Age Discrimination

[GBBSbassist]

Don't forget the five pairs of cargo shorts and music stands for iPads, blinking light metronomes, and between song banter (during guitar swaps for "les Paul songs") limited to "uhh, that was Peter Frampton".

How will I play through "Simple Man" if I don't have my charts though?

 

[MultiScaleMale]

You are probably right, but without knowing what the margins and labor costs are, it's just a guess.

But I watch Bar Rescue, so that makes me an expert. Heh.

 

[DirtDog]

Sorry to hear that.
Maybe when the owner realises those younger cooler guys don't typically spend half what an older crowd does, he'll change his mind and beg you to come back.

Exactly.

 

[equill]

I’m in my mid-40s and enjoy playing and writing original music. The creation is the majority of the fun.

Do you know how hard it is to find other people my age wanting to do that let alone find a place to play AND an audience?

Yeah, I do :/

 

[FunkBear]

Just going to chime in that I think it is pretty hilarious that some people choose to blame the younger generation for not spending enough money at a bar...give me a break. Your bias is showing.

 

[Bunk McNulty]

Just going to chime in that I think it is pretty hilarious that some people choose to blame the younger generation for not spending enough money at a bar...give me a break. Your bias is showing.

Dude, it is not bias. It is a fact. They don't have the dough. A fuller answer to your question would involve violating TB rules about politics. But I bet you can figure it out for yourself, should you happen to come across stats about how millenials are doing in terms of employment and compensation. Or type "gig economy" into the search engine of your choice.

 

[hotrodjohn]

Stay in Shape
Shave Beard
Shave Head
Play the F outta that Bass
Problem Solved

 

[JRA]

age discrimination? just sounds like bitching and moaning to me.

players play.

 

[RedWire75]

Stay in Shape
Shave Beard
Shave Head
Play the F outta that Bass
Problem Solved

Beards and dad bods are in now!

 

[dtripoli]

That's OK by me. The gray hairs like the gray hair bands and some younger folks do too.
I'm not about to start dyeing my hair black, wear skinny jeans with numerous holes in them and waste thousands of dollars on tattoos and piercing pretending I'm 30 years younger than my actual age. Then learn and play songs from this century only. Also 99% of the songs I'm pretty sure I have never heard. I am perfectly content to play the 7pm - 10pm time slot gigs and leave the 9pm to 2am shows to the youngsters.

 

[FunkHead]

Ain't that the truth.

As a favor to the manager of a neighborhood pub I bar-tended and managed the front end 3 nights a week and also to help add live music to the venue. Three partners owned the place two mostly silent but the third was a micro manager first class who fought over ever spending the money for decent bands and wanted to get by with a one night a week open mic we paid a guy $50 to run and an Irish Band of walk ins on another weeknight who played for a $100 bar tab.

We only had one weekend with a top rockabilly band and set a bar record for sales but when that owner learned we'd paid $600 for the band that was the end of that even though we did over $2k more than usual that night. Hell, we made enough off a $5 cover alone to pay the band. But after that bands got a $100 bar tab only and we ended up with lousy bands and their 12 drunken friends all drinking off that tab and tipping no one.

We had a nice 35-55 age upscale crowd of regulars who spent big but eventually got pushed away in favor of a younger crowd most of whom inhabited a nearby apartment complex and could nurse a ten spot all night by cadging some freebies from the servers. Once my regulars began to vanish so did I. Less than two months later even after denying it would happen the entire staff was let go, they closed down, and sold the license to someone else having lost a ton of money in the process.

Some owners just don't know when they've got it good.

I think it’s hilarious that we are discussing Irish bands playing for booze in an age discrimination thread

 

[jeffb28451]

Brown-eyed Sally...took me a minute, but that’s my band!

 

[bluesblaster]

people don't just loose interest in dancing after age 45. I'm not even sure dancing is a thing with the younger set. I think older folks are much less inhibited than younger people today.

I don't know about you but I would much rather play to room full of people that like to dance than a bunch that sits and gets drunk and stares at there phones.

 

[pcake]

Kind of funny, I have a first gig with a new band on Friday and I'm thinking about shaving the beard off and maybe dyeing the gray/white. I'm about ten years older than the rest of the band - hard rock power trio doing an opening set. One of my grandkids is old enough to make me a great granddad . Right now I have to wear a hat to not look like freakin Santa LOL

i started dying my hair when i was 26 as i had early salt and pepper - mostly salt - already. years later, i'm still coloring, and people are always shocked to find i'm over 60, but i think most of that is having hair with no grey. coloring your hair works amazingly well to keep you seeming younger. i've been a redhead since the late '90s, was a blond before that for a couple decades.

As far as social media goes - I have one 'band" that I created a FB page for a couple years ago and it has exactly TWO likes so far, me and the BL of another of my bands. The other three members of this band won't "like" it. WTH? I'm tempted to "hide" the page and see if anyone notices LOL. We do host a monthly "live music night" at the social club across the street from where we rehearse and have plenty of material for a 3-4 hour gig...

what are you doing to promote your FB page? the days when people flock to any facebook page are long over...

