It's dead here - is it dead there?

[Spudman]

I've played gigs in town the last two weekends and both times there has hardly been anybody out on the town at all. We called other clubs and they were empty there as well. Last night was even pay day.

Is it like this where you live or is it just here where people are being ultra conservative?

 

[ZMAN]

It could be that people are getting their credit card statements from the Christmas period.
I have a different theory. I said it about 9 months ago. Things won't be too bad until the new year. That is when all of these unemployed people will run out of their unemployment insurance and severance. Things are picking up again but not at the pace it needs to be. We have seen several small business owners we know report that they had 1 customer yesterday, and will have to close soon.

 

[Robert]

Same here. It's dead. That's why I hardly gig these days. Hard to find gigs here because very few come out to see live music. Consequently, no one wants to pay a band. This goes well with the work for free thread I started!:thwap

 

[oldguy]

Pretty quiet here locally, but go south to Kansas City and people are out and about listening to bands every weekend. Head north to St. Joseph and it's slower, but lots of people going to movies and bars, just not as many live music venues. There are quite a few Eagles/Elks/VFW places that have country music regularly, though, and several little hometown opry type shows.

 

[deeaa]

What ZMAN said, I guess partially...I know I'm bust after I paid off the creditcard...plus at least here it's very common for people to have a 'dropless January' we call it, i.e. spend all January with not a drop of alcohol.

I myself am also on that tradition, though it's getting hard at halfway-mark...man I need a beer so bad...damned, now I got into thinking about it...I wonder if sniffing gas or something instead might help ;-)

 

[epi0205]

Yeah, It's always dead wood after the holidaze...
Then we roll into tax time and that will either catch
everybody up or dig a deeper hole..? Seems like
around late March-April, Things get movin' here. If
your fav-O-rite team is still alive in the playoffs...
Well, There ya' go

 

[ZMAN]

What ZMAN said, I guess partially...I know I'm bust after I paid off the creditcard...plus at least here it's very common for people to have a 'dropless January' we call it, i.e. spend all January with not a drop of alcohol.

I myself am also on that tradition, though it's getting hard at halfway-mark...man I need a beer so bad...damned, now I got into thinking about it...I wonder if sniffing gas or something instead might help ;-)

LOL: I am in the same boat. 16 days so far no booze. Yesterday was a big test after hockey. Today another one. It is mild enough to BBQ and I NEVER BBQ without a wine or a Beer. Will be tough with a Gingerale.

 

[markb]

Post xmas + school summer holidays = dead.

 

[Plank_Spanker]

It's aways a dead scene here. Live music is a dying art form............

 

[hubberjub]

That's funny. My wife works two shifts a week at a local venue/bar and Saturday was her biggest tip day ever. The place was absolutely packed. The line for beer was to the front door. That's the nice thing about having your wife work at the bar. One of the perks is getting to sneak back there and pour my own beer when it's busy.

 

[msteeln]

It's the same WAY out West for us...

With the lack of dime-a-dozen real talent these day's and in-home entertainment, the era of a real good time out to a club for great music of any kind are nearly extinct, especially without dumping your whole paycheck. And concerts are thin as well, especially affordable shows.
The exceptions are scarce and appreciated even more, but the heyday's are gone. It was fun while it lasted.

 

[t_ross33]

Same here. It's dead. That's why I hardly gig these days. Hard to find gigs here because very few come out to see live music. Consequently, no one wants to pay a band. This goes well with the work for free thread I started!:thwap

I guess everyone moved back to Saskatchewan from Alberta oke

jk... Our band has been very lucky. We gig at least once or twice a month (without even trying! I have turned down at least 4 gigs already this year), have been building a good rep and are now able to demand a decent dollar - at least on par with or just a little under what many "older" more established bands are charging - and it shows no signs of slowing down.

That said, we don't really do "the bar scene", most of our gigs are events hosted in conjunction with other community functions (for example, on the 30th we are playing a dance in conjunction with a 2-day outdoor curling bonspiel - not really about the curling - lol!) - or things like playing at World Fest in conjunction with the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships held in Saskatoon recently.

House concerts are gaining in popularity here and the indie scene is vibrant, even though nobody is getting rich... just have to look for it. Artists are getting pretty creative as far as venues and performances go.

 

[Robert]

Hey guys, let's all move to Saskatchewan, so we can get some curling gigs!

 

[Spudman]

Hey guys, let's all move to Saskatchewan, so we can get some curling gigs!

Sure! I'll do the gigs...but will people show up?

Folks around here wont pay for bands to do their community functions. Usually they are the worst paying or free gigs. I mentioned that I wanted to do a summer river festival that our city has every year and the person involved with it said that it was a donation from the band to play it (for free). Yes there would be way more than 1,000 people there and the event would make a lot of money but yet they couldn't pay my band a few hundred for our time and effort. The kicker? They are going to shell out at least $6,000 for a known band. :thwap

I was thinking they were just going to be tight with their money but obviously tight doesn't cost $6,000.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Here, things seem a bit better than last year for music, and folks getting out to listen to it. I know a lot is done for free, or near free. As I posted in some thread a while back, there seems to be a lot of new little local bands popping up as workers based in the construction industry find time on their hands.

But as far as professional bands, the re-opening of Whiskey Jacques in town is getting some bands in, and some folks back out. I think its absence for a year or so after it burned help whet the appetite for some live tunes. At least that rockabilly gig I went to seemed decently attended.

 

[Bloozcat]

It's hard to gauge here. We're in the middle of tourist season and it's been a bad winter up north so far, so there are plenty of people down here trying to get away from it.

I suspect that things will probably be a lot closer to dead come late spring.

 

[Monkus]

is this seasonal? or do you think its a sign o' the times?

 

[street music]

Concerts seem to be having trouble drawing a sellout in our area. Local small music settings still doing alright but not a full house at many of them. I think the economy is starting to really take a hit and many are watching the huge increases in electric bills plus layoff and dealing with credit cards. If cap & trade gets passed you can forget getting gigs that pay.