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is live music dead

Live music will definitely change due to the current crisis. I can agree with many of the sentiments posted above, but to semi-quote one of my favourite movies: "Live music will find a way".

Another thing that is happening and may impact live music is the increasing awareness of the sustainability of touring/live shows/festivals. Coldplay, for example, have decided not to tour their latest album, because of concerns over the environmental impact of touring (Coldplay will no longer tour until shows are environmentally sustainable). For promotion, they only did two gigs in Amman (Jordan) that are available for free on YouTube. With such a high profile band raising this issue, I can imagine others will follow. Coldplay may be able to afford not touring, but for lower tier and new artists touring is a must to survive financially (as income from music sales/streaming is mostly neglible). We'll just see where it goes from here.
 
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There won't be any big gatherings of people until there is a vaccine for this Coronavirus...
Give it at least a year....

I suspect that nothing will change with the bar scene when things get "back to normal".
The same drunks will want to hear the same overplayed, rubbed into the dirt 50 times over, CRAP set lists that they've heard every weekend for most of their lives....

"Allright..."Sweet Caroline", ...make some noise!!

Nothing would make me happier right now than playing the first 50 pages of the bar band hymnal, one right after the other, I'm front of a happy crowd of people sending money.

"Sweet Home Alabama"? You got it.
"Brown Eyed Girl"? Absolutely.
"Mustang Sally"? Coming right up.
"My Girl"? What key do you want it in?
"Brick House"? I thought you'd never ask!
"Don't Stop Believing "? You better believe it.
"Freebird"? Free of charge.
"Wagon Wheel"? Fasten your seatbelts.
"Born to be Wild"? I was born to play it!
"Chain of Fools"? Foolish question. Of course!

I would play the ever loving HELL out of "Sweet Caroline" right now. (Even better would be yelling the words with 25,000 of my closest friends at Fenway Park.)

I HOPE we get back to the time we requests for tired music is coming at us from every angle. Sign me up for that gig right now. :bassist:
 
I sorta hope it kills off all or a high-percentage of rock tributes and cover bands (nothing against you guys who do what you do, I just don't want to hear you) and forces everyone to play originals, for better or worse. Or jazz-only covers for weddings, country clubs, etc. Or country. Just anything but the same tired and worn-out 50 'rock' songs that everyone seems to play.

Art over Entertainment
 
I'm of the mindset that people will be more enthusiastic about coming and seeing a band play after being cooped up for weeks/months. The well-being of the venues will be a major question, but the bands could pick up the slack in that regard at least temporarily.

Maybe I'm a dreamer, but I could see several bands in their own respective localities at the end of all this pulling resources together, booking a venue/city park, and throwing their own "we made it through" show. My band is already reaching our to a few other acts in the area and seeing if we can at least get them interested in the concept, then iron out the details as a return to normal comes into view.
 
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I sorta hope it kills off all or a high-percentage of rock tributes and cover bands (nothing against you guys who do what you do, I just don't want to hear you) and forces everyone to play originals, for better or worse. Or jazz-only covers for weddings, country clubs, etc. Or country. Just anything but the same tired and worn-out 50 'rock' songs that everyone seems to play.

Art over Entertainment


Nothing against your point of view, but I see it 180 degrees the opposite. ;) I don't want to think or be inspired by art when I go out to a bar. That's not what bars are for. I want to yell the lyrics of my favorite songs with my arms around my best friends. I want to act like an idiot. I want people to send me embarrassing pictures of me the next morning while I'm popping Advil and trying to pretend I don't feel like hell in front of my daughters.

When I'm on stage, I want to play the opening lick of a song everybody knows and see every woman (and half the men) in the room race to find a good spot on the dance floor. I want to see half a dozen thirtysomething women in the front row yelling the words to "Strawberry Wine" as they fight of tears of joy remembering their college days together. I want to hear that huge man with the 3 foot long beard of the gods yell "YEAH" so loud it shakes the walls when we start "Shoot Me Straight" by Brothers Osborne. I want the whole bar to scream in unison when I get to that part in "Your Love" by The Outfield and I sing "I just wanna use your love tonight" and then I say "YOU TAKE THIS LINE".... and every.... single... person..... throws a fist in the air and screams "I don't wanna lose your love, tonight!!!!!"

Go inspire people by playing your thought-provoking originals in a museum. Keep your lofty goals out of my favorite watering hole. :roflmao:

Celebrating is what bars are for. Connecting over things we have in common are what bars are for. Hugging people you just met and high-fiving strangers when Chavis (Red Sox) sends a baseball into next week is what bars are for.

Familiarity. Commonality. Comfort zones. Laughing. Celebrating. Dancing like nobody is watching. Dancing like EVERYBODY is watching. Sharing what we all know and love... from favorite beers to favorite foods to favorite songs to birthdays and bachelorette parties to (yes) favorite songs you have heard/sang a zillion times....

That's what bars are for.

Go sip complex beers with a "chewy note" and sing meaningful songs about the environment and awareness at the local book store or museum.

(My post is all in good fun. Don't take me seriously. I assure you, nobody does.) :cool:
 
Nothing against your point of view, but I see it 180 degrees the opposite. ;) I don't want to think or be inspired by art when I go out to a bar. That's not what bars are for. I want to yell the lyrics of my favorite songs with my arms around my best friends. I want to act like an idiot. I want people to send me embarrassing pictures of me the next morning while I'm popping Advil and trying to pretend I don't feel like hell in front of my daughters.

