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Speaking as someone who has toured extensively all
over the US and Europe, which my ex-group Cranes, I must stick my oar in
here...The two continents ARE different thats for sure, but I would not like to
generalize as which was better. I myself prefered playing in the US but to be
honest i think that was largely because I, as a European felt more "abroad" and
the sites of America (long staight roads, drive-in McDonalds, Motels,
Disneyland) are what we in Europe want to go and see! Europe is home so to
speak.
However. To the musical differences.
US: Largely comprising "Little black Hole" Punk
rock clubs with BADDD PA.s (often mono, often only 2 way monitors) Terrible
dressing rooms, always Pizza and Deli tray was the food.Did i say bad beer? Bad
beer!
PLUS Sides... OH Many!!! Audience there without
doubt "To have a good time" Dancing wild ker-razy people, who made us feel at
all times, welcome and happy! (slight feeling that possibly they are maybe not
judgemental enough, certainly got the feeling that "we were cool just cos we
were from the UK???" But ALWAYS fun, jumped into the crowd often, people came
onstage to dance,
EUROPE: Often council funded "arts center" style
venues, great sound, proffesional crew, Dressing rooms COULD vary, however food
was often COOKED, or given money to eat out. Great BEER! (Check DNA bar
Brussels, 150 diff beers pheww!!) Audiences are ALSO there to have a good time
sure, but definately an atmosphere of cross-armed serious people with a " GO ON,
IMPRESS ME!" attitude, you have to work hard with em. This kinda slacker seattle
attidute just aint good enough, you gotta be slick, smooth breaks between songs.
Chatting to the crowd??? nope, they'll chat to you afterwards if they wanna
talk.
Rambled enough... any other views?
Need I say that all of the above can be
interspersed with liberal sprinkling of ...."IMHO's"
Ha det,
Mark Red
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, July 14, 2002 8:23 AM
Subject: Re: OT: Is the music scene
better in Europe?
Greg, I'm not familiar with your music yet, but...
Back in my street music days, I did a lot better in the good ol' US of A
than in Europe. I also played festivals/theatres with a
multi-ethnic dance troupe in Germany - it went well but I
believe we were best recieved in the States.
Of course there is no 21 drinking age in Europe so the club scene doesn't
suffer like it does here.
I get the sense that Techno is huge in Europe, and while the same is
probably true in San Fran, here in the heartland, people still want
to hear "real" music played by humans. It depends on what you are
doing...
For grants you could check into your state's arts council...but
ultimately, I think you want popular support for your music...perhaps,
re-think and work on your marketing and/or product!
I've always had the belief that you need to conquer home first before
you go off...I've seen too many people leave little Madison, WI bitching
about the (actually pretty good) music scene here to become rock stars in say,
Seattle or Austin - before they had built up a solid fan base here -
only to come back with their tails between their legs and start over.
On the other hand, if there is a scene that you want to collaborate with or
immerse yourself in for artistic or spiritual growth, or you have a gig
waiting...well, that's a great reason to go...I'm working to set up
some stuff in Israel soon...there is some pretty amazing music coming out of
that tiny little country packed full of immigrants from a hundred
different countries. Jamming with international cats in Mexico on
the beach was one of the most amazing experiences...
Finally, at the risk of offending my good European brothers and Sisters out
there, while I met some great folks, I found the overall vibe to be a
little more snooty and the US to be more down home/relaxed (could it have been
the American flag I had hanging from my as*?)....On the other hand, that may
bode well for experimental music. Snooty people tend to pretend to enjoy and
understand that sort of thing...Otherwise you are only playing for the other
musicians who really do enjoy and
understand it...
Hope this is helpful
Bradley
Greg Kucharo <telecaster@mac.com> wrote:
I've
noticed lately, that allot of my favorite musicians have been
spending
more time touring Europe and seemingly less time in the States.
Maybe
it's just perception, but is the live music scene and music
appreciation
just better in Europe?
From what I gather, the Europeans appear to be a
bit more adventurous
in the music they listen to. Also, the civic support
for musical events
seems to be better and more varied than in the
U.S.
This is not to say that there isn't support for interesting
and
experimental music in the U.S....
Perhaps in Europe the
support is wider and more
lucrative?
------------------------------------------
Greg
Kucharo-
mutantaudio.com
"Evil never dies, but copyrights
expire"
-Firesign Theatre
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