Remembering When Live Thrived

A historical dive into the demise of live local music.

(Note: This is not an endorsement of drinking)

Looking back to the glory days when band's were prolific and there were plenty of venues to play in, packed with fanatical music lovers. Small local venues were a proving ground for emerging artists, where they could build a following from high school age, and expand the boundaries of music performance. Label A&R reps prowled local clubs looking to sign the next big band. Most live local acts now mostly consist of singles or duos starting and ending early for early-to-bed boomers, tribute cover bands playing for those same boomers, and lounge troubadours playing for non-locals.

There are three primary reasons that the venue habitats, and thus bands to play in them, have all but disappeared:

- The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984

- Now six Performing Rights Organizations demanding payment by local venues

- Covid Epidemic

As Mary Hopkins sang: Those were the days, my friend We thought they'd never end We'd sing and dance forever and a day