And not a bass player in sight

[juancaminos]

I saw a band at my buddies place called The Beaver Bar. It was a three piece band with drums and two acoustic guitar players. The guitar player on stage right switched to bass sometimes but not too often. They were great but the absolute loudest band I had ever witnessed there.

 

[mrcbass]

I don’t often go to music venues unless I am involved playing with my band. However last night I went with my young band mates to see a national touring act playing a small club.
There were three acts total but none of them had bass players. Bass parts were either prerecorded or handled by the keyboard players.

What are the chances of three consecutive bands not having a bass player? I know this is just one show little old me stumbled into but makes one wonder if the bass player is headed for extinction?

Worse yet - I went and saw The Black Crowes a few weeks ago. There was a guy apparently playing bass (he was holding in and moving his fingers), but the kick drum was so loud in the mix, I didn't hear a single bass note. I'm not a huge fan, but do enjoy their music, listening and playing. It was pretty disappointing to get such a crappy FOH mix.

 

[aguacateojos]

One of my favorite bands right now is Jukebox The Ghost. Piano, guitar, drummer. No bass. Somehow it works.

Pianist's left hand got the job?

 

[MisterUbu]

i mean it's sort of been stated before but with the state of live FOH mixes favouring a pumping noise missile kick drum as the "bass" in the mix, its been no wonder why some groups have their entire low end be that and/or a bass heavy synth filling some kind of fundamental, the audience all but being clued in on what's missing.

...I'd rather have a situation where the bass is missing/replaced than have it be inaudible due to a wash muddy lower frequencies (see: black keys concerts in large venues)

 

[Dincrest]

Hmmm.... I'm also hearing stories about a lot of young acts actively looking for bass players but still performing without them simply to get themselves out there.

Good bass players are hard to find, but still sought after.

 

[LiptonJigglers]

The Doors?

The Doors recorded with a Bass player... Patty Sulivan

 

[LuckyScott]

I scored a four, but do all the in between song talking and have great stage presence. Don’t just be the bass player, be a part of what is interesting and entertaining about the band while you play bass.

 

[ole Jason]

Tons of European metla bands I've seen in the last 10 years don't use a bass live. Seems to be a common cost cutting thing for those tours.

 

[LiptonJigglers]

I'm not certain that Bass players are going to become obsolete any time soon. Just look at all the drum machines. They've been around for decades and we do not see the demise of drummers.
Once I watched a Latin American band play and there was no obvious sign of a bass guitar/ist... yet there was a lovely bass tone providing the rhythm...
Being a novice, I asked one of the guys in the band, where is the bass coming from... turns out he had a Fender VI

 

[Spectre Gunner]

Several years ago I saw a SEAL concert back when he was relevant. It sounded fine but
I was dissappointed there was no bass player. I saw a Roger Waters concert (pre-covid) and he had a second bass player on stage with him. Thought that was a little unusual since Roger has been the bass foundation for Pink Floyd up until they split up. An excellent show by the way.

How many times have you seen two bass players? Other than Victor, Stanley, Marcus and Mononeon shows.

 

[Michedelic]

Several years ago I saw a SEAL concert back when he was relevant. It sounded fine but
I was dissappointed there was no bass player. I saw a Roger Waters concert (pre-covid) and he had a second bass player on stage with him. Thought that was a little unusual since Roger has been the bass foundation for Pink Floyd up until they split up. An excellent show by the way.

How many times have you seen two bass players? Other than Victor, Stanley, Marcus and Mononeon shows.

Two Bassists in a band

Not relevant? You know he’s on tour right now, right? You could say, “at the height of his popularity”, but not relevant? That’s a little cold.

 

[Slevage]

I know a few keyboard players with left hands (and musical minds) produce better bass lines than I usually come up with, though there are things that I can play that they cannot-due to available techniques.
What ever works.
I have done lots of fill in gigs in my 50 years of gigging, where I was taking the place of a keyboard player that played left hand bass. The bands went out without keys, but needed a bassist.
I heard a rumor that Steve Miller had a tour with no bass player.

 

[jamro217]

The "national touring band" just returned from a gig in North Korea. They went as a quartet and came back as a trio.

Steve Miller did tour without a bassist a few years ago. Going from Gerald Johnson to an empty space on stage is about as radical as it gets IMHO. Lately he had his former rhythm guitarist switch to bass. Solid, but not Gerald.

As bassists, we should be thrilled by this trend, not worried about it. Music was designed to fill the human ear. No low end means part of it is missing. The time to start worrying is when portable AM radios supplant surround sound in theatres. That's the death knell for bassists.

 

[retslock]

Maybe it’s something lacking in me but my attention doesn’t stay long with music that doesn’t have some kind of bass instrument holding down the low end. I don’t care if it’s a tuba or a synth, as long as those deep notes are there. Prince had tracks with no chromatic bass instrument but big deep drum sounds did the job.

 

[Marko 1]

Bass parts were either prerecorded or handled by the keyboard players.

At least at my level (all I care about),

not very much prerecorded materal,

and good keyboard players aren't plentiful.

 

[Swerve]

Then why do bass prices keep going up! Someone is buying them.

 

[JohnnyChatter]

I have a few Sansamps, Darkglass, A Tone Hammer, an Eden WTDI, and a Fender Downtown express. My M81 is my go to. It’s not the most popular and I feel meh about the distortion channel but it’s my favorite preamp for sure. I think I may be in the minority though considering I never see them with other bands we play with.

 

[subtlestew]

Worse yet - I went and saw The Black Crowes a few weeks ago. There was a guy apparently playing bass (he was holding in and moving his fingers), but the kick drum was so loud in the mix, I didn't hear a single bass note. I'm not a huge fan, but do enjoy their music, listening and playing. It was pretty disappointing to get such a crappy FOH mix.

Right before the pandemic hit the Black Crowes were scheduled to go out on tour. The bassist was going to be none other than Tim Lefebvre. Post-pandemic, he had moved on to other projects, and he never toured with them when they finally did hit the road. Sounds like that was a good thing.

 

[brian579]

I don’t often go to music venues unless I am involved playing with my band. However last night I went with my young band mates to see a national touring act playing a small club.
There were three acts total but none of them had bass players. Bass parts were either prerecorded or handled by the keyboard players.

What are the chances of three consecutive bands not having a bass player? I know this is just one show little old me stumbled into but makes one wonder if the bass player is headed for extinction?

I agree. I also saw a local cover band recently with 2 guitarists, one singer, a drummer and 0 bassists. The bass and keyboard parts were all on backing tracks. It’s a scary thought but to me nothing replaces an actual bassist. A backing track will never capture the phrasing and dynamics of an actual human being.

 

[definenredefine]

some are, some aren't.

A lot of bands are technically "national touring acts," in as much as they play shows outside of their home states, but still play small clubs. Hell, my band in college toured nationally (up the east coast, a show in FLA, etc) and we played shows in basements, an apartment, even a college dorm room!

I scored a four, but do all the in between song talking and have great stage presence. Don’t just be the bass player, be a part of what is interesting and entertaining about the band while you play bass.

I was recently told that, owing to the fact that I actually move on stage, I was the most interesting part of the last band I was in.