BillFitzmaurice.info

Someone needs to legalize a bird shot round that goes about 8 feet. The audiences are miserable in recent
decades unless you are wise enough to be a specialty band doing just blues or folk, or something where the
audience actually shows up to hear talent. Not so the case now days in America . . . it needs to be legal to
open fire on anyone within hitting distance. Do I hate people? Yup, the audience at least.

I am not booking my Dueling Piano show much as I'm sick of having to play the same 20 karaoke songs. My bands
didnt take requests in the 60's and 70's. The audience wanted special songs at least from progressive rock bands
and they trusted us to bring the goods. Now they're brainwashed and numb. Just being there getting drunk proves that.
Audiences overseas are way more intelligent about music than Americans.

Today's morons only want Sweet Caroline, Dont Stop Believing and some other worn out puke that karaoke singers
try to sing. With internet dating sites, you dont have to dance with girls to mingle. Dance floors used to be jammed.
If you didnt have a table by 8:30 on a weekend you stood in the back. Bars had bouncers In wrestling referee shirts
and they'd pound your a$$ if you jumped up on stage. Always buy your bouncers a drink. . .

Keep your " Cheeseburger, Coke, and Fries" at the drive through window song list. In the 60's and 70' I didnt have a$$holes
grabbing my mike every night while I'm singing. No more weddings. I will not be their baby sitter while trying to run a piano
show. Kids are on all fours crawling under the pianos while we perform, knocking out cables and such. Dragging our props out
in the audience, stealing our show items like tamborines and such. I wanna kill the parents but I guess that might look bad if
the entertainer punched some "dad". So no more weddings and I wont end up in jail that night. Or the hospital. A guitarist can
move out of the way of these little rats, I cant.

One good story: A Top 40 progressive band I was in back in the early 70's returned to a ballroom after not having been
there for 6 months and a girl talked to me on break and said the coolest thing. She said "I see your bassist bought a new bass".

WOW, SHE NOTICED THE BASS. No lie. People required good music from top bands back then and they were aware of things.
Sure, you could work all the time in some part time band, have a blast, and not know more than 5 chords or a swing beat
because times were good and bars were full but to have a 20 year old girl, non musician, notice the bass is different?

As a synthesiser guy trying to sound like the Carrs, Styx, progressive bands, the audience would notice if the synths didnt sound like
Rick Wakeman or the record. Geez. But, that was better than what we have now. The synth guy with lots of new gear got hired right
away. Now every $800 synth sounds good enough for almost any gig.

I do hate the audience and will not get help for it. I avoid them and that's why jazz and fusion gigs that pay nothing are fun. You are a
musician up there, not a baby sitter. If I could only monitize hating the audience. . .

Don't hold back. Let it all out. Tell us how you really feel. We're here for you.

biodad wrote: ↑Wed Mar 06, 2024 12:42 pm
I do hate the audience and will not get help for it. I avoid them and that's why jazz and fusion gigs that pay nothing are fun.

I hear ya' brother. Audiences can be a major pain. I ran sound for a couple of years for a "listen or leave" show that was recorded and then broadcast on the radio. You couldn't just show up, you had to get free tickets from the radio station. It was a singer-songwriter interview show, so most people were really there to hear the performers. But every now and then, I'd have to go tell somebody to shut up or leave.

Fortunately, my band plays venues where we get a great reaction and we're up on a stage, so no kids messing with things. Although, sometimes the kids are easier than the drunk adults......

Yeah, sometimes I become a dick and state my honest feelings. The rant did me good. Now I wont try to hit deer in the road on the way home
with my truck. Seriously, bar gigs havent been fun in decades. But then I'm at a huge disadvantage, I'm there totally sober.

biodad wrote: ↑Fri Mar 08, 2024 4:24 pm Yeah, sometimes I become a dick and state my honest feelings. The rant did me good. Now I wont try to hit deer in the road on the way home
with my truck. Seriously, bar gigs havent been fun in decades. But then I'm at a huge disadvantage, I'm there totally sober.

Yeah, stay away from the deer.....one ran into my wife last fall (yes, it ran into her). Over $5k in damage.

I still do some bar gigs and for the most part they're pretty good. But then, I try to only work with good bands - that helps keep the crowd more engaged. Once in a while, you get blown away.....a couple of nights ago, we did the first Concerts in the Park for this year. I didn't know the artist and wasn't expecting much of anything. Boy, was I wrong. These cats were amazing. Guitar slinger was good, drummer was tasty and had some chops. But, the sax player blew me away. He was my age, about 400 pounds, and did some things I've never heard a sax do.

Those are the gigs that keep you going.

Of course, then there are the strange ones. Two weeks ago, a venue called me in dire straits needing someone to mix their Saturday night show. It's a listening room, where singer-songwriters do their thing. It's a listen only place. No bar and you are there to pay attention. The place will hold 50-60 people. There were 6 paying customers along with me and the gal running the place that night.....well, and the artist. I had a vocal and a DI for guitar. Needless to say, it was a very laid back and uneventful evening. Felt kinda' sorry for the venue - after paying me and the talent, they definitely went in the hole that night.

About the only gigs we attend anymore are when we attend C&W dances in our Central Texas retirement community. Lots of love for the bands. They're paid well, no gate worries. Crowd is into it. Smiles all around. No one under 65 generally.

But, I do agree, people are just impossible. Being an old fart, I attribute it to an entire generation of people that only heard "you're perfect" from their helicopter moms.

9830Lark wrote: ↑Sat Mar 09, 2024 10:48 am About the only gigs we attend anymore are when we attend C&W dances in our Central Texas retirement community. Lots of love for the bands. They're paid well, no gate worries. Crowd is into it. Smiles all around. No one under 65 generally.

But, I do agree, people are just impossible. Being an old fart, I attribute it to an entire generation of people that only heard "you're perfect" from their helicopter moms.

We've got a lot of venues down here a little south of you that are doing Sunday afternoon dances. Typically 3-6pm. Pretty much classic country. Those places fill up with the old folks.......of course, I'm old enough to be one of them. I played one a couple of weeks ago at a VFW Hall in Geronimo. Place was packed. Only down side was the really low volume - wouldn't have minded being able to push my Princeton a little more. But, it was fun. And I was back home by 7:30.....can't beat that.

Are you in Del Webb?