Pub bands

[karatestu]

Being in a band or three i get to play gigs in pubs amongst other places. These days the scene is not what it used to be. When i was a lot you ger most of the bands i was in were playing original music. Now i am older and dreams of fame long gone, i mostly play covers for drunk people in pubs and at festivals and weddings.

I tend to avoid pub gigs as a spectator. Reasons being (1) the sound quality is usually crap and too loud (2) you cant talk to friends or order a pint when the band is playing (3) many pub bands are crap (simple as that).

Not all pub bands are crap mins you and sometimes you are lucky enough to come across one with good songs, good musicianship and a clear sound that isn't so loud it makes your ears bleed.

[Ali Tait]

Richard, who posts around various fora as RichB, plays in a Pink Floyd tribute band, and very good they are too. Rich is very particular about the getting the sound right as you might expect.

[BillyBones]

I agree about the volume being too high. I can still recall and shiver about seeing a band a year or two back in Bolton and they literally made my ears bleed. There are some great names though. There's a tribute one in Lancashire called The Reet Hot Chilli Peppers (say it in your best Phoenix Nights accent)

However, around my part of the world bands seem to have been replaced by bloody karaoke these days which is even worse in my opinion.

[CN211276]

Karioche and backing tapes piss me off. A friend of mine fronts an AC/DC cover band, High Voltage, who are very good.

[Fretless]

For a short while I ran the mixing desk for a Derby-based covers band called 'Hyde Park' back in the 80's. Played everything from Madness via Dire Straits to Free's 'All Right Now'.

Pubs, Clubs and generally good times.

Trouble was the punters were so used to bad PA sound that my mixing was regarded as too 'clean', I wanted to hear all the instruments and not have my ears bleed from a wall of mushy, diistorted noise - which was what people actually seemed to like !!!!

[Latteman]

My teens & 20s on a Thursday were spend listening to a pub band- Dizzy Spells- cover band for Richard Thompson, Tom Waits, Thin Lizzy etc from South Yorkshire, really enjoyed them

[karatestu]

Another thing that bothers me is bands that attempt songs that are above their technical ability to play well. Fast songs can mean inexperienced players start to sound ragged and time keeping falters. Same with complex parts, they sound sloppy sloppy and timing again suffers.

Things need to be tight and tempo steady otherwise i have lost interest, i don't care how good the guitar solo is. Sometimes a band member can fuck up and many in the audience may not be aware. Inexperienced bands (and some more experienced) will have members all look at the guilty party. No need to draw attention to it. It should be ignored and the band carry on as usual.

Nothing affects a performance more than how the band are feeling on an individual and group level. If one gets upset with another for whatever reason then the performance will suffer. I was once in a band with a singer song writer who would deal out death stares if you did smething he did not like. Resentment brewed for a long time and eventually we left one by one.

Of course experience makes you a better player who has feeling and makes fewer mistakes. There is an art to covering up mistakes. Repeat it four bars later and call it jazz

[Vinyl-ant]

We are quite lucky where I live as there is a pub (club) called the imperial club that has bands on all the time. They don't seem to get crap bands on and there's always someone worth listening to
Never seems to be too loud, there is only one place not to stand. There is a 6 foot corridor into the games room near the stage and it's always ear splitting there...
Always full, always a really good atmosphere. Only place round here that isn't full of twats

[karatestu]

Anything like The Phoenix Club ?