Live Music Dying??

[specialed]

Anybody see the letter to the editor in the latest OffBeat about musicians not able to work? I see that a lot here in my hometown-more karaoke than bands?! Last night, I went to see Rosie Ledet and there were about 50 people there! At least the night before I went to see her in another town(100 miles away) and there 250+ people dancing like lunatics!
The question is, what has happened to people wanting live music?

[LindaSue]

I drove to Houston to see a band called The Alternate Routes with a friend. (She's a huge fan of theirs.) It was a Saturday night and there were 20 people in the place. :( Down the street, a dance club was packed.

[Blitzzzzz]

The sad truth is most of the "seasoned" music fans don't turn out the way they used to, especially for the bands on the local scenes. Families, jobs and aching body parts play a big roll in that.
There are a lot of younger live music fans out there, though not as many as we might like as DJs and remixes are what turns a lot of younger music lovers on. They aren't all that interested in most of the blues and jazz, zydeco and other roots musics that most of the folks on this board are interested in, tending to world music bands and their own kinds of rock and roll. Still, it's not what it once was and I'm not sure what might change that.:cool:

[ibjamn]

Anybody see the letter to the editor in the latest OffBeat about musicians not able to work? I see that a lot here in my hometown-more karaoke than bands?! Last night, I went to see Rosie Ledet and there were about 50 people there! At least the night before I went to see her in another town(100 miles away) and there 250+ people dancing like lunatics!
The question is, what has happened to people wanting live music?


Did you like Rosie at the VFW?

[bywterbro]

The sad truth is most of the "seasoned" music fans don't turn out the way they used to, especially for the bands on the local scenes. Families, jobs and aching body parts play a big roll in that.
There are a lot of younger live music fans out there, though not as many as we might like as DJs and remixes are what turns a lot of younger music lovers on. They aren't all that interested in most of the blues and jazz, zydeco and other roots musics that most of the folks on this board are interested in, tending to world music bands and their own kinds of rock and roll. Still, it's not what it once was and I'm not sure what might change that.:cool:
its alot cheaper to pay one dj, then a full band....so i imagine club owners
like the trend....and im sure it extends to weddings, parties, etc...
there are only a few cities that buck this trend....i do hope it changes,
but it doesnt look hopeful...

[saturn]

The sad truth is most of the "seasoned" music fans don't turn out the way they used to, especially for the bands on the local scenes. Families, jobs and aching body parts play a big roll in that.


I think there is some truth in the "aching body parts" bit. That demographic bubble many of us belong to - the baby boomers - are getting older. I know, for me, one of the critical decision-making points when going to live music is "Do I like this person/group well enough to stand up for 3 hours on a hard floor?" Most venues I go to in Detroit are great, but don't have any seating -- and I am finding it harder each year to stand up for that long. So the group better be good and better be important to me.

John Butler this week met that criteria -- a great show -- and it was packed in the hall. (I am also pretty sure I was, by far, the oldest person there.)

[UncleFester]

i can't speak for everyone my age but as a member of the younger crowd (i am a gen x'er) i love live music and i don't see it dying but rather just like albums, cd's and tapes the live venues need to evolve too. it changes- i don't know the solution but forever there will be live music- it just may not be at a bar with a 30 dollar cover.

[specialed]

Yeah, I like Rosie wherever she plays!
OK, maybe you are right, I looked back at Jazz Fest pictures from 15 years ago-our 'group' had 12 people in the shots-now there are only the wife and myself in the picture! The friends have dropped out-age related..but how come Jazz Fest crowds get bigger and bigger while the club scene evaporates? Could Jazz Fest and other Festivals have anything to do with this?

[jazzbluesguy]

It's a bottom line society that we're living in and bar owners look at the bottom line. DJs and Karaoke are just that much less expensive. Often a bar owner will beat a great band down in price but not spend any money to promote them leading to an mostly empty house. Then they can say "Well we had .............. and nobody came."

On an associated subject, there is a great film called "Before The Music Dies" it may have been discussed on here already, if so I'm sorry to repeat old news. However if you have not seen it, please do a search, for true music lovers it explains things that you've probably been thinking about over the past few years.

