Having fun at a bar, DT style

[PlaysLikeMyung]

To all the people wondering why he chased the girls away:

I went to a bar with some friends over holiday break

I inferred from this that he had no interest in 'sluts', and that he just wanted to have a good time with his friends, which is hard to do whilst listening to Trance music

[ZeppelinDT]

To all the people wondering why he chased the girls away:

I went to a bar with some friends over holiday break

I inferred from this that he had no interest in 'sluts', and that he just wanted to have a good time with his friends, which is hard to do whilst listening to Trance music

Well, yeah, but I mean... unless you're completely unfamiliar with the local bar scene, wouldn't the easier and more practical solution just be to go to a more low-key bar where people don't play annoying music on the jukebox? 

[PlaysLikeMyung]

Maybe it's the only bar in the immediate area?

I don't know. But I agree with his decision

[hefdaddy42]

To all the people wondering why he chased the girls away:

I went to a bar with some friends over holiday break

I inferred from this that he had no interest in 'sluts', and that he just wanted to have a good time with his friends, which is hard to do whilst listening to Trance music

What bars play Trance music?

[PlaysLikeMyung]

I don't know. I'm not yet 21, so I can't say


Either way, I imagine it's all just terrible pop music anyway

[hefdaddy42]

I don't know. I'm not yet 21, so I can't say

Then what are you talking about?  Sorry, I'm just not getting you right now.

[ZeppelinDT]

Either way, I imagine it's all just terrible pop music anyway

Most bars I go to play decent music.  There's a pretty big difference between "bars" and "clubs" (I think anywhere that you hear Trance music is probably more of a club).  And in my experience the purpose of music at a bar is more just for atmosphere and mood, rather than for actually sitting there and listening to music that's gonna blow you away.  I think that generally speaking, prog and bars usually just don't mix well.

[RobD]

And prog nerds wonder why they never get any.

Yeah, that was a bit of a dick move. It annoys people, and saying it's revenge is just being as bad as they are. Just don't let the pop music bug you, simple as that. Listen to music for less money at home or at gigs. If it's too loud, ask them to turn it down a touch or move further away from the speakers. Think of how much money the bar looses each time someone does something like this, both at the bar and on the jukebox.

It's not a competition, learn to co-exist with people you might not particularly agree with.

[robwebster]

And prog nerds wonder why they never get any.

Yeah, that was a bit of a dick move. It annoys people, and saying it's revenge is just being as bad as they are. Just don't let the pop music bug you, simple as that. Listen to music for less money at home or at gigs. If it's too loud, ask them to turn it down a touch or move further away from the speakers. Think of how much money the bar looses each time someone does something like this, both at the bar and on the jukebox.

It's not a competition, learn to co-exist with people you might not particularly agree with.

There's no competition in choosing music you like on a public jukebox. 'Sonly what everyone else does. It's kind of the entire point.

If they wanted to establish a particular atmosphere they wouldn't have it there. Besides, I don't know what bars you guys are going to where the patrons get so uppity about the choice of music that they leave. Most people are like, you know, talking, drinking, catching up, having fun, enjoying themselves?

[ZeppelinDT]

If they wanted to establish a particular atmosphere they wouldn't have it there.

I don't think that's necessarily true.  I think generally I equate jukeboxes with more low-key/relaxed bars where people just want to hang out.  And I think that most people who've been to a bar before can pretty easily get a sense of what type of music is "bar music" and what type of music isn't.  Plus, they usually have control over the jukebox anyway, so if some song comes on that they don't want playing in their bar, they can just skip over it.  I've seen that happen plenty of times.

Besides, I don't know what bars you guys are going to where the patrons get so uppity about the choice of music that they leave. Most people are like, you know, talking, drinking, catching up, having fun, enjoying themselves?

This is a pretty good point, which is kind of one of the things that makes this whole concept pretty silly.  I think that generally speaking, when people put on more obscure music or whatever, most of the other people in the bar just ignore it.  Its not like putting prog on the jukebox is some brilliantly creative way of sabotaging of the bar or of getting back at the other people there for playing crappy music.  Chances are, if you put some ridiculously long prog song on the bar jukebox, while you're sitting in the corner congratulating yourself and thinking  "hehehe I'm so awesome I got a 23 minutes song for $1.00!"... everybody else at the bar is just completely ignoring your music and using the time to interact with other live humans.

