Members cappttenron Posted August 5, 2014 Members Share Posted August 5, 2014 This is for people who were alive in the 70s and 80s. It seems to me there are less and less venues that are capable/willing and big enough to support at least regional acts. Please give me your opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Axisplayer Posted August 5, 2014 Members Share Posted August 5, 2014 Generally true from what I see. In the 70s/80s we had a good number, then it bottomed out around 2000 around here. Since then, it appears to be coming back a little, but far from the original level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted August 5, 2014 CMS Author Share Posted August 5, 2014 1. Costs are too high to make money in a venue that's not at or near capacity for every event. Liability insurance is way more costly now than back then.2. People generally aren't interested in going out live events as much as they used to be. There are a lot more entertainment options today that compete with live music.3. Music in general seems to be less popular as an entertainment option. I see a lot of comments stating that the overall quality of bands and music is way down. As an aside I have to wonder how much of this is due to audio quality issues related to production techniques...digital sound, too much low end, way too much compression, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cappttenron Posted August 5, 2014 Author Members Share Posted August 5, 2014 There was a fantastic venue in DC called the Bayou here for quite sometime and even little feat with Lowell George played there. Still miss that place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shaster Posted August 5, 2014 Members Share Posted August 5, 2014 Besides all the issues with the music industry, I think a lot of these venues have gone by the wayside because of real estate costs. With a few exceptions, I'm seeing fewer large optimally laid out venues, and more smaller, oddly shaped rooms. Prices in Vancouver are so high, I can't imagine the lease on a place big enough to accommodate regional or former A level acts. We still have the Commodore and smaller soft seaters, but it's down from what it used to be in the old days. The casinos, with their considerable non music cash flow, have basically taken up much of the slack. Bands like The Doobie Brothers, Tower of Power, Chicago, BB King, and even Ringo Starr have all played the casinos around town. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted August 6, 2014 Members Share Posted August 6, 2014 Casinos... legally spending other people's money... a lot easier than spending your own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cappttenron Posted August 6, 2014 Author Members Share Posted August 6, 2014 Personally I don't understand why people get so excited about playing games rigged for them to lose. After going to Vegas 3 times for business I have no desire to go there again. Atlantic City is even much worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mshifflett Posted August 6, 2014 Members Share Posted August 6, 2014 It seems like people don't put as much work and pride in to their craft these days. Many of the people we mix for around here just seem like thrown together groups of musicians, not bands in the sense that they should be. This of course is a domino effect as more of them are around, more people don't want to spend money to go see them. The venues can get duped so easily these days with technology as readily available as it is. Anyone can make a great sounding demo and then show up only to stink the place up. It just spirals from there it seems. That's how it seems around here anyway. And like Craig mentioned, there is so much entertainment that can be brought to people instead of bringing them to the entertainment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Axisplayer Posted August 6, 2014 Members Share Posted August 6, 2014 There was a fantastic venue in DC called the Bayou here for quite sometime and even little feat with Lowell George played there. Still miss that place. I sat side stage beside Randy California and watched Spirit play. One of my best nights ever, out of 61 years of pretty good ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JIM683 Posted August 6, 2014 Members Share Posted August 6, 2014 our area has lost several venues over the years, but we do still have one. It is open in the middle of the venue and only operates during the spring-fall. It brings in a lot of regional and some national acts. The Winery Dogs played there this year among others, the place was packed and was by far the best show to come to the venue. Each year, the acts keep getting bigger and bigger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pro Sound Guy Posted August 6, 2014 Members Share Posted August 6, 2014 Everything was different before MTV took a huge dive and rammed out trash music and called it great. The music scene used to be quite different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted August 7, 2014 CMS Author Share Posted August 7, 2014 Everything was different before MTV took a huge dive and rammed out trash music and called it great. The music scene used to be quite different. With schools cutting out music programs, I don't see it getting any better. My daughter moved with her mother to FL last year. Here in PA her school system had a