Back from caravan holiday watching 'Live Bands'

[bonzodog]

Just arrived back from a week at a well known chain of caravan sites. Very kid orientated so my two had an amazing time but I was very shocked at the poor level of evening entertainment.
The resident kids entertainers did a great job early on but the 'featured LIVE act every night' was not what I would expect from a caravan site of this size and price. This was the 9.30pm slot so was supposed to be for the adults and older children

Day 1 was a vocal duo who were on X factor apparently 7 years ago and spent most of the time talking in between songs about how famous they were 7 years ago.
Day 2 No show - Resident team took it in turns to sing some songs
Day 3 - Age 3-8 Kids talent show (9.30pm start??? Most kids had gone to bed)
Day 4 - Advertised LIVE BAND was a female singer and a guitarist and keyboard player stood behind her. No backline and everything went into 2 x 12" speakers with no monitors so I questioned whether the two guys at the back were miming or not to backing tracks
Day 5 - Advertised LIVE BAND were 3 male vocalists singing Motown. Actually very good singers but disappointed at too many on stage in-jokes about how no-one was dancing and they would rather be elsewhere which I always think is not professional.
Day 6 - LIVE BAND and we actually saw a drummer, all be it on an electric kit. Accompanied by a female singer and acoustic guitarist, so all bass and keyboard parts were being played via backing track on click.

I am well aware why lots of these places have these sorts of acts on, (cost and ease of set up etc) but it was a shame to go a whole week without seeing a pure LIVE band, and not one bass player in sight.
I used to be a self contained singer myself years ago but that was only in pubs and would never have felt good enough to play at a caravan site in front of 1000+ people.
The fact is none of them brought the house down, but then again would a live band do any better in that environment. Either way I just thought it was a bit sad

Maybe I was expecting too much and this is what all holiday park entertainment is like nowadays.

[Phil Adams]

20 years ago I had a caravan at Selsey Bill.
We saw Chas n Dave, The Searchers, Vanity Fair and probably many more of the circuit bands or remnants of bands at the time.
Profit margins probably dictate what they will pay nowadays, hence any old stuff labeled as a live band.
Bring on the local tribute band.

[Bilbo]

These acts are generally embarassing and the only way it will stop is if people wake up to the fact and tell them. IN the meantime, money (or the lack of it) talks.

It is interesing that 'Live' now means tapes and 'Bands' now means as many vocalists as you like but no-one that can actually play anything

[barneyg42]

Had the weekend on the coast with my g/f in one of the family caravans. Saturday night was the 50th anniversary of the site and they had a fully live band. Had to be said the musicianship was ok, the girl singers were a bit nondescript and on the whole it was a little bit loud. The biggest problem though was that every song was played at a million miles an hour, Superstition and Somebody Else's Guy are two of my all time faves but they murdered them to be honest. If the bassist is on here I hope he can take this as constructive criticism, I'm sure there are enough clues as to where it was without naming names, stonking bass sound but it ended up a bit mushy because of the pace of the songs!

[UglyDog]

Where's Mike Crystal when you need him?

[bassfunk]

We did a 'showcase' for an agent a few years ago. We'd never done anything before so didn't know what to expect, there were 9 'bands' set up in a function room of a hotel. 2 tables of bookers for holiday parks, clubs etc. Only 2 other bands out of 9 were full bands. most of them were 'high tech duos/trios' most of it was horrendous. There was a good country [i]and[/i] western band and the other full bands were good pro sounding bands. most of the guys with backing tracks were outdated and embarrassing. On the day most of the acts complimented us and a few said we were the best there, we were also the youngest by about 15 years! We got one enquiry for a holiday park but already had a booking, nothing else has come of it. I assume the backing track guys got the gigs because they have less people/overheads.

Tried convincing the drummer and Keys to program their parts but they're not up for it :-)

[paul_5]

[quote name='bassfunk' timestamp='1409056698' post='2535841']
We did a 'showcase' for an agent a few years ago. We'd never done anything before so didn't know what to expect, there were 9 'bands' set up in a function room of a hotel. 2 tables of bookers for holiday parks, clubs etc. Only 2 other bands out of 9 were full bands. most of them were 'high tech duos/trios' most of it was horrendous. There was a good country [i]and[/i] western band and the other full bands were good pro sounding bands. most of the guys with backing tracks were outdated and embarrassing. On the day most of the acts complimented us and a few said we were the best there, we were also the youngest by about 15 years! We got one enquiry for a holiday park but already had a booking, nothing else has come of it. I assume the backing track guys got the gigs because they have less people/overheads.