[marignygreg]

It may rise and fall in popularity, but it is not a fad that can go away. D.J.'s on the other hand are a more recent phenomenon.

[Lester_leaps_in]

It may rise and fall in popularity, but it is not a fad that can go away. D.J.'s on the other hand are a more recent phenomenon.

I concur. There will always be people (like us) for whom live music is better. Popularity will wax and wane, formats and venues will evolve, but we'll always have it. The more relevant question, I think, concerns the continued viability of live club music. In my area, live blues clubs are somewhat healthy, but live jazz clubs no longer exist. So, here at least, the live club music scene is degraded. I don't like it. There's plenty of live music, but live club music is getting harder to find, and I hate that.

[Michelino]

I concur. There will always be people (like us) for whom live music is better. Popularity will wax and wane, formats and venues will evolve, but we'll always have it. The more relevant question, I think, concerns the continued viability of live club music. In my area, live blues clubs are somewhat healthy, but live jazz clubs no longer exist. So, here at least, the live club music scene is degraded. I don't like it. There's plenty of live music, but live club music is getting harder to find, and I hate that.


Maybe festivals are the new clubs...There seems to be more of them these days and whenever I check the bands/groups that I follow, a high percentage of their gigs are at small (and larger) festivals that I may have not of heard of...and quite a few "Wednesday at the Square" style community concerts.

Our local "Party in the Park" free series, for example, kicks off with Ivan Neville and Dumpstaphunk this Thursday, and continues through the summer with Robert Cray, Donna the Buffalo etc...

Here in Rochester, we've had a great expansion of festivals within the last five years...this includes our top notch Jazz Festival (http://www.rochesterjazz.com/) which, unrelated to the Ivan concert I already mentioned, follows immediately with a lineup that will bring tens of thousands into the streets for the free concerts:Cowboy Mouth, Maceo Parker, Los Lonely Boys(!), Toots and the Maytals, Rusted Root etc..and meanwhile, there will be at least 160 other concerts over the nine days.

In fact, we already caught CJ Chenier and then Roomful of Blues at our Lilac Festival as a little warm-up. And just announced, two weeks after our jazz festival concludes, is a new festival with another 12 days over three weekends...this music (http://www.bigcitysummerfest.com/index.html)festival will bring Roots, World Music, Americana and then Blues (with BBQ Cookoff) to town.

That last weekend that will bring The Lee Boys, Johnny Sketch, Henry Butler, Papa Mali and quite a few other bands to play in clubs (some of which are dark and will spring to life just for the event). Meanwhile, at the same time, down the road 75 miles in Syracuse, Dave Brubeck , Bela Fleck , Aretha , Mose Allison etc will be featured at another free Jazz Festival. Hard choices...and if I cast the net another 100 miles, there are enough free and festival concerts to fill every weekend til October.

This is a relatively small community, long since dropped from the top 50 population centers in the US, but the festival scene has been feeding us doses of NOLA music for years. And I've not mentioned some of the larger festivals here that serve as venues for mostly local and regional talent.

[Blitzzzzz]

Festivals may be the new clubs, but they'll never replace the experience. The scene was so different, sitting at a table, good service, a place to return to after some dancing. So much more comfortable and sociable.
A couple of things come to mind about the change. Almost everyone who's posted has referred to live music in terms of "touring" acts. As a former club owner, those acts were always the langiappe, filling some weeknights and drawing in newbies to my venue. That isn't the case most places anymore. The scene was composed of local acts that drew well and brought out the dancers and the newer bands that competed with some of the old standbys for the early week spots and happy hours. One of the things that began the change was the multi-act bill, where bands only wanted to do one set and had to have a warm-up, or two. Going to a club began to become a night of watching set changes and sound checks and waiting til way late in the evening for the band you came to see.
Another dynamic is the eventual demographic split that occurred with music tastes that left alot of boomers unwilling or unable to listen to a lot of "rock" bands and the lack of root bands performing on local scenes. While roots bands have re-emerged along with a broadening pallette of other styles in a lot of places, the clubs still seem to be the province of the younger set. So if you have live local music in your area, perhaps remembering the exhortation for OZ's live music report is in order? "Now get out there and see some local music!":cool:

[bluesgirl]

Some of what has lessened live music in this area is the fact that the cops will sit near a bar, and stop everyone who leaves after say 11PM. Nobody wants to be pinched for a DUI because they had 2 beers while listening to a band.

