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What's wrong with 2023 audiences?
- Thread starter Lance Bunyon
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my experience is that audiences have been very appreciative, even when i am just doing a jazz trio in the corner type of thing. always get some claps and folks approaching the band between sets to compliment. Weird world when a straight ahead jazz band gets the attention and not a tight cover band, lol.
I play in a country/soul band and the oddest thing we encounter happens almost exclusively when we travel up to Wyoming for gigs (which is fairly frequent).
People just don't clap... We will absolutely PACK the dance floor, then as soon as the song is over, nothing. Everyone just walks off. As soon as we start back up, dance floor is packed again.
Rinse and repeat for 3-4 hours.
People just don't clap... We will absolutely PACK the dance floor, then as soon as the song is over, nothing. Everyone just walks off. As soon as we start back up, dance floor is packed again.
Rinse and repeat for 3-4 hours.
“Micro-breweries” appears to be a recurring theme. No need to go out as I have one at home…my fridge which miraculously produces 12 oz bottles of Yuengling when needed.
Riis
Riis
I wasn't there; I'm not going to make any suppositions. I don't know why anyone else who wasn't there would either.
What's wrong with iems? Quieter stages produce better foh mixes. Quieter rehearsals/performances save hearing. I don't see any downside to either.
I'm going OEM shortly. Earbuds pop out on me so headphones it will be. Not ready to go ampless yet tho.
My guess is you buy something like this and use some of the instruments to fill in your sound. I use these to practice with my partially constructed band. (You could also record your own obviously.)
https://www.karaoke-version.com/custombackingtrack/hall-and-oates/i-can-t-go-for-that-no-can-do.html
It's funny, my band tends to get a pretty positive reaction at the typical bar/club circuit type gigs.
It's the gigs when someone pays us to be there because they want a band at their party/fundraiser/gala/etc. that we tend to not get a reaction. Sometimes they are even better paying. It's just... really only one or two people wanted a band. Not the majority of the attendees. I'm always in my head just reminding myself "I got paid already" while everyone ignores what we are doing.
The demographic pretty much has to be late 20's-late 40's for us to get a reaction. But when we do, it's not a wallpaper thing at all.
A gala with a handful of our demographic and a lot of people who don't care about live music is a recipe for awkward.
It's the gigs when someone pays us to be there because they want a band at their party/fundraiser/gala/etc. that we tend to not get a reaction. Sometimes they are even better paying. It's just... really only one or two people wanted a band. Not the majority of the attendees. I'm always in my head just reminding myself "I got paid already" while everyone ignores what we are doing.
The demographic pretty much has to be late 20's-late 40's for us to get a reaction. But when we do, it's not a wallpaper thing at all.
A gala with a handful of our demographic and a lot of people who don't care about live music is a recipe for awkward.
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I'll be the guy that says that crowds these days depends. I played a local tavern last year to open up the outdoor beer garden - it was a mix of 20 something summer camp counselors and locals of every age and the gig was a raging party - it did not matter what we played, they were dancing and having a great time, although they went totally bonkers for the '80's songs we did, and Johnny Cash and Tom Petty. Came back a month later and the summer camp counselors were gone but still a receptive crowd, just much smaller, and older. Played a beer garden at a bike park and still respective but more low key, but hey, they paid attention. This year we are going the '80's cover band route and I suspect we will do well.
But I don't think we would do well at a craft brewery. Our set list is geared to be in your face and danceable. I play a craft brewery with a buddy in Portland, Maine on occasion. The music is Americana/country/blues, pretty low key (Lyle Lovett, Townes Van Zandt, John Prine, etc.), and goes over well as background music, which works for that venue.
My band is playing a gazebo gig for a Fourth of July celebration at a town near to where I live. We'll see how the crowd reacts there.
But I don't think we would do well at a craft brewery. Our set list is geared to be in your face and danceable. I play a craft brewery with a buddy in Portland, Maine on occasion. The music is Americana/country/blues, pretty low key (Lyle Lovett, Townes Van Zandt, John Prine, etc.), and goes over well as background music, which works for that venue.
My band is playing a gazebo gig for a Fourth of July celebration at a town near to where I live. We'll see how the crowd reacts there.
I for sure don't get this phenomenon.
There is a very famous episode in the the series “Star Trek Next Generation” called the Game.
Considered one of the top ten episodes by the way.
Wesley tries to stop an alien game on the Enterprise from taking over the crews minds.
Cell phones in our society now are very much this game. They are changing generations into self absorbed beings unaware of normal society interaction.