But that's not the case. The cost of goods (beer, wine, booze) is typically less than 25% of sales. If you can get the bartenders and servers to push premium brands and "house special" shots and shooters it can be even more profitable. Some clubs will even goose prices $.50 - $1.00 per drink when they have live bands to cover the cost.

So if we're talking a club where 100-200 people go through in a night they can pay decently well for a live band and still do more business than they would do without. It's when they can't pull those numbers that it becomes an issue of money so it usually pays to develop a following in a few and keep playing them.

I find it hard to believe you wouldn't be asked back if you're really packing the house with diners, drinkers and dancers. You say you have played there over the past few years, so the owner(s) have to have some economic sense.

i've seen owners of busy clubs put themselves out of business in a wide variety of ways from completely changing the musical format hoping to attract new customers who end up alienating their entire existing customer base to quadrupling the cover charge.

$600 to get $2000 in sales may not be that great. He has to take out food and drink costs and added labor needed for that evening to cover a larger crowd. He probably needs to see $3000 or more or greater to make it worthwhile. Sports on TV is close to free unless you get one of the all games tickets.

don't forget rent or mortgage, property taxes, insurance, the electric bill, maintenance - the list goes on.

"More frugal..." They don't have any discretionary income. When you're playing at a place that gets $11 for a vodka and tonic, the younger portion of the audience imbibes in the parking lot. Whatever. We get paid to get the crowd to stay and enjoy themselves. I know we're good at it, because toward the end of the last set, a squadron of Ubers pull up in front.

it's true. i was partying at clubs well into my 40s, but then my mother developed dementia and helping take care of her took up a lot of our time. not that long after she passed on, we bought a place, and our mortgage, property taxes and insurance leave us only so much.

 

[4SG]

It’s not about the band, it’s about the audience. I’m in two bands of gray beards, and our audiences drink less and go home earlier. If the venue wants a hopping bar til 2am they need a younger crowd. The trick is to find the right venue. We do well with restaurants, just after the dinner hours, usually playing until 11pm. Our crowd might not drink as much, but they come for dinner, and easily spend much more on food and drink than the young folks do. Find a place that “gets” it.

Totally agree. Venues are smart enough to know that younger folks drink less (or pay for fewer drinks) and have less cash to spend. My middle-aged crowd tends to go home earlier but they like their drinks and they know how to tip. Once the venue figures that out we get asked back.

And to some of the other folks: not judging but you couldn't pay me to dye my hair. As long as it's up there I don't care how gray it is.

 

[fingerbun]

Personally I remember being twenty and thinking thirty year olds were...OLD! And their bands were just not cool. They lacked edge. That was a long time ago, but I imagine it still holds true today.

Ultimately I think you have to be yourself and find gigs where the age is less of a factor. That’s just reality. Maybe if you really want you can look a bit younger, for a while, but most of us can’t be sixty and pass for thirty.

 

[whero]

My band is living proof that this is not necessarily so. All but one of us is over 50. Here is a picture of the crowd at our most recent gig, last Saturday night. Young, old, and most importantly club owners of all ages, don't seem to have any problem with us.

View attachment 3062686

Well yeah, it looks like a decent crowd for the venue. But I don't see many people there I'd label "young".

 

[redwingxix]

Dude, it is not bias. It is a fact. They don't have the dough. A fuller answer to your question would involve violating TB rules about politics. But I bet you can figure it out for yourself, should you happen to come across stats about how millenials are doing in terms of employment and compensation. Or type "gig economy" into the search engine of your choice.

They should have plenty of dough. Most of the ones I know that age still live with their parents. Nobody would choose to live at mom's house if they had the money to move out, right? (not sure where you guys get those snarky emojis from, so pretend there's one right here)

 

[lbbc]

With my guitarist and I being almost 60, we moved to the tiki bar, winery, brewery and private events type of band. Interact with the audience and each other during the set, talk to each table who comes to see us during breaks, learn songs requested before the next gig there and dress comfortably.
We are not lazy but prefer to play for those who like classic rock, Motown, modern country and newer radio pop (that we can stand). It's a matter of determining your target audience and doing everything to play for them.
No age discrimination....just good business sense!!

 

[BassBrass]

My band is living proof that this is not necessarily so. All but one of us is over 50. Here is a picture of the crowd at our most recent gig, last Saturday night. Young, old, and most importantly club owners of all ages, don't seem to have any problem with us.

View attachment 3062686

Bunk I think that's great and where you live, thereabouts, is one of the places it's possible. Honk fest in Somerville is all ages also. (for alternative brass band adults and children) If we could move the mass media to reflect actual age demographics, we'd be in business including the Dionysian legends for later life...it's not over (that one flashing the V to the photographer, is she single? kidding, I'm mated and happy)