Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Venues Closing
- Thread starter zjanderson
- Start date
-
- Tags
- venues
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Live music has been going down in a lot of places for a decade or more.
Venues dropping like flies around here. The good news is there are more brew pubs doing music. The bad news is they are booking solo acts.
One venue I play at regularly is relocating. They will be down for 1-2 months and they may not thrive in the new location, keeping my fingers crossed.
One venue I play at regularly is relocating. They will be down for 1-2 months and they may not thrive in the new location, keeping my fingers crossed.
I see youse guys are somewhat local to me so I'll mention that The Cannery in Southbridge MA just threw in the towel tonight 
. Also the Kasbar in Worcester MA closed last month .
. Also the Kasbar in Worcester MA closed last month .
My (small) area is actually having an awesome resurgence in live music thanks to a few promoters and brave venue proprietors. It’s been a work in progress for the last 2-3 years, but it’s a very welcome change to the 15 years before that where venues and audiences were in drastic decline and DJ’s on the rise.
Edit: my small area’s scene is mostly made up of originals bands, with just a handful of covers bands. My area seems pretty opposite of most TB members music scenes, with mostly originals bands and more and more venues popping up lately.
Edit: my small area’s scene is mostly made up of originals bands, with just a handful of covers bands. My area seems pretty opposite of most TB members music scenes, with mostly originals bands and more and more venues popping up lately.
Last edited:
In my area, not so many closing as re-tooling hours and entertainment features. The old days of prime time being Friday and Saturday night 9pm-2am with a live band/full PA/lights are long gone. Now it's a lot more weeknight stuff, Sunday brunches, DJs, karaoke, trivia, bingo, acoustic duos, open mics, and advertised events ending by 11pm. Spreading out the schedule and variety of events to take up the slack and generate revenue. For a lot of folks, the prospect of one mistimed alcoholic beverage and a debilitating DUI is just not worth it, and bar owners have felt the pressure to change the dynamic or succumb to the more creative competition and go belly up.
I see youse guys are somewhat local to me so I'll mention that The Cannery in Southbridge MA just threw in the towel tonight
These are the exact two venues that prompted my posting.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
I think many of these places would,be getting more of a bang for their buck having music starting by 8 (as soon as dinner starts slowing down) and ending about 11:30 or midnight. That might capture some of the dinner crowd, and most places are slowing down by then.
yup. around here too. harder and harder to find places to play and more and more bands chasing them
It doesn't look great for my area either. The problem here is that many owners keep drastically changing their live music (and other events) format in an effort to make some combination work better for them. The problem with that is with the drop off in social media, many potential customers aren't getting word that things have changed.
The best thing they can do is form a plan and stick with it for a while.
If they don't, there may be only one (mostly country) live venue in my town in the not-too-distant future.
I'll say it again. Do your market a favor. Put on a show. Go the extra mile. Perform the ever loving crap out of your sets. Choose songs that bar goers love. Throw up a couple of trees of LED lights. Dress the part. Squeeze every drop out of every show.
At a rehearsal last night, a new band I am in had a talk about this very subject. We're playing an outdoor show at a little beach bar in a few weeks. We could probably get away with two speakers on a stick and no lights (many bands use the two floodlights mounted to the stage cover when they play
). We're taking a couple of subs and three little trees of LED lights. It's probably going to be hotter than the hinges of hell. But we're NOT doing this gig in flowered shirts and flipflops.
This is the best time to take it up a notch. Powered PA speakers are TINY. LED lights are cheap and TINY. None of it weighs anything at all. You can pack a punch from a minivan and mix the band from your iPhone.
It's not just about our band. It's for the market as a whole. Wanna save live music in your area? GO back to doing the crap out of every show.
The best thing they can do is form a plan and stick with it for a while.
If they don't, there may be only one (mostly country) live venue in my town in the not-too-distant future.
I'll say it again. Do your market a favor. Put on a show. Go the extra mile. Perform the ever loving crap out of your sets. Choose songs that bar goers love. Throw up a couple of trees of LED lights. Dress the part. Squeeze every drop out of every show.
At a rehearsal last night, a new band I am in had a talk about this very subject. We're playing an outdoor show at a little beach bar in a few weeks. We could probably get away with two speakers on a stick and no lights (many bands use the two floodlights mounted to the stage cover when they play
). We're taking a couple of subs and three little trees of LED lights. It's probably going to be hotter than the hinges of hell. But we're NOT doing this gig in flowered shirts and flipflops. This is the best time to take it up a notch. Powered PA speakers are TINY. LED lights are cheap and TINY. None of it weighs anything at all. You can pack a punch from a minivan and mix the band from your iPhone.
It's not just about our band. It's for the market as a whole. Wanna save live music in your area? GO back to doing the crap out of every show.
