Spazmatics - Is this the new business model for cover bands?

[reaganomic6]

 

really? Cause it's been going on a very long time....

 

 

I originally thought this was some sort of photoshop gag. Upon further investigation, I realize that this is not the case. I listened to "holy diver", "enter sandman" and "smoke on the water" from said album. It's not to my liking at all. Some things are just best left undone.

 

Maybe next they could do a big band version of..........

 

HOOGIE BOOGIE LAND

 

for those who don't know

 

[KnottMusic]

Honestly, if you would have asked me a year ago if I thought playing cover songs to backing tracks to drunken college kids was lame, I might have said "Yes, very lame." But for the past year, I've been playing in a band exactly like this (the manager used to play in the Spazmatics and used them as his business model). But if I look at what I was doing before (working a 9-5 making half as much), then it's a really sweet gig. Musical integrity aside, it's a great job. I'm not gonna sit here and defend the integrity of a band like this... we're actors, and it's a job. Everyone that performs in RENT probably isn't a poor artist living in New York, but they sure do play that part. As an artist, you take what jobs are available. Point is, I could have a day job and be a musician by night. Or, I could be a professional musician Thursday, Friday & Saturday, and be a self-indulged amateur musician the rest of the week.


And the girls are spectacular...

[Nijyo]

we're actors, and it's a job. Everyone that performs in RENT probably isn't a poor artist living in New York, but they sure do play that part. As an artist, you take what jobs are available. Point is, I could have a day job and be a musician by night. Or, I could be a professional musician Thursday, Friday & Saturday, and be a self-indulged amateur musician the rest of the week. And the girls are spectacular...

 

Every good showman is an actor. Those who don't have a "stage personality" in music performance, I believe, either 1) have a substance abuse problem, or 2) are boring to watch.

[wallywanker]

Every good showman is an actor. Those who don't have a "stage personality" in music performance, I believe, either 1) have a substance abuse problem , or 2) are boring to watch.

 

 

that made me laugh...in principal, though, i agree, and i think that goes for original folks too, or any mix in between. it's like putting on a play to represent the story of each song...admittedly not everyone can take it the peter gabriel (show band example, not meant to be definitive) level, but you don't have to read in a monotone either...

[Austincowbell]

Honestly, if you would have asked me a year ago if I thought playing cover songs to backing tracks to drunken college kids was lame, I might have said "Yes, very lame." But for the past year, I've been playing in a band exactly like this (the manager used to play in the Spazmatics and used them as his business model). But if I look at what I was doing before (working a 9-5 making half as much), then it's a really sweet gig. Musical integrity aside, it's a great job. I'm not gonna sit here and defend the integrity of a band like this... we're actors, and it's a job. Everyone that performs in RENT probably isn't a poor artist living in New York, but they sure do play that part. As an artist, you take what jobs are available. Point is, I could have a day job and be a musician by night. Or, I could be a professional musician Thursday, Friday & Saturday, and be a self-indulged amateur musician the rest of the week. And the girls are spectacular...

You aren't in the Space Rockers are you? That's a band here in Austin started by one of the guys formally in the Spazmatics.

[awhites1]

alright...look. im not a musician at all. in fact i was bored and looking them up on google and stumbled across this thread. COME ON GUYS! yes its pop. I grew up hating w/ a passion backstreet and n sync and most anything they play on Kiss FM that was a top 10 billboard song but I grew up and sold out. Who cares, you guys act surprised that there is a successful band out there that is partly phony. It happens, get over it. They enjoy what they do and so do we the fans. Its dorky and dumb but its fun. and i didn't know they played tracks for there songs. that is a little disappointing and next time im watching them i'll be thinking they're a little phony but oh well. SPAZMATICS RULE!!!

[stomias]

There are dozens of Spasmatics and the like. Entertaining yes, would I do it....not so much.

[qcb79]

It really depends on how you're looking at it, music is the entertainment business. looking at it from a business perspective it's a brilliant idea. These guys are entertaining and they have a big draw. Do you think joe sixpack and his girl who are out to drink and have fun care what the band is using? they could care less as long as it's entertaining and it sound good.

 

would I quit my day job and do what they do night after night to make a decent living? hell yes I would.

[wheresgrant3]

I can tell you in the Northeast (which is the mecca for pop cover bands and entertainment) nobody's heard of them. Their bookings in NYC are sparse, probable corporate events and they don't look like they are in a position for A-list bookings. Probably does much better in other areas of the country. But near Philly, NYC and Boston this just doesn't really fly. There are way too many bands that trump them in terms of following, style and presentation.

[Janx]

thread necromancy...mmmm....

I suspect there's no reason that a band of real musicians could do what the spazmatics do. Make a big production out of playing songs.

It's pretty much that. Adding showmanship.

