I'm Frustrated with the Band I'm in.

[jmattbassplaya]

If you have to ask then you likely already know the answer and just need a little nudge to push you over the edge. There's no reason to stick around in a role you're not happy in because life is too short. Let them know your thoughts and be willing to commit to a month or two's worth of gigs to help them transition.

 

[DJ Bebop]

"People going to bars" is quite a wide age range. For some bars, it's as young as 21. For others, it's a retirement-age crowd. I've found that the bar crowd that cares about seeing live bands tends to skew much older. And even then, they want to hear songs they know and can sing along to.

In my experience, young people do not care about cover bands anymore. By "young," I mean the 21-30 crowd. My cover band doesn't even bother with bars at this point. We do private events only, and those are mostly for clients age 40 and up.

That is imho is also where the money is. Unless you have a big draw or on some sort of "circuit," there is no money to be made in clubs or what we used to call taverns It seem most clubs wanna offer "exposure" not money

 

[51PRI]

If you have to ask then you likely already know the answer and just need a little nudge to push you over the edge. There's no reason to stick around in a role you're not happy in because life is too short. Let them know your thoughts and be willing to commit to a month or two's worth of gigs to help them transition.

I think at this point my best action would be to start a second side project.

...cover bands really underestimate what people will dance or get in to. There are a couple of songs on our set list that go over really well that I voted against because I thought they were not well known or were just in my opinion, too niche. Yet, the crowd loved them.....

Do you mind saying what those songs are?

 

[RandalPinkFloyd]

I think at this point my best action would be to start a second side project.

Do you mind saying what those songs are?

Not at all, but let me preface that we are a metal/classic rock cover band. The songs that I doubted were "Slither" by Velvet Revolver and "Living After Midnight" Judas Priest. I was 100% sure both these songs would bomb. I considered Slither as unknown by most, and Living way too niche. On top of that, neither what I would call or consider dance-able. Yet, thus far anyway, they are a hit.

 

[wazzel]

OP - Hope you figure it out. I am looking for a band now after an extended hiatus. Do not want to get with a low effort classic rock bar band. Been there done that. I am at a point in my life the hang and the music has to be good. My day job takes care of the money.

 

[3Liter]

Not at all, but let me preface that we are a metal/classic rock cover band. The songs that I doubted were "Slither" by Velvet Revolver and "Living After Midnight" Judas Priest. I was 100% sure both these songs would bomb. I considered Slither as unknown by most, and Living way too niche. On top of that, neither what I would call or consider dance-able. Yet, thus far anyway, they are a hit.

What? Slither was huge on the radio when it was new and LAM just flat out rocks and I'm not a huge metalhead. I don't think either are danceable, you're right. What stuff do you play?

 

[RandalPinkFloyd]

What? Slither was huge on the radio when it was new and LAM just flat out rocks and I'm not a huge metalhead. I don't think either are danceable, you're right. What stuff do you play?

I must have missed Slither when it was on the radio, which is not surprising and not saying a lot. It was completely new to me, I hadn't even heard of it when it was brought up. I like it, but I assumed the audience was going to hate it. I was wrong there.
We have a mix of Metallica (Old -Bells, Puppets, Wherever I may Roam and newer King nothing), AIC, Jet, RATM, Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, Tesla, STP, The Cult, Megadeth (just 1 Symphony), Skynyrd, Lenny Kravitz, and few other lighter tunes by bands like Franz Ferdinand that are mixed in.

 

[3Liter]

I must have missed Slither when it was on the radio, which is not surprising and not saying a lot. It was completely new to me, I hadn't even heard of it when it was brought up. I like it, but I assumed the audience was going to hate it. I was wrong there.
We have a mix of Metallica (Old -Bells, Puppets, Wherever I may Roam and newer King nothing), AIC, Jet, RATM, Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, Tesla, STP, The Cult, Megadeth (just 1 Symphony), Skynyrd, Lenny Kravitz, and few other lighter tunes by bands like Franz Ferdinand that are mixed in.

You play the kind of metal I do like. I'd come see you all if nearby. Seems like both those would fit right in.

 

[RandalPinkFloyd]

You play the kind of metal I do like. I'd come see you all if nearby. Seems like both those would fit right in.

If you're ever in Denver.

 

[BassDad1964]

I think I need to play, be in a band, much more than I need the money these days. If there were just a few songs that I could be, as you say, proud of, that would probably suffice.

I agree that you can't change people.

What about taking it to the band? Tell them that You're doing the songs that are keeping you booked but you would like to do a couple that you would actually enjoy playing. If you get a "no" then make a decision. If you get a "yes" then maybe some joy can return.

Communication solves most issues. One way or another.

 

[51PRI]

Not at all, but let me preface that we are a metal/classic rock cover band. The songs that I doubted were "Slither" by Velvet Revolver and "Living After Midnight" Judas Priest. I was 100% sure both these songs would bomb. I considered Slither as unknown by most, and Living way too niche. On top of that, neither what I would call or consider dance-able. Yet, thus far anyway, they are a hit.

Interesting. I wanted to play "Slither"in that other band I was in that I played guitar in and more or less quit for health (and other) reasons but we never got around to it.

 

[PhatBottomBass1]

The band I'm in is a blues band for festival gigs and a "play everything" band for bar gigs. All of the music we play is old. "Maybe Baby" and "Margaretaville" are standards on our bar set list, which also includes gems like "Brick House", "Brown Eyed Girl", "The House is Rockin'", and "Evil Ways."

The band leader called a rehearsal and these are the songs to be learned:
"Soulshine", "Stuck in the Middle with You" and "It's 5 O'clock Somewhere."

The songs I recommended got shut down. One wasn't well known enough for people to dance to it. Another one was just not well known. The third "was like 'Margaretaville' (it isn't).

I'm frustrated because the guitar players in the band don't seem to want to spend any time learning anything "new" that they have to actually learn. It's okay if it's an old song that they can just play off the cuff or jam through, but they don't seem to want to learn anything that have parts that need to be played for the song to sound right.

We have a lot of gigs booked (I really don't know why) but I wish we were tighter, spent time working out parts, learned new, not just new to us, songs, and were generally a lot better than we seem to be satisfied to be.

It's frustrating.

It can be a long, hard march to the middle!