My band flipped on me.....????

[Jeff Hughes]

All of the standby party songs will always be there in your back pocket. The obscure stuff as long as it is not sad or self-indulgent I think gets you cred with the right people.

Played a regular gig at a casino in Detroit. People were physically uninterested in what we played, so we played stuff we liked that was probably unfamiliar to a lot of listeners.

But at the end of the gig, so many people would approach us saying that they liked the way we sounded, the songs we played, and we even booked gigs from those sleepy sets.

I think intoxicated women will always respond a certain way to certain songs, but the rest of the population needs or wants different things. Maybe we underestimate the listener.

Many of the bar owners or people who book at bars I have met were really into music and like variety.

I think you should reconsider.

 

[Xjenrbcjsmsbfjw]

To me, 'we want to do something different,' may be the most valid reason to break up a band beside personality issues. In the end, consummate pro or weekend warrior, we all want to do our own thing. Sometimes the pay/loyalty/boredom will make you do something you're not into, but you can never blame a guy for wanting to play what he wants to play.

Now, completely changing directions and expecting not to lose band members, gigs, and parts of your audience is just plain solipsistic.

 

[crguti]

I see it fine to fire the guy who just want to play top 40.

 

[John j]

This is EXACTLY what my dance band heard from one of our favorite venues earlier today. We've been a great draw for them, and everyone was happy and making money.

The venue owner/manager was good enough to pencil out all the new seating distance figures for our BL. Basically with the distance requirements he'll only be able to seat about 30 people, instead of the usual 200 or so. So he hopes to take his usual (and cheap) mid-week solo and duo acts, and put them in on the weekends.

I gotta keep reminding myself, "This is now normal."

The social distancing is temporary.
When business opens back up, they'll take in as many people as they can.

 

[sean_on_bass]

I think it is perfectly acceptable to part ways with a project when that project verges into another direction. At the same time i get the vibe this parting might had been a bit hasty if you were at all happy with the original project. My experience with bands is that ideas are getting thrown around all the time, but more often than not those ideas don't come to fruition, especially those as extreme as "let's swap out our whole song list." The idea might had fizzled out long before this pandemic ends and you all get back to actually playing together. They are probably just not very motivated to practice Sublime during a lockdown in the home and minds are wandering to more exciting things.

Also, i want to point out that there IS value to playing music you are passionate about rather than pandering to popular audience consensus. I've left projects that were playing unfulfilling music even though the gigs were solid. It goes back to why most of us started playing music in the first place, which was not to play historical Top 40 at corporate functions. It was to do something original and express ourselves artistically. Playing music you don't like can eventually burn you out even when the money is good, IMO.

 

[lfmn16]

I've always felt that the band itself is one of the constituencies you need to keep happy for the band to keep working. My rule is that the set lists should be built for popularity, but each member of the band can get a "vanity" pick - a song to play just because they want to play it. Which, in a 4- or 5-piece group, would yield the 4 deep cuts you mention, out of say 40 for the night. And insert them where they won't clear a floor, like early in the 1st set while people are still getting warmed up or late in the 3rd.

The voice of common sense. The assumption on TB is ALWAYS that anything other than the usual is undancable and people will hate it. I've been in a lot of bands that played a handful of unknown or lesser known tunes that went over great. Woman by the James Gang used to pack the dance floor even though nobody knew it. People thought it was one of our originals.

 

[lfmn16]

The social distancing is temporary.
When business opens back up, they'll take in as many people as they can.

+1

Unless someone thinks that there will NEVER be a cure, treatment or vaccine for this, things will eventually go back to normal.

 

[Jeff Hughes]

In my state, we are in the top ten of cases nationally. My feeling is that unless there is a vaccine, bars and establishments will continue to have reduced capacity, and I don’t think that a bar owner will want to pay three to four people to play when they could have three people as patrons running a tab.

