You would have to bring back the rock clubs that were in every town in the 80s and were doing great business up until the early to mid-90s when the clubs that were full during the 80s were going out of business, or at best, barely surviving, drawing less than half the crowds they had in the 80s. I worked at a nightclub in the 90s which had rock and metal bands every night and while talking to one of the guys who was working there during the 80s, he pointed to the half full club and told me "In the 80's you had to wait 10 or 15 minutes at the bar to get a drink because this place was so full."
The clubs were the breeding ground for every great rock band there ever was. Every great band made it by playing clubs, and getting better as they paid their dues on the club circuit. I've never seen a great band that was "discovered" on American Idol or one of those types of shows. When grunge started getting big was approximately the time when the attendance at night clubs dropped sharply and they started going out of business. People went to clubs to have a good time and the music wasn't fun anymore. It was music about being miserable. Legendary clubs like The Rock-It Club in Tampa and Hammerjacks in Baltimore now no longer exist. Those places were packed in the 80's. I was living in Tampa and experienced it for myself. If you were around then and went to the clubs, you know what it was like. If you weren't, you can't imagine how much stronger the music scene was back then compared to now.
For the clubs to come back, there has to be a viable music industry and right now, we don't have one thanks to the government's non-enforcement of the copyright laws for music. There has to be an incentive for bands to exist, the talent level of bands that played the rock club scene in the 80s. If kids know there is no chance to become a rock star or even reasonably successful, they're not going to put their lives into becoming rock musicians. They might do it as a hobby but they're not going to put everything they have into it like the kids coming of age in the 70s and 80s and that's what it takes to become great - to give it everything you've got.
The clubs were the breeding ground for every great rock band there ever was. Every great band made it by playing clubs, and getting better as they paid their dues on the club circuit. I've never seen a great band that was "discovered" on American Idol or one of those types of shows. When grunge started getting big was approximately the time when the attendance at night clubs dropped sharply and they started going out of business. People went to clubs to have a good time and the music wasn't fun anymore. It was music about being miserable. Legendary clubs like The Rock-It Club in Tampa and Hammerjacks in Baltimore now no longer exist. Those places were packed in the 80's. I was living in Tampa and experienced it for myself. If you were around then and went to the clubs, you know what it was like. If you weren't, you can't imagine how much stronger the music scene was back then compared to now.
For the clubs to come back, there has to be a viable music industry and right now, we don't have one thanks to the government's non-enforcement of the copyright laws for music. There has to be an incentive for bands to exist, the talent level of bands that played the rock club scene in the 80s. If kids know there is no chance to become a rock star or even reasonably successful, they're not going to put their lives into becoming rock musicians. They might do it as a hobby but they're not going to put everything they have into it like the kids coming of age in the 70s and 80s and that's what it takes to become great - to give it everything you've got.