Also, some bar/club owners around here have no concept of what good, live music is. They go for the cheapest bands that they can find, and they usually suck. After a couple of weekends of bands that suck, people will find another avenue for their entertainment.

[LisaRI]

Thank God for festivals, and also for the non-profit arts organizations that aren't so worried about the bottom line as providing a way to appreciate live music. Around here we are lucky to have a few, such as Narrows Center for the Arts (http://ncfta.org), Common Fence Point (http://www.commonfencemusic.org), and Peeptoad coffeehouse (http://www.fosteringarts.org/peep.htm) - and more.

[water angel]

Hey Saturn (& Coronna),
Goin' to Buckwheat at the Magic Bag on Sunday?..........They have seats! Look for me on the dance floor.......aging, but just can't help but dance + it's easier on the back than standing.

[Zydekitten]

This is a very interesting thread!!

I think (to echo Blitzzzzzzzzz) that the club scene is cyclical - back in the 50's and 60's, live comedy clubs were all the rage and there were many in S.F. (for example) and now there are only two (the Punch Line, where my ex-husband was a manager, and Cobb's) . . . and they're just barely hanging on.

Also, I do agree that clubs need regular, good local artists to really be successful with mounting live music; not just big cities have that . . . here in Nevada City (which is only about 3000 in population) we have 9 venues that provide live, local music and not just D.J./karaoke . . . and a lot of that live, local music is from regular local acts. So, it can happen - there just needs to be audiences who want it.

It works here because the cover charges are low on the weekends or non-existent during the week (like many NOLA clubs), and we have a lot of Bay Area refugees, who enjoy supporting live music in local clubs.

[Zydekitten]

Some of what has lessened live music in this area is the fact that the cops will sit near a bar, and stop everyone who leaves after say 11PM. Nobody wants to be pinched for a DUI because they had 2 beers while listening to a band.

That's been a big problem down in Sacramento and has shut down clubs - because the cop crackdown just kills their business . . . another great thing about Nevada City clubs, I can just stumble up the hill to my place from them and not have to drive. :D

[Chas_P]

Up here in NH, I seem to have noticed just the opposite. It has been an explosion in live music over the past few years.

Now it must be understood that we live in a different world here. By that, I mean there are no bars, ergo no clubs. Any establishment that serves alchohol must take in at least 50% in food sales. So no, I can't relate to how live music is in the club scene.

However, between small festival, small outdoor concets and small intimate (200 - 300) venues, there is just so much more to offer here then there ever has been.

We've benefited by many artists wanting to play in these smaller venues whether it be as a tour, or a warm-up for a tour. Next year, we have the subdudes and Beausoliel playing 3 times in 8 days in February. Last year, we had Thomas Dolby playing in a 200 seating warming up for a tour. This year we have Squeeze in the same setting warming up for their tour.

For us, live music has never been more alive and accessible.

[Amy Winette]

I think that's probably the case in smaller, less accessible places Chas. Growing up in Montana we got cheese metal and country, and by in large that was about it. Now a lot of NOLA acts, West Coast acts, jam bands, etc. are rolling through the area, festivals and concerts indoor and outdoor venues. Makes me a lot more excited about heading home :)

[saturn]

Hey Saturn (& Coronna),
Goin' to Buckwheat at the Magic Bag on Sunday?..........They have seats! Look for me on the dance floor.......aging, but just can't help but dance + it's easier on the back than standing.

Not going to make this show, unfortunately :( -- Magic Bag is usually one of my favourite venues. We had tickets for the Buckwheat show that got cancelled, but didn't buy for this one, because of the Festival of the Arts downtown. I really want to see The Wailing Jennys and the Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars and they are performing Sunday evening.

