We came across a pretty pointed MySpace bulletin from our photographer friend Stephani up north in Wheeling. She'd let us use one of her killer pics of Treasure Cat for a Graffiti article we did on the band. Well, she was perplexed as to why nobody came to Saturday's show at Yesterday's Draught House & Stage.We think her bulletin is a good jumping off point for the question: if fewer and fewer people are going to shows, why?
Gas? TV & the internet?
Here is her bulletin, reposted...
"Once again, Chuck books a good show at Yesterday's and once again, it's pretty damn empty there. Lo-Pan is amazing, their new vocalist kicks ass. And Rebreather... *whew* blew my doors off.
I left with a broken drumstick!
Now I haven't been out lately because of monetary concerns, but unless EVERYONE is as broke as I am, we've got to start showing our support for this venue, and the bands that play there.
If Chuck books a band you've never heard of, see if they have a MySpace page and see if you like the music, don't dismiss it because you've never heard of them.
FREE SHOW TUESDAY - didya see that? FREE SHOW.
Let's start showin' up and representin'!"
-- Have you decided to not go to a show for any particular reason? Ga$ money? Internet porn? Don't agree with the smoking bans (Yesterday's went through that) or just think area bands suck? Let us know, you've read this much...
SPECIAL UPDATE: We just came across this most rockin' MySpace blog from our show-goin' Charleston friend Jim, who was at the Glass Saturday and witnessed a similar phenomena; few people showing up...This show featured some bands from Ohio -- TheDAMNits and Razorbliss (which sounds like Marilyn from what we heard, and also, according to Jim, they played the Lords of Acid song "Pussy" -- we used to rock them out all the time back in the day when we stayed up all night...
Our only conclusion is that, as the bands at these venues were from Ohio, there exists a secret conspiracy among West Virginia rockers to not support Ohio bands. Well, we need to break this up by the 26th, when the Whiskey Daredevils come to town...
I think it is a combination of gas prices and lack of local bands to add support to shows. It seems most of the good Wheeling area bands are broken up or missing members. That has to hurt.
ReplyDeletethere just doesn't seem to be very many different sounding bands going through there anymore.And plus the same bands play there all the time or they used to.I think whoever is in charge of this venue should have some kind of open inviation from the local people to see what or who they want to come there...that would be unique and would certainly regain interest in yesterdays,at least briefly.And from what I've heard(not in a band myself so not sure) is that a few of the bands that didn't fit the regular crowds style were often discriminated against in some way shape or form.Again not sure if that is true but have heard it more than once...
ReplyDeleteyesterdays as a whole has turned into just another groups scene...
ReplyDeleteand you will notice, if your band has a member that is in with that scene, or if a certain sponsor gets behind a show... you/it will do well...
if not...
well, you won't
it's that simple
Sometimes it's money, sometimes it's just that there are bands I'm not into, and sometimes my friends aren't going, and I don't go out by myself.
ReplyDeleteWe had that same issue in the Southern part of the state this weekend. The usual spot in Bluefield, WV called The Rock-It Club only had about 10% of its usual crowd. Also in Wytheville, VA, where my band pulls a good crowd, only had a handful in attendance.
ReplyDeleteThe way I figure it people are faced with these decisions: Gas, cigarettes, beer, or shows. Which one will go first? My opinion is with money becoming an issue it's causing less touring from bands and the local crowds don't wanna pay to see the same bands every week so it's a self perpetuation downward spiral.
Either club owners or DIY bands are gonna have to do something to keep the scenes alive.
Seems like there's a couple of issues at work here in Charleston. The economy being in the toilet doesn't help, but there's a level of competition that makes for some difficult choices.
ReplyDeleteFriday night in Charleston, there were killer shows at The Blue Parrot and The Empty Glass--we went from one to the other to tape different bands for RFC, but both shows were great. Mark Bates and The Vacancies were amazing, and Charleston's blues scene is surprisingly robust. We had to leave Mark's show so we could record The Diablo Blues Band for the show. Our only regret was not being able to catch all of both of the shows.
And there were other bands playing in town, too. Plus the exhibit at the Hansford Art House with Mewl and B Rude performing.
