# Intimidated by a teen audience!



## Sang-Drax (Nov 7, 2008)

I've recently joined an alternative rock band and I already have some cool gigs scheduled. We're opening for New Found Glory in november in a somewhat big venue here in a Rio and stuff. All cool.

Nothing scares the shit out of me the most, though, than a gig we have scheduled in a high school next week. The guys in my band are somewhere between 21-23 years old, while I'm (almost) 27. I already feel _old._ I have this feeling that I'll be even more out of place playing in a high school. It probably doesn't make a lot of sense, I know. I just had to share this with someone. /rant

I think I'm just afraid of teenagers, I guess


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## Nick (Nov 7, 2008)

admitt it your just scared of being surrounded by teenage girls!!!

jk

JJ your presance is required in this thread for regulatory purposes and guidance...


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## Demeyes (Nov 7, 2008)

I'm 21 and one of the guys in the band is 23. We just played a gig on halloween for a youth club. It was a crowd full of 13-16 year olds. It was a strange gig, they're a bit different than I was when I was that age. But I'm sure you'll go down well. One thing about playing in front of younger people is that they can go wild. They'll run around and dance and stuff a lot more than a mature crowd from my experiences anyway.


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## TheSixthWheel (Nov 7, 2008)

Congrats on the NFG support slot. But regarding the high school gig, this is your opportunity to kick some ass and show the folks in the high school what musical performance is all about. Plenty of those teens will be studying their own forms of music in and out of school and will be learning a thing or two from you, don't worry.


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## Sang-Drax (Nov 7, 2008)

Nick said:


> admitt it your just scared of being surrounded by teenage girls!!!




yeah, that too. If I get criminally sued I won't be allowed into the prosecutor exams I'm trying next year 



TheSixthWheel said:


> Congrats on the NFG support slot.



Thank you. We're not the only support act, though... there's at least two (horrible) famous local emo bands as well. And I mean, horrible.



Demeyes said:


> It was a strange gig, they're a bit different than I was when I was that age. But I'm sure you'll go down well.



Yes! That's what I'm talking about. Things changed a lot in the past years. 10-15 years ago, there were no famous trend rock bands whatsoever around here. I remember, for instance, that I liked Offspring by the time Smash was released, and no-one ever heard of them until "Americana" was released. I think the first true Brazilian rock band - meaning one whose rhythm guitars could actually be heard - only sprout out some 8 years ago or something.

Thank you all for your kind words. I don't know if anyone is taking pics of this gig - if so, I'll sure post them here if I manage to get out alive from this gig (and I don't get arrested either). And I'll ask individual pics of school girls as well  .

...

You didn't hear that from me.


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## auxioluck (Nov 7, 2008)

Eyes don't leave fingerprints.

Just do what you do best my friend, business is business as usual, no matter who you play for.


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## Ryan-ZenGtr- (Nov 19, 2009)

Don't worry dude! You have less to fear from unelightened teenagers than a "mature" crowd. The kids still know how to party, whereas "mature" people are a lot "colder" having higher standards they would say...

I did a gig promoted for teenagers and it was awesome. I made sure to keep an eye on the more chick minded band members, to keep them out of trouble!

Thinking about it, we played some really heavy and brutal stuff... They seemed to enjoy it, headbanging all the way through.

I'm starting to think that the metal movement was started by disenfranchised chiropractors to increase the amount of spinal damage music could inflict on the general population!!!

Good luck!


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## ralphy1976 (Nov 19, 2009)

Tuco, man, 1st if you are worried it means you care, only fools do not get worried before an important "appointment" (i think bruce lee said something along those lines)

and i do 2nd Nick's view : it is the teenage girls who worry you..so here is the ultimate remedy, and now all together!!!! :


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## JohnIce (Dec 9, 2009)

Could be worse. I opened up for this guy:



Aside from being the worst singer I've ever shared stage with, there were exactly two males in the audience, and not a single person over 15. I swear.


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## Sang-Drax (Dec 11, 2009)

That gig seems like a long time ago now... I've played several times for teens in their 13-17 afterwards, but these happen to be by far our worst gigs. They're always expecting some Brazilian emo bands (a lot worse than the usual international emo, I swear), and my band isn't quite like that. Rio sucks for gigging 

Too bad I can't watch the videos right now (yt is blocked here at work). But John, come on, you're not that far from 15 anyway, are you?