[Corona]

Not going to make this show, unfortunately :( -- Magic Bag is usually one of my favourite venues. We had tickets for the Buckwheat show that got cancelled, but didn't buy for this one, because of the Festival of the Arts downtown. I really want to see The Wailing Jennys and the Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars and they are performing Sunday evening.
Saturn, you guys coming to see Terrance at the river this weekend? They play at 11 Saturday night :)

Water Angel, nope, staying local this weekend...Terrance Simien is in da house..and that means Will Terry, the smokin' bass player :D

[saturn]

Saturn, you guys coming to see Terrance at the river this weekend? They play at 11 Saturday night :)

Water Angel, nope, staying local this weekend...Terrance Simien is in da house..and that means Will Terry, the smokin' bass player :D

Haven't given that one any thought yet -- depends. Good acts at Festival of the Arts, (Thornetta Davis, Amos Lee) but they might be over by then.

[water angel]

I hope to make it to the Festival of the Arts, too.....so much to do in this little city.

[Corona]

Haven't given that one any thought yet -- depends. Good acts at Festival of the Arts, (Thornetta Davis, Amos Lee) but they might be over by then.
oh yeah....we may hit Thornetta first then back to Windsor....it's at Wayne State right? Sam may want to go too....I'll talk to Lin about it....

[Rossvegas]

Psst! Free show with Buckwheat Zydeco and Dirty Dozen at Harbourfront this Friday night! Also big "Carnavalissimo" fest, with Mardi Gras Injuns, latin bands and more...be there, kids!

[wbtiger]

I go and see local bands and the crowd are realy large in some cases
they had a swamp pop review at a place with about 6 different bands local bands playing and they had about 600 people in this place

[t.o..fester]

Psst! Free show with Buckwheat Zydeco and Dirty Dozen at Harbourfront this Friday night! Also big "Carnavalissimo" fest, with Mardi Gras Injuns, latin bands and more...be there, kids!

Ross, how come I cannot find any info for this on their website? Believe it or not, I've never been to Harbourfront, so I was checking for info, times etc.

[bywterbro]

Ross, how come I cannot find any info for this on their website? Believe it or not, I've never been to Harbourfront, so I was checking for info, times etc.Fri - 6/8/07
Toronto, ON
Harbourfront Centre
Concert Stage
235 Queens Quay West
9:30

that came from dirtydozenbrassband.com

[bywterbro]

heres an article from the former bass player of vavavoom...
first its angelis, then vaughans gets reduced nites for music, now
Parkway Bakery......great place for after fest music also...

I was informed last night that my upcoming gig at the Parkway Bakery
and Tavern would have to be canceled, because they do not have a
license for live music, and one person complained to the city. One
person! The talent buyer for the Parkway told me that the lady who
complained lives across the street from her, and she can't even hear
the music from her own house. She said she could see it if they were
attracting a college crowd who left litter and vomited in people's
yards, but their clientele are mostly people from the neighborhood.
Not only that, since food is served, children are welcome, and the
early hours, (7-12) made it an ideal family-friend venue for live music.

In Scott Aiges's recent article in City Business, he explained that
many long-standing music venues have operated without the proper
licenses, and usually, the city left them alone unless some
complained. In these post-Katrina times, many people, myself
included, feel like city government needs to tighten up and do a
better job, that "business as usual" won't fly anymore. But
ironically, it is just this sort of benign neglect that traditionally
has allowed some of the things we love about the city to flourish.
Maybe the music really was keeping this woman awake, I don't know--but
sometimes, sadly, people just want to make trouble for others to
inflate their own egos, or have a self-righteous devotion to enforcing
the rules.

Anyway, one selfish person has deprived people in a hard-hit area who
are struggling to rebuild of something many of them enjoyed, and
musicians have been deprived of another place to work. Mid-City and
Fauborg St. John people who came out to support the music, thank you.

