Any Coverbands having issues getting gigs lately because....

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veets987

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Just curious; is anyone having issues with Clubs going to DJs cause they are cheaper and because the economy sucks. I know the DJ / Coverband situation is nothing new. Im starting to think the live cover scene is a dying breed. We have had steady gigs at least once a weekend sometimes more and a weekly acoustic gig and all the sudden they are wearing thin. Lost the weekly gig cause they are going with a DJ (bullshit). Just wondering if anyone here has gotten creative with the clubowners to get them back to live music. Just curious. We dont really ask for much compared to alot of bands around ($400 = $100 a man and $75 a man for the acoustic). Sorry i just had to vent. TA TA :?
 
Actually no. But then again I think Austin has already gone threw the DJ thing and is starting to go back to live bands. Seems the bars that want to draw the college kids are sticking with DJs but the bars that want to make money have learned they need to draw an older (25-45) crowd and they want live cover bands.

Interesting is these venues are the ones that don't complain about the no smoking rules as much either. Maybe it's because they are actually making money. I don't miss the smell but now we need to use haze for the lights :)
 
That is a good point. THey are trying to get the college scene in. And you are right they arent making any money off of them. Selling everything for dirt cheap and then probably gonna eventually get busted for minors. Well the one particular club that i speak of just got bout out by these new owners that have no clue how to run a club. I could run this club better than them. They buy a bar and refuse to advertise, think its pointless cause "they have such a prime location". BUT they were closed for 2 months and no one knows they are reopen. So they try this and that and cant understand why the people arent coming in so they think "well we see the other 4 or 5 bars on the strip with DJs and they always have people so maybe we should do the same". And this bar was always known to have live music. They are killing the place. Its a shame. Not to mention they are taking $550 a month out of our pockets.
 
don't take this the wrong way, but in ohio there's 3 things that turn people away from the bar 1st kareoke, 2nd dj's 3rd bad cover bands, i enjoy a good cover band but a bad one will drive me right out of a bar, like 4 geezers playin k.c and the sunshine band :roll: and the other tw0 are only good for guys trying to get chicks cause we all know chicks like to sing and dance :wink: and if that s the what clubs are trying to draw then i'd say go original or check another city maybe, good luck though you can't beat free beer, pocket money and getting to rock out
 
you are right. and i agree. There are ALOT of crappy coverbands out there. But alot of these clubs will only get the crappy ones because the ones that are worth a **** arent cheap. You get what you pay for...... 8)
 
Welcome to the "ME" generation. Many people go to clubs to be seen...not to see. They are the new entertainment...ewe

Dance clubs, now there's a joke, beer bottle in one hand, cigarette in another, humpin on yer man's thigh.

Roscoe
 
I moved to Austin, texas for 8 years and then came back to Long Island my home...
The Live Scene? Well here its been a small community for some time. Since the 1990s. But then again, the economy in THIS area has been crappy since then (the fed gov has been GOP controlled since 94 and they havent sent money since the northeast stopped voting republican) (reduced funding, has led to higher taxes for NY to maintain infrastructure..which we have alot of)..so I think we have been in a bad economy ever since. Long before the rest of the US... and of course lately its been worse...
So yeah there are DJs. The clubs that use em would NEVER use live music, so there is no loss there,really. The Live music scene, that is left is 90percent cover bands (out of basically 2 agencies). They tend to be slickly marketed outfits that tend to shove the music out at a fast tempo, without any sensitivity to the material, and act like "rock stars". Which is amusing, because they're not. Google Omnipop entertainment, they are the big agency that books the cover bands of Long Island. Id be interested in what you think. Lots of pics, and clips,there.
The original scene is proud but small. And sometimes people emerge from it, but it is very rare. But thats where the AUTHENTICITY is.
Everything else is very unoriginal, very fake. I think Long Island has gotten used to this environment for musical entertainment, and I dont see any thawing just yet.
I have plans to try "a new model", but its very,very hard to find people to invest in trying a new thing in this climate. Just the investment in time is tough, everyone is sweating high rents, high mortgages, high cost of living. Its about 40% percent more expense for EVERYTHING than Austin (hearing me, ned?)
But there are private gigs that pay 2-3k....but those gigs are very hard to break into . Handed down. Like father to son type jobs.
Sorry for the long post, but thats how it breaks down.
Here is my speculation: NYers are a tough audience. They demand more than other markets, and "it better be good". I don't think we'll see Live entertainment make a comeback until 2 things happen
1) there is live entertainment that can deliver what current acts cannot
2) the economy returns to the northeast (and that includes the rust belt..scranton,pittsburgh,upstate NY, etc etc.
Can someone tell me how it is (in detail) in your area???????
I certainly gave you the full explanantion in mine.
 
The clubs here haven't changed much. There are dj clubs and live clubs. New dj clubs come and go a lot. New live clubs, don't happen. We are getting a far number of small local resturants doing live music as a separate gig for late night 10-2am crowds. These are usually hit or miss kind of gigs, popup here and there. I've known several people "building" these type of gigs by just making proposals to owners. Really depends on what their overhead is as to whether they bite.

In the last 2 months, we've had 3 live places close up doors though. Economy is the killer. In a bad economy some owners may be willing to try new (any) thing to get people in the door, but may need some "creative" partnering to make it happen. Its a much smaller scene in Louisville than Long Island though, so can't really be compared.
 
Yea we are in the same boat pretty much.... Many bars closing up shop, or cant afford Bands so they go to DJS. Hopefully they will start coming around but being creative is the key. We will have to go out and find bars that normally dont dolive music. Or unfortunately take less money.
 
you're in Louisville Kentucky?
...I considered living in Bowling Green...but there was "no culture" so far as I could tell.
I guess I am spolied by my NY experiences....I gre up with a vibrant music scene. But that was then..and this is now.
I think things WILL turn around, but it takes time.
People need to exhale..and realize that tommorrow will come, and ya might want a beer and a live band.
I still like that,myself.
 
I agree with all that has been said, but let me add my situation into the mix.
I've played guitar in the Eastern N.C. area for 30 years.
Of that, 22 years were spent in bands. (about 23 different ones)
Back in the 70s-80s, clubs that had bands were larger...to hold more people.
The smaller clubs had DJs.
By the early 90s, the big clubs had closed up because around here, getting a "good" band was haphazard. The agents had irresponsible local talent that would include... drug addicts/drunks that wouldn't show up, show up late, sound terrible, get drunk and cause problems.
Not always the scouts fault, but......
The band scene got small, localized. No agents (mostly) and more of a "mom & pop" organization of clubs/bands.
The band deals directly with the club and negotiates terms.
My band is currently top draw in the area. We get offers all the time, but only play 4-5 shows per month. Our lowest price is now $450, but if the club gets high attendance, we negotiate for more. Some bars hire us and get 10-15% more people, but resort to lesser bands most of the time. (killing their regular crowd)
A club has to MAKE more when you play to cover the cost. If they lose 1?, they might as we'll had no entertainment.
One other thing, Karaoke.
This stuff came around in the early 90s and cut my pay in half! (and shut down the rest of the larger clubs)
It was VERY hard to go from getting $175 per night to $85-90 !
Lots of players I knew quit gigging. You had to really wanna do it!
I did.
Now, even in the top local act (without an agent) we're getting about $100 per. The money never came back. Pay sucks!
But I'm just a cover band player, no big rock star. (although I act like one) :lol:
 
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