Are club cover bands dead?

[shoot-r]

Playing mostly Central Illinois, U.S.A. area, occasionally we'll venture into the St. Louis or Chicago area for a job or two.

Doing old country/ new country, country/rock.

Making what I consider great money and turning down gigs cause we're all ready booked.

 

[funkinbottom]

I wouldn't necessarily say dead, but sadly, venues pay the same (or less) as they did many years ago. Used to be able to survive comfortably from gigging. Those days are long gone. However, I am much happier writing and recording than trying to hustle gigs.

 

[gln1955]

I guess people here haven't gotten the memo. Lots of cover bands and venues. Aslong as you don't care so much about money, a decent band can play as much as they like.

 

[pbass2]

Playing mostly Central Illinois, U.S.A. area, occasionally we'll venture into the St. Louis or Chicago area for a job or two.

Doing old country/ new country, country/rock.

Making what I consider great money and turning down gigs cause we're all ready booked.

One act I play with does 95% covers and some originals - 80's-90's country vibe. Man, there is no shortage of gigs. And the private parties? $$$

 

[Five or Six]

Beer n burger bands screwed things up here along with the club owners. The "animal kingdom" and the casinos are still alive. Clubs / bars are "starting" to turn around. The afore mentioned bnb bands eventually drove people away because (to cut to the chase) they sucked. After club (bar) owners got their fill of it they tried to get the decent bands back through the door, along with their patrons. Well, the good bands were on to other venues and slow to return, just like us. Thus, crowds were slow to return as well. Bar / club owners really took a hit monetarily.

Slowly, quite a few of the good bands have found their way back to the clubs they had been back doored at. So, it's on the upswing, and some areas have gotten back to pretty much normal. One of our old regular venues called me for a gig not too long ago. Hm, 3 of the good bands had lost this gig! I told her I would see her in person before I comminted to anything. Face to face is what I like.

After a conversation with my entire band I was there. I told her to begin with there was a price increase. Secondly, we would have to be put back in our old rotation, or no deal. I barely got these conditions out and she agreed to both. I ask her why the call? She said she made a big mistake dumping 3 of her top bands for "stale no talent" having bands. Her revenue had taken a dump because of her poor decision? We all know money is the driver in that business.

When I asked her if she had contacted bands so and so, and band X? She stated Yes, but they both hadn't committed yet. She said she thinks they are waiting on my decision? So, a big reason things took a dump around here was club owners trying to save money by hiring these "stale no talent" bands. The fix was / is simple, and now they have figured it out. Bar owners talk to each other. They know if a band is any good. So dead? No. Recover(ed)ing, Yes. You better have your together anymore or go back to the garage around here.

 

[bucephylus]

There are still cover gigs everywhere I've been playing the past few years.

BUT, there seems to be a definite absence of interest from younger folks.

The summer before COVID, my wife and I met up with our son and his wife in Austin for a weekend. I used to spend a lot of time in Austin in the 90's; and back then 6th St was literally lined with active clubs 7 nights a week. That was all gone by our recent visit. I asked the hotel concierge about such a dramatic change; and the response was that the younger software engineering crowd, which had come to dominate Austin's scene had no interest in Club / Cover music. So, 6th St became a ghost town.

I mentioned this to my cousin, who lives in Austin; and his version of the story was that the Clubs had moved East of the interstate, where the older population was now centered.

At about the same time, a cover gig I was working with was playing a mix of classics and newer iHeart Radio fare, hoping to interest the younger element in the Tucson clubs. But, they would just sit disinterested in their seats.

My impression is that the younger crowd, in general, is interested in things other than music. Certainly, there are pockets and local cliques with specific interests; but popular music seems to have gone by the wayside for the younger crowd.

As my wife and I used to console ourselves about our young ones' appetites, they will eat when they are hungry. Shrug.

Edit: one other thing. I was also active in the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra in Tucson, which was an impressive semi-pro outfit. I saw the same thing in those audiences. A very few younger audience members and mostly older folks. So, I don't think it's strictly a popular music thing.

 

[Tim Skaggs]

Not where I am, but I could see it happening someday.

 

[LordRyan]

Here in the Hilton Head Island area established cover bands can gig every day of the week in the summer tourist season. There are some places like Sun City and Latitudes that have tribute bands mostly from out of state. Nearby Savannah has places for cover bands and tribute bands to play.

 

[sonofmt]

Not a lot of cover bands where I am in NM, but also not a lot of night life in general.

Our drummer awhile back was at a local brewery with a nice stage. Asked if they booked bands. The guy working told him no, not since a lawyer threatened legal action if the band that was playing at the time was doing any covers.

Anyone heard of something like this?

 

[RicheyLather]

Not dead around Philly either, although the tribute bands seem to be getting more attention from the nicer venues. And a few of the bars we used to play have converted to DJs, Quizzo etc.

