This Pink Floyd Orchestral Album

[Si]

I've seen them a few times but overlooked their last gig primarily down to the price.

I think this is also a big part of the problem.
There used to be a time I would check out new bands regularly at shows. For £10 you could see a B level band at the Hammy Odeon, sometimes two or three a week. The car park there was free so I could just run up there in 30 mins, park and see the band and be home before midnight. I did this all the time for years, once 5 shows in one week! I would just go up there and see what new shows had gone on sale and buy a ticket for any rock band that played. I saw many bands I would never now buy a ticket to see, some great, some not so much, but it was easy and affordable to do that at the time.

Now it's £30+ a ticket, plus £10 for parking and endless traffic jams to get there.
If a band plays Wembley it's £40-50 at least plus £20 for parking and endless traffic etc, or just a little less to go by train (with the added inconvenience). Plus I find that, and this is just my issue, if I can`t get a tickets pretty close to the stage I get kinda bored at many shows. I watched about 10 minutes of Crue (poss not the best example) at one of the shows last year from the back of the room and it was boring!

For the A list (AC/DC, Stones, Maiden etc) it becomes silly. £100 for a half decent ticket before you even take in travel expenses. For me, many bands have simply priced themselves out of my price range, plus I know I will be able to see most of the show on YouTube, often in professional quality, or later the DVD.

This years Stone Free Festival is going to cost a fortune just to see Alice. £80 before you leave the house, £21 parking and the venue is a HUGE horrible aircraft hanger. It *could* turn out to be a cool thing with the extra events they are putting on but I have my doubts. I wouldn`t pay to see Darkness or Black Stone Cherry (unless they played locally at a club maybe) so it's basically just Alice which is just about the only artist I would consider paying such money for, especially for show that is about 45 mins from where I live (but will probably be closer to 2 hours+ to get to).

---
Regarding the current state of "rock" music I actually think part of the problem is the sheer number of bands out there. Back in the seventies it seems there were far fewer bands fighting for your attention and they all sounded fairly unique. You knew it was them when you heard them. Nowadays there are so many bands that sound essentially the same, they struggle to stand out from the crowd and especially struggle to compete with the greats from the past. This isn`t their fault as such, it's just the way it is.
I can happy spend an evening on YouTube jumping from unknown (to me) band to band using the automatic recommendations and enjoy the music but it's forgotten 10 minutes later. So much of it just doesn`t stand out enough to engage the listener and create a long term relationship.
For example, I'm an old school thrash fan and there are a TON of really excellent bands out there playing that style very very well, but they all sound very similar. It's like they have all distilled the essential essence of the original bands down to a formula that actually loses the very things that made those bands unique and distinct from each other. The musicianship is all of the highest caliber but there's no "soul". It's music by numbers. It's the same for "classic Rock' bands, Prog bands etc. 1000s of bands who just can`t find that essential element that makes a truly great band.
So in the end I find myself going for what I know. The classic bands or artists related to them. Occasionally something new will strike a cord with me and that is great when it happens but it doesn`t happen that much nowadays, and when I look to see where they are playing the price and hassle of getting there and back, probably on my own, puts me off.

[While Heaven Wept]

Well this probably isn't of interest to anyone but the band i'm currently in (Sergeant Thunderhoof) have been solely using bandcamp to sell our material.

We got a fair amount of good reviews for our first Ep which led to us being offered a number of deals with independent labels. After a lot of thought we decided that it's actually better for us to remain unsigned. Not because it's 'cool' or any of that irrelevant nonsense.... we just couldn't see any way of actually getting any returns from a label. I've been in various bands in the past where we had deals and barely saw a penny.

The music industry is now quite bizarre really. Bands such as AC, Maiden, Pink Floyd are doing just fine because their fanbase is already firmly established. Touring and merchandise is particularly easy for these bands.

As for new acts.... it's purely down to luck and money now. Most of the current crop of emerging acts in the UK went to private music and dance schools (Ed Sheeran, Jessie J etc). They were fortunate to have parents that could plow thousands in to their careers. The majority of 'rock' that is played on Planet Rock just sounds like poor imitations of what has come before. Metal is the most boring genre ever these days. Super precise programmed or quantised drums with Axe Effects guitars saturating the mix. Same old blast beats and guitar shredding. Even people like Devin Townsend seem to be pumping out alarmingly overly processed cheese these days.

We've actually had a great experience selling our records and merch purely on bandcamp.... you interact directly with the fans and are able to sell them stuff at reasonable prices. We're too old to be bothered about hitting the big time any more, we just do it for a laugh. But we've certainly cut down on the amount of gigs we play based purely on the poor attendances at some shows. Now we just concentrate on the good shows with guaranteed attendance. Sad state of affairs. Most of the venues in Bath where I live are now closed.