good music program, but there's none down there. Plenty of money for brand new football gear and stadium, however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cappttenron Posted August 7, 2014 Author Members Share Posted August 7, 2014 Sorry to hear that Craig. Even worse music is what helps some stay interested in school just like sports. Florida has no income tax so your tax dollars are at work. I'm sure they can support prisons in Florida though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pro Sound Guy Posted August 9, 2014 Members Share Posted August 9, 2014 If they are taking music out of schools then its up to us (me) to make sure my son is exposed to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pro Sound Guy Posted August 9, 2014 Members Share Posted August 9, 2014 What I mean is exposed to instruments etc.Classical musicGood music Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dogoth Posted August 9, 2014 Members Share Posted August 9, 2014 Casinos... legally spending other people's money... a lot easier than spending your own. Some of them are cheapening out on their "live" entertainment budgets too (ahem - ahem :-). Yes I agree there are fewer and fewer venues that will pay a decent wage for decent talent. This is (as pointed out) making for far more mediocre talent in general (without incentive.........). It's not purely the venue's fault as people are less discriminating and would rather go cheap (We're living in a world of mediocre Wal-Mart junk (which includes music)). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pro Sound Guy Posted August 9, 2014 Members Share Posted August 9, 2014 Yea thats perfect. MTV introduced Walmart music to American kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Audiopile Posted August 9, 2014 Members Share Posted August 9, 2014 ~~Complex subject if I may say so myself:Complex from many standpoints. One being that the baby boomer generation, like their forefathers still seems to value (support financially) live entertainment, but the baby boomer generation's forefathers (WWII generation) have largely passed on and the baby boomer generation doesn't want to go home bleeding after a night on the town. The X generation is seemingly pacified with reminiscing their generation's grunge, and the Y generation is satisfied with couch surfing to pitch corrected pop for free. In light of that, viable live entertainment venues seemingly have changed since the '70's. Current viable performance opportunities seem to be either mega events or peaceful gatherings at Wifi hookup hole in the walls... and not much in-between. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dogoth Posted August 9, 2014 Members Share Posted August 9, 2014 Yea thats perfect. MTV introduced Walmart music to American kids. Exactly. It works and appears great right out of the box but it doesn't last long because it's foundation (real talent) is weak. Could you imagine having a career as a modern rock star, knowing that you couldn't sing your hit song in public without a huge technical support team. How could you look at yourself in the mirror? I guess that bank statement on the dresser is enough distraction :-). Mark, I like it. It IS about demographics and what we've been brought up to expect (or acccept :-). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cappttenron Posted August 9, 2014 Author Members Share Posted August 9, 2014 When I was in school our number one goal (besides getting laid) was to go out and see live music. Surprisingly back then some really good acts would go up and down the Interstate 81 college circuit. I saw Muddy Waters, Bonnie Riatt, REM and many fun new wave and punk acts like the Romantics in venues that didn't hold more than 500 people. Even our school would bring in some bigger acts, one I remember in particular was the Bus boys warming up for the Stray Cats. That was a classic example of the warm up band ( The Bus Boys) blowing away the main act. I have always loved seeing a great band in a smaller venue. One place that is still keeping the tradition alive is the Birchmere in Alexandria VA. Last show I saw there was Los Lobos but have seen many great and talented acts there. I think many younger people cram as much music as they can in their Iphones at the lowest resolution. Hi Fi is becoming a lost art. Glad I grow up when I did! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gordon Sound Posted August 10, 2014 Members Share Posted August 10, 2014 The young girls mostly prefer dj's in my area. Most band going people are 40+ and usually want to be going home by midnight. Additionally Casinos are willing to pay more money for acts. Back in the 80's you could get Say Blue oyster cult for a few thousand, now its in the tens of thousands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Audiopile Posted August 11, 2014 Members Share Posted August 11, 2014 The young girls mostly prefer dj's in my area. Most band going people are 40+ and usually want to be going home by midnight. Additionally Casinos are willing to pay more money for acts. Back in the 80's you could get Say Blue oyster cult for a few thousand, now its in the tens of thousands. Additionally, I suggest it seems to me that the few bands left playing in the area are for the most-part "pretty good" or better. And they're seemingly comprised of performers who have a decade, or typically decades