Pub Bands

MonkeyTennis

Is there still room for the pub band in todays Ireland. I was in a pub last night and a bunch of guys came in with equipment and started to set up. There was an audible groan and several customers got up and left before they started.

they were actually pretty decent and by the end the whole place was either singing or even dancing once the beer kicked in.

Would you go specifically to see a pub band?

Any thoughts.

MrJoeSoap

I go to the pub for a chat and to relax, not to have the ears blown off me by "500 miles" and the likes.

aidan_walsh

Would you go specifically to see a pub band?

Depends entirely on the pub and the band in question, to be honest. Some places just aren't suitable for bands, and some bands just aren't suitable to leave their parents garage.

MonkeyTennis

Of course it all depends on the act but I would never normally go and seek out a pub band and most of the time I would probably avoid them but this gave me a change of heart.

Savman

Admittedly I'm on the other side of the fence, having gigged in many a pub/****hole. I absolutely agree that some bars just shouldn't put live music on and others should be more selective in who they book in.

We intentionally avoid the pub scene these days unless the venue is particularly music friendly. There's nothing worse than hearing that groan as you load in and set up, although in most places its more of a persistance heckle of abuse. We certainly don't do 500 Miles etc and usually any punters that stick around end up having a good night, but there is a negative image associated with bands and music in some places. I think it boils down to clueless managers and owners not caring or knowing what their customers want, I know if I'm sitting there having a good yap to mates the last thing I want is to be blasted out of it.

Some of the better places advertise themselves as a live music bar so you expect something to be on, the rest are just badly managed IMHO.

FunkZ

MonkeyTennis wrote:

Would you go specifically to see a pub band?

I would yeah, there's a band from Drogheda call Electric Ladyland that are pure quality, but normally if a band walks in and sets up unexpectedly it'll piss me off.

D Bronc

aidan_walsh wrote:

Depends entirely on the pub and the band in question, to be honest. Some places just aren't suitable for bands, and some bands just aren't suitable to leave their parents garage.

Haha so true!

I agree entirely with Savman.
Pub bands just seem to have dwindled alot over the years though, i gave up on bands a couple of years back it was starting to become very silly, like anyone can buy the equipment and away you go :rolleyes: .
Last year i went to a wedding and the band that was playing (id heard of before but never went to see/listen) were f*cking brilliant.

It really does depend, i certainly wouldnt rush down town to listen to the crap they have playing (on a regular basis), its hard to get a good band anymore.

byrner88

yes i would go to a pub to see a band . or even just go to the pub to see new bands i havent seen before , i work in a pub myself and i find the atmosphere is not the same when there isnt a good band on . yes there is alot of brutal musicans out there and we cant help that . actually tonite im off to see a brilliant band called cry baby in my local . i always enjoy listining to them.

Driver 8

A lot of pub bands are interchangeable, especially in terms of set lists. I just feel sorry for originals bands who don't live near Dublin, where are they supposed to play? There's outlets and venues here and there, but no wonder we don't have as many Irish bands coming through as we could.

Shred

There's a band on every Friday in my local (Peacock's in Rivervalley) and as a result I don't go around there on Fridays anymore:mad: The problem is I like to go to my local for a chat and not for a wild night out; I'll go to the village or into the city centre for that. Secondly the bands that play there are usually pretty crap and they absolutely blast the place out of it. There's nothing like a really good live band imo, but there's certainly a time and a place for them.

Black Swan

MonkeyTennis wrote:

Would you go specifically to see a pub band?

If they're grand, yes! Might even dance on a table top after a pint or two.

John Mason

i was out last night and two pubs side by side had bands playing outside. it was brilliant one was two guys and the other a rock band and they were trying to out play each other. the two then gave up and started to sign the same songs as the rock band - it was brilliant. i love live music in pubs if they are good

mise_me_fein

Driver 8 wrote:

A lot of pub bands are interchangeable, especially in terms of set lists. I just feel sorry for originals bands who don't live near Dublin, where are they supposed to play? There's outlets and venues here and there, but no wonder we don't have as many Irish bands coming through as we could.

I play in a "pub" band and we could gig every week 3 or 4 times without going to Dublin. In fact, in the covers scene, Dublin is the place to avoid.

I'm packing it in at the end of the year coz I'm getting bored with it. By the way, in the Louth/Monaghan area there's tonnes of bands. It's just a pity we're not writing stuff. Still there's a band called the Flaws that used to play the covers for a while and now since writing their own stuff they've started going places. You probably heard stuff off their album on the radio in the last few weeks.

Bands like Big Generator and the like are crap in my opinion. Playing the same old ****e. The only reason they sound like they do is because they spend so much on their gear. If anyone has heard their original songs, you'll know exactly how much talent those guys have.

rusty999

MrJoeSoap wrote: »

I go to the pub for a chat and to relax, not to have the ears blown off me by "500 miles" and the likes.

