Ten biggest reasons I hate gigging

[deeaa*]

Yeah, well, it's just as I knew it would be...9 times out of ten it's more or less like that in my experience, if you play original music and not covers.

Very very rare that you get appreciation from the audience. Probably the best bet to get some of it if you're warming up for some big band that plays similar music, but even then, it's like people will ask when shall the main act start and 'ok we'll get there by then'...the warmup band get a slowly increasing crowd and with some luck a good welcome as well. But, in this case neither band was a big name...I heard a lot of people check out the door sign and go 'Oh there's some bands tonight, should we go somewhere else?'. I can't help but wonder if more people would have been there originally if there had been no mention there is live music. I get the feeling lots of people are driven away by that, they don't WANT live music in bars.

Still, in this case I think the biggest reason is we're just too loud for them kids..they're not used to such loud rock. I fear loud rock is something those 15-18 year olds simply don't listen to. They only know Lady GaGa etc. Even if we don't mic the drums the snare will still pump out something like 120db and my amp even in 18W mode too ain't quiet enough for them. We played quieter than we do at the rehearsal place, and I didn't even need earplugs at all - also the bar owner said it was loud but pleasantly just like rock should be, and the staff seemed to like our music fine, but still it was obvious most of the crowd felt it was way too loud for them, many of them instantly slammed their hands on their ears when we started. Should have an electric kit and some PODs probably, the only way we could get it quiet enough, LOL

[Eric***]

Still, in this case I think the biggest reason is we're just too loud for them kids..they're not used to such loud rock. I fear loud rock is something those 15-18 year olds simply don't listen to. They only know Lady GaGa etc. Even if we don't mic the drums the snare will still pump out something like 120db and my amp even in 18W mode too ain't quiet enough for them. We played quieter than we do at the rehearsal place, and I didn't even need earplugs at all - also the bar owner said it was loud but pleasantly just like rock should be, and the staff seemed to like our music fine, but still it was obvious most of the crowd felt it was way too loud for them, many of them instantly slammed their hands on their ears when we started.

Yeah, that was my first reaction upon reading your description of it. You've mentioned before that often, you're more into your friends and drink than you are to the bands playing at a bar/club, so it stands to reason that if the music doesn't really allow for talking much, people might be annoyed about it unless they're there to see the band specifically. Just from my gut reaction, a band playing a show where people purchase tickets to see them seems like a very different thing from a band playing at a place where people aren't necessarily there to see the band.

Should have an electric kit and some PODs probably, the only way we could get it quiet enough, LOL

As lame as it seems, yeah that's probably true.

[R_of_G]

... a band playing a show where people purchase tickets to see them seems like a very different thing from a band playing at a place where people aren't necessarily there to see the band.

Definitely two distinct audiences with different expectations of a band. The former is clearly a more appealing audience to a band as they are there specifically to hear music. The latter typically wants from a band what it wants from a jukebox or a radio, background music, possibly recognizable so every now and again they can go "hey I love this song!" and then go back to their conversation.

Not to say it's not possible to get someone's attention with your music in an audience that isn't there specifically to see live music, but it sounds pretty far from the normal course of events.

Dee, I can only imagine it's frustrating to have an audience react like that, but if you enjoy playing this music with this band, just keep doing it. It's about you (the band) not them (the audience) anyway. If they like it, that's great but if not, as long as you still do, ignore it.