CRAZY perspective I got from a long-time DJ last night

[two fingers]

My point exactly. If you wouldn't have taken those fill-in gigs and just let those bands fail, there would have been less supply and your primary band could have had a monopoly over all of the eastern Southeast. By playing in multiple bands you are shooting yourself in the foot by helping provide the glut of bands in your area. So stop that, focus on one band and let those other guys fail. Thus your "band" would be in demand.

I'm gonna get out my calculator in a minute and see if I cam hammer this out.

 

[4001]

Well except for the recent ongoing trap rap plague, I think you guys are doing great!

I absolutely love listening to country.

Maybe we should switch places

Country music to me is The Dixie Dregs.

 

[MtManiac]

I don't see it as an either/or situation. Mustang Sally, Brown Eyed Girl and Honky Tonk Women is what's wrong with so many bands IMO and I say that as an audience member. Too many bands default to these tired and worn tunes because they can't or won't learn anything different. There are plenty of non-obscure songs a band could play that would set them apart from the rest of the pack.

Believe me, I would *love* to not play them, ever again, and I completely agree with you. However, explain that to the Woohoo Girls.

 

[FunkHead]

I tried the truck pool. It was great right up until I needed more beer and had to move the truck. That made a mess and dumped my cousin/girlfriend out in a gravel road.

Besides, how can I get to my junk if it ain't in my yard??????

I too find it important to get inside the heads of my local audience.

I remember a gig near Greensboro, NC where we clearly did not know our audience. The audience was asking my Rock band to play some Tug Mcgraw or some such music. They were mostly wearing Camouflage from head to toe.
My guitarist made me laugh so hard when he said it looked like "Duck Dynasty" as he looked out at the crowd.

I hope by doing that gig for $600, we didn't hurt the "Real" bands of the area too much.

 

[MtManiac]

Theu KNOW they play the three chord version of Brown Eyed Girl because they can't be bothered with a four chord version. They know Bob jas no business singing 80s rock but we love Bob so we let him sing his favorites.

Wait... there's a *three* chord version of Brown Eyed Girl???

 

[Hambone70]

What a great thread! Lots of interesting insight.

Supply and demand. Freedom of choice. And opportunities to play what you want when you want. It's all up to you and the level of effort you're willing to invest.

For now, it really makes me happy to be a bedroom musician without all of these issues, where I can be a legend in my own mind. And I'm cheap, too!

 

[4001]

But that's the thing. That's all changing. The US has an Indoor Generation, too. People aren't going out to bars the same way, and they're definitely not drinking the way they used to.

It's a slower deterioration, but it's happening.

Well, smoking has been banned in bars around here and that has caused a drop in business and the cost of a DUI is pretty high and, yes, more and more people are sitting on the couch smoking and drinking at home.
Can people enjoy a band without smoking and drinking ??

 

[MtManiac]

What major band didn't play the bar circuit ?
The thing is that many of them got out of that rut and moved UP!
Rush played the bars for about six years and then they got a record deal... six years later they were selling out three nighters everywhere and playing music that they wanted to play.. imagine that, they didn't have to keep playing "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Brown Eye Girl" for the rest of their lives pretending to be rockstars in the local pub for their Facebook friends likes. They also gave the record company the middle finger when they said "produce an album with a hit"... and they wrote 2112. So there.
Bar gigs, festival shows, corporate gigs... what else is there?? Concert venues for local bands ?? Nope.
Play the bar set, sell the bar owners beer... wash, rinse, repeat. How does a band go beyond that these days?
I guess you have to have "connections".. and rip off Led Zeppelin to a "T" and call it original.

It's always been hard - for every Rush or Black Sabbath slogging a van to every bar in places like Kapuskasing or Lancaster in the late 60s to mid 80s, there were a hundred or two hundred other bands nearby copping Thin Lizzy, Hendrix, Zeppelin, Queen, and Cream tunes.

 

[two fingers]

What a great thread! Lots of interesting insight.

Supply and demand. Freedom of choice. And opportunities to play what you want when you want. It's all up to you and the level of effort you're willing to invest.

For now, it really makes me happy to be a bedroom musician without all of these issues, where I can be a legend in my own mind. And I'm cheap, too!

I won't even play for myself for less than a hunnerd fitty.

 

[Kriegs]

Well, of course, ANYONE who offers an opinion here can ONLY speak to his/her personal experiences. Duh.

I have said in this thread dozens of times phrases like "in my area" or "bars near me" etc.

I'm going to keep rolling with the assumption that every time you offer an opinion, it is filtered through your own experiences. That seems like a logical leap.

I guess what has me confused is you are deigning to tell us all about how other bands should conduct themselves and then when we jump in and express our thoughts on the matter you are telling us that we can't speak to the situation because we're not in your market - as if the market there is somehow unique compared to the rest of the country/ world.

Why bring up a topic for discussion if you only acknowledge your thoughts and feelings on the matter as being legitimate?

My issue isn't that you have your own opinion! My issue is that it seems as though you feel that someone else expressing their opinion is somehow not allowed and that, when your own logic is applied to your own words, you cry foul and say that no one else can speak to the very specific conditions that you encounter.

This is how your post reads to me.
"Me me I. I I me me me me. More me. Screw you."

You are vilifying that person for their opinion, and as a result, it appears that your position is:
"I don't think others are as good as me. I want to make more money. I think others are preventing me from doing what I want to do. I think others should step aside in deference to me. I want more for me. Screw them for doing what they want."