There has been a lot of ink about the closing\buying of LA venues. The property is so valuable and the business is so tough. The trend now seems to be little dumps that are trying to relive the 70s NYC scene. Busted little holes with stages big enough for a three piece. Or DYI pop-up shows. It hurts people wanting to see shows or wanting to play, which then makes it worse.
It is a real bummer.
It is a real bummer.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Fact is, bars are not the cash cows they used to be. About 10 years ago, a friend/guitar player bought a bar that had a stage, and had live music - one reason was to support live music. After two years of busting his can, going into his pocket to pay bands and other expenses, and refusing to do shady things, like paying employees under the table, hiding cash, etc., he gave up.
It doesn't look great for my area either. The problem here is that many owners keep drastically changing their live music (and other events) format in an effort to make some combination work better for them. The problem with that is with the drop off in social media, many potential customers aren't getting word that things have changed.
The best thing they can do is form a plan and stick with it for a while.
If they don't, there may be only one (mostly country) live venue in my town in the not-too-distant future.
I'll say it again. Do your market a favor. Put on a show. Go the extra mile. Perform the ever loving crap out of your sets. Choose songs that bar goers love. Throw up a couple of trees of LED lights. Dress the part. Squeeze every drop out of every show.
At a rehearsal last night, a new band I am in had a talk about this very subject. We're playing an outdoor show at a little beach bar in a few weeks. We could probably get away with two speakers on a stick and no lights (many bands use the two floodlights mounted to the stage cover when they play
This is the best time to take it up a notch. Powered PA speakers are TINY. LED lights are cheap and TINY. None of it weighs anything at all. You can pack a punch from a minivan and mix the band from your iPhone.
It's not just about our band. It's for the market as a whole. Wanna save live music in your area? GO back to doing the crap out of every show.
You, my friend, are absolutely correct. That's the reason I invested a ton of money last year int o my stage set-seems like most bands around here are satisfied with , as you said, "two speakers on sticks" and nothing more. I bought a new PA (powered mains and a bunch of monitors) and lights, a fretless bass and an Ampeg 810-some shows just call need it.
As I have said often, if you want to put on a successful show- "Play yer @ss off. Every. Time."
It's a risky business, so there are always places closing down and new ones opening. I wouldn't say the "net" number of venues has changed much, maybe even gone up slightly with all these brewery openings. Most of them tend to feature live music in some way.
- Oct 7, 2000
- 18,619
- 38,939
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Musicman basses
Dealt with this a long time ago in NYC. My favorite playing places all closed down....
The ones that stung the most:
--Coney Island High
--CBGB
--Continenetal
I loved playing at all 3 of those places.
The latest death that we had a regular long standing spot in (with the Zep band I play in) is BB Kings. Just went down, or is about to. I havent been closely following.
The ones that stung the most:
--Coney Island High
--CBGB
--Continenetal
I loved playing at all 3 of those places.
The latest death that we had a regular long standing spot in (with the Zep band I play in) is BB Kings. Just went down, or is about to. I havent been closely following.
There's a few places that book music my way. The only problem is that pay scale has gone down. One smart move a few places are taking is to have live music start earlier (6 or 7 PM) on weeknights & have it over by 10 PM
It doesn't look great for my area either. The problem here is that many owners keep drastically changing their live music (and other events) format in an effort to make some combination work better for them. The problem with that is with the drop off in social media, many potential customers aren't getting word that things have changed.
The best thing they can do is form a plan and stick with it for a while.
If they don't, there may be only one (mostly country) live venue in my town in the not-too-distant future.
I'll say it again. Do your market a favor. Put on a show. Go the extra mile. Perform the ever loving crap out of your sets. Choose songs that bar goers love. Throw up a couple of trees of LED lights. Dress the part. Squeeze every drop out of every show.
At a rehearsal last night, a new band I am in had a talk about this very subject. We're playing an outdoor show at a little beach bar in a few weeks. We could probably get away with two speakers on a stick and no lights (many bands use the two floodlights mounted to the stage cover when they play
This is the best time to take it up a notch. Powered PA speakers are TINY. LED lights are cheap and TINY. None of it weighs anything at all. You can pack a punch from a minivan and mix the band from your iPhone.
It's not just about our band. It's for the market as a whole. Wanna save live music in your area? GO back to doing the crap out of every show.
I've been seeing you harp on this alot...pull out all the stops, dress the part, up the production...in an effort to "save the market." I don't disagree with those concepts as a hallmark of a pro cover band, but how exactly do you know this is the problem with the market? My inkling is that the quality of acts is not the problem, its other variables that are much harder to solve for, some of which are mentioned by others in this thread.
I won't derail the whole thread.... ither than to ask the question.
Are you more likely to go to a club you would otherwise avoid when you know a band with a rep for throwing down is playing? By "throwing down" I mean all of the things I have listed when I was recently "harping on" local bands.