[Scafeets]

.... i didn't know they played tracks for there songs. that is a little disappointing and next time im watching them i'll be thinking they're a little phony but oh well. SPAZMATICS RULE!!!

 

Well, there you have it. A civilian -- like the ones who pay a cover charge to see us -- may or may not care that he's watching something that's one step removed from karaoke.

 

I got to experience the Spazzmatics as a Guy at the Bar, hanging out with my day-job team. The only other person among the 12 with me who noticed the phanton keyboards, extra guitar and drum tracks, including some solos, and several harmonized vocals was another musician among the group. We all had a great time and I have respect for the band as performers - not musicians.

 

I know a lot of guys on H-C get all riled up about pitch correction, backing tracks, harmonizers and (ugh) lip-synching; but that's the way of the world. We all have a different threshold ("...but I won't do that") and need to think in terms of what our audience would appreciate and/or tolerate.

 

For my band, that means using a Digitech VL4 on our one and only sax player. It makes him sound like a horn section and we use it a few times a night. We use it to harmonize girl-singer's voice on a few tunes to make it sound more like the record.

 

And I use a Roland guitar synth once in a while to add B3 sounds to my guitar.

 

Are we cheating? I think not; and the crowds love us.

[JailTime]

I hate 80's music, but you can't blame the business model. That's what folks want to see. Just not me.

[stratman77]

We had auditioned a guitarist one time.. He had played in a multitude of bands.. cruise ships, weddings,etc... He was the one we had selected out of the lot.. and so we had him come out for the first practice... he did well and then suggested that maybe if we wanted to make some good money.. that we become a tribute act or be like this band he saw in L.A.. the band was the Spazmatics...He said the place was packed and the were gigging constantly...Needless to say we didn't go in that direction...but he went in another direction...:poke:

[shce]

We had auditioned a guitarist one time.. He had played in a multitude of bands.. cruise ships, weddings,etc... He was the one we had selected out of the lot.. and so we had him come out for the first practice... he did well and then suggested that maybe if we wanted to make some good money.. that we become a tribute act or be like this band he saw in L.A.. the band was the Spazmatics...He said the place was packed and the were gigging constantly...Needless to say we didn't go in that direction...but he went in another direction...:poke:

 

 

The Spazmatics? You didn't tell me THAT...

[the $7 monkey]

this enrages me to no end!

[cephus]

I hate 80's music, but you can't blame the business model. That's what folks want to see. Just not me.

A bass player friend of mine, unmarried with no kids, is looking for a money band and he sends me links to their ads and band websites. It's funny that these really cool, hip bands play pretty much the exact setlist that the band I was in used in 1989 or '90. And some of the songs are extremely {censored}ty. I saw 3 cover bands that had summer of '69 on their setlist. WTF?

I think that reinforces my belief that popular music devolved from about that point on. There are a few exceptions where some band from the 90s or later actually had a hit that actually had a guitar solo in it. But for the most part, from that point on, the crowds would rather have heard the DJ play the recording than a band try and reproduce it.

I feel fortunate to have been a working musician back in that golden age where everyone onstage had to play keyboards. And the "keyboard player" had to have 3 or 4 very specific brands/models in order to recreate the record. Real stompboxes and amps. Soundcheck was at least a half hour of bass drum. Playing the "clap track" through an entire petshop boys song because there was no guitar on it. Leaving the backbeats out of the drum program so the drummer had something to do all night. Light rig with one orange extension cord for every par can on the stand running back to the homemade lightboard controlled by the soundman's brother-in-law.

In my own defense, I never played a gig wearing parachute pants. I had them. I just never gigged in them.

[dogtownmax]

 

... It's funny that these really cool, hip bands play pretty much the exact setlist that the band I was in used in 1989 or '90. And some of the songs are extremely {censored}ty. I saw 3 cover bands that had summer of '69 on their setlist. WTF? I think that reinforces my belief that popular music devolved from about that point on. There are a few exceptions where some band from the 90s or later actually had a hit that actually had a guitar solo in it. But for the most part, from that point on, the crowds would rather have heard the DJ play the recording than a band try and reproduce it. ...

 

 

yeah. either music just stopped being good, _or_... cover bands became boring classic rock retreads that couldnt compete with someone just playing the cd of the original track.

 

personally, i have heard lots of great music over the last twenty years, and yet, i seem to have little desire to hear cover versions of anything, especially "summer of '69".

 

maybe cover bands have become tedious? i mean, if i really need to hear some oldies, i can just play them on my ipod. if i go out to see live music, i want to hear something new.

[B Money]

if i go out to see live music, i want to hear something new.

 

 

you're the exception, not the rule. The vast majority of people are not musicians, and they definitely do not want to hear something new. They want to hear songs from their youth and maybe some current stuff thrown in so they don't feel too old. There's nothing wrong with that.