of experience. It's pretty rare I see anyone 30-something or under yo. on stage. I started performing professionally in my teens. The first band I played in, we started out playing school dances, class reunions, and fairly quickly got into the club circuit. And we were "awful"... well not "truly awful"... we weren't the worst out there, but "close" (in the beginning). But playing 2 - 3 nights a week, 50+ weekends a year, we got "better"... and there was plenty of opportunity... we were always booked solid. Awhile ago I added it up: In the local college town where I lived there was 18 venues that had live music every weekend... many of those venues did live music 5 or more nights a week. Currently in that same college town, there's one live music venue... and that one venue mostly runs "tour bands".... very few local's are offered a performance opportunity on that stage. Back in the '90's, working shows, I started seeing (dealing with) musicians/bands that had been "playing together for years"... maybe even had a couple CD's out, and they're "out on tour" with a schedule of some upscale events, and "this show" was the first time some or possibly all of those musicians in the band had ever performed live in-front of an audience. Another interesting thing is frequently (lately), when performing, we're playing to multi-generation crowds. Mom's and dad's (or grandma's and grandpa's) will be accompanied by their kids (or grand kids), and will come up to the band during break or after the show and thank us... ask where we're playing in the area in the future... ask if we have a website/facebook page, CD, etc... and the "kids", who oftentimes might be in the 20's or 30's, will often comment "this is the first time they've seen a real live band play".... and sometimes ask something to the effect of "So you actually played all that stuff?"... like they ain't believing that there wasn't any backing tracks or ??? and that we weren't lipsyncing or air-guitar or ??? some or most of the performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Axisplayer Posted August 11, 2014 Members Share Posted August 11, 2014 Mark, that is truly sad. I feel like I should say something pithy, and there are just no words for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted August 11, 2014 CMS Author Share Posted August 11, 2014 This weekend I attended a party that featured a live band. The members were two sisters on guitar and bass, and their dad on the keyboards. It was several hours in when a few people commented to be that they seemed to lack a certain "energy" (they had various ways of expressing this), and when I pointed out that there was no drummer and that the tracks were just a tad too slow for the original tempos, everyone to a person looked on stage and said, "really? nobody is drumming?" People don't really see much, and generally don't understand what they do see, on a stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Audiopile Posted August 12, 2014 Members Share Posted August 12, 2014 Mark, that is truly sad. I feel like I should say something pithy, and there are just no words for that. Stuart: I didn't mean or even think about my post being "sad"... rather it was just an observation... a comment on the changing scenery out my windshield. As well: I remember the only constant is "change". I believe sometime around the time Elvis and Hank "changed everything", both of them were simply a kid with a guitar and both went to the top of the charts over the complex "big band" thing that had been entrenched for awhile and ruled up till then. Ok... flash forward a generation or so... and The Beatles (and others) did the same thing. Flash forward a generation or so and Nirvana did the same thing. I'll suggest the next generation is taking awhile to rise to the surface, but dang there's some great stuff out there... as good as good gets. It's out there... energy can't be created or destroyed. I saw Shooter Jennings some-odd months ago in a little N. Idaho club that maybe holds 300 standing room... frikken great show, great performers. One of my bandmates recently returned from a Paul Thorn show in a "near-by" Eastern WA. venue... probably 200 - 300 attendance capacity show... great show out in the middle of nowhere. Last summer Sister Sparrow was on a local stage... absolutely great stuff... similar to Amy Winehouse but with a grunge edge and original (to my ear)... nothing less than stunning. The other day ago we were playing a gig... and as is the usual case after a short break: "Where's our drummer?" (nowhere to be seen cause he's in the john).... seconds tick by (which might as well be hours when on stage and covering for "where's the entertainment?"... after-all we're getting paid full dollars per hour to perform!) So we kicked a GD tune, "Friend of the Devil"... don't need no drummer for that... 10 - 15 seconds into the song some youngster from the crowd (who was out on vacation out west from Virgrina) wandered up... sat down at the drums and knocked the drum part for the song out of the park. I'll suggest: "It's out there"... energy can't be created or destroyed. It is out there... it likely always has been out there and likely always will... I guess it depends on where you look and what year or decade it is as to what seems apparent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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