Ken Dodd used to recruit his Diddy Men from local stage schools and never paid them a penny from the large tax-free stash under his bed...
I think the Tattoo is a rip off because of the massive commitment required which won't add much more to your cv than just doing one night.
In the past I played few gigs for nothing, charity gigs, small local festival, wedding of a band member. Now I'm 'back', I'm happy for us to do a few free gigs to get some experience under our belts with less stress. I've offered us for an event that otherwise woudln't have any music, no pressure and we can treat it like almost a rehearsal.
Once we are up to speed with two hours+ of material and a demo, I'd expect us to be getting paid.