list; I'm NOT on Fe¢alBu¢k, which has always been dead to me)
B) The band is a kick-A$$ outfit, I'd see them even if my friend wasn't in it
C) I had fulfilled my other life duties so I could go dance my arse off to the kick-a$$ band (hadn't seen them in ages due to other committments)

I'm sorry, Wearing suits on stage is cheesy as hell nowadays.

Yup, these guys are Cheesy...

Plus fromage...

I like both these b(r)ands of cheese. Quite different from each other musically, yet they both have shiploads of energy.

 

[BazzTard]

bandleaders whose bands play in small and medium-sized bars and venues need to start insisting on electronic drum kits. It's even better if you run all the instruments through the PA and eliminate amps. I know, I like my amp too.

Live drums, and the acoustic chaos they create, are at the root of 95% of the volume and sound problems in clubs. No drummer ever soundchecked at the same volume he played once the set began. From there, every other player starts turning around and cranking the knob, and we're off to the races.

+1000

Our drummer insisted on micing his kick in the smallest of bars, with not even a stage.I'd mic it up, get him to do his 'thump thump boom boom' with the volume up high, til he was happy. Then I turned it OFF for the gig, he didn't know, he's an idiot, he's a drummer

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

#11 is incorrect. In my experience, being from out of town increases your draw and your paycheck. If follows the old business saying, "An expert is a man from out of town with a briefcase." I always made more money on the road. I don't travel far any more, just local gigs, but in the DFW area, a "local" gig can be 50 miles away.

 

[Richland123]

#11 is incorrect. In my experience, being from out of town increases your draw and your paycheck. If follows the old business saying, "An expert is a man from out of town with a briefcase." I always made more money on the road. I don't travel far any more, just local gigs, but in the DFW area, a "local" gig can be 50 miles away.

I agree. I have been in some very successful bands that hardly ever worked in my hometown but played a lot out of town and got paid better and treated better. I used to say we were Johnstown's best unknown band.

 

[Altitude]

+1000

Our drummer insisted on micing his kick in the smallest of bars, with not even a stage.I'd mic it up, get him to do his 'thump thump boom boom' with the volume up high, til he was happy. Then I turned it OFF for the gig, he didn't know, he's an idiot, he's a drummer

I understand the outrage most drummers (and a few bass players on here) would have towards the sentiment of playing an electronic kit. And I don't disagree that a drummer loses a degree of sensitivity and musicality on an electronic kit.

My argument is that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages so profoundly that it makes sense anyway. In most of these clubs, nobody can hear any nuance at all in the drum kit, because it's so damned loud and in a room full of hard surfaces. All the stuff drummers want to be is lost anyway, unless the drummer plays with brushes or pulls back the throttle so far as to rob the music of its intensity.

On the other hand, I've been at parties with bands playing all-electronic through a PA where the band was rocking and it was possible to have a conversation using normal voice in the middle of the room.

Granted, I doubt the electronic kit approach would work very well for a death-metal band, but in that situation all the people in the room might know what they signed up for by coming in anyway.

 

[ggunn]

I understand the outrage most drummers (and a few bass players on here) would have towards the sentiment of playing an electronic kit. And I don't disagree that a drummer loses a degree of sensitivity and musicality on an electronic kit.

My argument is that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages so profoundly that it makes sense anyway. In most of these clubs, nobody can hear any nuance at all in the drum kit, because it's so damned loud and in a room full of hard surfaces. All the stuff drummers want to be is lost anyway, unless the drummer plays with brushes or pulls back the throttle so far as to rob the music of its intensity.

One thing to consider is that the drummer has already quite possibly spent more on his kit than anyone else in the band on their rig, and now you want him to go drop another few thousand bucks on an electronic kit? If the drummer came to the guitarist and bassist and told them that they needed to go out and buy the gear they need to go direct into the PA and leave the amps at home, would they do it? I wouldn't.

 

[Altitude]

If the drummer came to the guitarist and bassist and told them that they needed to go out and buy the gear they need to go direct into the PA and leave the amps at home, would they do it? I wouldn't.

If the bandleader came to any member of the band and specified the instrumentation required for the gig, each band member would make the decision to accept the gig and provide the required instrumentation or pass on the gig. Ostensibly different people would choose differently and according to the financial opportunity the gig carried.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

One thing to consider is that the drummer has already quite possibly spent more on his kit than anyone else in the band on their rig, and now you want him to go drop another few thousand bucks on an electronic kit? If the drummer came to the guitarist and bassist and told them that they needed to go out and buy the gear they need to go direct into the PA and leave the amps at home, would they do it? I wouldn't.

A drummer wouldn't necessarily have to do it all in one go as long as they picked standard connection and they could start with a basic brain and upgrade it. I'd suggest keeping the cymbals anyway as from what I've seen they are much less well modelled, especially the hi-hat. Those bits of metal are expensive but relatively compact so you aren't gaining much in terms of load in/out getting rid of those and the other advantage of an electronic kit is ease of transport. In quieter venues you can hear the subtlety of a real kit, though.

 

[ggunn]

If the bandleader came to any member of the band and specified the instrumentation required for the gig, each band member would make the decision to accept the gig and provide the required instrumentation or pass on the gig. Ostensibly different people would choose differently and according to the financial opportunity the gig carried.

In my experience most bands are not organized that way, with a bossman bandleader who can dictate such things, at least not the ones playing small venues where such a thing would make a difference.

 

[mellowinman]

I understand the outrage most drummers (and a few bass players on here) would have towards the sentiment of playing an electronic kit. And I don't disagree that a drummer loses a degree of sensitivity and musicality on an electronic kit.

My argument is that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages so profoundly that it makes sense anyway. In most of these clubs, nobody can hear any nuance at all in the drum kit, because it's so damned loud and in a room full of hard surfaces. All the stuff drummers want to be is lost anyway, unless the drummer plays with brushes or pulls back the throttle so far as to rob the music of its intensity.

On the other hand, I've been at parties with bands playing all-electronic through a PA where the band was rocking and it was possible to have a conversation using normal voice in the middle of the room.

Granted, I doubt the electronic kit approach would work very well for a death-metal band, but in that situation all the people in the room might know what they signed up for by coming in anyway.

I play every show standing right in front of the kit. When a real drummer plays with dynamics, drums aren't god-awful loud. I reject your argument in favor of a drummer who can play. And when we had lesser drummers, we put a shield around them. They'd get upset when their bashing hit them right in the face, but usually, that taught them to tone it down. You can get a great performance on drums without just hitting the crap out of them, and tuning them so they're obnoxious and causing hearing damage.