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## Cheesebuiscut (Dec 11, 2009)

wow that kid was depressing.


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## JohnIce (Dec 14, 2009)

Sang-Drax said:


> That gig seems like a long time ago now... I've played several times for teens in their 13-17 afterwards, but these happen to be by far our worst gigs. They're always expecting some Brazilian emo bands (a lot worse than the usual international emo, I swear), and my band isn't quite like that. Rio sucks for gigging
> 
> Too bad I can't watch the videos right now (yt is blocked here at work). But John, come on, you're not that far from 15 anyway, are you?


 



 True, but it sure felt like it. I'd say the average age was more in the ballpark of 12-13 though. They did seem to like us however.  Fortunately, this particular group wasn't expecting an emo band.

- edit - Wow, this thread was much older than I thought.


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## Sang-Drax (Dec 14, 2009)

^ If they enjoyed it, it's cool 

I think the problem in here is that there is a huge musical gap between my generation and the current teens. The 90's were a dead decade as far as rock goes... bands that were huge in US and Europe were never that famous in here. Maybe Nirvana and Pearl Jam, but that is all. 

I remember having bought Offspring's "Smash" when I traveled to US in '95, and _no-one fucking knew them_. They might as well have been a norwegian extreme black metal band for all everyone cared.

As a result, people of my age aren't into rock that much. I found out about the stuff I listen to god knows how; it was certainly not through radio or mtv. Very few of the people I have contact with (aside from my closer friends, who happen to be 80% rockers or headbangers) like rock at all.

Concerning Brazilian rock bands, they've been the same out there since the '80s... until very recently. Now we have this huge boon of annoying emo bands which the kids love. I guess it's better than no rock at all; still, these kids haven't started in rock listening to their older brothers' CDs or daddy's LP's. It's a total rupture from the past... whatever's older than, say, 2006 does not belong to their world.

I guess I feel too young when compared to my non-rocker friends for my love of music, but I feel just as out of place when dealing with actually younger folk because of this musical differences.

I'm lucky to have found ss.org... where else could I find people that share my taste for Opeth, Tool, Cynic, and such?


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## JohnIce (Dec 20, 2009)

Sang-Drax said:


> ^ If they enjoyed it, it's cool
> 
> I think the problem in here is that there is a huge musical gap between my generation and the current teens. The 90's were a dead decade as far as rock goes... bands that were huge in US and Europe were never that famous in here. Maybe Nirvana and Pearl Jam, but that is all.
> 
> ...


 
Interesting, I had no idea... I figured that, since Iron Maiden played to 250 000 people at Rock in Rio, there'd be quite a following for rock/metal in Brazil. Sounds like a tough situation to be in, for sure.


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## Sang-Drax (Dec 23, 2009)

Metallica and Iron Maiden are quite an exception as far as metal goes. Either way, the reason Rock in Rio was so crowded was probably more because it's a huge, famous, historical, and cheap event (I paid the equivalent of US$ 9.50!) than because of the bands themselves. Many a people bought tickets for every single day (I think there were 7 dates), regardless of who was playing - a fairly uncommon behavior to Rio standards. 

Iron Maiden comes here every tour, playing for roughly 6,000 people on average. Thing is, we have a _lot_ of people in the major cities. There are freaking 6 million people in Rio alone. If 1 in 100 people likes metal, it's still a buckload of people. And everybody that likes metal at least knows who Iron Maiden is .

It's a completely different thing as far as independent bands, or even less known bands, go. For what it's worth, when Pain of Salvation and Evergrey came here, they played for what, 800 people at most. Tickets were roughly US$ 35.00, IIRC - not expensive at all. Last Nightwish concert - a very popular band for metal standards - 1,500 people attended. Not surprisingly, many metal bands (such as Opeth in 2009) gig only in São Paulo whenever they come. With a 10-million population, you'll find fans for pretty much anything .

Anyway, in my previous post I was referring specifically to mainstream rock, which, for some reason, didn't get too much attention in here last decade, at least not nearly as much as emo does now. Metal has always been a ghetto thing, even in the '80s.


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