Backstage With the Band

[TIMKEYS]

Originally Posted by guido61

That's just it. While the economy may have contributed to the particular reason this one girl took the "aged out" path she did, she'd likely have aged out of the scene regardless.

The real question is: where are the replacement fans? Are they staying home? Or going out and doing other things? Are they not going out to see bands at all? Or just not the bands that are also aging out of certain scenes as well?

When the economy gets tight , people tend to shift to house parties. drinking is cheaper , they can get high, and they are typically not at ground zero for DUI. When couples have start having a family , they tend to gather with friends who are in the same boat and party at home. We have seen our spring breaks down here get smaller and smaller over the last few years. I would guess a lot of kids just go back to the home town and party with their friends from other schools at someones rented house or apt.

[SpaceNorman]

Originally Posted by wheresgrant3

I also think the economy is finally taking it's toll on the under 30 crowd. ...going out and blowing through $100-200 on a weekend doesn't have the same appeal. And the bars are freaking expensive.

You hit the nail on the head. In this economy - folks have cut back on bar nights in a BIG way. ...and when they do go out, more and more they're congregating at local shot and beer joints. Couple that with DUI risk ... and it's no surprise that bar patronage is down.

[mstreck]

And we just lost another room tonight - a restaurant/bar in a casino - they've cut live entertainment due to constraints by the casino in addition to corporate budget cuts, so we won't be playing the show we had scheduled there on Saturday. Or ever.

[Piano Whore]

My group is in the middle of a 2-week lull, then 3 consecutive weekends + NYE at the same club, then the following Fri at another popular club. But after that who knows.The guitar player may have to bail because of his work schedule, and the club owner is not yet committed to using us as much for '013, anyway.

Couldn't negotiate the usual doubled pay for NYE, which sucks, but we get alot of decently-paid work there during the year so it comes out in the warsh.

[stratotastic]

Originally Posted by mstreck

And we just lost another room tonight - a restaurant/bar in a casino - they've cut live entertainment due to constraints by the casino in addition to corporate budget cuts, so we won't be playing the show we had scheduled there on Saturday. Or ever.

Sux. We're in a similar boat with rooms closing up or "changing things up" regarding live music. It's affected us directly via cancellations, but also indirectly by squeezing us out of places because bigger bands in the area (feeling the same squeeze) are now slumming it playing more in the rooms a band like ours usually plays in. Really hoping for some kind of turnaround here!

[wheresgrant3]

Originally Posted by guido61

I get what you're saying about the economy and such, but odds are pretty good that regardless of what path this girl's life took, she'd probably not still be hanging out front and center for some band in a bar at age 28.

Dave... you really don't know the NY/NJ band scene very well. Woman do not have an expiration date when it comes to cover bands... well at least until menopause hits. LOL The rule is woman remain up front and center until they die or get married. LOL...

Seriously... we have women all ages who stand in front and make complete fools of themselves. Most are over 30. There's a different dynamic here in the east. Age is not that much of a barrier. People don't age out of the singles/party scene as much as they 'opt' out. Most couples don't marry until their early to mid 30's. Those that do are usually seperated and divorced by the same time. So the woman on the scene (and there are alot of them) are usually #1- single, unattached with no long term romantic prospects. #2- Mom's who's kids are of baby sitting age (usually 8-15) who leave their tired husbands at home, pile in a mini van, get drunk on red wine and sing along with the band all night. It's why we exist really.

All jokes aside... my point does have some legs. The girl I spoke about has friends that still come out to see us... they are teachers, working professionally, living independently and working for the weekend. The girl working the dinner shift at The Hut is stuck there until 11pm, while her friends are sipping cosmo's at 7pm for 'girls night'. My point is there's a big portion of people in their late 20's who haven't moved forward. It's one thing if you are successfully employed and using the weekends to hold onto youth. It's another feeling altogether if you haven't left 'dorm life' and you're friends are moving forward but you are not. You tend to want to stay home, pull a blanket over your head and watch Lifetime movies surrounded by cats. (I'm not speaking from experience... just pure speculation ).

[wades_keys]

Originally Posted by TIMKEYS

When the economy gets tight , people tend to shift to house parties. drinking is cheaper , they can get high, and they are typically not at ground zero for DUI. When couples have start having a family , they tend to gather with friends who are in the same boat and party at home. We have seen our spring breaks down here get smaller and smaller over the last few years. I would guess a lot of kids just go back to the home town and party with their friends from other schools at someones rented house or apt.

