Members New Trail Posted April 28, 2009 Members Share Posted April 28, 2009 One of the bands I play with is having problems. We're all geezors and I'm wondering if that may be the problem. We play a mix of blues/funk/classic rock with a lot of emphasis on guitars (think Allman Brothers playing 'Brick House' with lots of guitar solos) and THAT might be the problem since newer music has few actual solos. Our crowds have fallen off lately and I see fewer people our age at gigs. Most people that go out are 15-20 years younger than us, people that are not settled down and still want to get drunk and hook up. And that's fine, but I'm wondering if they can't relate to us. I see other newer (younger) bands doing better than us. My thoughts are (1) Break up this band and carry on with the others I play with (2) Re-tool with newer songs (some new stuff like Daughtry we CAN'T do because of the vocals so this ideas has limits) (3) Change the line-up of the band to add something new. It's a good band and everyone is talented but somethings off right now. Thanks for any thoughts you might have! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rhat Posted April 28, 2009 Members Share Posted April 28, 2009 One of the bands I play with is having problems. We're all geezors and I'm wondering if that may be the problem. We play a mix of blues/funk/classic rock with a lot of emphasis on guitars (think Allman Brothers playing 'Brick House' with lots of guitar solos) and THAT might be the problem since newer music has few actual solos. Our crowds have fallen off lately and I see fewer people our age at gigs. Most people that go out are 15-20 years younger than us, people that are not settled down and still want to get drunk and hook up. And that's fine, but I'm wondering if they can't relate to us. I see other newer (younger) bands doing better than us. My thoughts are (1) Break up this band and carry on with the others I play with (2) Re-tool with newer songs (some new stuff like Daughtry we CAN'T do because of the vocals so this ideas has limits) (3) Change the line-up of the band to add something new. It's a good band and everyone is talented but somethings off right now. Thanks for any thoughts you might have! Try to book at what i call geezer friendly gigs. the geezer demographic is a big one ,, but typically venues dont really know how to cash in on all these boomers. The biggest mistake they make is starting the band too late. Its sad because the older crowd,, has more money , time and an empty nest. They also tend to spend more if you are playing when they are spending. I worked a gig last winter that was targeted to the geezer crowd. The show started at 7pm... we were done by 10 to 10:30. The goal was to get them to eat dinner and have a few drinks and enjoy the music. It works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted April 28, 2009 Members Share Posted April 28, 2009 I have the same issue with the band I currently play with. They want to make every song an extended jam. One jam a set might be fine, but I prefer songs in the 3.5 minute range. Unless you're Satriani, no one wants to hear a 5 minute solo in 2/3 of your material...and even if you were Satriani, they probably wouldn't, not for four hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rvschulz Posted April 28, 2009 Members Share Posted April 28, 2009 the retargeting issue is key - most of my college aged children will listen to what i like, but not in a venue. the girls will not go there and the guys go where the girls are. i am attempting to reconnoiter my area to see what the different "live band" lounges attract - late night crowd of younger people, older people, earlier crowds. my 1st observation is a "decent act" will do okay, but different places have different denizens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Johnny_1Nut Posted April 28, 2009 Members Share Posted April 28, 2009 Hmmm, tough call. I'm not 'young' but I'm a youthful looking 31 year old. I enjoy and love to play these types of songs...Allmans being some of my favorite stuff ever. Never had a BAD reception to any of these either. The sad part being, I'm not sure if it's due to my looks or if it's because they actually like the music. People being reliably fickle, I can't honestly say...areas/people/venues being all different animals to a certain degree. Did a show a couple months back where a 23 year old girl BEGGED to for us to do One Way Out for her birthday. What kinds of clubs are you playing? What's the demographic like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MaxKincaide Posted April 28, 2009 Members Share Posted April 28, 2009 One of the bands I play with is having problems. We're all geezors and I'm wondering if that may be the problem. We play a mix of blues/funk/classic rock with a lot of emphasis on guitars (think Allman Brothers playing 'Brick House' with lots of guitar solos) and THAT might be the problem since newer music has few actual solos. Our crowds have fallen off lately and I see fewer people our age at gigs. Most people that go out are 15-20 years younger than us, people that are not settled down and still want to get drunk and hook up. And that's fine, but I'm wondering if they can't relate to us. I see other newer (younger) bands doing better than us. My thoughts are (1) Break up this band and carry on with the others I play with (2) Re-tool with newer songs (some new stuff like Daughtry we CAN'T do because of the vocals so this ideas has