Members New Trail Posted October 4, 2006 Members Share Posted October 4, 2006 I KNOW this subject has been done to death so I apologize. I am in a 5-piece "Classic Rock". We're all geezers FWIW! Anyway, two of us want to try to get a good dancing crowd (dancing = more drinking = happy bar owners = more gigs = more money = happy band) and play the good dancing songs, most of which have been done to death and can sometimes be boring. The other three want to do "challenging" music with little or no interest in playing to the crowd! One of the guys even went so far as to say that he "would rather play to that one guy sitting in the back who gets it" rather than a bunch of dancing girls." So far our songlist is a mish-mash of a little of both, but not enough of anything. I like challenging music too, but I think I know what it takes to be a successful bar band, and I don't like being unsuccessful, especially when I see other local bands who might not be as individually talented having more success simply because of their song selection. You might think it surprising that we're a band at all, but we've all know each other forever and have all been in bands together before. This newest configuration has been together over 3 years now. We all like each other and for the most part get along great. There are no ego problems and no alpha males. Any thoughts on what might be seen as a new "compromise" direction for us? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Thundercranium Posted October 4, 2006 Members Share Posted October 4, 2006 You're right, your bandmates are wrong. IMHO opinion you should always play for the crowd. Especially if you're a cover band. You might suggest to your bandmates that you play the occasional gig where you whip out the less accessible material; maybe at a gig where you're not getting paid well and have no interest in repeating at the venue. You might also want to consider offering to play for free someplace once in a while strictly for the purpose of wanking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roy Brooks Posted October 4, 2006 Members Share Posted October 4, 2006 One thing you could do is learn enough "dance numbers" to play a whole night doing nothing but that. And then learn enough progressive things to do a whole night of nothing but that. It could be done and might not take that much work especially since y'all already have some tunes worked up. Or you could make your dance numbers more progressive or make your progressive numbers more danceable or both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Beachbum Posted October 4, 2006 Members Share Posted October 4, 2006 Originally posted by New Trail One of the guys even went so far as to say that he "would rather play to that one guy sitting in the back who gets it" rather than a bunch of dancing girls." It're more like playing to that one guy sitting in the back that 'likes it'. I'm sure you guys will find a compromise, my own personal preference is playing to/for the majority. Possibly saving the lesser known 'challenging' songs for when the audience is sparse? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Blackbelt1 Posted October 4, 2006 Members Share Posted October 4, 2006 If you don't care about the crowd, don't play for one. Stay in the living room or garage and have fun. Nothing wrong with that. But if you're going to play before a crowd, you are there to entertain the crowd, and must therefore play to the crowd. ~Blackbelt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GCDEF Posted October 4, 2006 Members Share Posted October 4, 2006 If you want to keep working, play the crowd. Personally, I like performing so I'll play the crowd. If you just want to be a wanker, why try and do it in front of people that don't care? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members squealie Posted October 4, 2006 Members Share Posted October 4, 2006 Originally posted by New Trail so far as to say that he "would rather play to that one guy sitting in the back who gets it" I honestly used to feel the same way. Untlil I realized that what I was really thinking was... 'people are stupid, I only care about the .000001% who think exactly like me think. I'm too cool for the rest of the sheep'. Now, in my golden-years, I realize that... 'people are stupid, and so am I. Music in a club is a stupid thing to worry about, and it really only exists as a temporary diversion from the uber-mundane and silly existance that we're all going back to on Monday'. It's still cool to suprise an audience with something off the beaten path. But intentionally playing 'over their heads' aint gonna make anybody happy. Look at artists like Al Dimeola, or Dream Theater.... awesome talent with rabid fans.... but do you really want to play for that kind of audience? I sure as hell don't. Give me a bar full of socially-loobricated MILFs anyday.... which is why I'm gonna learn Honky-Tonk-badonkadonk, for when TK kicks me out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BndGrl Posted October 4, 2006 Members Share Posted October 4, 2006 Originally posted by New Trail "would rather play to that one guy sitting in the back who gets it" rather than a bunch of dancing girls." That doesn't pay very well. Eventually you'd only be playing to that one guy in his basement, all alone. Which is kinda creepy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ChordGirl Posted October 4, 2006 Members Share Posted October 4, 2006 Pay attention to the crowd. You can play a less in-demand song, but if a lot of the crowd starts moving to the bar or bathroom or starts to talk to each other about leaving, don't follow it by another song that will make them decide to go somewhere else. That's the only compromise I can see, although I personally try to keep the people hooked as much as I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fastplant Posted October 4, 2006 Members Share Posted October 4, 2006 Simple rule of thumb: If you want to play to the crowd, play at bars/clubs. If you want to play for yourself, play in your basement. There's no reason to be booking shows if you have no intention of pleasing a crowd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jimi Ray Halen Posted October 4, 2006 Members Share Posted October 4, 2006 Originally posted by squealie 'people are stupid, and so am I. Music in a club is a stupid thing to worry about, and it really only exists as a temporary diversion from the uber-mundane and silly existance that we're all going back to on Monday'. ......but do you really want to play for that kind of audience? I sure as hell don't. Give me a bar full of socially-loobricated MILFs anyday.... You just summed up my entire outlook on playing gigs. It's possible to do both - dance tunes & "challenging" tunes that are still popular. At about a 75% - 25% ratio. It's nice to have enough songs that you can play to a crowd AND do requests. Like Mustang Sally - I've had that song requested more than any other. Go figure. If somebody wants some Skynyrd then play some. Geez. It's not like their asking you to impale yourself on a mic stand or something. But yeah, I'll take the dancing women every time. Much better atmosphere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vanlatte Posted October 4, 2006 Members Share Posted October 4, 2006 Wow, this really hits home with me because recently our band broke up because of this. 3 out of the 4 of us were willing to find a happy medium: The majority of songs would be sure fire crowd winners with a few oddballs thrown in there and there. The aforementioned 4th member decided that's not good enough for him, he wants to do ALL obscure stuff. So he took his toys and left. I gotta say I don't think it's a very good idea to ignore the crowd; I mean without a crowd, what are we? Just a bunch of wankers playing to...nobody. I don't think either extreme is any good. The basement comments are spot on...if you just want to play for yourself why go through the hassle of playing out? All that will amount to is frustration for everybody involved. We had a similar discusion on this earlier: We will always have an audience if we are good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members B Money Posted October 4, 2006 Members Share Posted October 4, 2006 Originally posted by squealie Now, in my golden-years, I realize that... 'people are stupid, and so am I. Music in a club is a stupid thing to worry about, and it really only exists as a temporary diversion from the uber-mundane and silly existance that we're all going back to on Monday'. wow. One of the best posts I've ever seen. Awesome, and so true. Kudos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members THX1138 Posted October 4, 2006 Members Share Posted October 4, 2006 Originally posted by vanlatte The basement comments are spot on...if you just want to play for yourself why go through the hassle of playing out? I know this was a rhetorical question, but I gotta answer. Its because ALL musicians, regardless of what kind of music we play, cover or original, commercial or experimental, coffehouse or stadium, etc... have some degree of need for attention for what we do. Even the most most hard core of the "My music is my art" types needs to feel validation and acceptance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bozak Posted October 4, 2006 Members Share Posted October 4, 2006 Why not both? Have people become so watered down in there musical taste that only cheesy cover bands are acceptable? Is it so bad for a band to try and get people into something else besides Brown Eyed Girl? I think the whole idea of bands feeling like they have to be inside the box to be an acceptable live act sucks and is very telling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vanlatte Posted October 4, 2006 Members Share Posted October 4, 2006 Originally posted by THX1138 I know this was a rhetorical question, but I gotta answer. Its because ALL musicians, regardless of what kind of music we play, cover or original, commercial or experimental, coffehouse or stadium, etc... have some degree of need for attention for what we do. Even the most most hard core of the "My music is my art" types needs to feel validation and acceptance. You get a resounding "AMEN!" from this choir... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members elbow Posted October 4, 2006 Members Share Posted October 4, 2006 I think I understand the "you gotta play for your audience" thing. But you have to pick your material and play where you'll be accepted. For example, I'm not gonna try to play at a hip-hop club because I'm not gonna be playing what they want to hear. We play our music, mostly originals and some covers, and we go over well in the places we play. So, we both get what we want. We play the material we like, and the audience is diggin it. Our image will not work to play bar standards if they include Brown-Eyed Girl or Mustang Sally. And honestly if someone in the crowd was silly or drunk enough to yell one of those out in a break between songs it would surely be interpreted as a joke and bring some laughter from the others in the place. I will say that our original music is not obscure or something that would be considered a small niche genre. You have to have something that'll sell. We played several outdoor shows this summer with many bands in the line-ups. There were a few occasions where some band was a poor fit with the rest of us and literally ran off some of the audience. They were good, just playing in the wrong place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cooterbrown Posted October 4, 2006 Members Share Posted October 4, 2006 At the end of a set, our drummer will holler out "would y'all care if the band plays one for ourselves?" We always get a shout of approval, and then launch into something like "Frankenstein", "Carry On Wayward Son", or "Highway Star"...maybe even "Stairway to Heaven". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cooterbrown Posted October 4, 2006 Members Share Posted October 4, 2006 Originally posted by New Trail So far our songlist is a mish-mash of a little of both, but not enough of anything. I like challenging music too, but I think I know what it takes to be a successful bar band, and I don't like being unsuccessful, especially when I see other local bands who might not be as individually talented having more success simply because of their song selection. Any thoughts on what might be seen as a new "compromise" direction for us? There are some dance-floor songs we play that are still musically challenging. Some of those songs, we'll have either a little "band intro" where we all take an 8, or one song, in particular we decided I would play an ultra-funky clavinet solo over a band breakdown. You don't need it on every song, but pick your spots, and everyone will look forward to having their little time in the limelight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rhat Posted October 4, 2006 Members Share Posted October 4, 2006 Originally posted by elbow I think I understand the "you gotta play for your audience" thing. But you have to pick your material and play where you'll be accepted. For example, I'm not gonna try to play at a hip-hop club because I'm not gonna be playing what they want to hear.We play our music, mostly originals and some covers, and we go over well in the places we play. So, we both get what we want. We play the material we like, and the audience is diggin it.Our image will not work to play bar standards if they include Brown-Eyed Girl or Mustang Sally. And honestly if someone in the crowd was silly or drunk enough to yell one of those out in a break between songs it would surely be interpreted as a joke and bring some laughter from the others in the place.I will say that our original music is not obscure or something that would be considered a small niche genre. You have to have something that'll sell. We played several outdoor shows this summer with many bands in the line-ups. There were a few occasions where some band was a poor fit with the rest of us and literally ran off some of the audience. They were good, just playing in the wrong place. How about if some drunk shouted ,, i will pay you 1000 dollars in cash to play brown eyed girl or tupelo honey with three days to practice..... could you pull them off and hit them out of the park? rat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kid Klash Posted October 4, 2006 Members Share Posted October 4, 2006 If you're playing for pay, please the crowd; if it's for free, do as you please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fastplant Posted October 4, 2006 Members Share Posted October 4, 2006 Originally posted by cooterbrown At the end of a set, our drummer will holler out "would y'all care if the band plays one for ourselves?" We always get a shout of approval, and then launch into something like "Frankenstein", "Carry On Wayward Son", or "Highway Star"...maybe even "Stairway to Heaven". That's cool, as long as you announce it like that. I bet people got a kick out of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cooterbrown Posted October 4, 2006 Members Share Posted October 4, 2006 Originally posted by fastplant That's cool, as long as you announce it like that. I bet people got a kick out of it. Oh, yeah.... even a dance crowd doesn't mind a little musicianship, every so often.Putting those songs at the end of the set doesn't kill any momentum you might have had, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cooterbrown Posted October 4, 2006 Members Share Posted October 4, 2006 Originally posted by rhat How about if some drunk shouted ,, i will pay you 1000 dollars in cash to play brown eyed girl or tupelo honey with three days to practice..... could you pull them off and hit them out of the park? rat Hell, I'd play 'em if he offered me 10 bucks! Other than "B-EG" I don't mind playing anything by Van the man. It served me well, once too. Played a wedding reception at the local AFB...the bride was from Ireland and most of her family flew in. I think I played six Van Morrison songs, plus "Danny Boy" and "When Irish Eyes are Smiling". The father of the bride got me off to the side of the stage as we were tearing down and slipped me a $100 and said (in whispered brogue) "I'm gonna tip the whole band, but here... this is just for you, laddy...don't share it with the rest of 'em...you were the only one of the lot that knew all my requests...and you played them beautifully." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kuhnfyoozed Posted October 4, 2006 Members Share Posted October 4, 2006 Originally posted by Blackbelt1 If you don't care about the crowd, don't play for one. Stay in the living room or garage and have fun. Nothing wrong with that. But if you're going to play before a crowd, you are there to entertain the crowd, and must therefore play to the crowd. ~Blackbelt Sorry guys, the thread was over when this was posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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