Spike Perkins

[electric_lady]

hi y'all. great topic.
i was just about to chime in on this, and then i read about festivals being the new clubs. in some ways, i think this is true. from my personal experience, many of my peers (22-28) will save up their cash to go to big festivals or even small festivals. for example, i have been trying to get people to go see original local music in local bars but lately i've been met with the "i have to save money for bonnaroo."
also, living in rural suburbia (about 40 miles from Detroit), it's difficult to get my friends to give up their barstool spot at the local bar (which often doesn't have live music) and get them to drive to and from a show in Detroit. Maybe suburban sprawl has something to do with this? laziness? i don't know.
definitely the price of tickets or entry can be a turn off, especially if you aren't familiar with the music.
and as someone else said, occasionally the clubs will have these awful bands they don't have to pay (at all, or very little) as fillers and people get turned off from seeing too many crappy bands.
this is just my detroit area experience talking, and we have plenty of great music.
i've never actually seen a crappy band in NOLA.

[Belle]

heres an article from the former bass player of vavavoom...
first its angelis, then vaughans gets reduced nites for music, now
Parkway Bakery......great place for after fest music also...

I was informed last night that my upcoming gig at the Parkway Bakery
and Tavern would have to be canceled, because they do not have a
license for live music, and one person complained to the city. One
person! The talent buyer for the Parkway told me that the lady who
complained lives across the street from her, and she can't even hear
the music from her own house. She said she could see it if they were
attracting a college crowd who left litter and vomited in people's
yards, but their clientele are mostly people from the neighborhood.
Not only that, since food is served, children are welcome, and the
early hours, (7-12) made it an ideal family-friend venue for live music.

In Scott Aiges's recent article in City Business, he explained that
many long-standing music venues have operated without the proper
licenses, and usually, the city left them alone unless some
complained. In these post-Katrina times, many people, myself
included, feel like city government needs to tighten up and do a
better job, that "business as usual" won't fly anymore. But
ironically, it is just this sort of benign neglect that traditionally
has allowed some of the things we love about the city to flourish.
Maybe the music really was keeping this woman awake, I don't know--but
sometimes, sadly, people just want to make trouble for others to
inflate their own egos, or have a self-righteous devotion to enforcing
the rules.

Anyway, one selfish person has deprived people in a hard-hit area who
are struggling to rebuild of something many of them enjoyed, and
musicians have been deprived of another place to work. Mid-City and
Fauborg St. John people who came out to support the music, thank you.

Spike Perkins

I feel real bad about this but I bet the general public had no clue. Just my opinion.

[Corona]

heres an article from the former bass player of vavavoom...
first its angelis, then vaughans gets reduced nites for music, now
Parkway Bakery......great place for after fest music also...

I was informed last night that my upcoming gig at the Parkway Bakery
and Tavern would have to be canceled, because they do not have a
license for live music, and one person complained to the city. One
person! The talent buyer for the Parkway told me that the lady who
complained lives across the street from her, and she can't even hear
the music from her own house. She said she could see it if they were
attracting a college crowd who left litter and vomited in people's
yards, but their clientele are mostly people from the neighborhood.
Not only that, since food is served, children are welcome, and the
early hours, (7-12) made it an ideal family-friend venue for live music.

In Scott Aiges's recent article in City Business, he explained that
many long-standing music venues have operated without the proper
licenses, and usually, the city left them alone unless some
complained. In these post-Katrina times, many people, myself
included, feel like city government needs to tighten up and do a
better job, that "business as usual" won't fly anymore. But
ironically, it is just this sort of benign neglect that traditionally
has allowed some of the things we love about the city to flourish.
Maybe the music really was keeping this woman awake, I don't know--but
sometimes, sadly, people just want to make trouble for others to
inflate their own egos, or have a self-righteous devotion to enforcing
the rules.

Anyway, one selfish person has deprived people in a hard-hit area who
are struggling to rebuild of something many of them enjoyed, and
musicians have been deprived of another place to work. Mid-City and
Fauborg St. John people who came out to support the music, thank you.

