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Should we play in a bar?

Manuel101

Manuel101

Jul 4, 2010
464
69
#1
My band is an alternative rock band. we released our ep this september. We all play our instruments really well (dont mean to sound conceited but we do play well above average). We replaced our old singer and got a great female singer instead. The drummer from my band is a very opinionated person who tends to see things in black and white (no shades of grey for him).

We have played 9 shows since last January. our drummer (he books the shows) believes that we should not play in bars because we would develop a reputation (stigma as he calls it) of bar band and thus not be taken seriously. The singer and guitarist disagree stating that we should play in bars in order to grow our audience so that we can have a better turn out when we play at a music venue. He says that playing in a bar will not increase our audience since the people will be too busy drinking. He claims that he has done research that proves that it is bad for a band to play at a bar. I am honestly not knowledgeable when it comes to band management so i dont know which side u should take. We are an original band by the way.
 
#2
I guess he's never heard of the Beatles ,Stones Pearl Jam and just about every successful Rock act of this Century :) trust me after your first couple of shows you will know if you are "too big" for a bar because there won't be any room in the parking lot and they will be turning folks away.I'm always amazed why bands fail to make it "big" it's always that one band member or two that derail everything good luck I would love to hear some of your stuff also.
 
#6
mjac28 said:
I guess he's never heard of the Beatles ,Stones Pearl Jam and just about every successful Rock act of this Century :) trust me after your first couple of shows you will know if you are "too big" for a bar because there won't be any room in the parking lot and they will be turning folks away.I'm always amazed why bands fail to make it "big" it's always that one band member or two that derail everything good luck I would love to hear some of your stuff also.
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god forbid i mention the beatles, he hates them (except george, he likes george). he is always complaining that they suck. there are also some strick regulations in terms of what we write, he is always saying things like "we cant do that, that is played out already" lol
 
#10
Manuel101 said:
The issue is that he is an incredible drummer, we rehearse in his house and he started the band. But he is one of those people who thinks they have all the answers. He can be difficult to deal with because he is very assertive with his point of view.
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The issue is you can't stand up to him. Make up your mind, what do you really want? Believe me, you can spend years hoping things will change and they will not. Vote with your feet, if you're good enough, you'll find a better band.
 
#12
I think your drummer's opinion is kind of bizarre. One thing to be careful of, though, is you need to know what the expectations of these bars are. To me, "club" implies originals, and "bar" implies covers. If you're not doing any covers, you could seriously bomb in ones of these "bars". Trust me, been there, done that, and my band does just fine in the originals clubs, thank you very much.

FWIW, in my hometown, the most successful bands are doing both. They play mainly covers at the bars, but sneak in a few originals, and mainly originals at the clubs, but sneak in a few covers. So far, I have not been smart enough to follow their lead. But my head is changing these days, I think....
 
#14
ewe2 said:
The issue is you can't stand up to him. Make up your mind, what do you really want? Believe me, you can spend years hoping things will change and they will not. Vote with your feet, if you're good enough, you'll find a better band.
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my good man you assume too much. How do you know that i dont stand up to him. I thought i stated that my problem is that i am not too knowledgeable when it comes to promoting the band and the logistics behind it?
 
#15
Bassist4Eris said:
I think your drummer's opinion is kind of bizarre. One thing to be careful of, though, is you need to know what the expectations of these bars are. To me, "club" implies originals, and "bar" implies covers. If you're not doing any covers, you could seriously bomb in ones of these "bars". Trust me, been there, done that, and my band does just fine in the originals clubs, thank you very much.

FWIW, in my hometown, the most successful bands are doing both. They play mainly covers at the bars, but sneak in a few originals, and mainly originals at the clubs, but sneak in a few covers. So far, I have not been smart enough to follow their lead. But my head is changing these days, I think....
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That is a good point. we normally play a single cover and about 7 to 9 original at our shows. So if we were to play at a bar it would be about 4 covers and 5 originals?
 
#16
Manuel101 said:
That is a good point. we normally play a single cover and about 7 to 9 original at our shows. So if we were to play at a bar it would be about 4 covers and 5 originals?
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Honestly, you haven't given us much information to go off of. What kind of music are you playing, how long have you guys been a band, do you have any recordings done, what is your web presence like, what are your band's goals, how many fans do you currently have (and how did you get that number), and what kind of gigs are you playing if you aren't playing bars?
 
#17
Manuel101 said:
That is a good point. we normally play a single cover and about 7 to 9 original at our shows. So if we were to play at a bar it would be about 4 covers and 5 originals?
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IME, most bars want a band to play 3 or 4 sets. Get people dancining, sweaty and want to drink.

Are your songs "danceable"? Don't think one set will get the job done.

What other types of venues have you played and how was the turnout? Receptive audience?

IMO/IME, best way to deal with opinionated people is to present facts contrary to their beliefs. You can check out all the bars/clubs in your area and generate a list per bar of: how many sets, cover band?, type of music/set list, size of audience, PA provided or not, backline provided or not, hours of operation, which days are live music, etc.

It may prove that your drummer is right that bars aren't for your band or maybe not. Until you do some research it's all gossip, IMO.

Good luck.
 
#19
jmattbassplaya said:
Honestly, you haven't given us much information to go off of. What kind of music are you playing, how long have you guys been a band, do you have any recordings done, what is your web presence like, what are your band's goals, how many fans do you currently have (and how did you get that number), and what kind of gigs are you playing if you aren't playing bars?
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we have been playing since january we play mostly rock. We released our EP this september, i didnt want to include the website because you guys would then be able to identify the drummer and i wanted to keep protect his privacy. We have a good number of likes in facebook (whatever that is worth).our goal is to eventually gain enough following that we can live of our music (highly unlikely but it doesnt hurt to try)
 
#20
jmattbassplaya said:
Honestly, you haven't given us much information to go off of. What kind of music are you playing, how long have you guys been a band, do you have any recordings done, what is your web presence like, what are your band's goals, how many fans do you currently have (and how did you get that number), and what kind of gigs are you playing if you aren't playing bars?
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we usually bring about 20 to 30 people to our shows.
 

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