Do you prefer cover or original bands at a bar?

[bluecheer]

I am a big original band fan. I love going to a bar and seeing a good original band play.

But alot of people I know really can't stand orginal bands when they are at a bar, no matter how good they are. They just are set on hearing familiar songs when they are out. I've witnessed people I know walking out of a bar because a band doesn't take requests and doesn't play songs they have heard 1,000,000 times. I find that sad that they do that. They are missing out on some great music they haven't heard before.

I for one find too many covers to be cheesy and corny. I mean why do I have to be subjected to hearing songs all night that I listen to on the radio or at home on my stereo? There's nothing special really hearing a band play cover songs. Its sort of boring in my opinion.

So what do you prefer? Cover or original?

[Equinox]

I prefer original music when I go to a bar to see a particular band that I know who plays original music.

I don't mind hearing an original band if I'm bar-hopping if I like what they are playing, but if I'm bar-hopping, and music is part of the atmosphere and I'm socializing, I like good cover bands.

Not alot of original bands in my area anymore.

[Jesse]

Most of the original bands in my area suck. They are mostly either hardcore metal, SKA or funk....or some worthless combination of the three. There are a few good Classic Rock oriented original bands here. I am in one of those bands, but the gigs are hard to come by. When I'm just sitting in a bar, I prefer original cover bands. By that I mean bands that don't play the usual cover band set. You know: Jesse's Girl, Sweet Home Alabama, Bad Case Of Loving You, Every Rose Has It's Thorn, Kryptonite and whatever is hitting the top 40 currently. I like to see bands that push the envelope and will play some Southern Rock stuff other than Skynyrd, some deep cut Classic Rock tracks, some pre-Garth Brooks country, maybe even some Classic metal like Iron Maiden, Preist, or Accept. Those bands ARE out there, but they are tough to find. EVERY member must be commited to playing those songs to perfection and getting their friends, relative, acquaintances, total strangers, etc out to see them when they play. Ironically, it is THOSE bands who have the largest and most committed following. Cover bands are a dime a dozen in my area and most play the same setlists so no one really follows those bands around. The "original cover bands" are hard to come by and don't get many gigs, so when they play people mark it on their calender and go!

[rtbuck]

My favorite times were the early to late 80's in my area. Sure we had a few good bands that played all covers but in the Buffalo area Original bands were the in-thing & they drew huge crowds. The original bands still played a bunch of cover tunes which just added to their originals. They'd play a couple decent originals then play a 1 or 2 cover tunes which added to their momentum of their set followed by more originals. After seeing these bands a few times you felt their originals were as good as the cover tunes & you looked forward to those original tunes feeling that the band had a shot at making the big leagues with their tunes.

One thing our area did a lot of times is there would be be a cover band playing from 11- midnight & they would serve as an opening act for an original local band.

[Speedy]

I like an original band if I like their....er, "originals".

I can enjoy a good cover band as well, in fact I play in one, a very popular one. I don't understand the fans that follow us around every weekend. You would think they would get sick of us. However I DO appreciate them. It's strange, we know about 200 tunes but when it comes time for "requests' they always pick some song that is beaten into the ground that I never want to hear again as long as I live.

What I HATE are cover/original bands with no passion or desire. Lazy bands that come out with no sound reinforcement and sound like crap because of it. If a band is not miking the drums I usually KNOW they are going to suck.

[kim]

I know Speedy is quite understanding in his thoughts on
this and is one that relates to it, due to the fact, that he
lives it...and is part of it.

I agree. There are many, many, cover artists that feel they
can emulate the original release to an acceptable degree, and then, maybe throw in a few so called "original" tunes along the way.

At least, that's the way that I was used to seeing back in the
80's and 90's.

Going back just a wee bit further, and maybe it was just me at the time, but in the 70's, I found that the groups then, seemed to put a little bit more effort into at least apeing the bands that were popular at the time.

One example that I have eluded to in the past, was a Canadian
group that I had the fortune of seeing on a number of occasions
here in North Bay, back in 1978, 1979...as a college student.

This group hailed from Toronto, Ontario. The first time that I caught them live at a fairly large "college pub" type venue, I was simply blown away. These guys did it all!

They would play Styx, Cheap Trick, Supertramp, The Cars, The Knack...whatever the flavour of the day was at the time.

This group played that music in such a way, that you would swear...it was the "real deal"...
In fact, what blew me away at the time was the height of the
bass player, (must have been 6' 4" and all of 160lbs...standing front and center next to the lead singer...along with the keyboard player, with 2 sets of keyboards, having no problem controlling them both!!!!

Caught them on about 4 or 5 occasions, and they always included some of their original material that proved worthy.

The group was commercially known as Telemann, and went on to produce a couple of pretty much, lesser known releases under
the name Wrabit here in Canada.

The point I'd like to make is this...
When they played the cover material, it was like listening to the
original music, yet with the live action on stage. They had the sound and subtle nuances of each cover that they performed, down to a science...just like being witness to the original music from the albums that they originated from.

To this day, and in my humble opinion, I would have to say, that this group, from what I recall, played Cheap Trick and Supertramp, better than the originators did themselves.

When the debut Wrabit album came out, I was also impressed.
Finally got my hands on a bootleg copy awhile back and it's
as great as I remember.

(Little side note: Chuck Jones of Bugs Bunny cartoon fame, designed the album cover...go figure)?

Crazy huh?...

Thanks
Kim

[Trexx]

Originals! But admittedly it was cool the other week-end when a four-piece, teen-aged rock band, at the show I attended played "Rock Bottom".