Dakota is killing the South Wales pub covers scene

The South Wales pub music scene is in a sorry state and bands need to take a good look at themselves instead of pointing the finger elsewhere.

Before I go any further, I want to make it clear that not all of the music scene is in crisis. There are some really good things happening, and undoubtedly there’s a lot I'm not aware of, but generally there is a desperately sad (and somewhat pathetic) malaise in our pubs and clubs.

A QUICK HISTORY LESSON
There was a time when Newport and the surrounding region was revered internationally for the vibrancy of its music. If you're old enough to remember the 80s you'll remember that venues, clubs, bars and pubs thundered with the sound of countless bands playing their own original music and pulling big audiences. It was very much the norm that punters would happily and enthusiastically support this scene and the bands.

Cover versions were few and far between – maybe the odd cover thrown into a set as a nod to your heroes or influencers.

But then the 90s happened.

I remember it clearly. Venues that once played host to these bands discovered the dreaded tribute act. Virtually overnight gigs dried up for originals bands and you could only get a gig if your set was entirely dedicated to one band.

The tribute scene eventually relocated to larger venues where the better exponents continue to pull decent crowds and make decent money, but what was left in its place was the pub rock covers scene that has dominated ever since.

Pub rock covers has become the norm in South Wales to such a degree that young players are picking up and learning instruments with the express aim of joining or forming a covers band so they can join this circus; as if regular gigs at the local Cock & Beaver for a couple of quid is the full extent of their ambition. It's depressing.

WHERE WE ARE TODAY
The full depressing state of this pub rock covers scene can be seen on the Facebook group ‘Champions League of South Wales Cover Bands’. With over 5,400 members this group features members from most of the cover bands in the South Wales region. It's probably the first time this sizeable community has been gathered in one place.

This community largely spends its time whining about gigs and pay. A great many of them appear to believe they have a god given right to gigs and hundreds of £s by the simple fact that they have assembled themselves into a unit and learned Stereophonics ‘Dakota’ because “the punters like Dakota”, and because they have invested money in their gear.

As social kinda guy I travel around venues a lot and encounter many of these bands. And as a booker for a Newport venue I get inundated with approaches for gigs. They all tell you they are great and better than the rest, when in reality it’s hard to tell many of them apart; they all promise they’ll bring a crowd with them or pull an extra crowd, but rarely do; and way, way too many of them turn up and play essentially the same set to the same average standard.

Of course there are some better examples in amongst the throng, but these guys tend to know they are better and understand what it takes to rise above the rest. These are the bands that also attract a crowd and they tend to play sets that are different to the same old, same old of the majority. And they clearly rehearse hard to make sure their standard is good.

As a result they are also the bands that command better rates of pay and have no trouble finding gigs. Indeed, they don’t often have the need to go looking for gigs because the venues come to them in the safe knowledge that they will get a great experience.

As for the rest, as a booker for a venue I have put in place a very simple quality control valve I call the Dakota Valve. If a band contacts me and shares their setlist and I see Dakota on there, they don’t get any further. It's my version of 'No Stairway? Denied!" from Wayne's World.

A Liverpudlian mate of mine, who has been living here for several years and who sits religiously at the bar every Saturday night sarcastically asked me if there was a Welsh bylaw that said all rock covers bands HAVE to play Dakota.

But it’s not just Dakota. There’s an alarmingly thin catalogue of songs that a lot of South Wales cover bands pull from, and Dakota, along with Sex On Fire, Mustang Sally and Teenage Kicks are just some of the unimaginative choices many of them make in the belief that that’s all audiences want to hear (presumably because they wouldn’t want to insult an audience by thinking they like anything else).

Just to reiterate, I don’t have a problem with the covers scene as such (I've done it myself), just the lazy way too many bands approach it.

It feels like the X Factor mentality underpins the thinking of many bands... “I want to play music, I want to have an audience in place when I arrive (without going to any effort to attract one), and I want to be paid well for my trouble. But I don’t want to have to work too hard at it, or think about it too hard. Hell, I don’t even want to bother sound checking if I can help it.”