I live in Philly too, and was gonna say this. My last cover band split at the pandemic, but our drummer "fronts" a Green Day tribute, the singer from my last original band is in an REM tribute.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Not in the Austin area. Nor Many of the cities around San Francisco. Nor Seattle. Nor …

 

[winston]

Not a lot of cover bands where I am in NM, but also not a lot of night life in general.

Our drummer awhile back was at a local brewery with a nice stage. Asked if they booked bands. The guy working told him no, not since a lawyer threatened legal action if the band that was playing at the time was doing any covers.

Anyone heard of something like this?

Venues are supposed to pay fees to performing rights organizations (PROs) like BMI, ASCAP & SESAC if they have musicians playing covers, or pipe in music. AFAIK streaming in venues from services like Spotify/Apple Music is technically illegal (IANAL) from this perspective...you have to go with a "modern Muzak" subscription service that pays the PROs directly.

I have a friend who owned a cafe featuring music who got shaken down for this about 20 years ago, the PROs will send people out to venues regularly to check compliance. The PRO person wasn't successful as pretty much every musician there either did originals, or folk/blues/Irish/jazz music that was public domain, or so obscure that no one knew what it was pre-Shazam.

 

[Kerem Koseoglu]

In my city, the demand for full English pop/rock/blues cover bands is nearly dead. There are only a handful of venues where you can play that style, and they have a swarm of bands in line looking for a spot to play their beloved music. The payment is very low, and some venues even charge the band upfront - if you can't bring in enough people to cover the costs, it's your burden.

However, the gig market is still alive for jazz(y) or Latin music, Turkish covers, or small, portable duos and trios.

 

[_Obra_]

Probably dead in the whole country? Dude you must be a road dog. If you do start playing again ya'll should cover I've been Everywhere by Johnny Cash.

I'm from eastern Europe, not even in the EU, so You can imagine why it is like this here, although most of the EU is in the same situation like here (UK excluded).

I'm so jealous to hear that the scene is very good in most of the US. However, here is probably better then in most of the Asia, Africa, South America etc, so I should probably be gratefull.

For those who doubt or question the music genre or set list, here is my last bends set list from one of the last gigs. You can even see few videos taken live at my YT channel and judge yourself.

 

[Swamp_Ronin]

In Portland there are 25 bands playing every night. I'm not sure if they are making any money, or if anyone is going to see them. I don't see a lot of boomer bands playing wagon wheel and don't stop believin' though.

I do love hearing about the glory days of people making a good living gigging, and I hope one day those times will return. Stay strong out there.

 

[Swamp_Ronin]

I'm from eastern Europe, not even in the EU, so You can imagine why it is like this here, although most of the EU is in the same situation like here (UK excluded).

I'm so jealous to hear that the scene is very good in most of the US. However, here is probably better then in most of the Asia, Africa, South America etc, so I should probably be gratefull.

For those who doubt or question the music genre or set list, here is my last bends set list from one of the last gigs. You can even see few videos taken live at my YT channel and judge yourself.

View attachment 7425928

I hope you find some gigs, I enjoy your youtube videos. You're a good player.

 

[JamesGrant]

U.K. England South Coast. Still lots of gigs, but for many venues the pay has only gone up by about 10 to 20% in the last 25 years.
There are a lot of 'agents' that venues use for booking, and there are a lot of bands willing to play for those rates.
Doing well on the duo front as we've tend to liaise directly with event organisers and venue owners.
Venues that I work for want music that people enjoy, that is up beat and not 'heavy rock' or 'grunge rock'. Basically, can you sing along and/or dance to it!
The holiday parks and 'working men's' (as they used to be known) clubs are steady and pay well.
So yeah - too many bands to make a good living but, if you teach or have a part-time day job (or a full time day job in my case at the moment!!) then it can make a decent proportion of your income through live covers performance.
Am planning on moving into the touring theatre show scene - you can make okish money there but obviously that's a different thing than club covers.

 

[_Obra_]

I hope you find some gigs, I enjoy your youtube videos. You're a good player.

Thanks .
I'm actually not in the hunt for new cover band or to recover some of the old. I'm quite happy making some YouTube videos, recording my own stuff and playing for few local studios.
On the other hand, it would be nice to sometimes play a bigger event, just to remind myself of that stage adrenaline .

 

[BaltBass5]

Alive and thriving in the Baltimore, DC, Northern VA area. My band plays 65-85 shows per year at venues that are 200-2000 cap. There are no less than about 35 other bands in the area playing regularly as well.

 

[bassplayer1960]

There are definitely cover bands in Western Mass playing out- i'm in a classic and alt country one there myself. Tribute bands are also emerging. My favorite cover band is in eastern Connecticut, the Franklin Brothers play at 75% Steely Dan, but also Stevie Wonder, Chicago and Chaka Khan.