limits) (3) Change the line-up of the band to add something new. It's a good band and everyone is talented but somethings off right now. Thanks for any thoughts you might have! My .02... I would check out other bands that you feel the crowd does connect with, and notice what material they are playing. There is another thread on here about playing solos in a bar, and the general statements seem to be that unless the solo is "gimmicked" up...meaning that the solo is less about the solo and more about the show...not many people are going to connect. When playing a bar or venue where the main attraction is to hook up with other people and the music is mostly background, you have to consider what the goal is...is it to have people pay attention to your band and really dig your music, or is it to supply music for these people to dance to and just have a good time? Consider yourself a human jukebox if you play at a typical bar. Sure, people are going to crowd the stage to watch you play, but the majority of the people just want to hear tunes they can dance to and have a good time dancing to. My wife used to bartend at a dive bar a while back...and there used to be a band that would regularly play there. The singer would ask me to sing a couple of songs on occaision, and I wouldn't have a problem doing that...and sometimes I would get random people saying that they liked my singing, but generally, the crowd would't even notice that someone different was singing. The main thing is to stay in touch with what the majority of the crowd can connect with...and it's not necessarily an age thing. It's more of the music that they're looking to connect with. If your singer isn't able to sing the Daughtry stuff, consider playing it in a different key, or playing songs that you know the singer will be able to handle while still being popular with the crowd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ender_rpm Posted April 28, 2009 Members Share Posted April 28, 2009 Mebbe the classic rock, boomer friendly material has finally played out? One can hope anyway... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pickinatit Posted April 28, 2009 Members Share Posted April 28, 2009 I had my step-daughter poll her friends: What's your three favorite songs to dance to when you go out on a Friday or Saturday night. From a crowd of about 10 people that ranged in age from 23 to 30 she brought me back the results scribbled on napkins and little slips of paper. Of the top fifteen or so songs only two or three of them were written after 1985. No one was more surprised then me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members boomboomdrums Posted April 28, 2009 Members Share Posted April 28, 2009 I had my step-daughter poll her friends: What's your three favorite songs to dance to when you go out on a Friday or Saturday night. From a crowd of about 10 people that ranged in age from 23 to 30 she brought me back the results scribbled on napkins and little slips of paper. Of the top fifteen or so songs only two or three of them were written after 1985. No one was more surprised then me. I gotta know, was "Mustang Sally" or "Brown Eyed Girl" on the list? I'd put a crispy Benjamin on MS being one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MaxKincaide Posted April 28, 2009 Members Share Posted April 28, 2009 Is there no way to escape those God-forsaken songs??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ender_rpm Posted April 28, 2009 Members Share Posted April 28, 2009 I'd say "BEG" yes, "MS" no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rhat Posted April 28, 2009 Members Share Posted April 28, 2009 I'd say "BEG" yes, "MS" no. As bad as you dont wanna hear it or play it ,,, MS does out perform BEG when it comes to crowds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UMT Posted April 28, 2009 Members Share Posted April 28, 2009 Is there no way to escape those God-forsaken songs??? Yes, don't play the damn things! I don't. Anyhow, is it possible that your 'geezer band' is playing too many gigs in a small area? People are fickle and get bored quick these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GCDEF Posted April 28, 2009 Members Share Posted April 28, 2009 Is there no way to escape those God-forsaken songs??? Don't play them. Somebody asked us for Mustang Sally on Friday. We took Nancy Reagan's advice and just said no. I qualify as a geezer, albeit a fairly well preserved one. I've been playing in a band with younger female singer playing newer rock. We play a few of the classics, but it's a small part of the repertoire. This band is doing way better and gets a much better crowd response than any other band I've been in. It's way more fun too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rhat Posted April 28, 2009 Members Share Posted April 28, 2009 Don't play them. Somebody asked us for Mustang Sally on Friday. We took Nancy Reagan's advice and just said no.I qualify as a geezer, albeit a fairly well preserved one. I've been playing in a band with younger female singer playing newer rock. We play a few of the classics, but it's a small part of the repertoire. This band is doing way better and gets a much better crowd response than any other band I've been in. It's way more fun too. I played in a house jam night band on south padre island last winter. Someone requested margaritaville. The front guy said ,, I have played that song 4 nights a week for years ,and i will play it 4 nights next week,,,, this