Tried convincing the drummer and Keys to program their parts but they're not up for it :-)
[/quote]

Ditto. Takings before talent!

[geoham]

I've been to a few of holiday camps over the past eight years. I found that the entertainment at the typical caravan park is much as described above, though I have come across the occasional fully live band (one that sticks in my head were called 'Beardsmith' - who were a family - from the middle aged dad to the 10 year old son on drums!).
When the kids were a bit younger though, we took them too Butlins in Skegness, and I thought the entertainment was great. They had a live-show done by the in-house entertainers most nights - cabaret style singers & dancers, backed by a fully live band. Later on, they would have another band doing a more typical live show, or perhaps a tribute act. Don't get me wrong, they their fair share of X Factor rejects - however, this could be a positive, since they had two venues - and the venue with the 'star' in it would inevitably be far busier - meaning a decent seat in the other!

[lojo]

Saw a "guests" talent show on our campsite in france, one guy got up to sing in an Arnie style English accent "Creep", but he did the album version, he must not have known what the word meant because he sang it with passion to a full house of families with young kids

All that money on kayaks etc, and that was the highlight of the holiday

Edited August 26, 2014 by lojo

[Muzz]

We've played holiday camps before now, and turning up as a full band seemed to surprise everyone from the organiser to the staff...we've also played a showcase at the Hilton (IIRC) in Blackpool for a wedding fair/entertainment agency bash, and of the 9 acts on, we were the only band. They put us on last 'because you've got the most gear to pack up and we don't want the delay' and most people had fecked off home long before. If our gear hadn't already been on stage, I'd have left early too...

[MoJoKe]

Over the summer we have played almost exclusively at holiday parks, and I have played at them on and off for over 25 years.

[size=4]Once there was a keenness for everyone to go out to the club on the park for the entertainment, and there genuinely was live music and bands on at least three nights a week, but so many guests now seem to spend their time in their van/chalet in the evening staring at a TV/PC/Phone/Tablet (the curse of the black mirror), or going off site.[/size]

Many of the ones who [i]do[/i] come out spend the evening looking at their smartphone/tablet all evening. (We played at a park a few weeks ago where a family were at a table 10 yards from the stage and both mum and dad spent the evening staring at their phones, oblivious, while their children screamed about jumping off tables and chairs, then just before we went on, the stage, playing the drums. They carried on this behaviour throughout our performance, and were so loud I could hear them screeching in my in-ears).

So sadly there just isn't the budget anymore for a band three nights a week, when the entertainment teams can get a good singer working with backing tapes for £150-200, or a duo for £250, so why spend more on a band when its still a live performer, isn't it?

Well, no, its not. If you get married the decision is generally "band or a disco" usually based on budget, because a great band brings an energy and ready-made party atmosphere to the event which can never be achieved with a disco, and rarely achieved with someone singing to backing tracks (or professional Karaoke, as I prefer to call it!).

We are a full-on, high energy, high quality three piece band, which puts a band in the room while keeping the budget lower for the venue. But, u[size=4]ntil parks do something to encourage their guests to detach themselves from their tech, the future of live music on holiday parks will be a diminishing one...[/size]

Edited August 26, 2014 by MoJoKe

[Grassie]

My band play once a month at a small holiday camp. We're a full band, no backing tracks, playing "classic" pop/rock (Beatles, Queen, Lizzy, The Who, Bryan Adams etc.) Some gigs are well attended, some tend to be half empty before we've finished the first set, but as most of the campers have kids we're presuming they're off to tuck them into bed rather than leaving because we could possibly be crap (or too loud). We are only one of two full bands that play here during the summer - the rest of the time they employ the aforementioned duos/trios/soloists with backing tracks. We get paid £200 which gets split 4 ways and we play for 2- 21/2 hours depending on the crowd. The last time we played there, there was a party of people who came up to us at the end of the gig and told us the only reason they booked their holiday for that week was that they knew we were playing as they'd seen us the last time they stayed there.
I think if more holidaymakers gave better feedback regarding the evening entertainment, holiday parks may be more inclined to take a risk and book "real" bands.

