Pub Gigs, where is it all going?

[ivansc]

Radio is the biggest culprit when it comes to restricted repertoire.

If all you listen to is radio, Chuck Berry only had 2 hits, Hall and Oates 1.
etc etc etc.

[steantval]

[quote name='gareth' timestamp='1483459336' post='3207294']
It's hard running a pub. Really hard.

It may help matters if bands were more sympathetic with landlords

I used to get the gigs for a very successful pub rock band.

If we were doing a new venue, I knew the landlord would be worried about what crowd we would bring. So I gave them two prices and let them decide what to pay us. Our normal gig fee would have been £400 then, so I'd agree with the landlord, if it was a good night pay us the £400, if not, pay us £200 or somewhere between the two that left him with a profit

I think if you try and see things from the landlords viewpoint, it will repay you in time with him giving you more gigs.

In other words don't gig for £400 with less punters in the pub than staff and expect to get booked again
[/quote]

The going rate for four piece bands around our area is £200 and some of the pubs moan about that price.
£400 for a pub gig in our area would be a no no.

[gareth]

[quote name='steantval' timestamp='1483561236' post='3208315']


The going rate for four piece bands around our area is £200 and some of the pubs moan about that price.
£400 for a pub gig in our area would be a no no.
[/quote]unfortnately I think that is confirmation that pub gigs are truly dying.

Why?

Because we were earning an average of £400 per gig 10 years ago, yes 10 years ago.

Sad, very sad

[grandad]

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1483524103' post='3207824']
There's a lot of laziness within musicians and a surprising lack of imagination.

How many of us have heard the 'but we don't have keyboards/drum machine/strings/brass so we can't play that song'?

Complete lack of imagination.
.
[/quote]

Yes, some of my fellow musicians seem to cling to the belief that they have to sound like the original. I like to employ a bit of license with tunes and come up with a new take which to my mind is what a 'cover' is.

Edited January 4, 2017 by grandad

[FinnDave]

Can't see the point of 'sounding like the original'. Might as well just play a record. Live music should bring something new even to such over-used songs like Mustang Sally.

[la bam]

I remember being 20 in the mid 90s when pub gigs and drinking was at its height. There was always a band on at a certain pub - youd stay and watch, have a drink and enjoy it, but the onus was being out with your mates. Apart from one band who played all the current indie stuff, who were like a breath of fresh air, and people deliberately went to watch them and stayed the night watching. Thats because they were relevant to the age group in the pub, stood out by playing something different, and were lucky enough to have a current genre of music that suited a band/guitar set up and had countless future classics within it. I dont want to sound old, but i dont see x2 sets worth of current music or chart that would inspire a guitar band to play them, entertain the crowd and sound amazing. Id struggle to name 10 current bands!

[TimR]

[quote name='la bam' timestamp='1483567000' post='3208404']
I remember being 20 in the mid 90s when pub gigs and drinking was at its height. There was always a band on at a certain pub - youd stay and watch, have a drink and enjoy it, but the onus was being out with your mates. Apart from one band who played all the current indie stuff, who were like a breath of fresh air, and people deliberately went to watch them and stayed the night watching. Thats because they were relevant to the age group in the pub, stood out by playing something different, and were lucky enough to have a current genre of music that suited a band/guitar set up and had countless future classics within it. I dont want to sound old, but i dont see x2 sets worth of current music or chart that would inspire a guitar band to play them, entertain the crowd and sound amazing. Id struggle to name 10 current bands!
[/quote]

That's because you're nearly 50 years old.

My kids are always playing tunes that would work in a live situation if you stripped out all the needless production.

I just need to find some people approaching 50 who aren't jaded and cynical.

[lojo]

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1483565788' post='3208387']
Can't see the point of 'sounding like the original'. Might as well just play a record. Live music should bring something new even to such over-used songs like Mustang Sally.
[/quote]

There's a place for everything , I love playing alternate versions but my main band does it's best to recreate 80s songs as best we can, I enjoy that process and the performing , and so do the crowds we play to.

[FinnDave]

[quote name='lojo' timestamp='1483567645' post='3208412']
There's a place for everything , I love playing alternate versions but my main band does it's best to recreate 80s songs as best we can, I enjoy that process and the performing , and so do the crowds we play to.
[/quote]

Fair point, and one I know that the tribute bands exploit very successfully. Personally, I prefer to never play anything the same way twice.

[TimR]

[quote name='lojo' timestamp='1483567645' post='3208412']


There's a place for everything , I love playing alternate versions but my main band does it's best to recreate 80s songs as best we can, I enjoy that process and the performing , and so do the crowds we play to.
[/quote]

I think if you have the manpower and technology and can do it well, that's great.