Spike Perkins
ugggh....this turns my stomach every time I read stuff like this :(

[mymecca]

same trend exists here...people who pretend in their head that they are hipsters and like city living...move in next to an existing club...then work to close it down because it's always loud and sometimes drunk people hang out there...please, please, please go back to the burbs!...if you can't get along with neighbors, you need more land and less people

i will say that the newest venue is promising...house concerts...people just having parties and hiring musicians...been to a few of them...including the now famous TH extravaganza...festivals are family friendly and that's always nice...either way, i'll be there...nothing beats a live show, especially one with LARGE bands

[VWGal]

I can totally get behind the house concert thing.

We here are mourning the loss of the Moaning Summit house concerts that a friend hosted -- so named because the house is on a hill, and the famous Calgary chinook winds howled around the neighborhood many nights. But of course there are alternate interpretations of how the name came about ;)

Anyway fifty of his nearest and dearest pals enjoyed sets just feet away from Canadian folk and roots artists like Lynn Miles, Carlos del Junco, Alfie Zappacosta, The Bills, Corb Lund.

In most cases, the artist cleared more from their house concert than they would in a local club -- were fed and housed for free -- and sold more CDs to us than they'd do in two club shows.

We potlucked all the food, and for $20 for a show and all you could eat, it was a heck of a bargain and a rare experience for the audience. The artists hung out and blended right in -- some people didn't realize they'd been hanging out over the artichoke dip with the night's talent until they walked to the front of the living room and picked up a guitar.

What killed it? After the last two shows, several of us found our cars had been keyed -- we didn't find out who had done it, but we guess disgruntled neighbours or their kids. Sad because the music was always shut down by 11 pm on weekend nights, and it was a mature crowd, so nobody was staggering down the street.

Shame shame shame....

Our friend decided it was time to close down the Moaning Summit after three years. Very sad...

I would highly recommend hosting a house concert to anyone -- I've had a few at my house, the artist appreciates the business and the atmosphere for them is usually preferable to a smoky bar Your friends will think you're the cooliest of cool!

[nashvegasfess]

I've read this thread a couple times and I just feel very thankful to live in a town where having easily accessible live music is an issue. The issue is deciding which nights to not go out and see it.

I, honestly, had never thought that live music was fading for whatever reasons. But I read this thread and it seems as though it is in some places.

I can also understand for some the festival replacing the bar room for the music fix.

Les honky more tonkies,

Nashville

[Rossvegas]

I can totally get behind the house concert thing.

We here are mourning the loss of the Moaning Summit house concerts that a friend hosted -- so named because the house is on a hill, and the famous Calgary chinook winds howled around the neighborhood many nights. But of course there are alternate interpretations of how the name came about ;)

Anyway fifty of his nearest and dearest pals enjoyed sets just feet away from Canadian folk and roots artists like Lynn Miles, Carlos del Junco, Alfie Zappacosta, The Bills, Corb Lund.

In most cases, the artist cleared more from their house concert than they would in a local club -- were fed and housed for free -- and sold more CDs to us than they'd do in two club shows.

We potlucked all the food, and for $20 for a show and all you could eat, it was a heck of a bargain and a rare experience for the audience. The artists hung out and blended right in -- some people didn't realize they'd been hanging out over the artichoke dip with the night's talent until they walked to the front of the living room and picked up a guitar.

What killed it? After the last two shows, several of us found our cars had been keyed -- we didn't find out who had done it, but we guess disgruntled neighbours or their kids. Sad because the music was always shut down by 11 pm on weekend nights, and it was a mature crowd, so nobody was staggering down the street.

Shame shame shame....

Our friend decided it was time to close down the Moaning Summit after three years. Very sad...

I would highly recommend hosting a house concert to anyone -- I've had a few at my house, the artist appreciates the business and the atmosphere for them is usually preferable to a smoky bar Your friends will think you're the cooliest of cool!

Listen, I wouldn't have keyed your cars if all those damn middle aged hippies weren't peeing on my lawn all the time. My begonias still haven't recovered...damn hippies..