 

FWIW: I'm like you. If I go out to hear a live band, I want to hear something new, and experience some great musicianship. I just don't think the average plumber really cares about that

[Scafeets]

 

you're the exception, not the rule. The vast majority of people are not musicians, and they definitely do not want to hear something new. They want to hear songs from their youth and maybe some current stuff thrown in so they don't feel too old. There's nothing wrong with that. FWIW: I'm like you. If I go out to hear a live band, I want to hear something new, and experience some great musicianship. I just don't think the average plumber really cares about that

 

 

+1

Cover bands entertain the civilians. Always did and always will. I learned this the hard way when I converted my cover band to all originals in (yes) 1969.

If you think the stuff cover bands have to play now is a dung-heap, think about trying to entertain some 28-year-old white guy who graduated high school in 1958.

Fortunately, we found an outlet for our originals by becoming a regional opening act to big-name artists in concert. But we still kept our cover song set list together to play clubs -- because that crowd got borderline hostile when you played stuff they never heard before.

BMoney is right. A good cover band mixes classic rock with enough mega-hit current stuff to not make the crowd feel like they're friggin' fossils.

[wheresgrant3]

I have to ask... because this thread just keeps resurfacing... is this franchise of bands taking away any gigs from anyone? In the Northeast Boston-NYC-Philly... they barely exists against the tide of good earning coverbands. To me they are just a theatrical show... like Tony & Tina's wedding. The most I could see them play are a few gigs in Manhatten... and considering what NYC bars are willing to pay.. they can have that market.

[ned911]

The poster above that claimed to be in a costume band is a fledgling franchise, the production company has 2 or 3 costume bands that play in Austin. Frankly they are horrible and here's why:

 

1) If you have to continually explain what the costumes are throughout the night then they are crap. It should be obvious to the casual audience member what they are. For example 1 person is a cross between PacMan and Sonic the Hedgehog -WTF, how would anyone know this.

 

2) If you remove the backing tracks neither of these bands could perform 95% of the material. Backing tracks should augment what you're doing.

 

3) A whole lot of Milli Vanilli going on. On one of the bands I noticed the guitar player was singing yet no IEM's or wedge. When I asked him how he was monitoring he said he wasn't. I also heard lead vocals in the backing tracks when the singer stopped "singing" during sound check.

 

These bands are getting the premium venues. 1 actually draws a crowd the empties the bar. Both bands have song lists that a majority of the crowd didn't know.

 

Short answer was - yes we are losing out to these costume, choreography, backing track, milli vanilli bands and it pisses me off.

[wheresgrant3]

The poster above that claimed to be in a costume band is a fledgling franchise, the production company has 2 or 3 costume bands that play in Austin. Frankly they are horrible and here's why: 1) If you have to continually explain what the costumes are throughout the night then they are crap. It should be obvious to the casual audience member what they are. For example 1 person is a cross between PacMan and Sonic the Hedgehog -WTF, how would anyone know this. 2) If you remove the backing tracks neither of these bands could perform 95% of the material. Backing tracks should augment what you're doing. 3) A whole lot of Milli Vanilli going on. On one of the bands I noticed the guitar player was singing yet no IEM's or wedge. When I asked him how he was monitoring he said he wasn't. I also heard lead vocals in the backing tracks when the singer stopped "singing" during sound check. These bands are getting the premium venues. 1 actually draws a crowd the empties the bar. Both bands have song lists that a majority of the crowd didn't know. Short answer was - yes we are losing out to these costume, choreography, backing track, milli vanilli bands and it pisses me off.

 

 

What's interesting is that in Austin (considered a Mecca for quirky bands and original music) a band like this exists and possibly thrives. Yet in the Northeast, where the original music scene has been largely dead for over a decade, and coverbands have a much broader selection of clubs to choose from, they barely exist.

 

Maybe if you live in a market with a thriving original music scene, the Spazmatics become the alternative to anything and everything creative.

[poptopunderdog]

Maybe if you live in a market with a thriving original music scene, the Spazmatics become the alternative to anything and everything creative.

 

 

I think you nailed it. Around here there are so many originals bands that take themselves so seriously. It's fun to see a quirky cover band that more concerned about you having a good time. Also, Austin has a pretty large hipster scene that takes delight in all things retro & unapologetically absurd.

 

I prefer a really good originals band. But I also like to have a good time and take the wife somewhere she'll recognize the music and dance. There's room for both around here.

[ned911]

I love a good cover band but I want to see a band play the songs. The Spazmatics and other costume cover bands are actors not musicians. Without backing tracks there would be no music, these aren't track to fill out the sound these are tracks that provide almost the entire music.

 

They should be required to post a sign on the door when they play stating "Most parts of this performance are pre-recorded".

[Hegmatronicon]

They should be required to post a sign on the door when they play stating "Most parts of this performance are pre-recorded".

 

 

You assume 99% of ppl care.

 

They don't.

 

We do....but they don't.