Originally posted by Dnj:
..I feel we're headed into a non playing and singing future controled by electronics & buttons in the musical arena. Little by little, inch by inch "REAL" music making is disintergrating.

I, unfortunately, must agree with Donny. There are a lot less drummers in this world, and additionally, far fewer live bands. The inroads made by DJ's and Karaoke guys has impacted the live performer to a vast degree. If you don't believe this is the case, just open your daily or weekly newspaper, look in the entertainment section and you'll find a huge number of listings where DJ's and Karaoke are headlined. If you're lucky, you may find a handful of live entertainers.

The same holds true for the wedding industry. DJ's have essentially put live bands out of business when it comes to the nuptual's festivities. Every catering outfit in the mid-Atlanti region has a list of DJ's they call on for weddings, but when the person requests a live band, which by the way is very unusual these days, the caterer usually says "If you want live music you'll have to find the band yourself."

Then, to put a little icing on the cake. How many of you have had someone come up to you after a performance where you performed every song live and sang your heart out and said "Oh, you were just great. You're the best DJ we ever had. There has even been a couple times when on the bottom of the check in the memo area the person wrote DJ Services.

Essenially, live bands will soon be extinct, and they will quickly be followed by live performers. Though I hope I am long in my grave when this occurs, the way things are progressing in this industry, I forsee a future where the music will all be digitized, the vocals will be digitized and there will be a computerized image of the band projected as a hologram on a fold-up stage made of lightweight plastic.

This, my friends, is called progress!

Gary