is jam night. sorry it aint gonna happen ,, everyone laughed in the crowd. The band gave a thumbs up. We did somthing by the stones instead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members boomboomdrums Posted April 28, 2009 Members Share Posted April 28, 2009 If Buddy Guy and Jeff Beck aren't "too good" to play "Mustang Sally", neither am I ... Ride Sally Ride Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SunRaFan Posted April 28, 2009 Members Share Posted April 28, 2009 We're all geezors and I'm wondering if that may be the problem. We play a mix of blues/funk/classic rock with a lot of emphasis on guitars (think Allman Brothers playing 'Brick House' with lots of guitar solos) and THAT might be the problem since newer music has few actual solos. The think that strikes me about this description is that it sounds like you are trying to appeal to everyone, rather than having a distinctive sound. People who are interested in jam band style music with lots of solos are not the same people who want to dance to 'Brick House'. Figure out what the band should be focusing on, and try to specialize in that. With all of the entertainment options available today, you need to be offering something that will really stand out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rockerdiva Posted April 28, 2009 Members Share Posted April 28, 2009 I'm surprised when people say there is no venue for "geezer" bands. Of course, I don't know if I'd personally call myself a geezer, but hey Around here, there are a whole lot of clubs that have bands with members from age 35 to 55, maybe older. These are the most popular bands and the most popular spots in town from 9:00- closing. I'd say average crowd member age is 40. When my band plays, we sometimes have people in their 60's and other times we have college age kids. The college age kids seem to like us fine, recognize all the tunes and they dance plenty. We do classic rock and we play it because we like it, period. I don't think it is old and worn out. Ages in our group: 49, 45, 37 and 33. The "baby" in our band, at age 33, loves Led Zep, the Beatles, Ozzy, The Who, Cream, Hendrix, Heart, Allman bros., etc.. All the bands around here with younger members either tend to play folk or bluegrass, or all originals ... and so of course, they don't work in the clubs that pack 'em in on the weekend. Does that make you think we have and old, dead scene? If so it doesn't matter, because I love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rockerdiva Posted April 28, 2009 Members Share Posted April 28, 2009 Mebbe the classic rock, boomer friendly material has finally played out? One can hope anyway... Well, I for one hope NOT! I'd have to do something else if that ever happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members New Trail Posted April 28, 2009 Author Members Share Posted April 28, 2009 .....I've been playing in a band with younger female singer playing newer rock....... Yes, new blood, especially new female blood may be the way to go. There are more chick fronted bands around here now than I can ever remember, and chicks can and will typically cover anything from Pink to Led Zeppelin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jeff42 Posted April 28, 2009 Members Share Posted April 28, 2009 The show started at 7pm... we were done by 10 to 10:30. The goal was to get them to eat dinner and have a few drinks and enjoy the music. It works. I would love to play a few of these shows especially on a friday night! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rhat Posted April 28, 2009 Members Share Posted April 28, 2009 I would love to play a few of these shows especially on a friday night! Go out and try to gin some up. Bike night gigs are all early shows and are mid week. Lake side watering holes are a good place for a sunset show/ early gig. I have seen alot of places start out with a solo or duo sunset show , then pump the duo up to a full band at 7 or 7:30 and start rockin. Boomers are in reality your most loyal live music fans ,, but you wont get them to do the 9pm to 1 am thing. Most look at a deal like that as ,, why bother... by the time the band starts its almost time to be headin out for home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Professor Tom Posted April 29, 2009 Members Share Posted April 29, 2009 In London the problem is getting older people to actually go out of the house to attend a gig in a bar. They all want a table to sit at, standing in a crowd and waiting for a drink is a turn off for most of them. You can get them to go out to see a big act at a big venue but smaller places forget it. Most of them would rather stay at home and watch DVD's on their big tv set and that's the truth. That is the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members THBv2.0 Posted April 29, 2009 Members Share Posted April 29, 2009 We're a geezer band and the trouble is finding places where our music goes over well. We do what we do very well, and won't compromise it for the sake of getting to play to younger audiences. There are plenty of places where we go over, it's just a matter of getting in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Consume Posted April 29, 2009 Members Share Posted April 29, 2009 Is there no way to escape those God-forsaken songs??? Nope.I think they have been genetically implanted in people's brains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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