I’ve seen the roving violinist thing in movies, but have never eaten where there was one. Seems like a very awkward situation for all involved. Should I stop eating my hot meal to pay attention to the musician? Should waiters have to slither around the musician with their plates of food? Should the musician expect that people have an appreciation for his musical talents?
Someone upstream asked about the difference between live and recorded music. The difference is that one is simply not expected to pay attention to or show appreciation for recorded music. I always feel bad when musicians are playing in a restaurant or bar and nobody is paying attention or clapping.
Well timed, OP. Last night we had a family dinner at a very nice Eastern European restaurant in San Mateo. Just as we walked in so did a guy with a guitar. It was a small place, and he was in back while we were in front. Just a guitar and a guy singing crappy '70s and '80s songs, so not very offensive, but we were there to talk.
I don’t mind just a piano in a large space, or even a band in a venue big enough to sit far away.
We had just been to a musical where talking over the music would have been rude and obnoxious - but talking over this music was necessary. Made me feel a bit bad for the guy, but not bad enough to stop talking to my family. So put me on the usually hate it side.
I’ve never seen any live music in a restaurant that wasn’t unamplified and played any louder than the recorded music. It was quieter than the radio in many places.
Yeah, it used to be a thing to have an organist or organ trio somewhere in the background playing “Theme to ‘A Man and a Woman’” and easy listening tunes of that nature. It would be kind of charming to come across that nowadays.
Small restaurant with loud or attention-seeking band is always a frightening combination, however.
Sometimes I go to restaurants to eat, and sometimes I go to hear music. For instance there is a bar that has lots of local rock, country, and punk bands. Nobody goes there for the food, although they do have food. There is another restaurant that always has jazz. You have to order a drink, and I like to eat while I’m drinking, so I get food there, too. But in neither case did I go there for the food.
I don’t want the mariachi band. Unfortunately almost everyone I go out with likes the mariachi band.
If I’m going for the food, I don’t want to hear music, live or otherwise. Although someone playing a piano somewhere is okay.
I am hard of hearing and avoid going to restaurants that have live music , I want to be ale to talk to the people I am with plus I can low sounds and not high sounds so I can’t really enjoy the music when I only hear one sound .
There was a pseudo “Irish pub” near us (it recently closed) that would have a guy on guitar singing the same handful of songs over and over. We usually sat in the dining area where the music was less intrusive, but once we were seated in the bar area. I hated it. Not only did you have the amplified musician, but half the bar patrons felt compelled to sing along. I expect the place went out of business because the handful of bar singers didn’t spend enough to generate a profit.
Whether live or recorded, I want music to be in the background, loud enough that if you’re dining alone, you could hum along, but quiet enough that you don’t have to yell to converse. Despite what some people may think, you don’t have to have music playing everywhere all the freekin’ time!
If I’m out with other people, it’s generally because I care enjoy their conversation. A quiet piano is fine, but anything amplified is likely to make conversation difficult. I do like music, but I expect to be well executed. Most bar/restaurant musicians aren’t skilled enough to have any business playing in public, and if they are, they or the venue end up mixing and amplifying the sound poorly so that it sounds like crap.
The sound problem unfortunately goes for many popular music concert venues. I recall one singer thanking the crowd for listening so hard to his lyrics (how he could tell this, I don’t know). But we couldn’t hear his lyrics. We could hear cymbals and distortion. Good job.
I’ll avoid a place with a band, and try to leave if one starts up. A few times, someone has come by my table asking for money for the band, which at least gives me the opportunity to explain that the restaurant is not getting any further business from me that night.
One place even had the nerve to try to get a cover charge out of us after we’d been there an hour before a band arrived.
I suspect that I and the other grumpypants posters in this thread are in the minority, as these places don’t seem to be lacking business.
I eat out for a good third of my meals due to travel, and an insignificant minority of restaurants I’ve visited play recorded music. That includes my visits to Schenectady. Maybe we visit different types of places.
I’d prefer to know about it beforehand so I can make a choice. I’m certainly not 100% against the concept.
Consider me a fan of Mariachi bands and music of the ilk. Puts me in mind of the opening credits of “Lone Star” and that can’t be a bad thing.
Stealth brag warning. I’m currently on a skiing holiday with the family in Austria and there are plenty of places that have live bands (or a loud mix-tape consisting of a high ratio of AC/DC tracks) and that’s fine as well.
Jazz?..live or recorded I absolutely detest it in all it’s forms and it puts me off my food. I’d walk out and find somewhere else.
I generally don’t have a problem with live music at a meal. However: yeah, there are limits to what I’m willing to put up with when it’s unannounced. That limit would probably be the drum set. Unless you’re using brushes, a drum set is too loud to be in the same room as a conversation. A band like mine would bounce the plates off your table.
Mariachis rule in all contexts. You can’t deny the awesomeness of that sound coupled with those uniforms. Still, they can’t really belt it out in a restaurant.