I think more generally my approach is just to realize that the whole purpose of going to drink at a bar is to be in a social situation and to hang out/talk with other people, so I usually try to keep that in mind and go with music that other people there actually might enjoy as well.  If I just wanted to drink and listen to good music, I could do that at home.  That's much cheaper and easier.

[Tuneman]

i played rite of passage a couple weeks ago.  It was right after someone put some slow phil collins song.  So everyone was at this irish bar was like: "FIRST PHIL COLLINS THAN THIS SHIT, TURN THAT THING OFF"

[Fuzzboy]

You wanted to chase away the sluts?

And prog nerds wonder why they never get any.

Yeah, that was a bit of a dick move.

[Perpetual Change]

Would have been better had you  just played the 12 Step Saga.

[cyberdrummer]

One of the bars in Stornoway has Hocus Pocus by Focus on the jukebox

They have bars in Stornoway?  

[RobD]

One of the bars in Stornoway has Hocus Pocus by Focus on the jukebox

They have electricity in Stornoway? 

Fixed

[TL]

It would be interesting to hear DT in a bar or club, to say the least.
Here in Halifax, it's either typical club music, or live bands. To be fair, most of the live bands are pretty good, usually playing a mix of classic pop/rock songs, and traditional Irish songs.

[Dr. DTVT]

To defend myself:

1) I was out of town (well, for me.  It was the town I grew up in), and was sleeping on my mom's living room floor, so it's not like I was going to bring someone home.
2) I was basically dragged their by my friends.  I would have preferred to go to the liquor store, got some rum and beer, and hung out at their place.  I have no idea why they wanted to go to the bar.
3) In the end, it made the night more enjoyable because there were a few people at the bar I went to high school with that I hadn't seen in ages, and I was able to actually have a conversation with them without having to yell, so I wasn't really interested in eye-candy that night.
4) I'm an asshole and don't really care about people I don't know.  I caused them no phyisical, psychological, or emotional harm; therefore I did nothing wrong.
5) The songs were available, and the queue wasn't that long.

[sonatafanica]

To defend myself:

I don't like chicks, but I had a five and some Dream Theater, so what the fuck.

fixed

[LordCaptainMcKlockenstein]

I've played Pull Me Under at a bar before. No one seems to care, then again it's not 23 minutes long.

I knew a guy who would always put A Change of Seasons on the jukebox at the bar all the time. Not because he was an asshole, but because he just really liked the song.

Tbf, if those bars are anything like the bars I go to - and I'd assume they are, given that they have a jukebox - everyone just puts on their own stuff anyway. That's kind of the whole point.

This.

I went to a bar in Chicago once and someone was playing nothing but Sinatra and Elvis for a friggen hour. I hijacked that shit and put on some Queen, Journey, Foreigner, Bad Company, Queensryche, GnR, and uhhhh some Misfits.

The other patrons actually started commenting on how good the music was afterwards.

[robwebster]

Aha, I like you! You get me. You're my new best friend. Even if your name IS ridiculously long.



But yeah, I don't really get this "1950s housewife" mentality where we probably shouldn't put on anything except Lady Gaga cuz its well their favrit lyk innit. "Well, it's my money but you know I think I'm just going to put on what he likes so he won't beat me." It's kinda like seeing the general public as separate to you, which is at its foundation very prog-nerdy - "Ooh mustn't offend the general public. Let's just put on the nice 50 Cent man, public types like him don't they? Please accept me."

Most people in the bar aren't gonna recognise 25% of the songs in that bar anyway - that's half the fun! Dream Theater aren't this bizarre, unpalatable band that are going to make the clientelle burn their membership cards - their eyes actually glowing red - gather their belongings, and move to the next state. At worst, one or two of 'em might go "what's this shit?" and then continue with their lives precisely where they left off - and to be fair, it doesn't matter whether it's Dream Theater or La Roux.  Someone's gonna hate it. Vive la difference!

