Ha! I feel complete now!

[blong5150]

Last night, I played keys for a couple of bands for the anniversary of one of the large rock clubs here. The 'headline' tribute act opted to use their tracks. Their 5th song in, there were equipment malfunctions and they kept having to stop and restart the track. Some guy in the audience yelled - "That's what you get for not having a real f#@ki^g keyboard player!". The guitar player got pissed - said "we're done" - packed his stuff and left.

[bloodyMary]

Made my day.

[Sven Golly]

Nice.

 

So the question begs, which one were you NOT playing with?

 

* Slippery When Wet

* Departure

* Hysteria

 

 

Edit: Never mind, a few more minutes on Google & Facebook, figured out that the Bon Jovi "tribute" has no keyboard player. Yeah, that's accurate.

[wd8dky]

Geddy Lee triggered samples and sequences via Ableton Live on the Time Machine tour (verified via a Youtube interview with his keyboard tech; they probably did this on the Clockwork Angels tour too). Shall we belittle him as well?

[Sven Golly]

Geddy Lee triggered samples and sequences via Ableton Live on the Time Machine tour (verified via a Youtube interview with his keyboard tech; they probably did this on the Clockwork Angels tour too). Shall we belittle him as well?

 

 

Yes, that's exactly the same situation. A progressive rock trio with 35 years of history as a 3-piece, who has been using backing tracks & sequences for decades, and a "tribute" to a band who has had an on-stage keyboardist since their inception who choose to tout their 'look-alike' status yet who use technology to replace a member of the band.

 

Yep. Apples and apples, for sure.

[blong5150]

Nice.

 

So the question begs, which one were you NOT playing with?

 

* Slippery When Wet

* Departure

* Hysteria

 

 

LOL - I don't want to incriminate anyone! I will say that I played with Departure and later did songs with members from all 3 bands you listed.

[blong5150]

And no - I'm not gonna start a "no tracks" debate here. I use them on a few of the god-awful top 40 songs we do. Difference is, I make sure I'm playing enough live stuff with the track that we don't have to stop in the event of a malfunction.

[allan_evett]

Geddy Lee triggered samples and sequences via Ableton Live on the Time Machine tour (verified via a Youtube interview with his keyboard tech; they probably did this on the Clockwork Angels tour too). Shall we belittle him as well?

 

 

Yes, that's exactly the same situation. A progressive rock trio with 35 years of history as a 3-piece, who has been using backing tracks & sequences for decades, and a "tribute" to a band who has had an on-stage keyboardist since their inception who choose to tout their 'look-alike' status yet who use technology to replace a member of the band.

 

Yep. Apples and apples, for sure.

 

Spot on !

 

I'd like to hear of more audience members calling for a live keyboard player when there are tracks in play. As Tony O. says " Hitting play does not constitute live performance ".

 

[blong5150]

Nice.

 

So the question begs, which one were you NOT playing with?

 

* Slippery When Wet

* Departure

* Hysteria

 

 

Edit: Never mind, a few more minutes on Google & Facebook, figured out that the Bon Jovi "tribute" has no keyboard player. Yeah, that's accurate.

 

** I hope this thread doesn't come up if they Google their name. I'd hate to piss off the locals!

[drawback]

I'm still shaking my head over a "tribute" act being a headliner in the first place.

 

 

 

 

[Sven Golly]

I'm still shaking my head over a "tribute" act being a headliner in the first place.

 

Well, it looks like the bar's primary focus is on rock tributes (there's even a Prince tribute playing there soon).

 

The night in question was 3 tributes.

 

Sorry for posting details, blong.

[blong5150]

I'm still shaking my head over a "tribute" act being a headliner in the first place.

 

The tribute bands actually do very well around here. My friends in Departure (Journey Tribute) regularly play The House of Blues circuit and a bunch of other large venues. I think the rise in tribute band popularity could be due to the fact that you can see them for $150 less than the real band and sometimes they are just as good.

