Bands and concerts in retirement

Tailgate said:
OP here..Since some are posting about seeing lesser know musicians and acts, this is OT, but is an interesting article from Texas Monthly magazine about being a musician in Austin.



Eight things we've learned about the Austin music scene



here's the opening paragraphs:

Being an Austin musician carries cachet well outside of the city’s borders. In years past, kids with a guitar and a dream have come to the capital from all over—from West Texas, or the Valley, or Fayetteville, Arkansas. Maybe they saw the abundant venues and enthusiastic audiences during a spring-break trip to SXSW and wanted that to be their life. Or perhaps a musically inclined buddy beckoned them to the big city. But the reality of the much romanticized lifestyle—and whether its economically feasible for most folks—has been difficult to assess since there’s so little hard data.



To that end, the City of Austin Music Office commissioned the Titan Music Group to conduct a survey of the stakeholders in the Austin music industry. They spoke to nearly 4,000 musicians, venue owners and managers, sound engineers, and more to learn what the current reality is like for those in the music industry. The numbers are often depressing—the money in Austin music is garbage, y’all—but also illuminating. Here are eight things we learned after poring through the 228-page document.
Click to expand...


Living in Austin the past 5 years I have met many who came here to be musicians but ended up as nurses, carpenters, etc. it is not a way to make a living. This is true in music in any city. Only a few really make it big and the money is made on touring. The recording industry is shot with all the free online music.

I guess I am an old curmudgeon!! I'm not excited by a lot of the young Austin musicians - many sound alike to me and some, like everywhere, are just not very good. Not a big outdoor venue fan because of mosquitoes.

However going to some free or cheaper concerts here we have discovered some local gems and we support them when they play in town: The Carper Family, Jeff Lofton (one of the best jazz musicians ever), Oliver Rajamani. Maybe someday they will make it big. Also just walking along in Myrtle Beach there was a free concert by the Delta Saints and these guys are channeling old blues/rock music. They are great.

I have been to ACL and the Moody Theatre a few times, seen Return to Forever and Zappa on Zappa and a few other headliners there. There is excellent local classical music and a thriving early music scene in Austin and it doesn't break the bank to go to a concert.

Before leaving NYC my friend invited me to Bob Dylan at Madison Square Garden for free! Nice to do that once.

I admit I am spoiled. In my youth I saw Janis Joplin, The Doors, Santana, Cream, Laura Nyro, etc., went to Woodstock, hung out at the Fillmore East which was in the neighborhood of my undergrad and grad school, NYU. Those memories have lasted a lifetime.

So this reminds me, I should look at who is playing here in Austin this summer.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum
 
Sarah in SC said:
Look at you, Michael, checking out Old Crow. Nice! That'll be a good show!
Click to expand...
It was a great show, and a good opportunity for DW to hear some music she's not familiar with, both Old Crow Medicine Show and Brandi Carlile.
 
I was just reminded of the anniversary, 7/28/1973, of the Summer Jam at Watkins Glen NY. That was before DW and I dated she was there with a girlfriend, only 599,998 more showed up.
 
Getting back to the OP: You'd probably enjoy the Chicago Blues Festival. Great weekend of music in Chicago's lakefront Grant Park.

The Big Top Chautauqua in Bayfield, Wis., is an interesting venue a stone's throw from Lake Superior. They broadcast some of their concerts on National Public Radio.

Another Wisconsin venue that's kind of under the radar: the Stoughton Opera House in Stoughton, Wis., a great stage for singer/songwriters. Iris DeMent appears pretty much annually, as does Sarah Jarosz. They also get their share of world music like Ladysmith Black Mambazo and the Asian throat-singing group Huun-Huur-tu. Bring a seat cushion -- the 1910-era restored opera house has wooden seats designed for hardened 1910-era butts!

Hippie Jack's in Crawford, Tenn., is one stop I'd like to make sometime. Looks like Jack gets some pretty good musicians down there.
 
Iris Dement at Kuckleheads, Gillian Welch at the Folly, Willie Watson in a small venue in greater St Lou.

We pretty much stick to the smaller joints in our 'old age' except for a few things like The Flint Hills open air with Lyle Lovett and Kansas City Symphony fundraiser.

heh heh heh - we skipped the Rolling Stones when they came to town recently. :greetings10:
 
unclemick said:
Iris Dement at Kuckleheads, Gillian Welch at the Folly, Willie Watson in a small venue in greater St Lou.



We pretty much stick to the smaller joints in our 'old age' except for a few things like The Flint Hills open air with Lyle Lovett and Kansas City Symphony fundraiser.



heh heh heh - we skipped the Rolling Stones when they came to town recently. :greetings10:
Click to expand...


My friend called me recently to remind me of a comment I made to him back in the late 80's when the Stones came to KC. I said...We should have went, as they are getting real old and probably wont be touring much longer..... Not a very accurate statement was it as 30 years later they rolled into town yet again.....


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
But the Stones now are not even a shadow of what they were back in the day.

And back in the day is probably not the '80s.
 
explanade said:
But the Stones now are not even a shadow of what they were back in the day.

And back in the day is probably not the '80s.
Click to expand...

OP here....saw the Stones in Dallas for the first time so I can't compare them to previous decades of decadence.. :cool smiley:

The Stones, to me, were an 'event', not a concert...one big party and it was fun..the concert was a side show, but enjoyable and memorable...bucket list checked!

