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I have a problem with cover/tribute bands.
- Thread starter T-Forty
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QORC was engaging is righteous retaliation, since it was the "arTEESTs" who started all this mess.
As long as the original insults to cover musicians stand, and keep coming, I say they have every right to strike back as they see fit.
If a convenience store owner shoots a robber, who bears more responsibility? Or do they share equal responsibility?
To me, its a lesson about living in your moment, and making it count in any way you can. Because one day, you might not have that "moment" anymore. Enjoy every gig, every compliment, every musical "light bulb moment"...enjoy each and every musical experience that you can. The demands and vagaries of life may make those moments impossible...we don't know what tomorrow brings. Someday, arthritis will take away my playing ability. Or I could drop dead over breakfast from a brain aneyrism. There's no telling. So...I play like there is no tomorrow, right now.
Tonight's gig, Wednesday's jam, Sunday's recording session...those are the actual "moments of our lives" when it comes to our music. We have to make the best of them! If not one person remembers what we did, well...it fulfilled *us*, and it touched *someone* in the course of our careers, so it was worthwhile.
Cherie
...or Menudo.
Aiiiiiiii!!!! Menudo!!!!!
LOL! All my friends' little sisters loved them when we were coming up in the Rio Grande Valley.
Cherie
One or two, sure- a couple surprises in the set can go over well if properly executed. More than that though, and you're messing with peoples' expectations- they came to hear oldies (for example), not a night of genre-busting remakes of oldies tunes. People didn't see Coltrane to hear a set of standards or numbers from musicals, they went to hear his style of jazz, which included remakes of tunes from different genres.
Of course there are bands like Hayseed Dixie (bluegrass covers of AC/DC) that do cover sets that radically re-interpret the source material, but they're unlike 99.9999% of cover bands in that they bring something new to the songs instead of just repeating someone else's arrangements. A band like that wouldn't fare well at your typical cover gig because the typical cover audience doesn't want new, they want familiar. They'd have more luck playing for crowds interested in originals- the execution is original, even if the song isn't (like Coltrane doing "My Favorite Things").
A little chain pulling goes both ways, I think we're good.
But how many pairs of Chuck Taylors do you own, that's the question...
That post brings up another (hopefully non-inflamatory) conversation. Cover bands play for people who want to hear the familiar. Originals play for people who want to hear something new. I all depends on who you want to please (I'd rather hear something new, so I guess I want to please people like myself!)
This is actually the crux of what I've been trying to say I think. Well put.
"Righteous retaliation", "strike back"? What are you, twelve? And who stole anything in this scenario (except the cover bands stealing someone else's songs...)? Do you really think the best way of dealing with immature posts is to immediately sink to their level, and lower? No, it just makes you look like an idiot, too.
It's just the internet, not something to get so worked up over. Play covers, write your own stuff, whatever. Get a drink of water, watch the sunset.
"If we practice an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, soon the whole world will be blind and toothless"
Yeah, and the crowds vary, or even combine, depending on the venue. Its like herding cats, figuring out what they want in a given bar.
My guitarist and I have had the same argument, over and over. I like the "B-sides"...the unusual cover, that recognizable-but-not-often-heard song. And I like to mix the covers and originals up.
He is a "do only big hits for covers" and play-the-originals-in-a-block kinda guy. To me, this is boring, both as a way to set up a night of music, and as a listener.
I have had great luck with cover crowds picking up on originals *because we put them alongside a cover that compliments them*, and then singing along to the original within three gigs. He thinks the originals have to stand out from the covers, but I watch as people leave the dance floor.
I don't understand people who go to a bar and then demand to hear what they just heard on the radio on their way to the bar. Why go out if you don't want to hear something a little different, mixed with your familiar stuff?
Cherie
I am very disappointed in the responses I am reading
Some very close minded people, so much for hanging around with a bunch of opeN minded music types in this thread.
IT'S MUSIC..IT'S ALL GOOD! COVERS, ORIGINALS, AND ORIGINAL VERSION OF A COVER..WHO GIVES A RAT'S BEHIND. PLAY BASS AND ROCK OUT AN HAVE FUN.
Some very close minded people, so much for hanging around with a bunch of opeN minded music types in this thread.
IT'S MUSIC..IT'S ALL GOOD! COVERS, ORIGINALS, AND ORIGINAL VERSION OF A COVER..WHO GIVES A RAT'S BEHIND. PLAY BASS AND ROCK OUT AN HAVE FUN.
Oh, Chuck's are no darn good on a skinny guy with size 13 feet so I own none.
The thing I find really a little upsetting about the cover band thing is that a good number of those players aren't such good musicians. But that knife cuts in the other direction too.
I just recently got into the cover band thing and I really don't know if I can stand it. I'm also in a band that has originals and some covers that breath a little, that's what my main focus is right now. I also want try many more things that are more musically satisfying, I want to play as much as I can, that's truly satisfaction to me. If I have to spend a few nights playing "Mustang Sally" to make that happen, I'll deal with it.
Play everything. And play it like you will die tomorrow morning, and this is the last time for you. Every time!
Cherie
Cherie
Yes,couldn't we all go and post in the smokin' mare-g-wanna before a gig vs. not smokin' mare-g-wanna poll thread? Seems like it would be just as productive and we could put this thread to rest.
LOL. That's a classic, thank you.
Got a rope handy? You're sinking....
I think what the TS is getting at is the fact that he is frustrated with the number of cover bands to original bands and the people who are looking for work.
Symphonys are of a different matter, as opposed to a ac/dc cover band. One takes a lot more skill then the other, and you can see which one it is obviously haha.
Symphonys are of a different matter, as opposed to a ac/dc cover band. One takes a lot more skill then the other, and you can see which one it is obviously haha.
Yes,couldn't we all go and post in the smokin' mare-g-wanna before a gig vs. not smokin' mare-g-wanna poll thread? Seems like it would be just as productive and we could put this thread to rest.
I didn't know we had one. Musta been too stoned to notice.
LOL!
Cherie
That's depressing. I imagine it's especially prevalent in your area, where it's teeming with great players.
From watching a lot of local cover band audiences, I think I can take a shot at explaining why they want to hear what they just heard on the radio.
These audiences are probalby going to the bar/club to have a good time and drink, possibly dance and cut loose a little. The actual band isn't really the focus of their night out. It could be any number of bands playing familiar songs and they would be just as happy, so long as they can cut loose , drink and have fun. (this is a VERY good scenario for the bar)
In some cases, it could be a D.J. or a Jukebox, and their night out would be just as much fun though.
This IS NOT a jab at cover bands, so please don't read it that way. I've seen some DAMNED good ones. The fact remains that in any number or bars/clubs, I've seen the same people, week in , week out, year in year out in some cases, out dancing and having fun with cover bands. Didn't particularly matter who the band was, they were still out for a fun night out, at their local watering hole.
These people want to hear songs they can sing a long with get a little wild.
Just an observation.
Yes, I can think of a few cover bands that had a following where they were the actual draw, but in my experience, that scenario is far less common.
On the other side of that scenario are the people that will travel from town to town, and in some cases even state to state to see a band, or bunch of bands play that they are totaly into. In this scenario the band IS the draw. This is IMO an ENTIRELY different type of showgoer with a VERY differnt mindset and expectations.
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