[area51recording]

Bad joke removed. Please forgive me, I don't have the first idea what I was thinking

[Brettymike]

Last night, I played keys for a couple of bands for the anniversary of one of the large rock clubs here. The 'headline' tribute act opted to use their tracks. Their 5th song in, there were equipment malfunctions and they kept having to stop and restart the track. Some guy in the audience yelled - "That's what you get for not having a real f#@ki^g keyboard player!". The guitar player got pissed - said "we're done" - packed his stuff and left.

 

A heh heh! - "we're done" ,- more like done like dogs dinner that's gone through the dog.

But , in reading your title , I thought you had had your first naughty .

 

Brett

[Joe Muscara]

Some guy in the audience yelled - "That's what you get for not having a real f#@ki^g keyboard player!".

Yeah, cuz that wasn't you.

 

 

 

[Sven Golly]

The guy in the audience who yelled out WAS a keyboard player.....

Who didn't have a gig that night.........

He'd been replaced by tracks......

Just sayin'.......

 

...and?

[JeffLearman]

That's a hoot and a half. Sorry I missed it!

 

Regarding tribute bands, other than playing in a list of bands that included one, I've never gone to one, but I like the concept. I'd be in one in a flash, if the right opportunity came along. It's all good.

 

The funny thing is, to be any good, a tribute band practically has to play it a better than the original artists! (That rules me out, frankly. Oh well.) The other funny thing is, a lot of them actually achieve that (from a certain point of view).

[Synthoid]

The guitar player got pissed - said "we're done" - packed his stuff and left.

 

Made my day as well. Thanks for posting!

[TommyS]

Cosmic law of the keyboard universe.

[ITGITC]

I guess backing tracks are here to stay... forever.

 

Do you think people are more accepting of them now than before?

 

Is the band that plays everything live, in real time, a novelty act now?

 

Will people start seeking out bands that play without backing tracks, even perhaps boycotting those that do?

 

[MAJUSCULE]

Is the band that plays everything live, in real time, a novelty act now?

 

I wouldn't say novelty, but neither would evoke surprise. I think people expect either/or and don't really care one way or another. If they even notice.

 

Will people start seeking out bands that play without backing tracks, even perhaps boycotting those that do?

 

I don't see that happening.

[JeffLearman]

I went to a country-club thing this summer, outdoors on the veranda, tapas, stuff that those upper crusties I'm masquerading as do. There was a band with two blond women in their 40's playing classic rock: drummer and guitarist. Nobody seemed to notice or care that they had backing tracks. The only complaint I heard was that they were too loud, despite being the quietest band with a drummer that I think I ever heard.

 

Then again, maybe part of that uppercrusty set thing is to not complain about the help. Oh wait, what am I thinking?

 

I think your chances are dim, Tom. But I'm rooting with you.

[ITGITC]

 

OK then. Maybe it's just us musician-types that still care. All of us who posted in this thread were pulling for the guy in the audience who yelled - "That's what you get for not having a real f#@ki^g keyboard player!".

 

I'll rephrase my questions:

 

I guess backing tracks are here to stay... forever.

 

Do you think people musicians in the audience are more accepting of them now than before?

 

Is the band that plays everything live, in real time, a novelty act now?

 

Will people musicians in the audience who care start seeking out bands that perform without backing tracks? Will we try to convince our non-musician friends that it matters, or will this become a non-issue to us too?

 

[JeffLearman]

I'm ambivalent. The act I mentioned above, well ... it really was appropriate for the situation: a bunch of geezers sipping wine and eating on a nice summer evening. And the two ladies actually did a decent job of making a good performance; it wasn't the least bit "phoned in". (Plus it can't be easy to do the "engaging performer" thing to a crowd that's at most tapping feet to show appreciation, plus a bit of the golf clap thing.)