Now the best show we've seen this year was Steely Dan...also a first... one of my favorite bands of all time.. they had 12 players and musically nailed every song and note... Fagen is an amazing talent as a writer and arranger of great songs..

Next up for us
Alabama Shakes
Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt
Joe Bonnamassa
Jerry Jeff Walker....

cheers!
 
I'm going to a live jazz concert on Tuesday to see/hear the Carl Saunders Quartet
Jazz Live The Carl Saunders Quartet


First live concert I've been to in a long time.


I'm a jazz88 supporter/member so I get two tickets 'free' to all the live jazz concerts at the small Seville Theater.


I've listened to the live concerts on my truck FM radio while driving home from the dojo after teaching practice and always wanted to be at one of these - so decided to go this time!


Will report later!
 
DW and I had a great time at the Aerosmith Concert at Frontier Days in Cheyenne WY on 7/22, they put on a great show for 18,000 fans.

DW and I will be enjoying a Wine and Jazz Festival near "Guntown PA" today and tomorrow.
 
Last edited:
Yesterday, DH and I went for the first time to Thunder Valley Casino, which is sort of near our new home in N Cal, to meet up with a group of friends from our former neighborhood who go to this casino fairly often. We had dinner with them at the buffet (quite good, we thought), played some slots, and had a nice time catching up.

When they were about to leave we walked with them out to the parking lot (we had parked in the garage at the other end of the complex), and realized there was an amphitheater adjacent to that area. And Huey Lewis & the News were playing! We even had a pretty good view of a large video screen adjacent to the stage, so we were basically treated to a free concert. It was a lovely evening with the Blue Moon rising above the amphitheater, and the sound quality in the parking area was surprisingly good. We enjoyed standing around with a bunch of others, singing along and boogying and having a grand old time. :dance:

Turns out there's summer concert series (we had no idea), and the amphitheater looked pleasant, so we might spring for tickets for an upcoming show rather than hang out in the parking lot. :blush: Upcoming shows include ZZ Top, Heart, Michael McDonald & Boz Scaggs, and Chicago.
 
Last edited:
Well the jazz concert last night was great!


Parking at San Diego City College was easy - no traffic, no lines, and no charge.


Jazz88/KSDS has their studio/broadcast facilities on campus, so their website offers free parking passes for every concert - just print them out and put it on the dash.


Got there a bit early, went to the box office to pick up our free tickets (as a jazz88 member, I get two free tickets for every concert!), then wandered about the campus.


That was a bit disappointing - everything seemed to be closed down for the evening, not even an on campus coffee shop, so we walked across the street to the McDonalds for some coffee.


Waited for the doors to open and the line was quite small, went right it in and got great seats, row 12 smack dab in the middle.


The Saville Theatre seats oh about 450? Not too big, not too small, every seat has a good view, no obstructions, good acoustics.


And Carl Saunders played a wonderful jazz trumpet concert. He came down from LA and played with some local SD talent for his backup 'band': piano, stand up acoustic bass, and simple drum kit. Head bobbin', toe tappin' jazz goodness!


Concert started exactly on time at 8pm- cuz it airs live across the radio and the internet world wide and it finished at 9:30pm. So 1 1/2hrs was perfect.


A quick walk back to the car afterwards and we were on the freeway back home within 5 mins!


Can't wait for the next concert in September!
 
Rolling Stones in Dallas great show.
Headed to ACL with dd in Austin. Foo fighters are the headline, will be my first festival 😃
Last summer we saw Gary Allan several times from Texas to Mississippi !
DW and I since high school loved listen to live music. Have seen Eagles several times over the years.
Oh yea. Red rock last year for a weekend trip. Great venue, must see if you love music. Saw a led Zeppelin cover band pretty cool.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum
 
We attend all the local/regional folk / jazz / blues festivals. Often will volunteer as a concert photographer and receive concert passes in exchange. Lots of fun:)
 
I'm spoiled as I live in the music town of Muscle Shoals, Alabama. And Nashville's only 2 hours away. We have many of the biggest stars in the music industry walking the streets of these two towns. And if we keep our eyes open, we can often catch stars and their road musicians giving small concerts for charity. There are certain bars in Nashville where the greats will go on certain nights of the week, and they're completely accessible to talk to, etc. This week was the big Charlie Daniels Jam in the Titans' stadium. Earlier this summer was the CMT Music City Festival (old Fanfare) 4 nights in a row. And Bonaroo is also going on the same time.

One night my sister sat and talked to a couple of crazy Englishmen in a Nashville restaurant/bar for hours. After she left, someone said do you know who that was? It was Steve Winwood. My sister said, "Who's Steve Winwood?" At the time, he was one of the top 10 grossing road acts in the world.
 
Headed to big D Tuesday to see Alabama Shakes! Hold On!!!
 
Last night I ushered at a Joe Bonamassa (3 Kings Tour) concert. The crowd was mostly age 40 and older which is much different than most audiences we see at this venue. Nice folks, seemed to be big fans who knew his stuff. I saw many clever guitar theme shirts. There was one guy in my section who "air guitared" with every song and it seemed like this was the best night of his life!
 
Earlier in the summer I was invited to a Dave Mathis concert. My condo neighbors are around 40 so I said what the heck, I'll tag along. The place was packed and people of all ages were there although most in the 35-45 range. People were grooving to the music and knew all his stuff. I think I recognized one song. They were not my cup of tea, but the band had a lot of good musicians.

I better stick to the 60's-80's stuff.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom