While that is great for them, I would offer that those bands, or your area, is the exception rather than the rule. Sure, we can pick out a few areas where there are some bands who have stuck around long enough to keep good gigs in the pipeline. But years ago, there seemed to be more of a tier system. Everybody knew who the hacks were, who the good weekend warrior bands were, and who the pros were. The pay grade, and overall quality of gigs, reflected which category you were in. Now, it seems to me anyway, that the guys in the middle are forced to make a choice of committing the time to go for semi-pro status, or if you don't have that kind of time commitment, go play dive bars. The middle ground is dwindling in many areas. Just from my own experience of course, anecdotal as it may be.
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What does the future look like for weekend warriors?
- Thread starter Jarrett
- Start date
While that is great for them, I would offer that those bands, or your area, is the exception rather than the rule. Sure, we can pick out a few areas where there are some bands who have stuck around long enough to keep good gigs in the pipeline. But years ago, there seemed to be more of a tier system. Everybody knew who the hacks were, who the good weekend warrior bands were, and who the pros were. The pay grade, and overall quality of gigs, reflected which category you were in. Now, it seems to me anyway, that the guys in the middle are forced to make a choice of committing the time to go for semi-pro status, or if you don't have that kind of time commitment, go play dive bars. The middle ground is dwindling in many areas. Just from my own experience of course, anecdotal as it may be.
- Mar 19, 2013
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- If only I were that good....
It seems fairly hit or miss to me. I still think there are many places you can get a gig around here, but smaller bars and dives. The nicer places with the best systems and crowds are more now using booking agencies as I have been told when I try to network. These agencies have the same rotation of bands who are very good indeed, but they seem to have circled the wagons. Most places now seem to consist of larger known bands getting weekly spots with guaranteed pay, and the other nights are filled with other bands consisting of members of each others bands (if I'm making sense)...so if you're not in their club around some parts, you're not getting in. The rest of us are resigned to fighting for smaller bars that have music once a week while DJs fill the rest of the slots, or driving long distances away to play.
What helps is that the band is diverse although they play mostly R&B. It's a big thing around here. A diverse band with a horn section will get gigs. And there aren't that many bands with a decent horn section.
There's another band that's a bit better in terms of a show but the bassist and drummer are no where close to being funky at all but again, they get gigs because they put on a decent show and have a decent horn section. They are in that minimum of $1500 pay range as well. They haven't been around that long. They actually morphed from a rock band into a show band. And I know a few other bands in the area making the same money. This area actually promotes a lot of music events especially during the spring and summer. We have jazz, blues, funk, latin & reggae festivals and weekly outdoor events in every city of Hampton Roads (7 cities) as well as in Williamsburg! Music is thriving in this area. Problem is a LOT of the bands fall into that mediocre category. Not many have blown me away.
There's another band that's a bit better in terms of a show but the bassist and drummer are no where close to being funky at all but again, they get gigs because they put on a decent show and have a decent horn section. They are in that minimum of $1500 pay range as well. They haven't been around that long. They actually morphed from a rock band into a show band. And I know a few other bands in the area making the same money. This area actually promotes a lot of music events especially during the spring and summer. We have jazz, blues, funk, latin & reggae festivals and weekly outdoor events in every city of Hampton Roads (7 cities) as well as in Williamsburg! Music is thriving in this area. Problem is a LOT of the bands fall into that mediocre category. Not many have blown me away.
Thanks, that makes sense - four decades of building up name recognition and a fanbase. Unfortunately it's something we can't quickly and easily copy, heh.
ddawson2012
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- Aug 30, 2011
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- D'Addario Marketing Specialist; Don Dawson
I've been playing in an tribute band for the better part of 13 years. We've always found it easy to get work. It's been a great deal of fun for us, which translates really well to our audience. Pay days have been strong for most of that time. Although the fees have been sliding slightly south, it's been more related to the fact that we're not as active as we were 5 years ago. Booking agents want to keep us active but we started turning things down due to day jobs, kids and the like. We've been trying to get inside the Corporate Gig world, which is much harder to crack than one would imagine. So far, not much success but if you're pro, market yourselves as such and then deliver, you shouldn't have that much trouble finding the work. We've seen far more mediocre bands then ones who are truly killing it.
Where I live, the big money seems to go to solo acts now. Weddings are huge, a good guitar player that can sing can easily get $500 - $1000 to play a wedding. Violin players, good jazz combos are really popular.
The band thing is more problematic, especially the classic rock band. If its a cover band you better be good and not miss "signature" parts etc. A lot of weekend warriors just aren't that good.
I think in the past just having a rock band up there was a good thing, now that doesn't fly as well....at all.
The band thing is more problematic, especially the classic rock band. If its a cover band you better be good and not miss "signature" parts etc. A lot of weekend warriors just aren't that good.
I think in the past just having a rock band up there was a good thing, now that doesn't fly as well....at all.
I agree that, generally speaking, the demand for live music has been on the decline for years. I play in an 80's tribute band. We wear "Motley Crue-ish" costumes and look like complete idiots in order to get measly $500 a night gigs. Never thought I'd be doing that but here I am. At least it's fun so I'm not a complete sell out.
