Tough times for local bands ??

Started by s0c9, September 13, 2008, 06:19:37 PM

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Elantric

#25
I suggest be unique. I live in California in a central coastal college town and thriving surf community. I have trio that plays vintage early 60's reverb drenched guitar instrumentals, and we mix in a few New Orleans / Memphis dance grooves and play a three hour show and make $100 minimum per man per gig and get lots of work.

Here we are opening for Dick Dale with special guest Paul Johnson (Mr Moto) sitting in


"Twang 'em high"

https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=21088.0





In my town people people hire bands that deliver a good entertaining live music experience -not a juke box. We have bands where every member has an iPad and frankly in between songs  the stage banter ends , and the crowd leaves because the on stage charisma is not there -the band looks like my last family re-Union, where everyone is texting their boyfriend/girlfriend on Facebook with their iPhone. I can walk into the local Library if I want that experience.

stratrat

Quote from: Elantric on September 18, 2015, 07:36:01 AM
I suggest be unique.
A very good point. My cover duo does a selection of stuff that no-one else in the area does ('50s through '90s popular music, but also only choose the stuff we like) and we get most of the serious paying gigs like functions, weddings and private parties. Most of the other guys do the one-man-and-his-guitar thing with a strong bias towards things like Neil Diamond, Johnny Cash and CCR, etc.).

We also do alternate versions of songs, often making them our own or "disguise" them with long intros that build tension and then suddenly break into the riff that everyone knows (like I'll play part of Toccata and Fugue in Dm with a sitar sound and then break out into the sitar riff into Paint it Black). Sometimes a rearrangement is necessary to fit in with what we can actually pull off. For example: while I can play the guitar and bass parts to Walkin' on the Moon simultaneously, there's no way I can do any real justice to the drumming with my feet, so I keep the kick pulse and let my vocalist fill in the syncopated stuff on an udu drum.

Elantric

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/go-to-a-bar-to-see-live-music-the-science-of-cheating.1698666/

Quoteo I went to a bar and there was talk of a band being there...I get there and lo and behold its a girl singing and a guy playing guitar...but wait I hear a bass, drums and keyboards...

Its a computer, and these two are playing along with it, like karaoke with a guitar player!! When I stopped laughing I began to feel annoyed..

Clearly this is a bunch of bull crap, no bass player. no drummer etc. this is NOT a band this is two people playing okay music with a computer doing most of the work...and its BS and cheap and [mod edit]. There seems to be a lot of this going on...What about the other musicians ?? So now the bass player is cut out. the drummer is out, and keyboard player is now not needed..

It undermines real bands, What bar is going to pay a real band when they can get joe and mary with their karaoke mac

Aph

#28
^^^^^^^^
At least there are a couple of musicians there. I remember the dawn of the DJ age when bars just had to pay ONE person (and most of the DJ's I knew were not musicians). And of course, DJ's are still with us.
Also, what's so funny or disgusting about it? Timbuk3 had hits and made a career out of it. I saw them play with a boombox as their backup on stage.
So, complainer on thegearpage, is Bernhoft "cheating"?:
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Elantric

https://www.whitehutchinson.com/news/lenews/2016/may/article104.shtml
The decline of clubbing & bars and the rise of home-tainment
There's a massive trend brewing in America's and the Western world's nightlife scene. Nightclub and bar attendance is on a steady decline over the past several years and counting. Nightclubs are going out of business left and right with more being threatened to close their doors each and every day. There has also been a massive decline in the number of bars. This trend isn't exclusive to the United States; the U.K. and other parts of Europe are also experiencing a similar drop in their once world-renowned nightlife scene.


One in six U.S. neighborhood bars closed between 2004 and 2014 with closures at a peak of six per day in 2014. Although there are 334 new bars opening each month, that's far fewer than the 609 that are closing at the same time. There are now 17% fewer bars, a decline of 10,000. Likewise, the British are losing their pubs. In 2002 there were an estimated 60,000 pubs. Since then more than 10% - 7,000 - have closed. Experts say 29 go bust every week.