[Shoesalesman]

Regarding the current state of "rock" music I actually think part of the problem is the sheer number of bands out there. Back in the seventies it seems there were far fewer bands fighting for your attention and they all sounded fairly unique. You knew it was them when you heard them. Nowadays there are so many bands that sound essentially the same, they struggle to stand out from the crowd and especially struggle to compete with the greats from the past. This isn`t their fault as such, it's just the way it is.
I can happy spend an evening on YouTube jumping from unknown (to me) band to band using the automatic recommendations and enjoy the music but it's forgotten 10 minutes later. So much of it just doesn`t stand out enough to engage the listener and create a long term relationship.
For example, I'm an old school thrash fan and there are a TON of really excellent bands out there playing that style very very well, but they all sound very similar. It's like they have all distilled the essential essence of the original bands down to a formula that actually loses the very things that made those bands unique and distinct from each other. The musicianship is all of the highest caliber but there's no "soul". It's music by numbers. It's the same for "classic Rock' bands, Prog bands etc. 1000s of bands who just can`t find that essential element that makes a truly great band.
So in the end I find myself going for what I know. The classic bands or artists related to them. Occasionally something new will strike a cord with me and that is great when it happens but it doesn`t happen that much nowadays, and when I look to see where they are playing the price and hassle of getting there and back, probably on my own, puts me off.

You know, Si, lots of times I rib you for you just being you, many of those times behind your back as you know, but I must say you're BANG-ON about today's music IMO.

No substance. Nothing to differentiate one band from not just thousands but MILLIONS of others. Ten minutes and it's forgotten. Sterile. Sterile. Sterile.

Disposable. Music.

I haven't purchased any NEW music other than already established bands that happen to release new stuff. In order to get a "new music" fix, I actually go back and discover bands from the 60s, 70s and 80s that I overlooked for whatever reason, just to avoid the blandness and repetition of today's bands. And I'm better for it.

I'd rather pay for yesterday's talent than get today's mediocre for free.

[concolz]

Re the Pink Floyd record:- 99.9% of these 'tribute'/covers/all-'stars' albums have, IMO, always been naff. If you just take Alice, then everything from 'Flash Fearless' up to 'Hollywood Vampires' has been woeful.

Re new music:- There IS plenty of good stuff out there, but you have to search for it on the musical margins. Here's a few, random, new acts, who, although they inevitably co-opt ideas from the past, put their own 'twist' on the music:-

Ezra Furman https://youtu.be/rkEkjxX_YrM
Algiers https://youtu.be/LLCeJ0sP7V4
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard https://youtu.be/h2dJVJNHTnA
Ghost Wolves https://youtu.be/auKqGvjk9rw

I feel just as interested/excited in the above as I did discovering ACG, Bowie, Stooges etc. in the early '70s. It's the long-standing acts that bore me silly these days, with their 'classic' rock/retro-metal, nothing to say nostalgia.

[Mr. Skull]

sorry concolz, hear nothing to get exited about in those 4 vids...some echoes of the past..maybe..

[pitkin88]

I saw ACDC for 50p at The Stadium in Liverpool back in 76. There is no one today that I'd pay over $50 to see.

[mr.barlow]

I saw AC/DC in 1983 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia with Fastway as the opening act for $12.00.

Somewhere I still have an unused Cheap Trick & UFO ticket from 1981 which the price was $8.00.

I'm with Pitkin--I won't pay $50.00 for any show. The only exception would be if Alice would perform Dada in it's entirety or at least a set list that is heavy on songs from 1980-1983.

[mr.barlow]

Si's post sums it up perfectly.

[bigbradwolf]

I've seen them a few times but overlooked their last gig primarily down to the price.

I think this is also a big part of the problem.
There used to be a time I would check out new bands regularly at shows. For £10 you could see a B level band at the Hammy Odeon, sometimes two or three a week. The car park there was free so I could just run up there in 30 mins, park and see the band and be home before midnight. I did this all the time for years, once 5 shows in one week! I would just go up there and see what new shows had gone on sale and buy a ticket for any rock band that played. I saw many bands I would never now buy a ticket to see, some great, some not so much, but it was easy and affordable to do that at the time.

Now it's £30+ a ticket, plus £10 for parking and endless traffic jams to get there.
If a band plays Wembley it's £40-50 at least plus £20 for parking and endless traffic etc, or just a little less to go by train (with the added inconvenience). Plus I find that, and this is just my issue, if I can`t get a tickets pretty close to the stage I get kinda bored at many shows. I watched about 10 minutes of Crue (poss not the best example) at one of the shows last year from the back of the room and it was boring!