As far as victimless crimes go - actually, no. I'm not even going to finish that sentence, because it's not a crime, nor is it a dick move, or even silly. Next time you go to a bar, put on a bit of Dream Theater. It's nothing to be ashamed of. We don't have to hide in the shadows or skulk around in a cave somewhere, drinking nothing but... er... pondwater? You're perfectly at liberty to slot the 50p (or cents or euro-cents or yen or rupees or gold or whatever they are) into the machine and put on some fantastic music that you like.  Take a bit of joy in it!

[It] makes this whole concept pretty silly.  I think that generally speaking, when people put on more obscure music or whatever, most of the other people in the bar just ignore it.  Its not like putting prog on the jukebox is some brilliantly creative way of sabotaging of the bar or of getting back at the other people there for playing crappy music.  Chances are, if you put some ridiculously long prog song on the bar jukebox, while you're sitting in the corner congratulating yourself and thinking  "hehehe I'm so awesome I got a 23 minutes song for $1.00!"... everybody else at the bar is just completely ignoring your music and using the time to interact with other live humans.

Yeah, I do think it was a very silly concept. If there really was a chain of, er, "sluts" (were they real sluts?) leaving, I've got a hunch they were probably ready to leave anyway, regardless of the music.

Right, that's all from me. I'm off now to have some fun at a bar, DT style.

[AcidLameLTE]

One of the bars in Stornoway has Hocus Pocus by Focus on the jukebox

They have bars in Stornoway?  

One of the bars in Stornoway has Hocus Pocus by Focus on the jukebox

They have electricity in Stornoway? 

Fixed

[RobD]

 

[ZBomber]

I can't believe people are getting all huffy about this.  Seriously?

[ZeppelinDT]

But yeah, I don't really get this "1950s housewife" mentality where we probably shouldn't put on anything except Lady Gaga cuz its well their favrit lyk innit. "Well, it's my money but you know I think I'm just going to put on what he likes so he won't beat me." It's kinda like seeing the general public as separate to you, which is at its foundation very prog-nerdy - "Ooh mustn't offend the general public. Let's just put on the nice 50 Cent man, public types like him don't they? Please accept me."

Well, there's a difference between not wanting to offend the general public and intentionally going out of your way to annoy people.

I don't think anybody in this thread is saying "you shouldn't play any music that might offend people".  The point (at least from my p.o.v.) is just that it seems kind of silly to go out of your way to play music just to annoy people and to "get revenge".

I myself have played DT songs on bar jukeboxes plenty of times before.  And I've been at bars where other people have put on DT music.  I've actually met other fellow DT fans that way a few times.  So I don't think there's anything at all wrong with doing that.  I just think its silly to intentionally go out of your way to put on a long series of songs that you know most people won't know or won't like just out of spite.

I think my general approach to jukebox selections is that I just think "if I were throwing a party and had a bunch of friends over, would I put this song on my playlist"?

[black_biff_stadler]

Gotta say that one thing that surprises me to not yet see it mentioned is when someone puts on the same song less than an hour from when it last played. For some reason I've only noticed girls doing this and it's always that new "flavor of the week" single. Fucking kills me. I adore dozens of songs but I seldom listen to the same song twice in the same DAY let alone same thirty-minute period.

I've also been screwed outta money by a bartender for violating the sacred "don't play that in my bar" unwritten rule but the worst part was that this was a neighborhood watering hole with a primarily young clientele that was well-stocked with the stoner/metalhead stereotype(even the meat-heady ones were still nice folks) and we all used to end up in conversation when someone-curious as to who had the "good" taste in music-would shout out "(band x) rules!!" or something similar.

Problem was the bimbo behind the bar was mainly into awful top40 dance/rap and she even cut off my entire $5.00 setlist less than twenty seconds into the first song and played dumb about it(not a stretch with her IQ) and refused to refund me. I loved this bar as it was a second home to my friends and me so I tipped a minimum of $2 a beer with ultra-rare exception. After she pulled this shit on me for the third time I decided to take a vacation from tipping her for a solid month. Wonder if she realized that she would cost herself around $100 if she would've still done the same.

