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Pub Gigs, where is it all going?


Phil Starr
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[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1483697307' post='3209290']
The busiest pubs I see routinely are Wetherspoons who not only don't put bands on, they don't even do background muzak. Obviously their strategy is to sell drinks at low prices and it works for them but I think it's also symptomatic that pub culture is generally changeing. There will always be some specific music oriented venues but the days of every street boozer corner having a turn on every Saturday is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. I wouldn't particularly look to the next generation to change that either. Half of them spend more on fancy coffees looking at their phones than they do beer and socialising with real people. But I'm just a middle aged out of touch git.
[/quote]yep this is true, the cultures changing, a lot of people go to the pub to drink real ale (you can't get that at a supermarket) and have a chat, the story goes that Tim 'Wetherspoons' Martin, got the idea when he was at Nottingham University, he got frustrated because he couldn't find a quiet pub to have a drink of good beer in, so he started Wetherspoons, there's still a market for pubs with music but not on the scale it used to be

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[quote name='spongebob' timestamp='1483695503' post='3209279']
Big problem I find is that many pubs will only book the same old, same old.

Anything different is often greeted by 'the regulars didn't like it.

It seems some places pander to the rule of diminishing returns, like the places is being run like an exclusive little club.

There's a pub around here that will seemingly only ever book classic rock covers. Even our old-skool R'n'B trio was deemed to far from what they want....so heaven help anything from the 21st century!
[/quote]

Thi is so true. Theres quite a few pubs close to me in west London, and the same bands play them over and over again, using the same setlists as each other. When we speak to the LL and present something that 30 somethings might like they are generallly not interested. The irony is that when we do play the occasional gig the music appeals to ages from 20 somethings to sixty somethings. We have modified the set so that we have stuff that everyone who listens to music would know, with a coupe that we play that no one knows just because we like them. All the stuff we play is popular radio friendly stuff.

I think there is less music in pubs, but only because there are fewer pubs. Lets be honest, in the mid 90s it was quite common to walk into a Karaoke night when once there would have been a band, and popular music pubs were closing. Even proper music pubs rather than pubs with bands like Red Lion Brentford, the Clarendon in Hammersmith didn't survive this.

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[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1483536744' post='3207994']
The world moves on, why aren't we all at the ballroom on a sunday afternoon anymore? There will always be a few people that keep genres alive along with suitable venues in some cases but will there be bands full of fifty year old blokes playing Hey Joe forever in every town? Maybe,maybe not.
[/quote]

What saddens me is the number of 'young' bands that play a set full of Cream, Hendrix, Free and Bad Company........

BTW I'm a fifty something and can categorically state that I don't play Hey Joe in public you ageist git Pete ;-)

The pub scene in my area has gravitated to Classic Rock acts, SKA tributes and Punk multiband nights. When I was doing Classic Rock I was on at least a gig per week. Now that I'm doing mainly 80s, I'm only doing 1 per month in the local area....

Edited by martthebass
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[quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1483686918' post='3209218']
There are an increasing number of bands chasing a decreasing audience.
[/quote]yep that's it

When I was young hardly anyone was a muso

Now every one you meet plays

It's a good thing

But as with anything, if you increase the supply at a time when demand (for pub bands) seems to be dying, the price decreases

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[quote name='martthebass' timestamp='1483707059' post='3209387']


What saddens me is the number of 'young' bands that play a set full of Cream, Hendrix, Free and Bad Company........

BTW I'm a fifty something and can categorically state that I don't play Hey Joe in public you ageist git Pete ;-)

The pub scene in my area has gravitated to Classic Rock acts, SKA tributes and Punk multiband nights. When I was doing Classic Rock I was on at least a gig per week. Now that I'm doing mainly 80s, I'm only doing 1 per month in the local area....
[/quote]yep just the same here

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[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1483721719' post='3209593']
Does it really matter though, I don't do many things people 50 years older than me did and people fifty years younger than me probably won't do the things I enjoy either.
[/quote]

Still trying to work that one out ...

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[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1483741262' post='3209851']


Still trying to work that one out ...
[/quote]

Tricky isn't it, why do we feel the need for people that come after us to have the same experiences as us? I hope that future generations have fun and have a happy healthy life, if it's found by downloading it into their brains with an app so be it, maybe future generations will be able to experience the Beatles as only those that 'were there' did?