Surely if you want to go for a chat then you choose a pub that does not have live music. Visitors to this country who want to experience good quality live Irish bands sometimes cant believe how the Irish punter chats and talks during a live gig and they feel it shows disrespect to the musicians.
There are plenty of cosy pubs around with no music as well for people who want to chat .

levitatingeleph

I have played as part of a pub rock band in the Mayo area for the past 3 years. I really loved playing and the reaction we got from our audiences which were always very positive....One thing i noticed while playing, was that i missed sitting down and actually watching another band play....to hear the music from the outside rather than from inside a band. I stopped playing for about 6mths to enjoy for a while the talent of other musicians in the area.... Im playing again now but I have to admit....every time i see a poster for a band playing in my area i am immediately drawn and i go and 99 oout of ten times enjoy it!!!Also any weekend thats band free feels like a flop......
The way things have gone nowadays where a guy with a speaker and a box of cd's can call himself a DJ just because he can use an oversized cd player is incredible when you think of all the young bands and all the young talent out there that cant get a break.....its crazy.....:mad:

Pop's Diner

I don't like pub bands at all. I usually just get up and leave as soon as they start as I can no longer hear myself think or hear what the people with me are saying.

There's a place in Temple Bar I frequent that has a 9pm slot every night for solo guitarists who clearly are told to keep it simple in terms of their setlist. Like clockwork as soon as the first chord is strummed about half the punters just shuffle straight out the door (not to be immediately replaced by people off the street attracted to the music either I might add!) so I don't get why the pubs themselves even keep it up?. You'd wonder does anyone working there notice or even care?

gizmo

mise_me_fein wrote: »

Bands like Big Generator and the like are crap in my opinion. Playing the same old ****e. The only reason they sound like they do is because they spend so much on their gear. If anyone has heard their original songs, you'll know exactly how much talent those guys have.

Can't say I agree with you at all on that one. I can only speak for myself but when I go to a pub for a night out with mates and there happens to be music, I prefer it to be something we can sing along to. The likes of Big Generator and Blue Moose do this stuff really damn well and I can't remember ever being at one of their gigs and not having a great night out. Also, I can tell exactly how much talent they have when I see them switching instruments/vocals between songs and nailing the stuff they play so well. I've heard their original stuff a couple of times and although it didn't grab me, fair dues to them for giving it a try when sandwiching it in-between the more well known tunes.

Trinity

Depends on what you want out of a night out

Theres one band in particular i love, they get the whole place rocking

other than that the odd night i do get out these days nah i dont think i would specifically go see a pub band

easyeason3

I go to a pub to have a drink, have a chat & relax. If there is music in the background, jukebox or band, then I don't mind too much except when I have to roar what I am saying & by the end of the night my ears are bleeding from the volume.
If I wanted the whole country to hear what I'm saying then I would go about my day shouting everything for them all to hear.
Also if I wanted my ears to bleed I would spend my time in nightclubs.

So no, I don't like pub bands if they are too loud, I like music as a background noise to set the atmosphere, not to ruin it.

davyjose

But every now and again, you go for a quiet pint, and then one or two more show up, and then a band come on, and they're good, so you get a few more rounds in, and then it turns into an awesome night and you go on to a club, meet up with some young ones on a hen night and have some flirtatiousnesses and maybe the (not unpleasant) feel of an unfamiliar tongue in your mouth, and then you go back to someones gaff, and they have a bit of hash somewhere, and they find it, and you play singstar til the neighbours bang on the wall and the sky gets navy-blue and you wander home, and two hours later ring in sick for work.

It's rare. But awesome.

rossie1977

i love pub bands, very rare that i would enter a pub if there wasn't music going on

Super-Rush

levitatingeleph wrote: »

I have played as part of a pub rock band in the Mayo area for the past 3 years. I really loved playing and the reaction we got from our audiences which were always very positive....One thing i noticed while playing, was that i missed sitting down and actually watching another band play....to hear the music from the outside rather than from inside a band. I stopped playing for about 6mths to enjoy for a while the talent of other musicians in the area.... Im playing again now but I have to admit....every time i see a poster for a band playing in my area i am immediately drawn and i go and 99 oout of ten times enjoy it!!!Also any weekend thats band free feels like a flop......
The way things have gone nowadays where a guy with a speaker and a box of cd's can call himself a DJ just because he can use an oversized cd player is incredible when you think of all the young bands and all the young talent out there that cant get a break.....its crazy.....:mad:

Its cheaper to hire a DJ. At what stage could he call himself a DJ???

ScumLord

We get the best of pub bands around these parts. Some of them can actually play instruments and all.

I set up a website in homage to one of them.

http://irritainment.biz/johnnydusseldorf