what's your take on live bands?

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the scene here in Phoenix seems to hate live bands. I love them. what're your thoughts?

-- suriel (suriel@darktapestry.com), July 09, 2000

Answers

I like them if they are good. That doesnt seem very helpful. Reset: Mainly if I dont know them or only kinda like them and they play on a night I dont have something regular planned, like dancing, Ill go. If I do know and like them already, Ill go without question. If I only kinda like them and have an idea that theyd suck live(as seen on SNL), even if its on a free night, I prolly wont spend the money but I might. Does that

-- Duh Idunno (dotcartman@yahoo.com), July 10, 2000.

I love live bands, and I am much more likely to leave home for a band than for yet another club night where I can name half the songs I'll hear before I leave home. My problem is deciding which bands to see, since I have to take 2 days off work to make the trek to Phoenix to see a show. Obviously, not something I can do on a monthly basis, as much as I'd like to.

-- silence (silence@g0th.net), July 10, 2000.

I adore live bands, but then I'm sort of a musician and I've been going to shows for fourteen solid years. I've dropped more money on Ticketmaster than on clothing.

I think perhaps you think we hate live bands because of the dancing vs. concert issue. I know people who complain endlessly when they show up on supposedly a dance night and 1/4 of the club is cordoned off into a stage, the cover charge is doubled, and they anticipate much less dancing in exchange for some band they've never heard of and didn't want to see.

To them I say "too damn bad." Because if they get to the front door without knowing there's a band that night, they haven't been doing their homework. Shows are listed for weeks, if not months in advance. We still have a choice of clubs around here so if there's a band at one club on one night, you can go someplace else during the same week and get your fix.

As for other live events that get poor attendance, I don't know what all the factors are that keep people away. I think it takes a more dedicated type of scenester to go to shows than those that go dancing or out to coffee or whatever, because it's a riskier proposition - you could spend $20 to see a band suck for four-and-a-half songs before stalking offstage in a huff, for example. With a small enough scene you are going to get even fewer of those adventuresome types.

All of the above goes for local bands. As for national acts, it seems to be a vicious circle of the artists hating Arizona so they don't bother stopping here, and the fans hating the artists for never playing here, etc.

--robert

-- Lucky Charms (chupchup@netscape.net), July 11, 2000.


Well - someday I plan on being a full-fledged GOTH, so I go to the clubs and listen to all the songs and see all the bands so I know who everyone's talking about. Lately the important band to know about is VNV, so I'm working on that. ha ha! No really - I enjoy the clubs, I enjoy seeing the bands. I love the scene and take just about every opportunity to get out and support it.

-- Shawn (kiwigirl@uswest.net), July 11, 2000.

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