People are unaware of the data/tracking these devices are doing. Let alone how they are ruining there own minds.
Are minds are the least active when watching T.V. The most vulnerable when we are on our cells.
They destroy creativity, social awareness and our enjoyment. We where a much better society before digital babysitters.
We won major battles against evil ideology, built ships and explored the world. Made many advancements in medicine and created some of the best music with wood, brass, our voices and the desire to create something new.
All before A.I.
You want people to notice you are there as a band and dance with the pretty girls, ban digital soothers.
I have come to believe that Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are Aliens.
Thanks for reading my short rant.
Clayton.
Considered one of the top ten episodes by the way.
Wesley tries to stop an alien game on the Enterprise from taking over the crews minds.
Cell phones in our society now are very much this game. They are changing generations into self absorbed beings unaware of normal society interaction.
People are unaware of the data/tracking these devices are doing. Let alone how they are ruining there own minds.
Are minds are the least active when watching T.V. The most vulnerable when we are on our cells.
They destroy creativity, social awareness and our enjoyment. We where a much better society before digital babysitters.
We won major battles against evil ideology, built ships and explored the world. Made many advancements in medicine and created some of the best music with wood, brass, our voices and the desire to create something new.
All before A.I.
You want people to notice you are there as a band and dance with the pretty girls, ban digital soothers.
I have come to believe that Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are Aliens.
Thanks for reading my short rant.
Clayton.
This actually happens far more than I'd expect. How many times we walk away thinking we were hated or sucked only to be approached after by patrons or owners with high praise. It's an enigma and I have stopped concerning myself with that (for the most part). Like you I have been doing this in some manner for over 40 years and I have watched a long slow change in a few areas. More of what I see is the laziness and lack of talent in so many bands of all ages. When I cam up in the late 70's early 80's the bar was high. You were competing against highly talented groups with large followings and big shows, at the bar level. So you had to work hard to carve a niche. As youngsters we would show to their gigs and work for free, unloading trucks, running cables whatever they needed simply to learn their business. There's none of that and the area is so watered down with mediocrity that it seems not to matter. Now get of my lawn.
During the last five year's,the world's population has had an increase of dire reports of"_____________"
Do you really think that your band's presence will turn off that?
Is there an"off"switch on the back of the head for such concerns?
Everyone has a deep anxiety or concern of some type.
For that audience,leukemia just may be one of them.
Do you really think that your band's presence will turn off that?
Is there an"off"switch on the back of the head for such concerns?
Everyone has a deep anxiety or concern of some type.
For that audience,leukemia just may be one of them.
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If you're not connecting with the audience, maybe you need to work on connecting with the audience. Not trying to sound negative with that, but I don't know how to not sound negative and say it. What are you wearing? Good light show? Minimal down time between songs? Good banter? Get requests from the crowd. You may not do it that show, but it gives you an idea of what people you are playing to want to hear. As far as the leukemia benefit, don't expect much. A cancer benefit is not much of a party atmosphere. We did one where our guitar player got a little tipsy and was feeling the liquid courage to try his game on - the widow of the cancer victim that the event was in honor of. Yeah, we cut that off quickly. Easy tiger.
OP, I can relate 100% to what you are saying here.
I started playing bass in 1969. I also spent many years on the road, playing in clubs from dives to the top clubs and everything in between. With concert gigs and one nighters mixed in. Rarely did we do private parties of any type as the corporate scene wasn't yet big then. In all the time I was on the road, I learned one thing. We had to be not only good musicians who could play any of the current hits. Even more importantly, we also had to be entertainers. We had to make the crowd interact with us, dancing the night away, and getting them up and moving around. So then they would buy more drinks and the bar would make more money. We in return would get to come back and play there again someday. Now, granted, this was before the age of cell phones, but people were still easily able to get up and walk out to go to another club. Which if you sucked and didn't capture an audience, they would leave. Yes, we had a "Schtick" we used which we varied from town to town but the purpose was the same. GET the crowd involved!
Somewhere along the line all that changed. I first saw when we were gigging in the Pacific Northwest, Portland and Seattle areas. Bands who just stood with their heads down and stared at their guitars while playing. Very little if any audience connections. No longer playing songs about fun and partying but rather wailing tune's filled with "angst". Playing in front of a disconnected audience who just sat there suffering in silence. To this day I don't get it.
So, those people grew up and had kids who never knew about what live music was all about. Their parents didn't get it so they didn't teach the kids either.