[bywterbro]

ANOTHER LIVE
VENUE DOWN

Honky-tonk singer Gal Holiday sent us an email letting us know that she has lost her steady gig at the Parkway Tavern because it's yet another bar that wasn't licensed for live music and whose neighbors dropped a dime on them. Everything about this situation should embarrass New Orleans. City government should be ashamed of itself for valuing the arts-particularly the art form that gave the city its identity and personality-so little that it refuses to make provisions for its endurance, much less proliferation. Neighbors should similarly hang their heads; a drunken second line woke us up Sunday night, and instead of getting angry, all we could think was how cool it is to live in a city where something this nutty can happen. If you're concerned about this, don't just sit there, do something. Complain. Write to the New Orleans City Council. Go here for email addresses:
http://www.nocitycouncil.com/

[VWGal]

Ross, I just KNEW it was you...but then I didn't know you then...but you DID live in Calgary once or twice....anyhoo, how were we to know peeing on the lawn wasn't an organic weed treatment!

Damn hippies.

[ozzie]

In Cairns it seems "all that will be left are poker machines and doof-doof music" as we lose our beloved Jonnos Blues Bar this weekend. Final nail in its coffin was the City limiting the club's opening hours by having it close at midnight. The only bar of it's kind here... so, so sad.

http://www.cairnspost.com.au/article/2007/06/09/3296_news.html

Should be one hell of a patry there tomorrow night.

[sophisticated sissy]

That's too bad, ozzie! :( I'm sure it will be a big loss.


er...excuse me though, but what is "doof doof" music? I am not familiar with that idiom.

[NeenAtlanta]

I'm lucky to live in a city where I have multiple choices for live music 7 nights a week.

But I've been to lots of other town/cities where I went to a place that advertised "live music" and it was one guy or girl with a karaoke machine playing all the of music. That just ain't live.

[Bill/KC]

Last night, I went to see Rosie Ledet and there were about 50 people there! At least the night before I went to see her in another town(100 miles away) and there 250+ people dancing like lunatics!
The question is, what has happened to people wanting live music?

I think that some touring bands are more popular in certain areas of the country than others. It also depends on what night of the week they're playing and on how much the venue promotes the show. Here in KC, we get a lot of blues acts, as well as a fair amount of zydeco, so folks are familiar with the names of the acts that come thru. ie: Chubby Carrier has people hanging from the rafters for 2 nights everytime he comes to town (which is usually 3-4 times a year). I fully expect that the crowd for Papa Grows Funk playing at the same club in August (their 1st time playing KC) will be pretty sparse. So, I think a lot of it comes down to name recognition, and, some if it comes down to stamina. If it's a week night and unless it's someone I really want to see, I'm probably not going. Sad to say, but at my age, I just don't have it in me. :)

[t.o..fester]

Psst! Free show with Buckwheat Zydeco and Dirty Dozen at Harbourfront this Friday night! Also big "Carnavalissimo" fest, with Mardi Gras Injuns, latin bands and more...be there, kids!

Ross, did you go? If so, how was it.

[wbtiger]

We went to the House of Blues and went to see Chee Weez a local band in which mu nephew plays in and it was a sell out. Live Music is the best.

[bywterbro]

We went to the House of Blues and went to see Chee Weez a local band in which mu nephew plays in and it was a sell out. Live Music is the best.


nawlins is the live music capital of the friggin world...!!!!

[mightyradgumbo]

Electric Lady, I fully agree with you about festivals replacing the club scene. It is also cutting into the outdoor venue business as well. At one time, the venue that I (used to) work for would host shows just about every night of the summer. This year they have booked thirty shows. That is a show about every three days and the only reason the average is so high is that August is full.
My Mecca, I totally agree with you about those who want to live in the "cool" neighborhoods and get all p.o.'d that there is music playing and people are out late and having a good time. While the drunks should be respectful, ummmm they're drunk! The town where the New England Patriots play was all in when the team was looking for a place to play. Because of the money the team would pull in, so were the residents....until the first game-sometimes you can't have your cake and eat it too.
Bywaterbro-I apologize for the drunken second line.....I just never can handle that last shot of tequila...always makes me wanna second line