What's wrong with 2023 audiences?

[perfektspace6]

My general disposition is that if a cover band is playing somewhere I do not feel inclined to participate in the same way if it is an originals act. You should have been treated better by the organizers but it is not the type of gig that would normally have a very interested crowd.

 

[DuluthDank]

1. They should have offered you food.
2. The apology you posted from the mom seems reasonable. Sometimes running an event is stressful and it's hard to check all the boxes.
3. The audience doesn't owe you anything. Sometimes shows just aren't set up for optimal audience engagement. It is what it is.

 

[smurfco]

This thread is funny and sad at the same time.

The audience is never the problem. Never. Either be more entertaining (if you are the primary draw for the evening) or understand your role (if you are there to serve as "wallpaper"). Or quit gigging. But don't blame the audience. They don't owe you doodley squat.

 

[Lance Bunyon]

Well theres the problem. I'm just going to be honest, here that scene screams "too cool to have fun". I mean c'mon, we all know IPA's are just a way to virtue signal coolness and sophistication...kick me outta here if you must. I'm pretty sure nobody likes them anyway, its just that they taste so horrible the normies won't come in an steal their cool like they did with everything else "hipster"

Plus the IPA crowd doesn't get drunk enough to have fun (how could you, you'd be sick from that crap), especially at 6:30 pm with your family/kids there.

Plus they are just kinda boring and/or miserable people.

In summary:
1) Too early
2) not enough booze
3) too many stuck up people.

Word!

 

[Lance Bunyon]

My general disposition is that if a cover band is playing somewhere I do not feel inclined to participate in the same way if it is an originals act. You should have been treated better by the organizers but it is not the type of gig that would normally have a very interested crowd.

You weren't raised to practice etiquette. I blame your parents...
By this brand of pedantic pretzel logic, you'd feel entitled to ignore the Berlin Philharmonic while performing the entirety of Beethoven's 9th symphony Ode To Joy...simply because it's a cover tune.
We clap politely between songs/movements.
We are not troglodytes.

 

[DJ Bebop]

It is simple - nobody needs us anymore

I had a gig playing music for school functions and PTA meetings at venues. The PTA people were older at the time I started the gig for the school/PTA because they were at the time not familiar with using PAs and DJing and finding bands, so I did that and provided that service for them.

Be we all aged out. Now the younger PTA parents just use their phones and playlists for music and Bluetooth partybox type speakers for PAs now

That's okay, my kids and grandkid are out of that school now.

 

[gln1955]

This thread is funny and sad at the same time.

The audience is never the problem. Never. Either be more entertaining (if you are the primary draw for the evening) or understand your role (if you are there to serve as "wallpaper"). Or quit gigging. But don't blame the audience. They don't owe you doodley squat.

Quoted for THE TRUTH.

The whole premise that there is something "wrong" with today's audiences is totally misguided. You can change what you do to be more entertaining (lots of good ideas in this thread) or you can find an audience that likes what you do already. But, you can't make someone like you when you are a bad fit and bitching about it is not productive.

 

[RVRSCO]

 

[gstaats]

The wall of sound from some bands can be overwhelming. I get that.
The sonic disconnect between some bands and their audience is equally overwhelming.
The point I made, and it has nothing to do with hearing, sound limits, or any technical or mixing topics, is that the audience being buried in their phone can sometimes be the same as a musician isolating themselves from the stage and audience.
But there are plenty people who use them effectively. Just as there are people who assume some players are phoning it in.
Can’t acknowledge one without the other. That’s all.

There are ambient mics that a lot of places with permanent installs have that can be mixed into the monitor mix. Even my church has several ambient mics for this purpose.

 

[john_g]

My drummer came up with a theory when this happens to us...

If its not dark but is dry, it wont fly.

Meaning: If its early and the sun hasnt gone down and there is no drinking (or very little according to OP), then its likely going to be a boring gig. And damn if he wasnt right. There are exceptions but, this hypothesis has been true more often than not for us.

 

[Tanner5382]

You weren't raised to practice etiquette. I blame your parents...
By this brand of pedantic pretzel logic, you'd feel entitled to ignore the Berlin Philharmonic while performing the entirety of Beethoven's 9th symphony Ode To Joy...simply because it's a cover tune.
We clap politely between songs/movements.
We are not troglodytes.

Wow dude? Seriously? LOL.

 

[HolmeBass]

So it wasn't poor etiquette that both the mom and dad neglected to thank us for donating our services?

Perhaps, but try to keep it in perspective. They may have had a lot of other people to thank - medical team, fund raising team, family members, etc.