Fast forward to today and you have all those kids now grown and some with kids of their own. All with their faces buried in their cellphones totally obsessed with "themselves" and how they appear on social media. Scared that someone will make fun of them. It's a given they probably don't even realize there's a live band performing. Or if they do, it will just be to bash them on social media. Major concert level bands don't worry about this because they have a whole arena in front of them. The local guys though just get ignored like they're a paid (not enough) jukebox.
Very Sad for the future of live music. Now all this is just my opinion. You may feel different and that's fine.
I started playing bass in 1969. I also spent many years on the road, playing in clubs from dives to the top clubs and everything in between. With concert gigs and one nighters mixed in. Rarely did we do private parties of any type as the corporate scene wasn't yet big then. In all the time I was on the road, I learned one thing. We had to be not only good musicians who could play any of the current hits. Even more importantly, we also had to be entertainers. We had to make the crowd interact with us, dancing the night away, and getting them up and moving around. So then they would buy more drinks and the bar would make more money. We in return would get to come back and play there again someday. Now, granted, this was before the age of cell phones, but people were still easily able to get up and walk out to go to another club. Which if you sucked and didn't capture an audience, they would leave. Yes, we had a "Schtick" we used which we varied from town to town but the purpose was the same. GET the crowd involved!
Somewhere along the line all that changed. I first saw when we were gigging in the Pacific Northwest, Portland and Seattle areas. Bands who just stood with their heads down and stared at their guitars while playing. Very little if any audience connections. No longer playing songs about fun and partying but rather wailing tune's filled with "angst". Playing in front of a disconnected audience who just sat there suffering in silence. To this day I don't get it.
So, those people grew up and had kids who never knew about what live music was all about. Their parents didn't get it so they didn't teach the kids either.
Fast forward to today and you have all those kids now grown and some with kids of their own. All with their faces buried in their cellphones totally obsessed with "themselves" and how they appear on social media. Scared that someone will make fun of them. It's a given they probably don't even realize there's a live band performing. Or if they do, it will just be to bash them on social media. Major concert level bands don't worry about this because they have a whole arena in front of them. The local guys though just get ignored like they're a paid (not enough) jukebox.
Very Sad for the future of live music. Now all this is just my opinion. You may feel different and that's fine.
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Actually it really started getting bad leading up to November 2016 through 2020 and seems to have gotten even worse since. Seems Pandora's Box was opened and it's somehow now acceptable to be a hateful arbiter of fake conspiracies. I think Devo got it right (Theory of Social Devolution).
...you say you could make a better impression ("visual presentation") --- maybe start there! good luck!
Our 60's tribute band played a theater gig last weekend where there was a city sponsored festival of sorts being held in the parking lot behind the theater where we loaded in. Went back and chatted with the band that was setting up as we were loading into the theater and stuck my head out to watch them do a few songs once they started up. Pretty good group actually, doing country rock/Americana with decent three part harmonies etc. Bands age group looked like they were probably upper 20's - upper 40's. They were all dressed in shorts and tees, the bass player was in an old tee shirt with the sleeves cut out and some old cutoff jean shorts. They basically looked like a bunch of schlubs at a pickup garage party jam session. Which was a shame because they were a pretty solid band. The visual presentation was a total amateur turnoff and the audience response I witnessed was accordingly.
The name of the game is ENTERTAINMENT folks. Dressing like you give a damn makes a huge difference, whether everyone wants to accept that or not. Proper dress attracts attention, poor dress detracts from the vibe you give off. Look at the bands in your area who stay busy, play the best gigs, and make the most money and see how they dress on stage. Guarantee you it's not tee shirts and cut off jean shorts. You want to be taken seriously, dress and act the part.
I'm in two bands with one or both playing most weekends - a tribute to what was/is a well known 60's act (billed as "A Tribute to the Music Of...) and an 80's cover band. As @jnuts1 said, that music for whatever reason is still popular and just drives people to the dance floor. Our targeted demographic for both is probably 40+ up age group, for the tribute probably more like 50's up though we do get some younger folks as well.
We strategically aim for that age group because they're the ones who still come out for live music and have the disposable income to spend on entertainment. May not be everyone's idea of the gig THEY want to do but we get great audiences for both (obviously much larger for the tribute), have a great time doing it, and make decent pay from both. I guess the point is to know your audience and play what THEY want to hear as opposed to playing what YOU want to play with minimal thought as to what an audience wants. Yeah it has to be music you enjoy listening to and playing, but ultimately what you're selling is only saleable if there's an audience for it.
Music is what we play, but ENTERTAINMENT is what we have to sell. People will still pay for good entertainment. Define what that is in your area and you'll stand out from the crowd.
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