When people are continually told that the economy is a mess, they tend to spend less across the board. This has been shown time and time again through studies. It's because we feel an obligation to "help" the situation, and the only way "we" can do this is to spend less.

Individuals are rarely in tune with economic indicators anyway: our perspective is more one of personal finance. So I'm not arguing with you: I'm just pointing out some observable behavior that occurs when people are told that the economy is "bad".

[jeff42]

I will say this. It is harder and harder to get more cash from bar owners. We are lucky since we are cheaper than your average full band (by a little bit) This IMO makes us an option. If my full band was still trying to gig every month I think we would have a hard time making the money we did just 2 years ago. Even then the few places we did play regularly all made cuts in live music, we survived it but in at least two places we did take a small cut.

A band in my area that has played several times a week and has been around for 20 years has scaled back their gigs lately. I look on their schedule and where it used to be 4 or 5 gigs a week its now only 2 and sometimes 3.

[WynnD]

Got 6 gigs this December. Things always seem to slow down in the first quarter of the new year.

[mstreck]

I took a look at 24 different venues that we have played since 2008 to try to figure out why we're now struggling to fill our calendar. Of those 24, we are currently playing four of them year-round and two during the summer season. Four others have closed, six no longer hire bands, four are not our target demographic, three only pay the door, and one is just way too far of a drive for the same amount of money that we can make at home. The fishbowl is definitely shrinking.

[SpaceNorman]

My schedule for next year is starting to come together nicely. Between my various projects - I've got a solid 3 nights a month booked through April ... and there's certain to more added during this same time frame. The act that I've long considered my "showcase" project is facing a serious challenge from my new project - both in terms of musical quality as well in terms of show quality. The new project has the added plus of actually wanting to work more than once a month!

The new project is coming together in a BIG way in terms of sound and show ... the only question is whether or not we can get the $$ to the right spot. Right now we're gigging as an eight piece (bass, drums, guitar, keys, sax, trombone, trumpet and female vocalist). We moved to being an eight piece with our eyes open - and making a conscious decision to accept a little less money individually - in order to get the horns up to speed and the show tight (we're essentially considering it an investment in "product development"). Crowd response and return bookings are certainly headed in the right direction ... but as is often the case, the corresponding $$ aren't breaking any records. It's improving - but not as fast as we would like. I'm just hoping that we're able to hold it together until the $$ catch up as well.

While it ain't exactly raining $$ on the new project - I'll be damned it I can remember when I've had more fun or been more excited about playing than I am with this new project! ... and at the moment that's worth more than the $$$.

[mstreck]

Originally Posted by SpaceNorman

While it ain't exactly raining $$ on the new project - I'll be damned it I can remember when I've had more fun or been more excited about playing than I am with this new project! ... and at the moment that's worth more than the $$$.

I can't speak for the others in the band, but I feel the same way. Adding more modern pop - and playing keys on both old and new songs - has given me a renewed energy for this. The downside is that I can't spend quite as much time focused on the behind-the-scenes business aspect of the band like I could in the past - and I think we could benefit from some more of that since things are pretty slow right now.

[SpaceNorman]

Originally Posted by mstreck

Adding more modern pop - and playing keys on both old and new songs - has given me a renewed energy for this.

For me, it's the addition of the horn section. The members of this project are all in their 50's and 60's - and while we've got some new stuff in our playlist - we're never going to be living and loving the cutting edge. We don't draw a 20..something crowd (although, many of the 20..somethings that have heard us come back regularly!) However, with the addition of the horns - we're seeing tunes that would have been considered "filler" in the past take on a vibrancy of their own. (Our horn players are all high school band director types - school trained, experienced - and filled with an enthusiasm that only high school band directors seem to have. Bottom line is - they're pretty damn good!) While we do pretty well with the dance floor at our gigs - what is really surprising me is the enthusiastic response we get to virtually every song from the folks aren't dancing! With eight pieces - we get to explore lots of cool rhythms and counter-melodies in the material we're doing - and we're playing "big". There are times where it feels more like I'm playing a concert than a bar gig.

Like I said - I can't remember ever having this much fun with music!

[tlbonehead]

Late fall-mid spring is our busiest time.