When I'm on stage, I want to play the opening lick of a song everybody knows and see every woman (and half the men) in the room race to find a good spot on the dance floor. I want to see half a dozen thirtysomething women in the front row yelling the words to "Strawberry Wine" as they fight of tears of joy remembering their college days together. I want to hear that huge man with the 3 foot long beard of the gods yell "YEAH" so loud it shakes the walls when we start "Shoot Me Straight" by Brothers Osborne. I want the whole bar to scream in unison when I get to that part in "Your Love" by The Outfield and I sing "I just wanna use your love tonight" and then I say "YOU TAKE THIS LINE".... and every.... single... person..... throws a fist in the air and screams "I don't wanna lose your love, tonight!!!!!"

Go inspire people by playing your thought-provoking originals in a museum. Keep your lofty goals out of my favorite watering hole. :roflmao:

Celebrating is what bars are for. Connecting over things we have in common are what bars are for. Hugging people you just met and high-fiving strangers when Chavis (Red Sox) sends a baseball into next week is what bars are for.

Familiarity. Commonality. Comfort zones. Laughing. Celebrating. Dancing like nobody is watching. Dancing like EVERYBODY is watching. Sharing what we all know and love... from favorite beers to favorite foods to favorite songs to birthdays and bachelorette parties to (yes) favorite songs you have heard/sang a zillion times....

That's what bars are for.

Go sip complex beers with a "chewy note" and sing meaningful songs about the environment and awareness at the local book store or museum.

(My post is all in good fun. Don't take me seriously. I assure you, nobody does.) :cool:

2F, you are a state brother. all good.

My point is, if I want to hear those songs, I'd rather hear them by the artist/s who did them. even karaoke, or gasp, even a DJ (Hisssssssss)
Some bar cover bands are awesome, the other 97% are not.
 
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I am in the process of forming a surf rock band and I cannot wait to unleash it.

EE9C3A72-7B50-4FA6-B6C6-CDE1CF86A084.jpeg
 
Is live music dead or just damaged in the short run

and if you make a CD it will be bootlegged and downloaded so we won't make much money selling recordings.

So what is the future of live music?

I have a professional job so for me music is a hobby and I find it entertaining to play good music with good musicians.
It'll be back with a vengeance when this is over and done.
 
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I don't see some of the traditional bar places we play coming back and hiring music. The breweries will be here as long as they keep selling beer to go for the time being. We broke into the casino gig here and that will continue strong because..well..casino.

I have little interest in video concerts of any kind, either playing or watching.
 
I sorta hope it kills off all or a high-percentage of rock tributes and cover bands (nothing against you guys who do what you do, I just don't want to hear you) and forces everyone to play originals, for better or worse. Or jazz-only covers for weddings, country clubs, etc. Or country. Just anything but the same tired and worn-out 50 'rock' songs that everyone seems to play.

Art over Entertainment
Yeah, cuz nothing draws a crowd like a bunch of 50 year olds playing music no one has ever heard before
 
For the moment yes, but not entirely. The bar scene may be dead in a lot of places, but live music in church is every bit as alive as it ever was.

Yesterday, I taped (OK, recorded, there was no tape involved) my part for Easter services. The tech guys at one of the churches I play at are assembling everyones' iPhone recordings of their parts (video and audio) into a worship set. Isolated bass guitar tracks never sound good on their own - the toughest part was listing to my recording, saying "yeah, that'll do - once it's in context", and hitting send.
 
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Nothing against your point of view, but I see it 180 degrees the opposite. ;) I don't want to think or be inspired by art when I go out to a bar. That's not what bars are for. I want to yell the lyrics of my favorite songs with my arms around my best friends. I want to act like an idiot. I want people to send me embarrassing pictures of me the next morning while I'm popping Advil and trying to pretend I don't feel like hell in front of my daughters.

When I'm on stage, I want to play the opening lick of a song everybody knows and see every woman (and half the men) in the room race to find a good spot on the dance floor. I want to see half a dozen thirtysomething women in the front row yelling the words to "Strawberry Wine" as they fight of tears of joy remembering their college days together. I want to hear that huge man with the 3 foot long beard of the gods yell "YEAH" so loud it shakes the walls when we start "Shoot Me Straight" by Brothers Osborne. I want the whole bar to scream in unison when I get to that part in "Your Love" by The Outfield and I sing "I just wanna use your love tonight" and then I say "YOU TAKE THIS LINE".... and every.... single... person..... throws a fist in the air and screams "I don't wanna lose your love, tonight!!!!!"

Go inspire people by playing your thought-provoking originals in a museum. Keep your lofty goals out of my favorite watering hole. :roflmao:

Celebrating is what bars are for. Connecting over things we have in common are what bars are for. Hugging people you just met and high-fiving strangers when Chavis (Red Sox) sends a baseball into next week is what bars are for.

Familiarity. Commonality. Comfort zones. Laughing. Celebrating. Dancing like nobody is watching. Dancing like EVERYBODY is watching. Sharing what we all know and love... from favorite beers to favorite foods to favorite songs to birthdays and bachelorette parties to (yes) favorite songs you have heard/sang a zillion times....

That's what bars are for.

Go sip complex beers with a "chewy note" and sing meaningful songs about the environment and awareness at the local book store or museum.

(My post is all in good fun. Don't take me seriously. I assure you, nobody does.) :cool:
This.

We play alot of VFWs, Fire Company's, Private Clubs and bars where originals would never work. Most people I know and have played with are a little older now, did the whole originals band thing back when there were a million places to play live music, and moved onto cover bands to keep playing as a hobby.
 
Local, live music is dead. Stick a fork in it. Music with actual instruments seems dead (or nearly dead), too. Listen to all the programmed sounds coming out of music today. Two of my sons are in the industry and from all that they do in their work, I have found that the king of the music biz is the computer and the person operating it.

I don't know, I could be wrong. I'm just grumpy as hell right now because nothing is working out for me at the moment (even before the COVID-19 situation) and I feel as old as f^$#.