Truckstop Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 I would love to find a cover band local to me so I can get out there, show off my gear, have some fun and play some tunes that I love. Much easier than getting a band together and spending a couple of years getting the material up to scratch! Truckstop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironside1966 Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 [quote name='Twigman' post='973929' date='Oct 1 2010, 01:26 PM']Erm...yep.... Many venues ,say 20 years ago, would happily put on an originals band but these days insist on covers only.....if these covers bands didn't exist and the venue wanted live music they'd still be putting on originals.[/quote] The venues are there to make money many pubs are now owned by chains not happy with just making a profit they want to maximize profits, A lot of smaller pubs are just ticking over. Lose the revenue lose the venue. Get rid of cover bands if you want but who will benefit? Discos will Cover bands audience’s different crowds to original bands. If you can’t bring enough people in a venue to make it worthwhile stop blaming cover bands and work on you promotion, if you could guarantee a full house I am sure many landlords would give you a try Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conan Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 [quote name='wateroftyne' post='973902' date='Oct 1 2010, 01:14 PM']To be fair, this one is a slightly different angle. it's more like: 'I TRAVEL THE WORLD AND GET LOADS OF MONEY FOR PLAYING ORIGINAL MATERIAL. THE REST OF YOU ARE LOSERS.' [/quote] That's certainly how I interpreted the OP's comments. Twigman (or should I call you "Ian"?) I've just been listening to some of your band's material on Amazon. It's OK. Rather eighties-retro, but I like that kind of stuff! What does surprise me slightly though, is that the band have been going since 1981 - and you appear to have only joined last year (according to the website). So what were you doing when the band were "building an audience" back in the eighties and nineties? I ask just out of interest... Like most of us on here (I suspect) I have done my time in originals bands. Some of them were actually quite good and had a decent local following. One or two actually got to that fabled "let's all give up our day-jobs and move down to London coz we've got major-label interest" stage of bollocks. So I know what you mean about the differences between playing covers and playing originals. Having said that, sometimes to fill out a setlist those originals bands would.... wait for it.... slip a few covers in!!!! Did this dilute our gene pool? Did this cost us our musical integrity? Of course it bloody didn't! In the intervening years (I'm 44 now with a house and three kids) I have played in several other bands - some were plain covers bands, some were covers bands that slip the odd original in, some were OBs (sorry, got sick of typing "originals bands" - damn, just done it again!) that play some covers.... At the end of the day, music genuinely CAN be all things to all people. I don't understand why you come across as so snobby and arrogant when many of us will be getting as much enjoyment out of our misical experiences as you so clearly do from yours. And so will our audiences! Surely that's all that counts?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 [quote name='paul h' post='973875' date='Oct 1 2010, 01:04 PM']I keep trying to reply to this but I don't know where to start. I am quite familiar with any number of songs. Some of them I would even qualify as "favourites". Is that wrong? Should I only listen to new songs. Then what happens after I am familiar with those? I'm confused. Sounds like the sort of thing I would have said after an empty originals gig. [/quote] [quote name='wateroftyne' post='973880' date='Oct 1 2010, 01:06 PM']You do what Mr. Foxen presumably does. Buy a CD, listen to it, hurl it in the bin, and then look for something stimulating and new. [/quote] Depends if you consider yourself one of the majority of people. I don't go to covers gigs, or indeed gigs where I have a comfortable expectation of what I'm going to hear. If a band is described as sounding just like some other band", then there is no point, if I've already got sick of hearing other band. The people I refer to are the ones that are watching gigs and not playing them. I've long since given up on buying CDs, due to the hurling in the bin because they are boring. I hear stuff I've heard loads of times before enough listening to JoeGarcia talk about his latest drive pedal, and need of a new amp. The packaging may be new, but the substance is still the same. I really don't care if there is no-one at a gig, gigs I play get put on because someone enthused by music enough to put on a gig wants that gig to happen. I don't really want to impress people who don't like music, it would be like cooking for someone who only like eating McDonalds. My favourites are tunes I can listen to and still get an emotional response, or still appreciate something new in them. I have enormous piles of CDs I never listen to. Generally I'd rather be playing something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 Because more people eat MacDonald's than at Michelin star restaraunts - not just because it costs less but because they don't like to be challanged. Its a strange thing, isn't it. In every other walk of life; furniture making, fashion whatever, the customer expects to pay more for a specialist quality product and less for mass produced/production line stuff (like buying a bass?). More to the point, the workers involved in the production line work are paid less than the real craftsmen and are generally less skilled and certainly less satisfied. In music, it seems to be the other way around. The gigs go to those who reproduce the mass market material whilst the more creative/demanding skills of composition, arranging and the performance of art music etc are devalued almost to oblivion. I say leave the production line work to them that likes it and I'll go apply for Arts Council funding for my musical theatre production based on the Communist Manifesto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 [quote name='Twigman' post='973812' date='Oct 1 2010, 12:26 PM']....What is the appeal of playing in a covers band? I've never understood it....