I think the band landscape will change until at least the new year in states hit hard. Masks may still be a requirement also. And even having band practice at all will be a logistical challenge unless people just risk it.

 

[jmon]

Understand guys. The places we played most often grade their bands by butts in seats at the bar and butts on the dance floor. So yes playing songs that disconnect us from the crowd is self-indulgent. Because it certainly is not beneficial to the venue or the “majority” of the patrons there to have fun.

My entire disagreement with them was a business and professional choice. And I hold firm that playing original songs is a better choice. If they are good. Really good. And don’t give anyone musical whiplash from a style standpoint. Obscure covers make no sense and defeat the goal of what we were trying to accomplish.

All my opinion of course. But comes from years of experience dealing with bar managers/owners/bookers ect. They want sales. Not artistic integrity. So in the end just an overall change of philosophy. Which is OK. Just surprised me. A lot.

 

[jmon]

A final update on this one. The drummer decided he was not on board either and left the band as well. Partially because he did not like the change in direction and partially due to personal reasons. So I suppose I feel somewhat vindicated. Still a shame.

Thanks again for all the feedback!

 

[Droopy_TX]

A final update on this one. The drummer decided he was not on board either and left the band as well. Partially because he did not like the change in direction and partially due to personal reasons. So I suppose I feel somewhat vindicated. Still a shame.

Thanks again for all the feedback!

Cool. Like I said, 1 down, 2 to go.
Good luck.

 

[robassable]

The drummer decided he was not on board either and left the band as well.

Well we bass players all know that now they lost the rhythm section (bass and drums) the band is officially toast. Not smart on their part. And being a seasoned player I totally get where, you are coming from. If you want to gig and make decent money at this, you have to approach it like a business, and pleasing the masses is the biggest part. Probably moot at this point though since it's not like there are going to be buttloads of gigs that pay anything anytime soon.

 

[ebo]

I agree with droopy_TX, steal their drummer when he gets bored playing “cool” tunes in the garage and wants to gig again. Guitarists are a dime a dozen, but a couple for 20 cents. No bands last forever. Find people that want the same thing or as close to it as possible. I’ve never been in a band where everyone was on the exact same page. Wanting to play consistently for money is a good place to start.

 

[murph7489]

This is interesting; I play in a cover band that does mostly stuff from the late 60s and 70s with a few 80s songs in there..classic rock..most of what we play is danceable and the usual suspects..but then thats our niche. There are other bands but its worked out that every band does a different genre, one does grunge another does the dead/ jam band stuff, and there is an all girl band that does..well girl bands stuff and so on etc..so we all have our own niche and stay in our own lanes which defines our setlist..plus there are other considerations such as we play songs that have keyboards cause we have a keyboardist..

Yes I have pitched Steely dan stuff like rikki don't lose that number or stuff that is similar but in the end that is music that I would like to do, challenging however not really dancy..so I dropped it..We are learning Brandy (you're a fine girl)..I don't know if that is a dance song per se however it IS one of my personal faves and the band is doing it because I want to play it..I have never seen a band play it..which is another reason I want to do it, something you don't hear a lot by cover bands but ya know, who doesn't like that song...to me its iconic..and if it clears the dance floor, so be it, we will play footloose next and boom they are back after getting another drink and everyone is happy...but B side songs..NO...it won't work anymore than playing Supper's ready by Genesis or side one of 2112..love both of them and would gladly play either of them but unfortunately it won't work within our structure and who is going to sit through 30 mins of one song lolol...

 

[robassable]

I have pitched Steely dan stuff like rikki don't lose that number or stuff that is similar but in the end that is music that I would like to do, challenging however not really dancy.

For a bar/club dance band to be marketable, besides a strong recognizable set list of popular covers, having "danceable" songs is just as important. As pointed out above, "Rikki Don't Lose That Number", though a cool tune and well recognized, is a horrible dance tune. The optimal way to come up with a good working band setlist is to decide on well known, danceable tunes that everyone in the band likes or at least can tolerate. Sorry if I am stating what many of us already know, but having played out thousands of gigs, my experience is that along the way certain bandmates simply don't get this, and want to do obscure stuff that they have a fancy for with little consideration for what will appeal to the audience.

