[BluesBud]

Here in Ottawa we are losing live music venues one by one. I know that it is a risky endeavor to open a bar/restaurant/music club. It seems that as fast as a new place opens it is short lived and doomed swiftly to failure. I see a trend that small live music clubs are no longer viable and people have no interest in such entertainment.

I managed a club here for a short while with the inclination to purchase the joint and make a go of it. Unfortunately it was not to be, but I would like to try again some day.

So going into the weekend I put these questions to you.

Do you have any plans to go hear live music?
How often do you go to hear a live band?
Where do you go to see a live band? A club? A sports arena?
Would you rather go to a club with a DJ?
Do you think a Music Club is still the best venue for hearing/dancing to a live band, or is it a thing of the past?

[Clogeroo]

Here entertainment I find is dwindling and it is mostly now just either strip clubs or some weird rave music and "mosh pits". Not too many places where you can sit down have a drink and have a normal band play and maybe an area where you can tap your toes. Also many just charge just to enter their pub, which I find is a rip off and that is excluding the price of a beer.

I usually just have my own parties and I know some people who can play the violin and guitar and can have a good old kitchen floor stomping time. Also can buy a lot more liquor too.

[BluesBud]

As a bar manager I can clarify the point you make about the cover charge. The fee at the door usually goes to the band and rarely is there any funds going to the bar over and above paying the band. The charge for your beer keeps the joint in business. A bar owner still has to keep the place operating and pay his staff.

[BluesBud]

Bump

[QBC]

Well, as a huge fan of live music, I sure hope not. Nothing better than a really good band up on stage, they electrify the atmosphere in a club. Canned music just can't do that. Plus, where would all the next great bands and singers come from?????? American Idol?, I think not!!!!!

[BluesBud]

I have been doing my part to promote the local scene for years. I have put together events at local clubs. The idea is to have fun get some interest in the venue, the band, the music and raise some funds for a charity. Once the event is over there is just enough to pay the band (and sometimes just short of that). The evening just scrapes by. It is not for lack of promotion. The bar/restaurant promotes it for a month in advance. I have some friends in local radio I put up posters in all the right places. The charity ends up getting and honorarium from the non-profit group that put on the event, Because not enough money was raised at at the door.

The owners of the blues clubs tell me not enough people come out for the locals. They will do ok for the out of town performers that come in but that is not an every night occurrence. It gets just too expensive to book these acts after a while. Lately even the bigger shows are not getting enough people in to pay the bills. Then.....key in the door.

One place I worked had a scenario very much like the one I spoke of. The owner tried to get the restaurant part of the place going but the money ran out before he could get it off the ground. An other had the same setup but somehow managed to be as popular for the food as the music. They only have live music on the weekends now.

The idea I had in mind was to be the premier venue for local artists. I was going to do this to support the musicians that were not getting gigs because the clubs were telling them they were just not drawing crowds. The door would be theirs and the bar would be mine. Eventually I would be able to get a cut of the door.

If this continues I will have to go into Montreal to see live Blues & Jazz. That and wait for Bluesfest to roll around every summer.

[SideShowCecil]

Neither my wife nor I have set foot in a bar or pub since our son was born three years ago; well nine months prior to him being born actually. Spare time, money, energy and a babysitter we can trust are all in short supply. Besides I can’t really handle LOUD anymore. The odd occasion we do get a chance to get out of the house we usually opt for live theater.

A decade (or two) back when I lived in Ottawa I was a regular patron of the live music clubs. The Rainbow was my favorite. I loved Barrymore’s but they didn’t have many acts I was interested in seeing. Some of the waitresses there were less than honest with the drink prices too. There were a few places on Elgin that I can’t remember the names of that were worth visiting as well.

There is live music downtown on Olympic Plaza just about every afternoon through the summer. We’ll take our son down there one or two times a week. We’ll also check out the music festivals on Prince’s Island Park through the summer too. So long as it’s cheap and family friendly.

I have to say I always hated those one-man-bands a lot of the bars book. It’s karaoke with a guitar really; more annoying than entertaining.

Sorry, this doesn’t answer any of your questions.

[Bodah]

I read something about this problem in Ottawa, From what I read it states the club makes more money (not by choice) if they bring in a DJ and have theme nights 80's night, as opposed to strictly focusing on live acts. These clubs have no choice but to cater to this since they have to pay the rent.

Until a music scene springs up here in Ottawa and the next Nirvana is discovered here or something. It probably wont change. Too bad that would be so fun if it did.

Although most people enjoy seeing live music I'd say the average person in Ottawa probably sees one or two concerts a year, including big acts and festivals like bluesfest etc. But rarely go to Barrymores or Zaphod's

[BluesBud]

There is a strong Blues music scene in Ottawa and even a few strong bands of other types. The problem is not enough patrons in the clubs to sustain a business. As I have stated in the "Blues Music with the BluesBud" thread. We have a lot of Blues talent, some even getting American and International attention. If there is no place to showcase their talent at home then off they go. Like Sue Foley to the U.S., Tony D or JW Jones to Australia. They manage to make a name for themselves there, and generate an audience. (Why can't they get a break in Canada? A question for an other thread I guess)

[Zipperfish]

Winnipeg had a great scene, at least when I lived there some time in the Pre-Cambrian era. Vancouver is lame for live music. First of all, they have a bunch of Nazis running teh cities. Dancing is banned in resturants. That's right--BANNED. And you thought that kind of crap only happens in the southern states. When I first moved to Vancouver, Brian Adams offered to play a free concert at Stanley Park to give back to the place he came from. The Park Nazis said "No." They were afarid the grass would get stomped. This is the city that told people to saty home on New Year's Eve 1999. I am not making this up.

Plus we have governments who like to jack up the cost of beer every time a budget comes around, so you're paying six bucks for a pint that costs under a buck to produce, the vast majority of which goes to the government.

Bottom line is the city doesn't want a scene, much as they say otherwise.

Hats off to those prmoters, producers adn music types who bust their balls to keep open the live music venues we do have--and we have some good ones.

I'm in a band--have been for years. I'm not a pro. The pros I do know have to tour a lot just to break even becasue there aren't enough venues in Vancouver. In Toronto you can make a decent living in a band and stay in town. USed to be you could in Winnipeg too, as long as you did the occassional northern Ontario/Manitoba B-Circuit tour. Probbaly not anymore though.

[BluesBud]

Sorry to bump this this again.

I thought the opening questions might give some incite into the community of music lovers on this site. Also in turn might give me give me the courage to pull my ideas of starting a new club off the back burner.

[Tricks]

My sister is a bar manager at a restaurant. She brings in a live band every week to play on the patio, but obviously she isn't doing that right now. The people love to sit there and listen to a band play. Oddly, the lead singer looks like Trevor... That scared me.

[Ripcat]

Hey BB, wold the club be strickly blues?

I think you have to find a niche. You also need to hook up with someone who can get decent bands that people want to see into your club. Teaming up with a popular local radio station would also be a bonus. One night a week they can broadcast live to air from the club, do promotions with the bands that play at the club(free tickets, interviews) etc.

I think you need a solid plan in place before you open the doors including some promotion that will get people wanting to come before the doors even open.

[BluesBud]

It would mostly be a Blues & Jazz joint but I would book some other locals as well. I notice we did well with some "Tribute Bands" at the last place I managed.

I have a strong connection with the local scene and some good connections with most of the major and smaller music festivals in Ottawa. I also have friend and acquiescences with a number of radio personalities with the rock and college radio stations.

What I don't have is the money to get started. I know that starting a business of this sort is risky. What's holding be back is....well....backing. I don't want to get it going just to sink myself.