Saturday I had something way cool to do with friends, so going to the Glass to see two bands I'd never heard wasn't really an option. I'm sure they were great bands, but I'm not going to skip out on an annual outdoor movie night with friends for any band.
But we've had an embarrassment of riches lately, and it shows no sign of letting up.
This week we've got the final show by Punk Jazz on Thursday at The Glass. I think there's a tribute show for Randy Walden at The Blue Parrot on Friday. Saturday sees another event at Davis Park put on by The Bridge, headlined by Spurgie Hankins Band and The Synergy Collective. And on Friday and Saturday The No Pants Players are at The La Belle.
Sometimes there's just too much stuff going on in town.
Hell, on July 25, The Blue Parrot has The Buttonflies, Doctor Senator, and The Hellbinki Sextet while Mark Bates and The Vacancies and InFormation are at Heathens in South Charleston at the same time.
Part of the problem might be too many good bands playing at the same time. It's not a horrible problem to have.
the wheeling "scene" is bullshit, it's the same group of about 100 or so people that were at yesterdays when it opened as it is today...
ReplyDeleteseriously, do you think that same group of people were going to go out to the same place religiously forever?
if you want to get some people back in yesterdays, have a different genera of music than metal EVERY SINGLE NIGHT!
there are decently successfully local level Ohio valley bands that play all kinds of music and gig EVERY single weekend to PACKED bars, bands like The Catch Blues Band, The Remnants, New American Groove, Soulbridge, Mongo Huey, Dash Rip Rock, Evolution, Pyramid, Old Buddy Jack, Stepdown, Forward Control, The Paul Shearer Band, Easy Street, I could go on and on...
these guys do play their own originals in their genres as well as a ton of crowd pleasing covers, to PACKED BARS ALL THE TIME!
Mostly ALL of them run their OWN SOUND, and don't mix themselves with all high end with the volume maxed out...
they usually play for 4 hours a night with a few 15 min breaks...
they mostly get paid well, unless they are trying to help a NEW place get started or are playing a benefit for FREE, usually they get at LEAST $250$ a night and drinks...
when Yesterdays opened they were advertising that they were going to be Wheeling's premere music stage, and a LOT of people took notice to that, and wanted to go, but that was false advertising...
it is now just a metal bar for original people, who are original because they look like every other metal person in the joint! You know, that doesn't really sound that original at all does it?
it turned into a place for the kids who went to rec. center metal shows to go to to see the same metal bands as adults!
Yes there have been awesome bands in Yesterdays like Wilderkin, Lady Bin Hill, Dofka, Entropy, BORSO, Lost Chapter, ect...
But come on, mix it up already!
it's this simple, Chuck...
1) HAVE DIFFERENT TYPES OF MUSIC!
2) ADVERTISE PROPERLY FOR EACH BAND WITH FLIERS, POSTERS, AND RADIO TIME, NOT JUST THE ONES YOU LIKE!
3) ACTUALLY PAY THE BANDS WELL LIKE EVERYWHERE ELSE DOES!
4) DRINK A LITTLE MORE PABST, CALM DOWN AND HAVE ALL TYPES OF MUSIC!
Okay, the last one was a joke, Chuck you are a good man, and everyone is thankful for the time and effort you have put into Wheeling, you have built something that will be remembered for all time out of what was damn near just another crappy condemned building in Wheeling and we are thankful... but please man, MIX IT UP! and advertise that you have ALL TYPES OF MUSIC!
It will be nothing but a GOOD BUSINESS STEP!
Maybe no one wants to go because the whole "scene" at that bar makes some people feel really isolated when they're there? The bartenders often dont' seem to know what they're doing, either.