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[quote name='martthebass' timestamp='1483707059' post='3209387']
BTW I'm a fifty something and can categorically state that I don't play Hey Joe in public you ageist git Pete ;-)
[/quote]

I am 50 something and I can sadly say that I do play Hey Joe in public, as our 30yo guitarist likes that sort of thing.

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[quote name='martthebass' timestamp='1483707059' post='3209387']


What saddens me is the number of 'young' bands that play a set full of Cream, Hendrix, Free and Bad Company........

BTW I'm a fifty something and can categorically state that I don't play Hey Joe in public you ageist git Pete ;-)

The pub scene in my area has gravitated to Classic Rock acts, SKA tributes and Punk multiband nights. When I was doing Classic Rock I was on at least a gig per week. Now that I'm doing mainly 80s, I'm only doing 1 per month in the local area....
[/quote]

This is all so subjective , I don't see what's wrong if younger bands what to play whatever genres they love from the past , be it classic rock, ska or Abba , it's all music to be enjoyed.

My main band is an 80s tribute and we can't keep up with demand , the middled aged want us for birthdays and 2nd weddings and I'm always surprised the amount of the younger crowd that know all the lyrics

Bruno Mars does a great version of Fire by Hendrix

Edited by lojo
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[quote name='martthebass' timestamp='1483707059' post='3209387']
What saddens me is the number of 'young' bands that play a set full of Cream, Hendrix, Free and Bad Company........
[/quote]

Why does it sadden you? Those songs are probably as new to them as anything that's been in the charts for the last 10 years.

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[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1483782230' post='3210016']
A great song is a great song forever.
[/quote]

This is true. I also think that a mark of a great song is that it remains a great song, however it's played. Even in the hands of bunglers, which is useful for some of us!

Edited by Len_derby
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I think regular pub goers may appreciate live music more if pub bands turned down a little, it also seems to be that the worse the band the louder they play, almost as though being as loud as a jumbo taking off makes up for the fact that they're not very good....

I think some bands also hit the pubs when they're not ready, you've got to hit a reasonable standard if you expect people to want to listen to you. I've seen some shocking bands play where most people did not stay very long... and those people may not return!

Edited by chrisanthony1211
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[quote name='chrisanthony1211' timestamp='1483787009' post='3210067']
I think regular pub goers may appreciate live music more if pub bands turned down a little, it also seems to be that the worse the band the louder they play, almost as though being as loud as a jumbo taking off makes up for the fact that they're not very good....

I think some bands also hit the pubs when they're not ready, you've got to hit a reasonable standard if you expect people to want to listen to you. I've seen some shocking bands play where most people did not stay very long... and those people may not return!
[/quote]

Agreed

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[quote name='chrisanthony1211' timestamp='1483787009' post='3210067']
I think regular pub goers may appreciate live music more if pub bands turned down a little, it also seems to be that the worse the band the louder they play, almost as though being as loud as a jumbo taking off makes up for the fact that they're not very good....
[/quote]

Absolutely - it's getting ridiculous now. I wonder how many of 'em are turning up because they're deaf so they can't hear..?

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We do get accused of being too loud sometimes in a small pub, but we don't mic the drums up, so short off sacking the drummer because hits them too hard there's not a lot we can do about it, I'm left shaking my head in disbelief when I see a band micing up the drum kit for a pub gig

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[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1483790173' post='3210107']
We do get accused of being too loud sometimes in a small pub, but we don't mic the drums up, so short off sacking the drummer because hits them too hard there's not a lot we can do about it, I'm left shaking my head in disbelief when I see a band micing up the drum kit for a pub gig
[/quote]

Yet we do and we are not getting complaints for being too loud, go figure ;)

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Drums don't have to be silly loud, whilst you can't turn them down, lighter sticks or smaller drums can reduce their volume somewhat so everyone doesn't have to turn up to compete, however in my experience drummers don't like playing quieter, our drummers a big lad, with big sticks, but when push comes to shove he can play quieter as well...

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It's quite often the bands with unmic'd drummers that are too loud, we as bass players talk about head room with amps to be able to play dynamically yet Paul is admitting to shaking his head in disbelief at pub bands with a mic'd kick and at the same time being in a band that can be too loud.

If the drummer has a monitor with some kick in it they won't kick so hard all night, it's still there if it needs to ramp up a bit and their leg will be grateful for it too.

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