Maybe playing benefits isn’t for you?

Sometimes the band is a serious after thought at a benefit. Also, some people just have no idea about how to treat a band, e.g. the realization that they could need or want to be fed. No one expects to have to feed the catering staff, for example, so they might not realize that the band will go hungry if not provided with food.

 

[ellipsis]

 

[cacio]

In Europe is fine, and over here nobody goes to see cover bands.

Maybe in Finland,in Italy coverband and tribute band are the only ones that gigs

 

[DJ Bebop]

I figured I would just respond to both of these quotes. It seems like the microbreweries and that demographic definitely aren't your place. Your band, based on what you've described, and these locations/demos just seem to be two different worlds. For example, the rock and disco especially seem very out of place for that demographic. On average, the younger person just doesn't want to see a bunch of old guys playing old songs that they (the younger audience) doesn't care about or have any connection to. Are there any other locations you can play that might be more fitting, where you will be better appreciated?

As a 20 something, I've heard and read that "don't know how to react to real life" stuff a lot, and trust me I know it's at least partly in jest, but there is still a huge scene of 20s people going out in general and socializing, as well as going to see music. It's just not the same music anymore/the music you are playing. That is in one sense a type of rebellion that is indeed happening amongst younger people. They simply do not want to go out to see cover bands of guys playing the same songs they've been playing for 40ish years. And there is plenty of both mellow and non-mellow music in the younger demographic. Heard any modern metal variants? Anything but mellow. Things are more fragmented now than they have ever been. There's lots of stuff out there, you just have to find it.

Honestly, I see just as many people who are up into their early 60s who are as addicted to their phones/social media as any other age group. It's not just a young person thing.

I have also talked to many people these days who do not want there to be a band when they go out to a bar or out to eat. They view it as an annoyance, a distraction and a turn off and I've heard it compared to annoying trivia at places, where people will choose to go somewhere else without for their night out.

I don't mean any of this to be insulting, just in case it came off that way. I'm just trying to offer you a different perspective. I definitely understand all of your annoyances with the way things are. I hope you and your group are able to find some local places that you can play regularly that will have a more fitting, appreciative and interactive crowd for you. There's nothing worse than a wallpaper gig.

Good luck!

As an old guy, I have to agree.

The whole music scene has changed. The way the music is delivered and consumed and the place it holds in most people's lives is not the same as it has been through time.

Music before use to be a central part of entertainment in general. People specifically would go out to see live music as their entertainment, to dance to it. Dinner was the fuel for dancing, not the entertainment for the evening.

Now music is the wallpaper kept low in the background to not disturb the talking during dinner.

The few gig videos I see here are of old gals and guys, like me, playing to a bunch of old gals and guys again, like me, shuffling around a dance floor listening to music, I don't even listen to anymore.

You either have to find your market or bring to the table what the market wants.

Oh and if you are playing a gig and your band's name is not on the marquee or in the program information, you are wallpaper music and need to be satisfied with that and perform that function or don't take those gigs.

 

[No Malarky]

These 'nose in the phone' people make me giggle.

 

[HolmeBass]

Add to that the upstairs was catered and we weren't welcome to eat. Fail.

Separating the event on two floors is an insta-fail; especially food on one floor and the band on the other.

To me this just screams people who are not savvy about putting on events with live music. I would chalk it up to ignorance moreso than malice or thoughtlessness.

 

[perfektspace6]

You weren't raised to practice etiquette. I blame your parents...
By this brand of pedantic pretzel logic, you'd feel entitled to ignore the Berlin Philharmonic while performing the entirety of Beethoven's 9th symphony Ode To Joy...simply because it's a cover tune.
We clap politely between songs/movements.
We are not troglodytes.

If I attend a classical performance of the type described above, I purchased tickets to hear that performance and it is my primary reason for being there. That means I am an active and involved audience member.

If I am having dinner, at an art show, corporate conference, or a charity event and a band is playing, I am not there to listen to the band. I may clap or tip the band or I may ignore the band entirely. The band is not my focus in those settings.

 

[HolmeBass]

In all fairness, they probably had other things on their mind. When I hire someone to do a job I don’t feel the need to check in on them and give them a Pat on the back for meeting expectations.

They were not “hired”, it was a benefit. The band donated their time and skills.

 

[D.A.R.K.]

I only work at original music venues. The kids go hard, no lack of energy. Playing old cover music might be part of it- not knocking it, I've been gigging since '82. But culture changes. Change with it.... or don't. Don't bust a hip, but keep breaking a leg (as us old folks say).