mcarp555 wrote:
The sad truth is that it's not even the bar owners, it's the audience. I grew up on the East coast of Florida, and the bar crowds there just weren't interested in 'new' music. We were stuck playing the same old crap ("Margaritaville", "Cocaine", "Wonderful Tonight", etc.) over and over. A lot of the guys I would play or jam with gave up and started playing country. No shortage of places to play, but unless you were willing to slog over to Orlando (and fight it out with their larger number of local bands), there was no audience for an "original high-energy show". People don't want to hear that, they want to go out and hear songs they know.
+1 I used to live in south florida and now in Jacksonville, and unless you're in a top 40 band good luck getting a gig, that is actually why I am having trouble keeping bands together, no clubs around here are willing to take a chance on an original band. The band I am in right now is on hiatus(?) because the singer/guitarist has been gigging with a 90s/early 2000s hard rock cover band. The only solution I see is a couple of bands I know down in west palm made their own 2 day festival at some residential club house, sold tickets there, merch, food, beverages, they controlled every aspect and they made a good deal of cash.
