Played the Hard Rock Cafe last night... except it isn't!

[Paul S]

6 hours ago, Happy Jack said:

Pretty much OT but I was at Hammersmith Odeon in 1975 for a Status Quo gig. They had the entire balcony jumping up and down in unison (deliberately) at one point, and I can clearly recall the 18-year-old me thinking, "Who's going to jail if that lot comes down?".

 

And similarly at the Kursaal in Southend.  It was an old dance hall with a sprung floor and if you didn't actively jump up and down you were passively bounced.  They were a damned fine band back then.  And a damned fine venue - saw so many great bands there in the 70s.

[Mottlefeeder]

I can see both sides of the argument when pub A has no bands due to Covid, and during that period, punter B buys a property close to the pub. When the pub music restarts, punter B complains that it spoils his peace and quiet and pub A appeals because they were there first.

As an older musician with hearing aids, I stopped going to a local open mic night because everyone played at the level the house band had used to keep up with heir drummer. Playing three songs and spending the rest of the evening shouting at people beside you is not my idea of fun.

The point I'm getting to is: why does the music have to be that loud? - if the drummer cannot play quieter, get him/her on an electronic kit through the pa, and control the sound level. If the guitarist has an overdrive-based signature sound, get it from a pedal and put it through the pa.

 

It's not rocket science,  it just needs people to push hard enough, and it sounds like that is what they are starting to do.

 

David

[yorks5stringer]

6 minutes ago, Mottlefeeder said:

I can see both sides of the argument when pub A has no bands due to Covid, and during that period, punter B buys a property close to the pub. When the pub music restarts, punter B complains that it spoils his peace and quiet and pub A appeals because they were there first.

As an older musician with hearing aids, I stopped going to a local open mic night because everyone played at the level the house band had used to keep up with heir drummer. Playing three songs and spending the rest of the evening shouting at people beside you is not my idea of fun.

The point I'm getting to is: why does the music have to be that loud? - if the drummer cannot play quieter, get him/her on an electronic kit through the pa, and control the sound level. If the guitarist has an overdrive-based signature sound, get it from a pedal and put it through the pa.

 

It's not rocket science,  it just needs people to push hard enough, and it sounds like that is what they are starting to do.

 

David

Drummers can play quieter, they may just choose not to...I know this because I asked our drummer to play quieter and he actually could!

[Mottlefeeder]

Some drummers can play quietly, but some can't. It seems to be a skill that they don't learn if they don't see a need for it.

 

David 

[warwickhunt]

Just now, Mottlefeeder said:

I can see both sides of the argument when pub A has no bands due to Covid, and during that period, punter B buys a property close to the pub. When the pub music restarts, punter B complains that it spoils his peace and quiet and pub A appeals because they were there first.

As an older musician with hearing aids, I stopped going to a local open mic night because everyone played at the level the house band had used to keep up with heir drummer. Playing three songs and spending the rest of the evening shouting at people beside you is not my idea of fun.

The point I'm getting to is: why does the music have to be that loud? - if the drummer cannot play quieter, get him/her on an electronic kit through the pa, and control the sound level. If the guitarist has an overdrive-based signature sound, get it from a pedal and put it through the pa.

 

It's not rocket science,  it just needs people to push hard enough, and it sounds like that is what they are starting to do.

 

David

 

This isn't about anyone buying a property next to a pub?  

 

We were booked to play a venue where the customers attending knew there was a band on.  We (the band) were happy to play to the managements level using their PA which they had full control of (other than acoustic level of drums) but we were disappointed when the management wouldn't turn us up, they thought our 2 vocal monitors (350w 1x10) were as loud as it needed to be.  The drummer subsequently had to play 'down' to our monitor level.  Incidentally, the guitarist has no backline and goes from Helix to IEM.  Despite thinking this would damage our reputation (poor sound) we decided that cancelling would be even poorer form.  We were frankly stunned to get a message from a customer claiming they'd suffered hearing damage.

[Mottlefeeder]

Apologies if I have gone off-topic. HRC have noise monitors/limiters for a reason, and the most likely one is complaints from residents. My initial comments were about why that might happen with an established venue.

 

With regard to the sound level at the audience, unless it is a concert, and they are there to hear you and maybe talk in the interval, there should be a sound level where it is loud enough to be exciting, but in my opinion, not so loud that punters have to shout at each other, or at the bar staff. In addition to that, the early guidance on minimising the spread of Covid suggests that music should not be loud enough that people have to raise their voices, because in doing so they will project droplets further. The venue's stance on sound levels could be the result of any of the above.

 

I agree with the others that the guy with tinnitus is probably a chancer, or a professional complainer.

 

David