Great topic, John. All of our smaller clubs in my area (SE Wisconsin) are still doing well. No one is getting rich, but business is stable. A lot of owners are getting creative with ways to keep traffic coming through the doors, which seems to help. One club in particular will only cater to original music, and the scene has been very loyal and appreciative of this stance. --Mike
So true John I find it sad that people won't pay a reasonable price for local venues yet pay $100s for huge bands. Here in UK same with theatres Opera etc no demand very sad 😢😢
Here in Ventura, CA we have a strong local music scene thankfully. For instance, a year or so ago we had a new venue open up, holds about 300ish people. They must have a connected promoter, the classic English punk band, Subhumans played there a few months back and tomorrow night I'm going to see Early Moods play there. Being in my mid 50's I agree with you, it's not the same as it was by any stretch. Hard Rock and Metal back in the 80's fueled a tremendous club scene here in So Cal. Really miss those days!
Yeah it happened in my area too. The one venue that had the smaller tours that held like 150-200 people is done and now the only thing left are either the bigger shows or cover bands and there is no actual metal or rock scene at all in the area. Truly sad.
I think this happened a bit some years ago. I am originally from Boston and a few venues are still around, but some legendary places have gone (The Rat, The Channel, etc.). I was still seeing a lot of shows back in the early 00s and we would go down to the clubs on Lansdowne Street (Avalon, Bill's Bar, Mama Kin). A lot of these venues would have bands start early. They'd play 8-10 or 7-9 PM. Afterwards, they'd shuffle out the old fogies and get the young kids in for EDM dancing. One DJ spinning tunes is a lot cheaper than 5 member bands. Plus, dancers drink a lot more. The guy at the Avalon told me it was so much more profitable with the EDM crowd, but starting shows early gave them the best of both worlds and I didn't mind. I got to get to bed earlier.
Yes not just in the USA there has been a trend of smaller entertainment venues such as pubs,, bars, clubs closing up in the UK - particularly from around 2015 to now.
I live in the Chicago area and I am 54. The biggest change I have seen overall has been a great reduction in the number of bars that have regular live bands. I was pretty active on the bar scene in the city and burbs during the 90s and first decade or so of the 2000s and there seemed to be endless amounts of bands and places to see them. Now, it seems to me that there is less than half the activity there used to be. Even small bars which 15-20 years ago would have had live acts playing at least on weekends hardly ever have anything anymore. Many of the places I frequented are long gone as well. Also often see DJ nights in smaller bars. I know a few people who play in bands and they have told me it's just getting harder to find anywhere to play, especially if you want to actually make any money. I've even heard of some places charging bands to play, just so they can be heard. As far as smaller concert venues, we actually have a few right in my general area that seem to be doing OK, but they mostly have cover bands, which is ok, but not alot of original younger acts seem to be around. Times and people seem to have changed considerably. I think you are correct that a majority of say 21-35 year Olds, that typical bar and concert going group, are just not as into the live music experience as we were.
I played on the local Dallas Fort Worth Alt Rock Scene in the 90’s .. turned 30 in 2000 went back to school got my degree a wife and had some kids few years later and now I am far removed from local scene but I do check out clubs showings here and there and some of the same local clubs have been around since the 90’s ( Trees since 1990 and Club DaDa since 1986) .. but I don’t know about any upcoming clubs that come and go , no idea.. my kids don’t appreciate live music they can’t get past the imperfections of live music .. but there is some hope, my daughter does love Smashing Pumpkins, RadioHead, The Smiths and Jeff Buckley 😊
I live near Savannah. That's all we have. Well there is the arena and a couple of theaters, but they really only get 2nd tier acts. Our small venues get some local bands, small country artists and tons of cover bands.
Yes, Texas as a whole has been dealing with this for a while. It’s just too expensive for all involved. Consider yourself lucky to have experienced the way it used to be.
Not so much now. I live in pinellas county and we went through a rash of smaller venues closing around 2013-2020. Most of them closed because of either the rent being jacked up to the point where they can't make money (most of the venues on Central Ave in St.Pete) or just not being able to compete with say The Brass Mug or Crowbar.
The market is shrinking and it seems like any given area can't really have more than one or two venues that appeal to the same demographic, there just aren't enough people to support multiple venues of the same style.
I believe this trend started with the younger generation having no interest in physical music and having everything so easily accessible. Not just albums but also an endless amount of live footage can be seen on TH-cam. Sadly, with this and AI, we are beginning to see the end of rock bands. It is now pop divas and computer generated sounds. A band, where each member plays an instrument, will soon be from a bygone era.
Merry Christmas John to you and your family 🎉❤⛄️☃️☃️.
Great video as always if it was a sad topic 🥲🥲🥲
Great topic, John. All of our smaller clubs in my area (SE Wisconsin) are still doing well. No one is getting rich, but business is stable. A lot of owners are getting creative with ways to keep traffic coming through the doors, which seems to help. One club in particular will only cater to original music, and the scene has been very loyal and appreciative of this stance.