The number of nightclubs is also on the decline. According to the Nightlife Association, approximately 6,500 U.S. nightclubs have either cut back their hours or closed up shop within the first year of operation. The number of nightclubs in Britain fell from 3,144 in 2005 to only 1,733 ten years later - a 45% drop. In the Netherlands, the number of nightclubs fell 38% between 2001 and 2011.

What is going on and what does this mean for the future of community-based entertainment venues?

There are a number of trends underway impacting the decline of these types of nightlife venues.

One is the rise of a stay-at-home culture, or what is being called home-tainment, skipping going out to drink and staying in to drink instead. A recent survey from wine app Vivino found that almost half (47%) of Millennials and 61% of GenX and Boomers would rather drink wine at home than at social gatherings, restaurants or wineries. The survey found that only 3% named bars as their favorite place to drink wine. Another survey from yPulse found that almost 3 in 4 (73%) of 18-33-year-olds agreed they would rather stay in on the weekends than go out at night. Think about it, why wouldn't they with all technology that makes it possible to do everything at home? Today, from the comfort of our lounge chairs, we have access to online streaming, dating apps, social media, multiple large screen TV video options, restaurant food delivery, and so much more. So not only do we have drinking, food and entertainment options at home at a much more affordable prices, but with social media and apps, we can socialize with friends and family at other locations. Not quite the same as face-to-face socialization, but it is a growing alternative.

Countless studies show young adults are no longer opting to go to nightclubs anymore when contemplating the value of a night out. Those who go to nightclubs say they mostly go for special occasions, like bachelor/bachelorette parties, viewing a specific DJ, attending a celebrity event, or going out to explore party capitals like NYC and Las Vegas.

Surveys find that two reasons why people have stopped going to clubs or decreased their visits is they have better ways to discover new music and the inability to have a conversation in the clubs.

Now, with music streaming, consumers mostly discover new music online on Facebook, SoundCloud, Twitter, and Instagram and through friends. Also, music goers are replacing club going with outdoor music festivals. There are currently more than 800 music festivals in the U.S. alone. In 2014 around 130 festivals took place in Amsterdam. In Britain some 250 take place annually, up from 80 in 2004. Many people are saving up to go to two big festivals a year, rather than clubbing each month.


Roskilde Music Festival in Denmark; Ultra Music Festival in Miami, FL

A survey by The Guardian British newspaper found that 2/3s of Millennials said a night in was now preferable to a night out. Most said that clubs were simply not personal enough. At the end of a long week, they want to spend time with friends, rather than shout over music at them.

Bars are losing their customers for a number of reasons. One is you no longer have to go to a bar to meet new people. We can now swipe through Tinder and vet potential suitors on social media before meeting in person in some safe public place.

When 20-30-somethings do go out, they want more of an experience than a bar can provide. They are adventure-seekers and thrive off the momentum of living for authentic experiences. They want social experiences that are share-worthy on social media rather than going to the same bar every weekend. They prefer to spend their money on unforgettable experiences. They want to attend events that can't be confused with any other weekend.

When young adults do go out to drink, they frequent bars that feature more than just alcohol, such as ones that include vintage video games (boozecades) or they visit wine, beer and food festivals or larger venues that have social games, such as vintage bowling, ping pong or bocce. They are the foodie generation, so they also want a variety of unique and adventurous food options beyond standard bar fare that is also worthy as foodporn. It's all about social experiences that include some combination of drinking, foodie and social gaming options.

These trends are good in one sense for community-based entertainment venues (CBEs), as some of the night out competition is disappearing. However, the trends that are leading to the elimination of the competition can also lead to the decline of the CBEs. Consumers, especially millennial-minded consumers (it isn't limited to just the Millennial age group) are seeking much higher quality experiences when they do decide to go out. The want foodie-worthy food and beverages. They want quality social experiences where they can hold a conversation without having to raise their voice. They want unique and authentic experiences that are Instagramable. They want events that are not a repeat of some previous weekend.

Today, tech enabled home-tainment is a new powerful competitor. If CBEs want to remain competitive, they need to raise the quality of all aspects of the visit experience, especially the food and beverage and the acoustics, if they want to continue to attract the fast-evolving 21st Century consumer.


chrish

#30
Quote"They are adventure-seekers and thrive off the momentum of living for authentic experiences. "

So playing vintage video games and drinking is an adventure?

