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Live bands vs. DJ's...

#66
Marley's Ghost said:
Stereotype much? Huge numbers of teens and millenials are flocking to Firefly, Burning Man, Lollapalooza, SXSW and numerous other festivals to hear hundreds of live rock bands, many of whom are unknown in the mainstream. Sure, those festivals feature EDM too, but the live music scene is alive and well. Bands like the Killers and Foo Fighters have arena tours that consistently sell out. Don't let MTV and award shows fool you. Rock is dead they say? Long live rock!
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Only spoken from the perspective of someone who has made his living entirely from the music business, as a player, teacher, wholesaler, & retailer, for 43+ years. I'm just sayin'...
 
#70
I'm convinced there's a place for live bands. About 8 years ago my town, about 65,000 people, decided to have a mid week concert in the park with an expected draw of about 500-1000 people. The first year they were blown away that they were drawing 5000 people. Fast forward to now and it typically draws around 15,000 and peaked at 20,000 people last year. Is it ever a blast to play.

The key. One very good and very consistent sound company. it doesn't matter the style as much as the quality of the band.

I think the DJ craze in the 80s ruined live bands, more people hired them and stopped hiring bands, now there's a shortage of musicians in that age group.
 
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#71
I just played a nice gig last night with a husband and wife duo; they were hired by a upper end establishment and they needed a full band.
We did a great job but the venue could just as easily hired a DJ.
In fact, as a full band, we’ve got some high profile gigs coming up at the premiere clubs in town. Half original music too.
There is a demand for the real thing IME.
But you have to be entertaining.
 
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#72
lbbc said:
I do both...play live music and DJ. Last weekend our band performed at a wedding in Vermont but was asked to play some "dance" music that our 3-piece acoustic band doesn't do. So, I offered to provide dual services. They paid the band a fee then additional fees for DJ. Everyone, including my band, was happy with the outcome.

I DJ primarily weddings where there's limited space and for brides who have very specific requests/demands (lol). The down side, as you know, is that a DJ usually gets paid more than a band. That's just the way it is. So when I get a call to DJ, I offer the "2fer". That way I get to play with my band (which I prefer to do) and provide music we don't/can't pull off.
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I totally agree with your "2fer". You are giving your audience the experience of a live band and, at the same time, giving your customer what they want and are willing to pay for.

In addition, after reviewing some of the posts here, it was not my intent to suggest that a cover band that cannot pull off good renditions of the tunes they play, should be compared to a DJ. A bad rendition is just that and they shouldn't even try. My intent was to compare a good DJ to a good band.

My hat's off to you for giving your audience the choices and not falling into the trap of trying to "provide music we don't/can't pull off".

At the same time, a band that accepts requests out of their play list, had better be really good:bassist:.
 
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#73
IanIan said:
I feel like most people here have never been to a techno/house/tech-house show. Those scenes are usually limited to larger cities, but they've been around for more than 30 years at this point. Computers and synthesizers mixed with live DJ-ing can be just as exciting to me as a good live band, as long as the performance is good! I'd go as far as say that I prefer a not-so-creative DJ to most live rock bands, because like you said most pop-bands feel lack innovation. But if the DJ is only playing songs that are the same pop chart-toppers I can somewhat understand the apathy.
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Yea man, here in the states theres really only good electronic music scenes in very few cities. I wrote it off for a long time because my impression of it was really cheesy EDM i had heard. It wasnt until I lived in NYC and went to some amazing underground raves that i really started to appreciate the creativity and musicality that goes into that kind of music.
Now i go see local bands doing really generic "rock" music w/o adding anything new or unique and i def miss seeing DJs in New York
 
#74
Marley's Ghost said:
Stereotype much? Huge numbers of teens and millenials are flocking to Firefly, Burning Man, Lollapalooza, SXSW and numerous other festivals to hear hundreds of live rock bands, many of whom are unknown in the mainstream. Sure, those festivals feature EDM too, but the live music scene is alive and well. Bands like the Killers and Foo Fighters have arena tours that consistently sell out. Don't let MTV and award shows fool you. Rock is dead they say? Long live rock!
Click to expand...

I agree that young people can be just as much into live music as older generations. But I also think there's a generation gap. It isn't that the young don't appreciate live music, as that the cover band scene has not successfully kept up a repertoire that appeals to them. It's so much safer and more reliable to keep playing standards from the 60s-80s, which is fine, and has its audience, but can leave the under-40s out in the cold.