It comes across as very hypocritical to imply that it's okay for you to speak/ act from your perspective and experiences and then tell others that they are wrong for doing the same (in this case having the hubris to play at the venues that you want, for less than you would accept all while not being as skilled as you, AND impacting your bottom line)

... hubris ...

 

[brianrost]

I don’t think your post is accurate. There are still many musician unions around the US. Basically every major city has a musicians union.

Reread what I wrote...the unions lost clout once courts, IRS and others decided musicians were independent contractors, not employees. Unions lost the ability to keep performance venues from hiring non-union musicians because they had the "right to work". Common union-busting approach.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I still don't believe its the other bands. Most hack bands are probably doing more good for the music scene than bad. Starting out you talk your friends and sometimes even family to come to gigs. People learn to go to gigs like that. What good bands are up against today is all the other entertainment that is available. A lot of the audience is also people who used to play in a band and played some gigs but "can't do it anymore man".

Your band or Netflix marathon? Band or staying home arguing in Talk bass? I think one huge thing is phone applications for dating. No need to go to a bar or a nightclub when you can swipe a partner at home with your phone.

I actually have had similar conversations with my Capoeira teacher and my kickboxing teacher. And in those cases no I don't buy the theories about other sports schools or like crosfit. We are actually in the business of people's spare time, and the competition for that is a lot more complicated than hack bands. I mean even Hollywood is suffering from it.

So I do believe things are changing around us, but I am not buying any of the reasons why you have.

Even as a musician, I really don't go out to watch bands very often unless it's a big act and Merriweather Post Pavilion is within walking distance for me. Before it was the hassle of lining up a babysitter, now that my kid is getting older that need has gone away. I can leave him home alone and he probably wouldn't even notice. He's 15. Now, I really don't feel like going out for a 9:30 starting time and I'm not much of a drinker, so I feel guilty nursing a Michelob Ultra for two hours, basically don't want to even risk a DUI. But I still tip the waiter/waitress really well. Later in the evening a lot of places have a smaller menu, so that usually means greasy fried foods. End result, I decide that I'm probably not the target market and stay at home. The places that we do attend is when my wife and I can go and they start earlier in the evening and we can grab dinner, so then I don't feel like a freeloader nursing a Michelob Ultra all evening.

That said, a new music venue has opened near me called The Soundry which charges a cover and should be exactly what I want. Still haven't gone there.

 

[BassAndReeds]

Reread what I wrote...the unions lost clout once courts, IRS and others decided musicians were independent contractors, not employees. Unions lost the ability to keep performance venues from hiring non-union musicians because they had the "right to work". Common union-busting approach.

Fair enough. I think you’re touching on a bigger social issue about working in the US, that extends to many career paths, not just entertainers. And I imagine globalism and free trade probably trumps those anti-union tactics you are talking about.

But, per the TB rules, that’s as far down this path I think we should pursue.

 

[Mvilmany]

1. Cops cracking down on drinking and driving these last 20 years.

2. The Internet, particularly YouTube.

These 2 things have hurt live music more than anything else, IMO.

 

[J-Mags]

When I was doing music full time and I was the front man, when we played near the end of a bill I'd sometimes (often?) go mental and have an absolute conniption. I'd rave that all the bands who were playing before us were conspiring to clear the room by sucking too bad and playing too long and too loud, and that the audience were fools who only liked terrible bands like the opening bands, we weren't gonna get paid, because the music business was conspiring to promote suckage instead of geniuses like us, etc., etc...

This would usually end as soon as either a band I liked started playing, or the last band before us started moving their equipment offstage. Then I'd play, usually feel like a million bucks, live it up, and then go back to a life of poverty mixed with alternating bouts of grandiosity and self-loathing. That's what this thread reminds me of.

 

[Frankie Fender]

When I was doing music full time and I was the front man, when we played near the end of a bill I'd sometimes (often?) go mental and have an absolute conniption, raving that all the bands who were playing before us were conspiring to clear the room by sucking too bad, and the audience were fools who only liked terrible bands like the opening bands, we weren't gonna get paid, because the music business was conspiring to promote suckage instead of geniuses like us, etc., etc...

This would usually end as soon as either a band I wanted to hear started playing, or the last band before us started moving their equipment offstage. Then I'd play, usually feel like a million bucks, live it up, and then go back to a life of poverty mixed with alternating bouts of grandiosity and self-loathing. That's what this thread reminds me of.

That's too funny. I almost went there too. Due to it being so competitive in my area, it has crossed my mind more than I am willing to admit, to start a rant about how all the sucky musicians should just admit they suck and give it up to make room for all the good bands out there, who can actually play. Then I think about how egotistical that would sound and I decide to keep my mouth shut. I think many of us have had these thoughts...

 

[sears]

They just KNOW they suck.

IME musicians who think they suck are rare and (aside from myself) they're always actually pretty good.

 

[J-Mags]

That's too funny. I almost went there too. Due to it being so competitive in my area, it has crossed my mind more than I am willing to admit, to start a rant about how all the sucky musicians should just give it up and make room for all the good bands out there, who can actually play. Then I think about how egotistical that would sound and I decide to keep my mouth shut. I think many of us have had these thoughts...

People don't necessarily like bands that can play. There's nothing wrong with that.

 

[OnederTone]

That's encouraging. Kinda like vinyl making a small comeback. Pushback against the technology-induced disposability of music?

This. OP was going in a great direction... this is a positive for all musicians and people who enjoy music. Then he had to piss the positive away by rolling out the “quit taking my gigs by playing for free” BS.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Anyways, back to the DJ's gripe - why would I hire a DJ when I can run this 24x7 for $26.95 / month including licensing fees for my business?

Pandora for Business - Only $26.95 a month!