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Makes sense...who wants to do that every night anymore? I feel the same way but I thought it was because I'm getting old.

Does this spell the end of live music as a viable vocation? Was it ever one?

TheFarleys wrote:It was never much of a vocation to begin with, but the real problem with clubs is people don't dance anymore. So when people go to clubs they basically stand there, take pictures or selfies, try to ignore the band, and drink. Half of the club is outside smoking at any given moment, the other half is playing with their phones. So unless the band is really worth listening to, it gets old. Back in the 80's we were at the clubs every night, drinking and dancing.

I wish you guys could see the live scene in Tel Aviv....it's just like being in the late 70s again.

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I think there is a millennial club scene but it is different than when we were 25. Two of my kids fit the era at 29 and 30. They like to go out dancing and it is almost always country music. They feel safe and they can dance to it. Other friends of theirs go out to clubs with a hip DJ scene for boom and sizzle all night. Very few live music clubs drawing this age group. All of the live rock music dance clubs around here attract an older crowd.

The article and all comments above are all true.
Has playing live at the club level ever been a vocation? The pay hasn't changed in 30+ years. Back then a band could survive on 2 gigs a week by sharing an apartment/van and mac&cheese dinners, but that same money now will barely cover food and gas.
Music has become 'background noise' for half the "millenials" as they stream it constantly on their phones - why would they pay a $10 cover charge and buy $10 drinks to hear more music?

Come on guys, ya'll sound SOOooooooooo Negative :D
It's not that bad. I have been doing this almost as long as most of you if not longer. The music scene has always had periods of ebb and flow. I remember when disco and grunge first came in the same thing happened. Now I play both styles. I went to the House Of Blues here in H-town last Friday they had tribute bands all Metal. Judas Priest, Metallica, Ozzy. Man that place was crazy I have never seen that many people crowded into such a large area. First of all if you want the crowd to dance you have to play dance music. NOT the music you want to play. Even then every now and then you will be playing to the staff and mostly empty chairs. We as the providers of live music have no choice but to put on our big boy pants, practice till the cows come home and support other bands even if they don't reciprocate! At the end of the day its just music and we are but small specs in the vast universe! :D

Jeff - it's great that you guys can get gigs in Houston on a regular basis that pay decent (I assume). Its not the same in other places. Disco medley? Sorry, but not for me. Hey, we all played 'danceable' music but th epeopel our age who used to go to these clubs and dance are now all grandparents! If you can even get them out to listen to music, they're probalby only going to dance one song before getting tired!
Like Jimmy says, the 'live music' is now a couple of nights a week in most places. The clubs are smaller - dedicated dance floors are small, or empty.
Tribute bands around here are scrambling for gigs as badly as anyone else, except for the national touring bands like Rain (Beatles), Dark Star Orchestra (Grateful Dead), etc.

J-HALEY wrote:Now I play both styles.

Country and Western????



Look....when Steve Tyler goes Country then rock n roll is dead or near dying. I've heard that the festival scene is thriving and a good place for touring bands. But that is an event people are going to see, not necessarily a band.

I think that people (generally speaking) still want the experience of live music, but they aren't as adventurous about how they spend money and time anymore, so they only go see bands that they already know that they like. Which means they have to "discover" them online first, or hear them on the radio, and the result is that they go out for "live" much less.

We did that also back in the day, but we'd also go hang out wherever the bands were playing in between the bigger concerts coming to town. Even going to see a bad band was better than the disco.

Mike, I see these grandparents PACKING the dance floor for our near 20 minute disco medley nearly every gig. You would also be surprised how many of the late 20's 30 and 40 year olds are familiar with the disco music. If you don't want to play dance music that people can shake their booty to well.......get use to the same old same old!
Myself, I'll play ANY song that gets people partying and dancing!

Ted we do play some country Texas Country that is! "Amy's Back In Austin", the Southern Rock, and the Trop Rock Yes Jimmy Buffet stuff is sure to get the Country folk to Dancin!

Like I said - its obviously different down your way than up in the northeast.

J-HALEY wrote:Mike, I see these grandparents PACKING the dance floor for our near 20 minute disco medley nearly every gig. You would also be surprised how many of the late 20's 30 and 40 year olds are familiar with the disco music. If you don't want to play dance music that people can shake their booty to well.......get use to the same old same old!
Myself, I'll play ANY song that gets people partying and dancing!

Ted we do play some country Texas Country that is! "Amy's Back In Austin", the Southern Rock, and the Trop Rock Yes Jimmy Buffet stuff is sure to get the Country folk to Dancin!

Disco and rock can't be compared anymore. Disco was a fad....but it forced rock to come back to it's danceable roots. When Saturday Night Fever released, rock music had become a spectator event where people got stoned and then zoned out while listening. Disco caused the Stones to release "miss you" and "beast of burden" and the Some Girls album started trending rock back towards something you got up and moved around to.

I was in Camden (London) in 1996 and there was a line of people stretching almost 3 entire blocks to get into a 70s trash-disco club. Women really like to dance, so it should be respected. Nah....f that.

I hated disco in the 70s, but find myself singing along to Brick House or More Than a Woman if it comes on. When I realize that I'm doing that, I spit.

Kind of sounds like Houston is living in the past now! Good for Haley and his band! Around here the only club dancing is at the places where they are playing EDM/hop-hop/dubstep sh*t - repetitive heavy bass line with big subwoofers shaking the place. The quality of the music doesn't matter, its only the beat that matters. And as the original article states - the 20-somethings there are boy/girlfriend hunting. Once they hook up, they don't return to those places.