Bluewine

Mine is a wedding gig too. We're not a wedding band by any sense of the term. Typical story. The wedding couple were fans of the band and booked us. They never considered their guest we're not fans of us or live music. The event was held in the basement of a Church, the guests sat at card tables. Not a high end event. We were completely ignored. It was like the band was inaudible and invisible. We served no purpose being there. Nobody and I mean nobody even spoke to us. Longest 4 hours of my life. Blue

An old topic but fun to revisit over the weekend. In the spirit of hunor share stories about really bad gigs. Blue

I was in college at age 20, my priority was graduating with my degree. At 65 my priority is enjoying retired life and keeping a busy gigging schedule. Men in my family typically don't life pass the age of 70. Blue

How about no value? Blue

Good point! Blue

The "Hot Rods on Hampton" gig actually went well. Great Weather Lot's Of Cool Vintage Cars Well Organized Great Sponsor Lot's of people Sold a respectable anount of merch, CDs & T Shirts Good Event / Function Pay The band sounded good to me today. Blue

I can't argue your point. I understand the whole generational thing. It tough getting use to being on the liable side. I use to be what they called " counter culture". Blue

We played The Old Rock in Columbus WI last night. Really cool rustic outside stage. We played well and looked good last night. Unfortunately the bar/restaurant was packed but they had little to no interest in live music or us. I thought the place had a strong reputation for live music. At the end of the day, not a great gig for me. Hopefully the car show tomorrow cwill be better. The disconnect with live rock and young people is vary sad to me. Seems like they hate it with a passion. Blue

I an old " band guy" a left over from the 60s and 70s. I'm still out in the gig trenches every weekend. I'm a meat & potatoes player. I know my parts and can do the job. No fancy riffs or high technical ability with me. Blue

I think my last comment was a bunch of " fancy talk". I don't want to go to work tonight, I want to stay home and watch the tele. Blue

I hope I'm not derailing this interesting thread, but yeah busy gigging bands are work. Agreed, for those not in it for the money, playing 2-3 gigs a week could be frustrating. I never thought I'd say this about playing but I leave for work tonight at 4:15 and punch out at 12:30am. Keep in mind we will all still have fun tonight and make money. I think there are some that feel if your making money it must not be fun. I'm sure some of us have been in bands where there was a ton of work but no money. IMO starting any kind of band is difficult. Blue

I had one, not a bad bass. However I traded up to the German made custom Hofner Club bass. Completely different instrument. They're not cheap, $2,500.00 Blue

We ask a lot of questions before hiring anyone. We have to be convinced a candidate understands the commitment of a heavy gigging schedule and has experience in a busy gigging band. No matter how good a musician is it wouldn't matter to us. We would never hire the guy that's a great player but has little to no experience. We'd hire the marginal guy that has a lot of gigging experience. Blue Exactly, no busy band has time for guys whose life circumstance prevents commitment. Blue

Exactly, hauling lights, sound, set up and tear down and the grueling effort and challenge of playing and trying to effectively manage 4 hours worth of material has to be about money. I will leave my home today at 4:15pm and will get home at 2:00am. And as I always say, we'll have fun but we don't do it for fun, we do it for money. Blue

What about those Harley Benton PS & J's? They're like $169.00 including shipping. Blue

Spondon is right, my US bias makes it hard for me to voice an opinion. Money is everything over here. Blue

Busy weekend. Probably our last 2 outside shows for the summer. Also we're back to 4 hour shows.:( And Columbus is an hour commute, 1 way. Hope the band is on as well as my playing. Blue Friday 9/7/2018 The Old Rock Hwy 16 & 60, Columbus 7:30 p.m. - 11:30 p.m. Sunday 9/9/2018 C & S Performance Engines Hot Rods on Hampton Car Show 4687 N 124th Street, Butler Noon - 4:00 p.m.

I would have started packing up my gear with no explanation at that point. Blue

Neither do I, and I believe it's the reason I get along with everyone. I really don't see the other band members until our sound check at gigs. Blue

As you know I have a lot of opinions on auditions. Before any of us should audition; 1. Have clear understanding of what your looking for in a band. 2. Do your homework, look for recent videos of the band. 3. Make sure the personal line up is what you think it is. 4. Ask questions, anything that's important to you ask about it. Most bad audition can be avoided if you do your homework. Avoid " I Have To Be In A Band" syndrome. Blue

Ok, no matter how much I practice I'm never going to be the guy with the fast fancy riffs and high technical ability. Blue

The Harley Davidson 115th Anniversary Bash was ok. We opened for Beatalica. Great weather and nice crowd, but adapting to any big stage is always a challenge for us. Blue

Cool Musicbassman, Thanks for your comment Our Vista King Cruise is really a big drink-athon. We lucked out selling out to a supportive engaged crowd. Blue

Very cool, We've been playing the Vista King for the last 5 years. Cons 1. Load in/out is a real challenge. 2. You play 2 hours straight for the evening. No breaks. Pros 1. Excellent pay if you sell out you get 50% of the take. Selling out is 120 ttickets at $22.99 a pop. 2. It's a mere 2 hour gig. That's great for those of usual that play 4 hour bar shows. Blue

Hi Pete, Then I won't complain about the $10.00 I had to pay for parking for that cruise gig Saturday night. Are these little cruise gigs popular in the UK? Blue