 

I can also see a cover band sequencing some stuff to make a cover sound like the original. I *prefer* to see people use creativity to do it differently while being faithful to the spirit -- which is what the original artists are likely to do: screw that studio crap, we're live now. (At least, the original artists I favor.)

 

I give Rush a total pass on it. I'm not a big Rush fan, but I can see why people are. Just not my cuppa, but if I could write and play music like that I'd consider myself lucky and talented.

 

But when I hear tracks used in theater, often when there are real musicians there, I'm disappointed. On the other hand, I'd hate to balance the budget for any theatrical production.

 

Finally, I have fun doing it myself. I haven't done it in years, but I've often enjoyed seeing how close I can come to recreating a recording, playing all the parts myself. And it's fun to play along with it, muting whatever track I'm playing. I just usually don't subject other people to it. That's because I like other people.

[cphollis]

Gotta say, at the other end of the spectrum, I have a special place in my heart for acts that bring plenty of musicians to get that "big" sound.

 

For example, saw a Beatles tribute act that had TWO keyboard players in back -- they nailed every orchestral part on Sgt Pepper. Or a real three-piece horn section for Motown rather than have the keyboard player throw in some lines. Or having both a piano player AND an hammond player. Or a local Chicago tribute band that had 10 people on stage.

 

I get the economics of using backing tracks when needed -- sparingly. But you've got to love those big bands that don't think that way, and bring plenty of hands to deliver those big sounds!

[Jazzmammal]

This story is too funny. Sad but funny. Tracks are a fact of life now and the real problem here is not that the band used tracks it's they didn't have control of their system for playing the tracks or didn't have a backup or both. I bet they do now.

 

The problem is they all see big star acts using them but they don't realize big stars have a crew backstage running duplicate or even triplicate systems handling the tracks so if something goes wrong with one somebody just mutes that one and pushes the fader up on the backup that is running concurrently and no harm no foul. A local touring group doesn't have that so this happens. Total disaster.

 

Like everything else in life this is about money or maybe this material requires a really good keys player and they can't find one who can give them a full commitment but it's probably just the money. Can't fault them for that because you know they're not making much on an annual basis doing this and we're all well aware money is tight for gigging players.

 

Bob

[hazerkeys]

"The guitar player got pissed, etc ..."

!! thank you Santa ... Christmas has come early !!!

[allan_evett]

Good questions, Tom. As musicians willingly participate in larger sized acts that use backing tracks, I suspect that their acquiescence is due to 'going along to get along' - IOW, keeping the peace so that they remain employed. How musicians feel, overall about backing tracks was covered in a thread earlier this year, IIRC. But perhaps it's time to revisit that discussion ?

 

I can understand a one or two person act that uses some backing - especially for a low-budget, very small scale situation. But when it sounds like a symphony behind the musicians, that sounds utterly fake to me. For larger productions I hate the use of tracks that eliminate core, live players. IOW, I'll take Lyle Lovett or Little Feat any day over Van Halen, and other acts that 'cheap out' on core sounds and players. Large scale, theatrically oriented shows deserve a degree of leeway on that, though.

 

The larger issue is the dimishment of respect for talent and skilled craft. Though I think that's partly based in cultural ignorance. Used to be that musicians were expected to be able to play, really play. And that was a given - expected both by audiences and fellow players. I see some signs of an attempted turnaround in popular music; that's good. I'm hoping that the race to bottom will crash and burn soon.

 

Oh, and 'Hey you kids, get off my lawn !'

[Sven Golly]

I'll take Lyle Lovett or Little Feat any day over Van Halen

 

Not telling anyone they don't already know and understand, but you're talking about two vastly difference audience demographics & expectation here.

 

(and yes, there is some overlap, but let's ignore that for the sake of making the point, shall we? )

[Michael Wright]

Some guy in the audience yelled - "That's what you get for not having a real f#@ki^g keyboard player!". The guitar player got pissed - said "we're done" - packed his stuff and left.