That's interesting to me but it also presents an opportunity for working bands. All bands have to do is learn the cover tunes on those video games and it's game on. Lots of explosion samples and generous use of Pitch shifting and half the tunes are mastered;D

I'm up early today to head out for an eight-hour Mountaineering ski tour with a couple of friends .  One is 68 years old and one is 70 years old and both are hard to keep up with. Now that's an adventure.


vtgearhead

Nothing new to see here, move along, move along...  Seriously, in my opinion this all started going South around 1981 with the advent of MTV.  That's when musical entertainment began the transition into something you watch rather than listen to.  For whatever reason, younger crowds (and everyone is younger relative to me at age 65) seem to want a constant spectacle and never-ending stimulation from every direction.  I like excitement as much as the next guy, but I'm willing to consider it a process rather than an entitlement and go with the flow to get there. 

The poster child for modern trends in clubbing was an evening we played last summer at a bar in Hanover, NH.  Very hip little town and home to Dartmouth College.  As we finished our setup a large crowd of 20-30 somethings drifted in and it looked to be a great evening.  By about the middle of the first set, the entire dance floor was full of people.  Unfortunately, all of them had their backs to us, paying zero attention to the music, heads buried in smartphones. 

We may not be youngsters, but we have about 200 cumulative years of playing experience and can rock with the best of them.  At no point in the evening, did I have the impression that anyone was even aware of our presence.  Just like being an invisible band playing music in some alternate dimension.  Absolutely surreal.  Perhaps an extreme example, but becoming more and more of a trend.  If I didn't have so much fun playing, I'd have found it depressing.  But, when all is said and done making music with my oldest friends still is a blast.  If the audience enjoys it (or even notices it) that's icing on the cake.

Just the way things are now.  Mass ADHD, methinks.

whippinpost91850

Couldn't agree more! Most of the time if they didn't get up and dance you would never know they knew you were even there.. But like you at 66 I still enjoy playing live to quit

Elantric

#33
 For me when I play live that's part of my big attraction to being different and unique as we play 1960s vintage clean reverb drenched surf /spaghetti western guitar music because it's so alien to anything else out there in the clubs
we become very unique in the marketplace among local bands in my college town and yes it does turn heads.

We forget that the typical 25 year-old today has probably already heard Stevie Ray Vaughan's pride and joy 5 million times before they even enter the club  (as a beer commercial)

So I try to avoid playing routine genres at live gigs

I prefer to entertain and maintain an element of surprise

vtgearhead

Quote from: Elantric on June 03, 2017, 10:08:13 AM
For me when I play live that's part of my big attraction to being different and unique as we play 1960s vintage clean reverb drenched surf /spaghetti western guitar music because it's so alien to anything else out there in the clubs
we become very unique in the marketplace among local bands in my college town and yes it does turn heads.

We forget that the typical 25 year-old today has probably already heard Stevie Ray Vaughan's pride and joy 5 million times before they even enter the club

So I try to avoid playing routine genres at live gigs

I prefer to entertain and maintain an element of surprise

Agreed on routine tunes!  You will find few bands with a song list as eclectic as my current bunch.  Lack of uniqueness isn't the problem.  Consider yourself fortunate to be located where you are.  There's a world of demographic difference between northern New England and your area and you have an immensely larger population to draw from.

vtgearhead

If I ever get to the point where I'm concentrating more on the lack of audience response than I am on the music I'll know it's time to hang up my Rock-n-Roll shoes.  Until then, I still enjoy the heck out of playing with my musical brethren (and I've known two of them since 1971).  With such great folks next to me on stage there's no such thing as a truly bad night.



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Beirne

Quote from: admin on July 02, 2018, 01:54:11 PM
https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/a-top-musical-instrument-salesmans-opinion-weve-got-a-problem.1955624/
I disagree....FYI Justin Bieber does a rockin drum solo during his show. And more and more hip hop pop bands are pulling off their studio stuff with full tight bands backing them. I'll bet more gear is sold today than in the 60s 70s 80s combined. I get catalogues from guitar center samash musicians friend every month with 50 versions of telecasters and gear that didn't even exist 10yrs ago.
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