[MoJoKe]

[quote name='Grassie' timestamp='1409080628' post='2536173']
I think if more holidaymakers gave better feedback regarding the evening entertainment, holiday parks may be more inclined to take a risk and book "real" bands.
[/quote]

This! Most parks book through agents and provide the agent with a review for each booked performance, based on their own feelings and the audience reaction... it has had a major effect on the amount of work [i]we[/i] get... and, Grassie, don't under-sell yourselves - you're worth more!

[geoham]

£200 four ways for 2.5 hours work on stage is a rough deal - especially taking waiting around and setup time. Saying that, if it's local and you can get in and out quickly, I suppose its a paid gig if nothing else!

[lurksalot]

I saw a band at Disney Paris the other week , They were a proper band, soundman , lights etc, now I know Disney can afford it, but these guys played to 10 people , even when 93,000 had been at the park that day , I saw some great bands at Butlins Bognor a few years ago , but again, playing to a handful of punters , shame really

[dave_bass5]

I've just spent a week in southwales on a well known holiday camp site with the family and totally agree about the "entertainment" side.
We popped our head in on the first evening and never went back.
I must admit I do enjoy playing these places, but we always make a joke about never wanting to be on the other side. Having experienced this other side a few times over the years I can totally see why these club houses are getting less popular, even with the holiday makers.
Eveytime we play we get comments about how refreshing it is to hear real live music. This also goes for social clubs though.

[4 Strings]

Portugal, out in the mountains (about half way up, nearing Spanish border), Fretal, tiny little town of 600, and it was Festas (and 200 turn up!) with live music every night for a week and they do this 4 times a year.

However, it's latin music, not with lovely rhythms but drum machines banging out euro style boom boom with auto-bass fifths on the keyboard (think Y Viva Espania but slightly different). Everybody enjoyed themselves, most people dancing and singing along.

I wouldn't have thought anyone would ask for a band with proper bass and drums as they would no longer sound 'right' and find it hard to belt out the beat the way they have come to expect it. Not an English or American song in sight (which I found quite refreshing!)

(The dancing, by the way, was always in couples, mostly 2 girls with one taking the lead, but when the guys joined in they were very good, both young and old. All in the hip movements, but pretty innocent, just dancing because they love it.)

[Grassie]

[quote name='geoham' timestamp='1409086660' post='2536272']
£200 four ways for 2.5 hours work on stage is a rough deal - especially taking waiting around and setup time. Saying that, if it's local and you can get in and out quickly, I suppose its a paid gig if nothing else!
[/quote]We're on the Isle of Wight - nowhere is more than 40 minutes away. Takes me 10-15 minutes door to door.

[MoJoKe]

[quote name='Grassie' timestamp='1409149106' post='2536838']
We're on the Isle of Wight - nowhere is more than 40 minutes away. Takes me 10-15 minutes door to door.
[/quote]

You're definitely under-selling yourselves then, the rest of us (and agents) have to factor in ferries and overnights to play on IoW!!

[Grassie]

[quote name='MoJoKe' timestamp='1409152097' post='2536875']
You're definitely under-selling yourselves then, the rest of us (and agents) have to factor in ferries and overnights to play on IoW!!
[/quote]Don't start me off about the ferries! Try living here...
There are very few venues here that are willing to pay £200 for a local band. Most pubs pay between £140 and £160, social clubs £180-£200. We as musicians don't have to factor in stuff like petrol (well, not too much), but it works the other way - if we want to do a gig on the "mainland" we would have to add on the cost of the ferry, which at this time of year is just horrendous. Example: just got back from a week in Turkey. Two weeks before we were due to fly out I looked on my preferred ferry operator's website - they wanted £77 each way for car, driver and two passengers. A friend of mine wanted a two night stay in Dorset, just her and her car, this bank holiday weekend just gone. Stiffed her for +£200. Pirates.

[Lozz196]

I don`t think some of these sorts of places actually know what live bands really are. A couple of years back we played at a football club for a mates wedding and the staff, when seeing our gear, were commenting on how loud it was going to be, and that "The Sex Pistols had turned up".

Bit bizzare, my vicious sidney looking days are well past.

[Bilbo]

I did one of these camps earlier this year (near Southend). Never again. All seemed pretty pointless - we didn't want to be there and they didn't want to watch us.

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1409224018' post='2537647']
... we didn't want to be there and they didn't want to watch us.
[/quote]

A match made in Hell.