The real problem here is that the covers scene and the lazy approach of many bands has become so dominant across South Wales that it strangles a lot of opportunities for anyone who wants to do anything different. Venues have come to accept same old, same old rock covers as the only flavour available, and it's incredibly hard for venues to sift through the chaff to find the wheat. This is why many venues are finding attendances dropping, because people are getting bored of the same meal of egg and chips every Friday and Saturday night.

But why should audiences be expected to turn up religiously every weekend just to see the same songs played to the same standard?

Bands have to understand that falling audience numbers inevitably means falling revenues for venues. And falling revenues puts pressure on the money available to pay for entertainment. The whole scene continues its depressing downward spiral.

SOME ADVICE - TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT
So I guess the only thing left to do is offer my recommendations of what bands should do to make sure they rise above the throng to get those gigs and move up the pay scale.

1. Ditch the idea that you have to play Dakota, Sex On Fire, Mustang Sally, Brown Eyed Girl, Jailbreak etc because ‘that’s what audiences want to hear’. You insult the audience by thinking they only know and like a narrow range of songs. They like thousands of songs. Yes, they may like the songs listed above, but not every bloody Saturday night. If you stick to the same 'safe' set as countless other bands, what is there to differentiate you? And at the same time you expect more gigs and better pay? Really?
2. Work on your set and your delivery. Don’t just learn a song to a basic standard and think it’s enough. Again, you insult your audience if you think they can’t tell the difference between a good and bad performance. Stereophonics don’t do that. They work to be as tight as they can be. You may think rehearsals are a pain in the arse, but it makes all the difference to work on nuances. Be self-critical and ask yourself can you do it better? If you don't think you can do it better you're either brilliant and earning shitloads, or you're deluded.
3. Sound Check. It’s depressing how many bands – and especially guitarists – say “I know my set up. I can just plug and play.” That attitude reveals your amateur approach to gigging. Each room has a different acoustic, so instruments need to be balanced accordingly. If you can’t tell the difference perhaps you should stick to playing in your bedroom or garage where the acoustics never change.
4. Market yourselves properly. Trust me, most of you say you’re brilliant, and most of you promise the moon on a stick. But if you’re approaching a new venue for a gig you need to prove your worth in advance because we’re not all easy to fool. Set up a decent Facebook page and post videos of yourself so we can check you out. If bands can't do this simple thing venues will assume it's because bands fear they’ll be found out for not being as good as they say they are.
5. Don't assume you are owed a living. You’ll be paid what you’re worth. Just because you’ve heard that a band can earn several hundred quid more than you currently get, don’t assume there’s a standard rate that you're being unfairly denied. They get paid more for a reason. Stop whining and go figure that reason out.
6. Don't assume the money you spent on gear deserves reward in itself. A shit guitarist can pay £2,000 for a guitar, £1,500 for a stack, and a grand on pedals and outboard. It doesn't mean they deserve riches if they can barely hold down a riff. If the next guy plays a second hand guitar through a second hand rig but plays better with more commitment and style it's obvious he deserves more reward for his efforts.
7. (Additional) Singers, ditch the lyric stand. When did it become acceptable to perform standing behind a lyric stand? All that says is you can't even be arsed to learn the words to songs the audience probably know the words to? And how are you supposed to deliver in your role as a frontman / frontwoman if you're hidden behind a music stand? Why not just go sit at the side of the stage if it's too much like hard work?

There ARE good bands out there, plenty of them. I go out looking for them and when I find them I book them (if the venue can stretch to the budget and the style is suitable). A few weeks ago our venue hosted a band doing bluegrass versions of popular hits and they went down a storm. And last weekend I saw a band in Slipping Jimmy’s (Newport) open their set with a tight and well played version of It Bites ‘Calling All the Heroes’. There wasn’t a Dakota or Sex On Fire in sight.

Did the audience rebel or walk out? No they didn’t.