Exactly right. I'm in Boston with Berklee, New England Conservatory and 50 other universities with music programs, so there is no shortage of talent. Unfortunately, a lot of musicians equate talent with total disdain for mainstream, popular music. If you hate what the people want to hear, you can't expect to make money. You can definitely do your own thing, the music that speaks to you, but nobody owes you a living doing it. Unfortunately, as musicians get older and even more skilled, a lot of them completely lose touch with what "regular" people want to hear. I know tons of old geezers who can play the entire Steely Dan catalog who will give you a big speech about how all the gigs have gone away because these young people are so dumb and don't know good music when they hear it. Yep, that's it, old timer.
Good points; but different way to look at it:
Perhaps there is no mainstream any more. And that's part of the problem. There simply isn't any focal point for putting a critical mass of music in front of a critical mass of people to generate popular music any more.
Not deriding anyone's choice of media or playlists. Just sayin there is no focal point now that so few people listen to the radio. Something to consider. I dig new material. I just see less and less that is mainstream. Correct me of I'm wrong.
Perhaps there is no mainstream any more. And that's part of the problem. There simply isn't any focal point for putting a critical mass of music in front of a critical mass of people to generate popular music any more.
Not deriding anyone's choice of media or playlists. Just sayin there is no focal point now that so few people listen to the radio. Something to consider. I dig new material. I just see less and less that is mainstream. Correct me of I'm wrong.
Nah. Young unskilled musicians aren't any better at this. They just like different kinds of unpopular music than the skilled old guys do.
You tied it up in a neat bow more than I am capable of, but that's what my point here was bucephylus.
haha, just saw this. I don't smoke, but one thing smoking is good for is killing a person's sense of smell as well as overpowering other smells. I got used to the smell of cigarette smoke and beer in bars and clubs. I'm having serious trouble getting used to the smell of nothing but sweat, beer, and beer sweat in these places. Summertime especially is excruciating!
I can't be alone in this, and I'm not the only one that's pointed this out once cigarettes got banned in my city. Not to mention, many people used to use bars as part of mating rituals. Now someone comes over to say "hi", can't offer or bum a cigarette, and smells like a locker room after being smooshed against other smelly people for the last half hour. It's a game changer!
Exactly! I'm 55 and I find a lot of current music I think is perfect for a Top40 band. Problem is, many of the musicians just can't get with the program. Including the BL of bands I've been in. One didn't add a single current tune after repeated requests! A problem I've found with young musicians is their lack of detail when learning material. Some don't study at all and wing it.
The quality definitely seems to be low-to-middlin' in a lot of places. A big problem is singers. Quite often you'll hear a band where the music is tight but the singer is off-key, just plain bad, or perhaps used to be great but abused their voice too much. This creates a disconnect between the band and the audience because the musicians will operate under the assumption/delusion that they're sounding pretty good when they have their parts down. An average audience member has been conditioned (especially post-American Idull) to pay critical attention to the singer. So when the vocalist fails the whole band fails.
Hmm, when I listen to Pandora I hear tons of great music (my station spins a lot of metal, prog, jazz, rock, electronica, a little hip-hop, etc). But I have trouble finding good music on the terrestrial radio. The choices are: Pop music (doesn't seem to have changed much except the latest recording gimmick in the last 30 years), dance music (same comment), rap (what's the point of airing music with every other word censored? also why does the latest rap albums have so much less groove?), classic rock (the hits of yesterday and today hahah and every other caller is a drunken elder divorcee), classical, jazz (it's a separate pet peeve that I can only find older jazz or non-musical avante stuff that makes Fred Frith sound like Kenny G), new country, Christian, and one actual college metal station (plays interesting stuff but the playlist is so wide open that few songs gain traction).
So if I was 21, what station would I be listening to? Answer: none of the above - I'd probably have to get hooked on Guitar Hero or Rock Band first to generate any interest.
Okay, so that last paragraph was negative. Are there any successful radio stations in your area that play good music?
See...this is why I think it is critical for us older cats to expose our children to all types of music and not leave to them to listen to a limited playlist dictated by their peers or the radio. I exposed my son to a lot of old school R&B, Funk and Jazz. He's 20 and digs anything from Chick Corea's Spain to ConFunkShun to Tower Of Power to Metal and HipHop. I send him stuff on FB all the time. We should all be well rounded musically! Who's gonna hold the torch after us geezers quit playing oldies??
I'll second this. The studio I rehearse and tech at has a core group of musicians that tend to be pretty versatile and can sub in for each other or one band can open for another just by swapping one member, which means the venue can pay a little less than it would for 2 bands but everybody goes home with enough in their pocket. And usually when the other bass player gets the call I end up running sound, so I come out ahead no matter what. The head honcho modeled it after muscle shoals, and it seems to be working ok for us.
+1 Precisely my point. Pandora is great. But, that media outlet and others like it specifically move away from any concept of Top 40.
In fact, Top 40, as a concept, has become more or less an anachronism. Saying you are in a Top 40 Band is pretty much saying you are an Oldies Band. Nothing wrong with Oldies. I love them. Just that for the peeps out there, there is no longer any popular / centralized current buzz to want to go out to hear in the clubs.