The owner knew my crew and me by name and was dick enough to not offer me a red cent or even a draft on the house in light of the continual theft by the bartender so the last time I went there I forgot to pay the tab and upon realizing this was a little embarrassed about it so I was making a dash to the ATM until I remembered the "fuck yourself" treatment the owner and bar wench gave me and others so I said to myself "maybe next time." 

[TL]

*Story*

Hell, from the sound of it, they ripped you off for enough money anyway to cover the tab.
But yeah, that's a dick move on their part.

[lonestar]

I play in a billiards league every Tuesday, and our home bar has an internet jukebox.  On top of our usual selection of music to satisfy all members of the team, a wide variety from country to rap to The Dead(lots of Metallica though, we all agree on that one), I always sneak in a DT song.  I have found I shoot best to Voices and The Glass Prison.  Especially Voices, when that is playing, I don't miss, at all.

[King Postwhore]

The procession of sluts leaving was legendary

Something tells me you're doing this whole "bar" thing wrong.

Spoken like an old vetran of the bar scene!   I can put up with the dance music if the girls are dancing.  But the dance club was never my thing.

This sounds like the line from Spinal Tap, "I can do without the sex & rock n roll if I had the drugs".
                                                       " I can do without T & A if I listen to DT".

[Global Laziness]

For whatever reason, the student bar/lounge at my university happened to have a copy of Awake kicking around, so I popped that in for a while the other night when some buddies and I were playing pool. The manager/my cousin who happened to be in at the time wasn't a big fan, but she dealt with it. And interestingly enough, among the other assorted CDs in the Wardroom is Disc 2 of the G3: Live in Tokyo CD.

[cygnusx1jg]

Call me a romantic, but no matter what the situation you always want the chicks to stay in the bar rather than leave.

And when it comes to playing songs on the juke, I find that the following trio works nicely:

Brown Eyed Girl--all girls seem to love this song; gets them in a good mood
Fuck You Like an Animal--nice change of pace; gets the freakier girls going
Let's Get It On--something about Marvin's voice that--well, you know

[black_biff_stadler]

Call me a romantic, but no matter what the situation you always want the chicks to stay in the bar rather than leave.

And when it comes to playing songs on the juke, I find that the following trio works nicely:

Brown Eyed Girl--all girls seem to love this song; gets them in a good mood
Fuck You Like an Animal--nice change of pace; gets the freakier girls going
Let's Get It On--something about Marvin's voice that--well, you know

I respect you're right to an opinion but that kind of reasoning is exactly why we're(people with any love for non-top40 music) stuck having to choose between having girls around or getting to enjoy music that actually has some level of originality. I think if everyone stopped catering to these bimbos(vanilla-minded followers*NOT all girls*) then we might one day not have the music in bars/clubs revolve around a setlist of 10-15 songs max at any given time.

[cygnusx1jg]

Let me get this straight--you put more importance on listening to the type of music you like than to getting laid?

My friend, there is plenty of non-being-around-chicks time in which you can listen to whatever you want.  When in a group of people, such as a bar, some compromise has to be had.  Besides, there is nothing wrong with those three songs I listed.

[Scurvy!Dreams]

Well you clearly don't even know the title of one of the songs. But sure, nothing wrong with the songs themselves.

[black_biff_stadler]

Let me get this straight--you put more importance on listening to the type of music you like than to getting laid?

My friend, there is plenty of non-being-around-chicks time in which you can listen to whatever you want.  When in a group of people, such as a bar, some compromise has to be had.  Besides, there is nothing wrong with those three songs I listed.

The chicks I've met in bars have almost exclusively been one-night stands. The keepers I tend to find elsewhere so maybe once you wrap your brain around that distinction you'll see where I'm coming from.

Compromise is cool. My problem is when mainstream pricks/prickettes adversely react to someone playing something they've never heard on MTV and also their tendency to play the same shit repeatedly.

[cygnusx1jg]

Is the NIN song title "Inside"? Anyway, I guess it just depends on the situation.  There's been plenty of times I've played non-mainstream songs on a juke.  If I'm in a bar, it's 95% because I'm trying to meet someone.  One more thing--my parents died before I hit 20 and just about all my friends that were married are now divorced--I'm quite fine with one (or two) night stands.