--Mike
Good to hear that the scene is hangin' tough in your area.
So true John I find it sad that people won't pay a reasonable price for local venues yet pay $100s for huge bands.
Here in UK same with theatres Opera etc no demand very sad 😢😢
Here in Ventura, CA we have a strong local music scene thankfully. For instance, a year or so ago we had a new venue open up, holds about 300ish people. They must have a connected promoter, the classic English punk band, Subhumans played there a few months back and tomorrow night I'm going to see Early Moods play there. Being in my mid 50's I agree with you, it's not the same as it was by any stretch. Hard Rock and Metal back in the 80's fueled a tremendous club scene here in So Cal. Really miss those days!
Yeah it happened in my area too. The one venue that had the smaller tours that held like 150-200 people is done and now the only thing left are either the bigger shows or cover bands and there is no actual metal or rock scene at all in the area. Truly sad.
I think this happened a bit some years ago. I am originally from Boston and a few venues are still around, but some legendary places have gone (The Rat, The Channel, etc.). I was still seeing a lot of shows back in the early 00s and we would go down to the clubs on Lansdowne Street (Avalon, Bill's Bar, Mama Kin). A lot of these venues would have bands start early. They'd play 8-10 or 7-9 PM. Afterwards, they'd shuffle out the old fogies and get the young kids in for EDM dancing. One DJ spinning tunes is a lot cheaper than 5 member bands. Plus, dancers drink a lot more. The guy at the Avalon told me it was so much more profitable with the EDM crowd, but starting shows early gave them the best of both worlds and I didn't mind. I got to get to bed earlier.
Yes not just in the USA there has been a trend of smaller entertainment venues such as pubs,, bars, clubs closing up in the UK - particularly from around 2015 to now.
I live in the Chicago area and I am 54. The biggest change I have seen overall has been a great reduction in the number of bars that have regular live bands. I was pretty active on the bar scene in the city and burbs during the 90s and first decade or so of the 2000s and there seemed to be endless amounts of bands and places to see them. Now, it seems to me that there is less than half the activity there used to be. Even small bars which 15-20 years ago would have had live acts playing at least on weekends hardly ever have anything anymore. Many of the places I frequented are long gone as well. Also often see DJ nights in smaller bars. I know a few people who play in bands and they have told me it's just getting harder to find anywhere to play, especially if you want to actually make any money. I've even heard of some places charging bands to play, just so they can be heard. As far as smaller concert venues, we actually have a few right in my general area that seem to be doing OK, but they mostly have cover bands, which is ok, but not alot of original younger acts seem to be around. Times and people seem to have changed considerably. I think you are correct that a majority of say 21-35 year Olds, that typical bar and concert going group, are just not as into the live music experience as we were.
Dingbatz in Clifton NJ and Debonair in Teaneck NJ are two great small clubs in my area that are still going strong. Thankfully.
I played on the local Dallas Fort Worth Alt Rock Scene in the 90’s .. turned 30 in 2000 went back to school got my degree a wife and had some kids few years later and now I am far removed from local scene but I do check out clubs showings here and there and some of the same local clubs have been around since the 90’s ( Trees since 1990 and Club DaDa since 1986) .. but I don’t know about any upcoming clubs that come and go , no idea.. my kids don’t appreciate live music they can’t get past the imperfections of live music .. but there is some hope, my daughter does love Smashing Pumpkins, RadioHead, The Smiths and Jeff Buckley 😊
I live near Savannah. That's all we have. Well there is the arena and a couple of theaters, but they really only get 2nd tier acts. Our small venues get some local bands, small country artists and tons of cover bands.
I have read that car parking charges at venues in USA are expensive, think Mr Alo said up to $50 to park your car then a walk 😢
Yes, Texas as a whole has been dealing with this for a while. It’s just too expensive for all involved. Consider yourself lucky to have experienced the way it used to be.
The crowbar in Tampa closing really hurts
yup , sadly so .., we had about 6 in our city about 5 years ago .., a city of 330 thousand ..., now we are down to 2 :(
Not so much now. I live in pinellas county and we went through a rash of smaller venues closing around 2013-2020. Most of them closed because of either the rent being jacked up to the point where they can't make money (most of the venues on Central Ave in St.Pete) or just not being able to compete with say The Brass Mug or Crowbar.
The market is shrinking and it seems like any given area can't really have more than one or two venues that appeal to the same demographic, there just aren't enough people to support multiple venues of the same style.
I believe this trend started with the younger generation having no interest in physical music and having everything so easily accessible. Not just albums but also an endless amount of live footage can be seen on TH-cam. Sadly, with this and AI, we are beginning to see the end of rock bands. It is now pop divas and computer generated sounds. A band, where each member plays an instrument, will soon be from a bygone era.
These small clubs are now charging $25 or more for no name artists.
They can all go out of business..
Most fans of live music are getting too old to go out. Younger people do not care too much about live music instead prefer EDM DJs