For the A list (AC/DC, Stones, Maiden etc) it becomes silly. £100 for a half decent ticket before you even take in travel expenses. For me, many bands have simply priced themselves out of my price range, plus I know I will be able to see most of the show on YouTube, often in professional quality, or later the DVD.

This years Stone Free Festival is going to cost a fortune just to see Alice. £80 before you leave the house, £21 parking and the venue is a HUGE horrible aircraft hanger. It *could* turn out to be a cool thing with the extra events they are putting on but I have my doubts. I wouldn`t pay to see Darkness or Black Stone Cherry (unless they played locally at a club maybe) so it's basically just Alice which is just about the only artist I would consider paying such money for, especially for show that is about 45 mins from where I live (but will probably be closer to 2 hours+ to get to).

---
Regarding the current state of "rock" music I actually think part of the problem is the sheer number of bands out there. Back in the seventies it seems there were far fewer bands fighting for your attention and they all sounded fairly unique. You knew it was them when you heard them. Nowadays there are so many bands that sound essentially the same, they struggle to stand out from the crowd and especially struggle to compete with the greats from the past. This isn`t their fault as such, it's just the way it is.
I can happy spend an evening on YouTube jumping from unknown (to me) band to band using the automatic recommendations and enjoy the music but it's forgotten 10 minutes later. So much of it just doesn`t stand out enough to engage the listener and create a long term relationship.
For example, I'm an old school thrash fan and there are a TON of really excellent bands out there playing that style very very well, but they all sound very similar. It's like they have all distilled the essential essence of the original bands down to a formula that actually loses the very things that made those bands unique and distinct from each other. The musicianship is all of the highest caliber but there's no "soul". It's music by numbers. It's the same for "classic Rock' bands, Prog bands etc. 1000s of bands who just can`t find that essential element that makes a truly great band.
So in the end I find myself going for what I know. The classic bands or artists related to them. Occasionally something new will strike a cord with me and that is great when it happens but it doesn`t happen that much nowadays, and when I look to see where they are playing the price and hassle of getting there and back, probably on my own, puts me off.

Whilst I agree on the whole, there are exceptions out there when you can get into pubs and watch several decent bands for a fiver. Also Blackberry Smoke are playing with The Darkness and Alice (not Black Stone Cherry).
I think the main issue is as you say it's not affordable to gamble on half decent bands that you have heard and kind of like one or two of their tracks. It's £20 to see these types of bands.
Even the pricing for Alice's tickets seem to be on the up (not that I have a massive problem with it). I would say the £44 on the last few shows is a good price for the show you see with Alice.
£80 is steep if you have no interest in the other acts, luckily I love the Darkness as well and as for Blackberry Smoke, well I've head good things and it's a chance to check out one of those bands you'd have otherwise paid £20 to see because you think they sound okay on the two tracks you've heard.

[Si]

Whilst I agree on the whole, there are exceptions out there when you can get into pubs and watch several decent bands for a fiver. Also Blackberry Smoke are playing with The Darkness and Alice (not Black Stone Cherry).
I think the main issue is as you say it's not affordable to gamble on half decent bands that you have heard and kind of like one or two of their tracks. It's £20 to see these types of bands.
Even the pricing for Alice's tickets seem to be on the up (not that I have a massive problem with it). I would say the £44 on the last few shows is a good price for the show you see with Alice.
£80 is steep if you have no interest in the other acts, luckily I love the Darkness as well and as for Blackberry Smoke, well I've head good things and it's a chance to check out one of those bands you'd have otherwise paid £20 to see because you think they sound okay on the two tracks you've heard.

You're right about the band of course. I know neither really beyond the name.
And yes, you can see local bands sometimes, but its becoming less common with so many venues closing, plus you don`t normally know what you are going to get.

The £44 for the last tour was because of Crue and expected. Alice's headline shows have been less. The Stone Free Festival is charged as an event (and £15 is the imaginary fees they add to for the honor of buying your ticket from them), not a solo show. I understand it, but have my doubts "added value" will be that worth it, but will be happy to be proved wrong.

[Rob]

Alice Cooper:
Vocals on
Wish You Were Here & Welcome to the Machine
Recorded at Avatar Studios, New York City 13th August 2015
Recording Engineer: Robert L. Smith Recordist: Nate Odden

[Devon]

"Recorded at Avatar Studios, New York City 13th August 2015"

From 3:00-3:05

[While Heaven Wept]

"Recorded at Avatar Studios, New York City 13th August 2015"

From 3:00-3:05