That said, a small handful of not well known tunes do have a chance of going over if danceable and strategically placed in the set list. Ideally the regulars may end up digging them and look forward to dancing to them again.
But I think the OP has a valid point, when it comes to unique "artistic expression", why bother wasting valuable practice time copying obscure covers when you could be creating your own original songs?

 

[BassGuyFL]

A bit late to the party but was just curious was to what they meant by obscure. Just lesser known stuff by known bands, B-side songs from the K-Tel catalog or did they want to do the typical middle-aged "dad band" stuff with long solos.

 

[Droopy_TX]

This is interesting; I play in a cover band that does mostly stuff from the late 60s and 70s with a few 80s songs in there..classic rock..most of what we play is danceable and the usual suspects..but then thats our niche. There are other bands but its worked out that every band does a different genre, one does grunge another does the dead/ jam band stuff, and there is an all girl band that does..well girl bands stuff and so on etc..so we all have our own niche and stay in our own lanes which defines our setlist..plus there are other considerations such as we play songs that have keyboards cause we have a keyboardist..

Yes I have pitched Steely dan stuff like rikki don't lose that number or stuff that is similar but in the end that is music that I would like to do, challenging however not really dancy..so I dropped it..We are learning Brandy (you're a fine girl)..I don't know if that is a dance song per se however it IS one of my personal faves and the band is doing it because I want to play it..I have never seen a band play it..which is another reason I want to do it, something you don't hear a lot by cover bands but ya know, who doesn't like that song...to me its iconic..and if it clears the dance floor, so be it, we will play footloose next and boom they are back after getting another drink and everyone is happy...but B side songs..NO...it won't work anymore than playing Supper's ready by Genesis or side one of 2112..love both of them and would gladly play either of them but unfortunately it won't work within our structure and who is going to sit through 30 mins of one song lolol...

Brandy is a super-fun song to play on the bass. Very busy bass part. I think Rikki would be a popular song to play, but not a dance song.

I’d like to play I’m Your Captain (Closer to Home); another great bass song. Someone on TB said their band played it, and it went over well. I asked what the audience members do in the slow ending part. He said, “They mostly go sit down.” I played it once when I was subbing at a benefit event. It did well, but it wasn’t a dance club situation.

 

[jmon]

A bit late to the party but was just curious was to what they meant by obscure. Just lesser known stuff by known bands, B-side songs from the K-Tel catalog or did they want to do the typical middle-aged "dad band" stuff with long solos.

Understand. We were a party band. So adding “Damn the River” by AIC or “Left Hand Free”by Alt-J or “Freak Me Out” by Weezer is not a great idea. And I like all those songs. And yes they are fun to play. But what’s not fun is watching people leave the bar while you play “Banditos” by The Refreshments. That stuff is deep 3rd set if the place cleared out early.

In the end I think the two of them (Singer/Rhythm, Lead Guitarist) just didn’t want their bass player having an opinion on what kind of music we were going to play. Even though I booked a solid portion of the gigs. They couldn’t ignore the success. Success for a local/semi-regional cover band anyway. The bad taste in my mouth will pass. I already have had several offers from other bands. If gigs ever go full bore again that is. And who knows about that for sure.

 

[david barnes]

Now, that, my friend, was a rant!
jmon must feel like a piker at this point.

it was a rant . i am still a little upset over the deal because of what i put into the band . for them to complain. and its ok though now. i have a new band i started a month after the deal . and we are doing good. we have a good set of songs and have played a good set of shows last year. we did have to cancel some of our shows this year for the virus .... we have been writing new material and just received our recording equipment and will be starting tonight on recording our new single.." Brotherhood" the new band for those who would like to check the band hit me up and ill share the name