ReplyDeleteAt least Charleston still has venues. Huntington is almost dried up. As of right now the only places that I know of are Club Echo and the V Club. I mean you have Fluid but it only does show Sunday - Wed or something like that. We also have to deal with the same bands playing pretty much every weekend. Oh, did I mention these bands do nothing to promote the show. If the bands dont promote and support a show that they are playing, how is a music listener like myself going to know about the show or knowing that the band does nothing to promote their self, why would I want to show up and support them. To listen to them bitch and moan about why their girlfriends dont get in for free or why arent they getting free drinks. CLUB OWNERS.. take note on who is bringing people to your venue and treat them right. Stop booking the same bands every weekend, just to help them get on X-Fest. On top of that we have the high gas prices, but its not that big of a deal. I drive a 1979 GMC with 35" tires and a 4" suspension lift. Its got a 350 four wheel drive engine.. and an old motor that definetly needs some work. I am getting 8 MILES PER GALLON!!!!! However, that does not stop me from going to shows that I want to see. The internet? Has done nothing but help. I can not blame the internet for people being plain lazy. STOP YOUR BITCHIN AND GO SEE MORE SHOWS!!! Support the local music scene.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of what was said here but I know for a fact the bands get paid. Never has a guarentee not been honored when my band has played and I never have heard complaints about this. A local we played with thought they deserved $75 after drawing ten heads. We drove 2 hours and got $100 for a 35 minute set, More than fair.
ReplyDeleteI have only been there a handfull times but one that stands out in my mind was a live rap show a couple months ago. I wasn't into it so I drank on the first floor with the jukebox, but there was an entire different crowd upstairs. So maybe they are starting to embrace other music than hard rock and metal? I saw a flyer for a thurday night DJ also.
ReplyDeletethe reason nobody goes out to yesterdays are as follows:
ReplyDelete1. that place smells like sewage
2. same bands/same type of music
3. overpriced/weak mixed drinks
4. cover charge
5. metal folks are broke folks\
6. music on the downstairs stage makes for a crappy drinking atmosphere
I've never been a huge metal head, despite being in metal bands such as Distraught's Son and Seconds Before Burning, and since it's not really my thing, I don't go to Yesterday's.
ReplyDeleteI consider Chuck a friend, and I have a lot of friends who I could count on running into if I were there, but I live an hour away from Wheeling and to go out to a show I probably won't enjoy because it's not my preferred style of tunes, it isn't worth the drive.
It does seem according to the flyers I see that a handful of bands saturate the venue and seem to be there all the time. Because of this, fans pick and choose which of a certain band's shows to attend based on "Well, we just saw them a couple weeks ago so we'll skip one" or whatnot. Because of that, the crowds at shows are smaller because they are splitting up.
One band that everyone knows and everyone respects and everyone always came to see was Angelrust. When they played a show, you could barely get in to the venue! Why? Because their shows were an EVENT. They played shows so infrequently that people made a point to come out when they were going to be playing a show, and people would travel to see them. If they were playing every 3 or 4 weeks in the same club, their crowds would most likely have dwindled as well.
The point? This isn't all Chuck's fault for booking bands too often. It's also the band's fault when they overbook themselves in a certain town.
My new band has yet to play a show at Yesterday's, primarily because we're not a metal band, but when we play another Wheeling bar, The Office Lounge in the McLure Hotel, we always pack 100-150 people in there. Is it because we're better than the bands at Yesterday's? Absolutely not! It's simply because we don't saturate Wheeling with shows.
And yes, Yesterday's could broaden their musical horizons and have Old Buddy Jack there, but the fact is, there are people who go to Yesterday's simply because they know they WON'T hear the same classic rock covers on a Friday night. Sure, maybe only having metal is a bad idea, but at the same time, for someone to suggest a bunch of a classic rock cover bands doesn't quite hit the mark for me. One thing I can say about Yesterday's is that Chuck has tried to give original bands a stage to play. Nothing against cover bands, but there will never be a shortage of biker bars in the area for someone to play AC/DC tunes. But that's not why people go to Yesterday's.
Chuck, if you're reading this, let's work out a show. Some friends of mine in a band called Dogwood Tree make some great original music, kind of like Counting Crows meets Black Crowes, and my band Open-Air Museum is best categorized as Garage Soul. Rock edge with some soul vox. Maybe we can work together to get some things moving in a new direction without going the route of turning into every other bar in the valley. I like what you've created there, and always loved being down there when SBB had practice and shows. I've known you since the Distraught's Son days, and you've always tried to establish a scene where people could showcase their original music, and for that I definitely applaud you. If there's anything I can do to help you out, or if you just want to brainstorm some ideas, let me know. My myspace URL is attached to this post.