This is precisely what my band Six Cowards (see sig) is about; the inspiration was from a gig with a classic rock trio I had, when a lovely young lady approached the stage. We were playing pretty well, I thought maybe she was going to pay us a compliment or make a request. Well, not exactly. She said, "Don't you guys play ANYTHING that's less than thirty years old?" Well, er... yes. We do. We played it in the first set, were you not here yet...? After that, I decided that if I got to put together a band of my own, we'd find the music to play for that girl, the current music that no one else seemed to be playing around here. And you can do it - play the Black Keys, Elle King, Cage the Elephant, and so forth. We had a couple of gigs, trying to get launched, at mismatched venues where the crowd expected the Rolling Stones and Guns and Roses and wasn't pleased with us. But our last gig we found the right crowd and got compliments on playing songs they weren't hearing elsewhere.
 
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#76
hrodbert696 said:
I agree that young people can be just as much into live music as older generations. But I also think there's a generation gap. It isn't that the young don't appreciate live music, as that the cover band scene has not successfully kept up a repertoire that appeals to them. It's so much safer and more reliable to keep playing standards from the 60s-80s, which is fine, and has its audience, but can leave the under-40s out in the cold.

This is precisely what my band Six Cowards (see sig) is about; the inspiration was from a gig with a classic rock trio I had, when a lovely young lady approached the stage. We were playing pretty well, I thought maybe she was going to pay us a compliment or make a request. Well, not exactly. She said, "Don't you guys play ANYTHING that's less than thirty years old?" Well, er... yes. We do. We played it in the first set, were you not here yet...? After that, I decided that if I got to put together a band of my own, we'd find the music to play for that girl, the current music that no one else seemed to be playing around here. And you can do it - play the Black Keys, Elle King, Cage the Elephant, and so forth. We had a couple of gigs, trying to get launched, at mismatched venues where the crowd expected the Rolling Stones and Guns and Roses and wasn't pleased with us. But our last gig we found the right crowd and got compliments on playing songs they weren't hearing elsewhere.
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Yes...this generation gap thing is nowhere more apparent than here on TalkBass.
 
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#77
hrodbert696 said:
I agree that young people can be just as much into live music as older generations. But I also think there's a generation gap. It isn't that the young don't appreciate live music, as that the cover band scene has not successfully kept up a repertoire that appeals to them. It's so much safer and more reliable to keep playing standards from the 60s-80s, which is fine, and has its audience, but can leave the under-40s out in the cold.

This is precisely what my band Six Cowards (see sig) is about; the inspiration was from a gig with a classic rock trio I had, when a lovely young lady approached the stage. We were playing pretty well, I thought maybe she was going to pay us a compliment or make a request. Well, not exactly. She said, "Don't you guys play ANYTHING that's less than thirty years old?" Well, er... yes. We do. We played it in the first set, were you not here yet...? After that, I decided that if I got to put together a band of my own, we'd find the music to play for that girl, the current music that no one else seemed to be playing around here. And you can do it - play the Black Keys, Elle King, Cage the Elephant, and so forth. We had a couple of gigs, trying to get launched, at mismatched venues where the crowd expected the Rolling Stones and Guns and Roses and wasn't pleased with us. But our last gig we found the right crowd and got compliments on playing songs they weren't hearing elsewhere.
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Yes, and the under-40s are your future audience. Standards from the 60s-80s are going to decrease in popularity as the population ages and (well, you know what).

So, it is important to include the under-40s if you are a current, gigging musician. Fortunately for me, I am not (too old to be one!).

The way to survive, as a live band, is to evaluate the audience you want to address and give them what they want. I am confidant that they will decide a live band is better than a DJ.

Hope I am here to see that happen...
 
#78
in my area I have noticed a resurgence of people going out to hear bands most are in my age group kids are out of the house and now they are free to go out more often. I always hated DJs it is like hiring a plumber to do an electricians job. I went to a wedding reception one time thought they would have a band instead they had an in house dj turned around and went back up to my hotel room, rather watch tv.
 
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#79
jdthebassman said:
in my area I have noticed a resurgence of people going out to hear bands most are in my age group kids are out of the house and now they are free to go out more often. I always hated DJs it is like hiring a plumber to do an electricians job. I went to a wedding reception one time thought they would have a band instead they had an in house dj turned around and went back up to my hotel room, rather watch tv.
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Well, if the bride or groom was not a direct relative, I would have done the same...;).
 

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