My point is more that you shouldn't feel limited to certain songs just because you cannot recreate the original recording on the instruments you do have.

[chris_b]

[quote name='la bam' timestamp='1483567000' post='3208404']
I remember being 20 in the mid 90s when pub gigs and drinking was at its height.
[/quote]
Ahh. . . youth!

You should have been there in the 60's, 70's and 80's. More gigs, girls and beer than was humanly possible to fit in.

But we gave it our best shot.

[Woodinblack]

[quote name='la bam' timestamp='1483567000' post='3208404']
Id struggle to name 10 current bands!
[/quote]

My dad would have struggled to name 10 current bands in the 80s/90s for the same reason, and it isn't because they aren't any.

[la bam]

Yes, but current music was being played in the pubs....it isn't now from what I see. The odd track, yes, but two sets of it?

[FinnDave]

I doubt that I could name one single 'top 20' band from the last 30 years, just not my sort of music, never has been.

[TimR]

[quote name='la bam' timestamp='1483633117' post='3208877']
Yes, but current music was being played in the pubs....it isn't now from what I see. The odd track, yes, but two sets of it?
[/quote]

Que: The rise of the female vocalist with pa and backing tracks.

[Lozz196]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1483464482' post='3207361']
Judging by the younger people I know going to the pub just isn't the done thing anymore.
[/quote]

Yep, the young-nation at my workplace all seem so sensible in comparison to how daft me and my mates were at their age. Every minute possible we spent in the pubs getting as langered as possible, but they seem to go out for a quiet drink once in a while.

[Happy Jack]

If mine are anything to go by, the competition from 183 channels of complete crap on cable TV [b]PLUS [/b]millions of aliens needing to be slaughtered on X-Box [b]PLUS [/b]hundreds of supposed 'friends' to interact with on Facebook pretty much wipe out their spare time.

Edited January 5, 2017 by Happy Jack

[leschirons]

[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]

Oh no, you mentioned "that" song. It's all down hill from now on😋

[leschirons]

[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]

Edited January 5, 2017 by leschirons

[Marvin]

There are an increasing number of bands chasing a decreasing audience.

[Phil Starr]

[quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1483686918' post='3209218']
There are an increasing number of bands chasing a decreasing audience.
[/quote]

That's kind of my point, though I think in reality what is happening is that the audience is decreasing a little faster than the number of bands. There's been a lot of long term covers bands disappearing round here too.

Part of the decline we can reasonably put down to the general decline of pubs and people going out to drink rather than staying at home. There's not much we as bands can do to stem that tide.

My belief however is that there is an innate conservatism in landlords about how music is booked and promoted, along with a similar conservatism in how many bands approach their music. There's absolutely nothing wrong with a bunch of 60+ musicians playing the songs of their youth to a small audience of other 60 year olds. I went to see a couple of mates playing in a blues band near Reading the other day and had a whale of a time with a small audience of people mainly my own age. It isn't the future however..... Last year in Edinburgh I caught a trad jazz band of 70+ musicians with an audience where I was one of the youngest there, good on them, I hope I'll be doing something similar.

If live music in pubs is to survive though then we need to get in new audiences to replace those that are dropping out. That means drawing in people who don't currently go for what we offer and ultimately we need to replace older audiences with younger ones. Now part of the solution is better selling of what we do. I doubt if most people even know there is free, good quality live music in a pub local to them. Neither we the bands, or the landlords/pubcos or breweries do any consistent marketing. Even then we need young people to come along or accept that our days of playing are numbered.

There are clearly people on here who love music but think there have been no decent songs written in the last 30 years. That's not news and I'm happy that they love what they do. It's not news either that none of us ever really grow up and inside this 60 year old there is still a kid that is surprised every time they look in a mirror. I'm playing with a bunch of 40/50 year olds who think all the best music was written in the 80's. The 40 year olds think the best music was from the 90's and so on.

The thing is that we all benefit if the pub had a good band in last week. A good show means that more people will come back next week, it will help pay the bills and keep the venue open. If a venue has good bands week after week, as some of the music pubs do, then when you get to play there is a ready made audience for you. Five consecutive weeks of same old, same old will convince most punters to stay away from that particular pub and kill the audience and ultimately the venue for all of us.

Edited January 6, 2017 by Phil Starr

[spongebob]

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!

[JapanAxe]

[quote name='spongebob' timestamp='1483695503' post='3209279']
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]

I expect they were trying to retain a certain clientele (double denim, shoulder-length hair etc...)

[PaulWarning]

[quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1483686918' post='3209218']
There are an increasing number of bands chasing a decreasing audience.
[/quote]agree with the deceasing audience (and Venues) not sure about the increasing bands though

[KevB]

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.