[/quote] This is yet another silly post about cover bands not being "worthy". I play in all kinds of bands, covers, tributes and original in many genres and they all work for me. Your failing is that you don't have a mature enough attitude to be able to appreciate forms of music that you don't like or play yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conan Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 (edited) [quote name='Twigman' post='973929' date='Oct 1 2010, 01:26 PM']Many venues ,say 20 years ago, would happily put on an originals band but these days insist on covers only.....if these covers bands didn't exist and the venue wanted live music they'd still be putting on originals.[/quote] Or maybe that venue would no longer exist? Many venues have realised that there is money to be made from putting on live music - especially on night that would otherwise be quieter. OK, they have to pay the band a few quid, but if they get 100 punters in who all drink 5 pints, they have made a tidy profit on something like a tuesday night. Whether that band is playing covers, originals or a mixture is largely immaterial. If they have a following and can prove that to the venue they will usually get bookings. Edit. Damn, I should have read JTUK's post before saying that!! Edited October 1, 2010 by Conan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 [quote name='Twigman' post='973812' date='Oct 1 2010, 12:26 PM']So many of you play in covers bands, in fact it seems to me that all of you do!!! What is the appeal of playing in a covers band? I've never understood it. I've always played in a band that writes and performs its own material - very very very rarely have we ever thrown a cover into our set and I always felt it was a pointless exercise. Does anyone here, apart from me, play in a band that writes its own material?[/quote] You might as well ask what's the appeal of the entire acting profession. As someone said earlier, good music is good music and people like to see it performed - or do you only listen to music you've written yourself? Live performances of classical music is largely dependent on 'cover bands', or orchestras as we tend to call them, and 'cover bands' keep alive all the wealth of music from long-dead bands and/or musicians. Anyway, there's no right or wrong here. There are plenty of bands - covers and/or originals - and there are plenty of people who choose to watch them play. I can't see the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 A mate's daughter is doing the London thing where you fill a noddy club on a monday night and get exe's back on the tickets you sell..IF you are lucky, so I suggested if the want to play local they will have to do the same sort of thing, but hopefully without the travel and the ticket charge. I told them to go and see my friendly landlord who is keen to try these sort of things... be realistic as to what you can deliver and put on an 'indie' night and all the bands have to bring a crowd. They are local students so should be quite easy. The could have £20 per band starters, or whatvere they all agree on, and if the night is good, they should have an agreement to get more. I find most publicans and venues don't have a problem with the money they pay..their problem is covering it. So, back yourself, put your money where your mouth is and cut the deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironside1966 Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 [quote name='Bilbo' post='973970' date='Oct 1 2010, 01:45 PM']Because more people eat MacDonald's than at Michelin star restaraunts - not just because it costs less but because they don't like to be challanged. Its a strange thing, isn't it. In every other walk of life; furniture making, fashion whatever, the customer expects to pay more for a specialist quality product and less for mass produced/production line stuff (like buying a bass?). More to the point, the workers involved in the production line work are paid less than the real craftsmen and are generally less skilled and certainly less satisfied. In music, it seems to be the other way around. The gigs go to those who reproduce the mass market material whilst the more creative/demanding skills of composition, arranging and the performance of art music etc are devalued almost to oblivion. I say leave the production line work to them that likes it and I'll go apply for Arts Council funding for my musical theatre production based on the Communist Manifesto [/quote] I totally agree to some extent but crafts men are people who devote their life to learning there trade at the top of the pile in there trade, but a lot of original bands are just people indulging in there hobbies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 [quote name='chris_b' post='973971' date='Oct 1 2010, 01:46 PM']Your failing is that you don't have a mature enough attitude to be able to appreciate forms of music that you don't like or play yourself.[/quote] Call me odd but I have an emotional reaction to music. I don't obliquely attempt to appreciate it, I either like it or I don't. Do you honestly hear some sh*te on the radio or see some crap on TV and think "Hmm, what can I enjoy about this?". I don't, I change the channel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 [quote name='Twigman' post='973907' date='Oct 1 2010, 01:17 PM']LOL Oh errr do I come across as that sort of w***er? Oh dear....no my point is.......too many people give up too soon in original bands....I know too that if it stopped tomorrow nothing would make me want to take my bass and play covers in pubs, nothing!.....I just don't get it. But also I think it's much harder for new originals bands now because too many bands play covers and too many venues think they want covers........[b]covers bands are killing music!![/b] Sorry[/quote] No, the need for beer sales in chain pubs and all-night Aussie/Kiwi/Saffa shagfest shitholes is killing music TBH, I can't imagine playing in a covers band, but the originals bands I'm in get great, sometimes amazing crowd response, and we are never short of a gig or people to play to. Albums are imminent and great reviews have been forthcoming. I can't really see what you think the problem is for originals bands. Unless they are disorganised, damn lazy, or simply sh:t. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 [quote name='Bilbo' post='973970' date='Oct 1 2010, 01:45 PM']Because more people eat MacDonald's than at Michelin star restaraunts - not just because it costs less but because they don't like to be challanged.[/quote] I think it is much more akin to doing the cooking from this point of view, as in, the context of being a musician/bass player. I could be cooking generic burgers in a chain pub from prepacked ingredients, knowing that people all over the country are enjoying very similar burgers, but I'd expect to be paid for that, because otherwise it wouldn't be worth my time. I'd much rather be cooking something for a few friends who I know will really appreciate it, and I won't charge them for it, and even pay for the ingredients from my own pocket. And if I know them well, it is very likely I will challenge them to try things they haven't tried before, because that's what makes life interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 And, PS< to those who think 'oh no, not that argument again'. As I type this, 14 people are reading the thread, 9 of whom are regulars. Its not the kill, its the thrill of the chase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conan Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 (edited) [quote name='ironside1966' post='973990' date='Oct 1 2010, 01:53 PM']I totally agree to some extent...[/quote] I like your thinking!! Edited October 1, 2010 by Conan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRev Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 [quote name='Twigman' post='973844' date='Oct 1 2010, 12:46 PM']And we have the luxury of most of our gigs being fly aways to the Med for a Fri/Sat show, so we get a weekend away with the lads with someone else footing the bill and come back with more cash than we left with - could you do that with a covers band?[/quote] Yes. I have done in the past and lots of people I know still do. On Tuesday I happend to run into a harmonica player who used to be in my (95% covers) band. Next week he's flying to Toronto with his function (covers) band, all expenses paid, to play a wedding for which each member will take home about £500. I used to distinguish between my 'covers' bands and my 'originals' bands but my 'covers' band does a couple of original songs and my originals does a handful of covers...... Plus, the covers that my 'covers' band do tend to be pulled about & rearranged to the point where some of them sound nothing like the original wheras the covers played by my 'originals' band are straight carbon copies. As has already been said, a good song is a good song and a good band is there to entertain an audience, not to stoke their own egos about playing 'their' songs. Does it really matter who wrote the song? Really? I could put together a set of original songs in a couple of weeks but they won't be very good songs and the fact that I wrote them doesn't elevate their quality above any other song. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigman Posted October 1, 2010 Author Share Posted October 1, 2010 [quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='973995' date='Oct 1 2010, 01:56 PM']I think it is much more akin to doing the cooking from this point of view, as in, the context of being a musician/bass player.[/quote] Absolutely Why would anyone want to flip McD burgers when they could be creating unique culinary experiences? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conan Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 Man! This thread's on FIRE!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conan Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 (edited) [quote name='Twigman' post='974005' date='Oct 1 2010, 02:02 PM']Absolutely Why would anyone want to flip McD burgers when they could be creating unique culinary experiences?[/quote] And, of course, your band does exactly that? Also, not everyone who enjoys cooking wants to be a Michelin-starred superchef. I personally am a good cook and I love cooking... but sometimes I crave a fish finger sandwich. And no, that's not a euphemism! ) Edited October 1, 2010 by Conan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul h Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 Everything I play is unique because I am so awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 [quote name='Twigman' post='974005' date='Oct 1 2010, 02:02 PM']Absolutely Why would anyone want to flip McD burgers when they could be creating unique culinary experiences?[/quote] These things always end in a competition between bullshit analogies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigman Posted October 1, 2010 Author Share Posted October 1, 2010 (edited) [quote name='Conan' post='973963' date='Oct 1 2010, 01:42 PM']the band have been going since 1981 - and you appear to have only joined last year (according to the website).[/quote] I joined in 1984, left in 1990 (the band packed it in in 1991ish), rejoined in 2008 when the band reformed between 1991 and 2008 a handful of gigs were played - between this band and another on the same label there were a pool of musicians from which to pick - I was in the other band from 1989 to 1993 - bizarrely they have reformed without me now in 2010 Edited October 1, 2010 by Twigman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 (edited) [quote name='Bilbo' post='973996' date='Oct 1 2010, 01:57 PM']And, PS< to those who think 'oh no, not that argument again'. As I type this, 14 people are reading the thread, 9 of whom are regulars. Its not the kill, its the thrill of the chase.[/quote] You know it brother We are like a bunch of miserable old bastards at the pub who get together every week to discuss Thatcher with any passing victim. Edited October 1, 2010 by silddx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 There are now 25 people reading it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 [quote name='Twigman' post='974005' date='Oct 1 2010, 02:02 PM']Absolutely Why would anyone want to flip McD burgers when they could be creating unique culinary experiences?[/quote] The answer is pretty apparent, even in this thread: Because it pays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.