I just got into a new band about 6 weeks ago. Went from playing top 40 country and classic R&R, and playing out of the area every Sat night to a completely local band, playing southern rock, blues and country, and playing 3 Sat nights a month. One bar we play at, as well as a lot of other bands, has decided to no longer have bands, just a kareoke night once in a while. Another place we play is complaining of all the slow nights they have. In total, theres at least half a dozen places that has shut down or has quit having bands. The bar owners say it's the bands that need to draw in a crowd. The bands say it's the bar's location, or a bar having a history of low paying bands, or not paying bands or messin with the bands that keep the better bands from playing there, thus only hiring start up bands and sub standard bands for cheap. A bar that has a seedy rep or a lot of trouble will keep better bands away too. We advertise, flyers, mailing lists, facebook and my space sites, swag, etc, but still these bars complain that it's our fault they have a slow night. We put on the same kick a** show for two people at the bar or a housefull. We love to play out, but listening to the complainin and looking at an empty room is killin the mood.

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Life is like a sh*t sandwich. The more bread you have, the less sh*t you have to eat.

Well ultimately it's the bands responsibility to draw a crowd if they want to be paid.
You need to find a decent promoter who'll advertize the band. Then make sure the band are good enough to attract a repeat audience.

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No no and no

It's hard to draw a crowd when people have no money to spend for entertainment these days.
And then bar owners expect you to bring in hundreds of beer guzzling patrons,but how do you get that following if there's other bands in an area like Nashville with a few followers of their own....it's the same old story.
Hey man,I'm seeing none other than Jack Pearson doing small one man shows in small towns around here in Mid Tenn....I might go see him Sat. night,the admission is $15 and I'm sure there's no drinking because it's some sort of "pickin' parlor"...I'm curious what crowd he will draw in that small town doing an acoustic/mandolin set.
Great player,hard economic times.

+1

Couple that with the instances when other entertainment options usurp some local band's traditional standing gigs. Eg: there's a free Grand Funk Railroad concert here tonight at the city park. Then tomorrow there's the annual Bisbee Bluesfest with several headliners including Tab Benoit. How's a local band supposed to compete with that?

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

People don't go out as much due to the economy or other things like tighter non-smoking laws...

People would much rather stay at home and drink a 12-pack that costs as much as cover and 1-beer at a bar/club/venue.

And if they smoke, why pay to go IN somewhere to drink when they have to go OUT if they want to smoke, and most bars will not let you go out with your drink unless it has some sort of patio or something...

But its hard to blame any one thing for why there is a low turn out...Of course its never the clubs fault, so they'll blame the band. But then its never the bands fault, so they either blame the club and/or their fans. But then its never the fans fault, so they blame the club of the bands....

Some clubs and bands seem to think that bands instantly draw money and people as soon as they book a show...Its probably just a result of the immediate satisfaction, short attention span/labels want to cash in immediately or else you're dropped from the label-era we live in.

And many people forget that bands like Deep Purple and Judas Priest put out several albums (that many don't even realize exist) over the course of several years before they became the bands that most people seem to know them as being today. Those are just 2 examples off the top of my head...but if those bands were to try and emerge in this time and era, they would have been canned and forgotten after 2 records...

Venues need to realize it takes time to build a following, or be willing to pay the price for a band that has a known, decent-sized, or somewhat regular/guaranteed following. Venues also need to do their part to help, as sometimes its like if someone (the venue) invites everyone over to a party, but then blames the partygoers (the band) if the party is crappy...Who was the one that wanted/offered to host the party?

Then bands need to take a look at themselves, and realize while its great to play out X amount of times a month...How close are the gigs to one another, and how spread out is the fan base? Because while it might be great to play out every weekend, if you lived in a small town, how many of those people want to see you every weekend? So while its cool to say how many gigs you play a month, its quality not quantity. So while its cool to be booked every weekend, if all your gigs are only in a 50-mile radius, and you just do covers...while people may like you, they may just not feel compelled to see you every week, especially if they know you play every week. They may just figure they'll catch you next week...But sometimes cutting back on how often you play, may increase the amount of people who show up when you do play, because if you only play out every once in awhile, they may feel more compelled to go out and see you now, because if not, it may be awhile before they get a chance to see you again...

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RAMA LAMA FA FA FA

I've noticed those types of "festival" shows popping up more in the last few years around here also....with some great players.
Another thing,here in the county I live in the people are,how shall I put it.....musically challenged,or just stupid. and really the only thing that gets their attention is bluegrass,or some country cover band doing the latest top 10 country.
As far as my thing,blues...forget it,the locals just don't get it.
So it's going to Nashville to find some dump and play for peanuts...if you can do that.
Frustrating as hell....I think I'm going to try something with one of my sons,but just do a set here and there.
I really don't need the money,but Music City has got to be one of the worst places for local bands I've ever seen....too many people are playing for free.

Hard to score any new poontang sitting on the sofa in one's living room though......



Change of venue format also plays a part. Within the last two years one of our traditional local haunts converted to karaoke exclusively and another became a "sports bar". And as mentioned, the "nicotine nazies" have taken their toll on saloon revenues as well. Likewise, the "food fascists" are now extracting their pound of flesh from offending restaurants.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

especially with the wife there.

Thats what facebook and myspace are for...

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RAMA LAMA FA FA FA

Well now, that all depends on how circumspect the affected parties feel about their libertine urges now doesn't it?



Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Hey man...I'm from Tennessee,we don't understand big words like that so it poses no problem.

The bar will get what they pay for, great bands cost money. I've had club owners tell me that the club should draw 70% of the crowd and the band bring the other 30%. Usually the clubs that claim that you didn't bring the crowd are the ones that never have a crowd whether there's a band or not.

man i love this forum.
we're blessed to have a very large music-loving family. it also helps that most of drink like fish. we can play a dive and the manager thinks we're awesome just because of the family turnout. it's almost cheating but i don't care.

LMAO!

No sweat......I been to collidge. I know what they all mean.



Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

I don't think tighter smoking regulations have much to do with it. I think it's just the economy. The bars around my area that have music are practically giving away the farm with cheap drinks and food specials. Most of the bars in my area actually do better without the smoking because now tons of non smokers turn out that didn't like to be around smoke. The big problem is it just doesn't pay what it used to. Winters are a bit better because people don't go to the beach in the winter. I'm glad I don't rely on it to pay the bills anymore.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal