As an American who is quite deprived of various aspects of Anglo culture, I don’t think I have been in a pub, though I know quite a bit about them, or so I think.
I have seen a few references to “pub-rock” on this board. My impression of pubs was along the lines of a somewhat quiet, comfortable bar/cafe sort of place that had occassional bursts of laughter and song with many different, interesting and intellectual games abound.
I haven’t considered the music that might exist in such a place. Are there bands that regularly play in pubs as a band would play in a bar in the U.S.?
I don’t know how bands play in bars in the US, but you do get live music in pubs in the UK. It’s not the norm, but a some pubs have something to liven up fri/sat night. I’m thinking here of ‘straight’ pubs. Some pubs will be like clubs, but open earlier - these could have a dance floor and live music would obviously fit better.
I don’t know what sort of music is common, though; I’m generally searching for someone else who plays ‘interesting and intellectual’ games
There are nearly as many types of pub as there are pubs. Typically the only music will be played on a tape machine behind the bar, some have juke boxes. Some don’t have any music at all, in which case the only noise is the conversation of the customers.
But plenty of places do regularly feature live music in a variety of styles – electric guitar bands seem to be the most common in my experience, but you’ll hear folk bands playing fiddles, bodhrans and the like (especially in Irish pubs), upright pianos etc. etc. And yes, there are plenty of bands who earn a modest living from performing live in pubs. Professional bands sometimes start by playing in pubs and are spotted there by A&R guys.
Granted, this is aan opinion of mine that I might have left out, but please let the record show that I like such games.
For those not in the know, here is, in my experience, typical bar band procedure in the States: 2 guitars, bass guitar, drums, sometimes keyboards, brass, woodwind, etc., playing Top 40/country/pop/oldies covers and, rarely, original songs. The music starts at about 9:00 pm on (usually) Friday and Saturday nights (sometimes during the week) and lasting until 12:00 or 1:00 am. The music is generally loud to the point of halting casual conversation, although such high sound levels depends on the instrumentation (mainly guitars here) and the bars’ owner or patrons.
Again from personal experience I’d say that our pub bands play about 50/50 between standard covers and their own stuff. There’s no chance of having a casual conversation when they’re playing though – if you don’t want to listen to the band you have to find another pub.
A certain national pub chain made a big deal about banning all music from its outlets claiming that it had spotted a gap in the market for people who thought the usual background music was too intrusive.
One “intellectual game” that you’ll find in numerous pubs is the pub quiz – typically 20 trivia questions called out by the landlord; customers fill in answers on a sheet of paper to win a cash prize or quantity of beer. How intellectual depends on the anticipated IQ of the customers.
There are lots of pubs, especially in the bigger cities, that regularly have live bands - in fact a lot of bands start out playing local pubs (I certainly did when I was at uni… unfortunately never progressed beyond playing to a bunch of my mates in half-empty pubs )
And FYI, “pub-rock” is generally a derogatory term, implying unadventurous three-chord, 12-bar rock. (Think Status Quo, Oasis etc etc)
I spent a year in Germany, and was out at some pub or the other pretty regularly. From what I saw in that year, the pubs with a live band (usually 3-4 members) were labelled ‘Irish pubs’, either by the local populace or by the establishment themselves. I noticed this especially in Hamburg and in Munich.
Certainly, Pub Rock was an absolute institution for 30 years or more, here in Australia.
Name any famous Aussie band from AC/DC onwards, and they cut their teeth on winning over a crowd in a pub at some stage.
Some pubs down here pride themselves on featuring “all original” acts - and never let a cover band through the door. Those sort of pubs tend to get an almost cult following for being “supporters of the music industry” as it were. But they’re getting rarer.
Sadly, in the last 10 years the genre has almost died. Pub owners have discoverd that “slot machines”, or Poker Machines as we call them down here, derive infinitely greater income for the owners - albeit at the expense of giving anything back to the local culture. As a result, pubs around the country have thrown out the stage areas, and installed “gaming rooms” which feature the pokies.
By most yardsticks, cynics everywhere agree that it’s just another lucrative taxation revenue for the state goverments. No one anywhere has been able to argue that the Australian music scene is better off for having implemented such relaxations in the gambling licencing codes.
Well, the pubs I go to in Vancouver, Canada (Very Far From Europe) are the ones that cater to Irish/ Acoustic folk. There’s two `styles’: one is where more-or-less established bands (the membership always seems a little fluid…) play more-or-less rehearsed sets. Then there’s the ``session’’, where a whole bunch of assorted musicians play traditional folk tunes that many people know, but that particular assortment of musicians has never played together…
Two rules of etiquette at either of these two (that drive me bonkers when ignored, but as this is not the Pit, that is all I will say): If you must clap, please have a sense of timing. If you cannot clap in time, don’t clap. And, especially when someone sings, shut up. You can get away with muted conversation during tunes, but talking over a singer is barbaric.
Intellectual games seem pretty lacking, though, unless you count the dartboard…
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