Just been let go by the band and first thing I think is...

[KevB]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLCEUpIg8rE


Which kind of tells me that the frustration I've been having recently with the quality of the venues, performances and lack of new material to play wasn't likely to go away. It's a bit a relief though the money's been handy (low paid gigs but enough of them to make it worthwhile) it's time to move on. I think the current drummer is about 3rd and next bass player will be 4th or 5th in under 2 years proper gigging (band revolves around guitarist and singer couple) which probably speaks volumes. I just wondered if I still had a classic rock band in me at 50+ and after nearly a year of doing it I think I'm happy that I can tick it off as job done and think about something else.

[Guest gazzatriumph]

Hi Kev, I'm 54 I've been in a couple of classic rock bands, I left the last one due to one member and to be honest I'm happy not being in a band and just play along to Cd's. I've played quite a few gigs and played big bike rallies so like you I've ticked the boxes I wanted to. Try not being in a band for while and see how you feel, I always look in Join My Band but it would have to be music I really like ie post punk, gothic rock, 80's alternative stuff to temp me back, good luck with whatever you do IMHO being in a band isn't the be all and end all.

Edited March 10, 2017 by gazzatriumph

[Trueno]

Totally agree. I'm 61, gigged for years... playing sax and bass. Doesn't seem like it, but it must be ten years since I quit my last band and I have no intention of joining another. I have a guitar playing chum who is really good, thought about playing some stuff with him, but what he really wants is a drinking partner... play for half an hour then "lets go to the pub".
I feel quite happy I've ticked that one off, as you say.

[mikel]

Agreed. For me the classic rock, and the "Blues" band thing, have been done to death. I play now because I love it, but only because I enjoy the music I am playing. Gone are the days I would join a band simply because they are gigging and making money. I had proper 9 to 5 jobs that I did for over 40 years that were simply ways to make money and pay the mortgage, so there is no way I am going to spoil music by doing that.

I now love to play Funk, Soul and fusion stuff cos it interests me and makes me feel good playing it. If I break even money wise then its all good. If I make money then its a bonus.

[KevB]

I'm not much of a bedroom player tbh, getting out there in front of people is what its about for me. I'm not ruling out another band or even another classic rock band if the right one. However I've now had no breaks at all between bands for the last 3 and I have other interests so I will be making use of the timing to do other stuff for a few months before I consider other projects. I knew the score, I had been in a band briefly with guitarist and singer 8 yrs ago before it folded. Since then they have pretty much only worked as a duo with backing tracks until getting a full band back together a couple of years back. I was curious to see if they had changed their ways a bit in the intervening years but some of the old problems started to become apparent and in truth I was ready for a change.

[blue]

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1489142760' post='3254676']
I'm not much of a bedroom player tbh, getting out there in front of people is what its about for me. I'm not ruling out another band or even another classic rock band if the right one. However I've now had no breaks at all between bands for the last 3 and I have other interests so I will be making use of the timing to do other stuff for a few months before I consider other projects. I knew the score, I had been in a band briefly with guitarist and singer 8 yrs ago before it folded. Since then they have pretty much only worked as a duo with backing tracks until getting a full band back together a couple of years back. I was curious to see if they had changed their ways a bit in the intervening years but some of the old problems started to become apparent and in truth I was ready for a change.
[/quote]

I hope you find a change that is good for you.

Being out with a band with a steady flow of gigs and money is where it's at for me.

If my band folded or if I was asked to leave, I would be sunk. No working band is going to hire a 64 year old bass player in my neck of the woods.

Blue

[Hobbayne]

I like to play for people. Just sitting at home playing to records would bore me rigid.

[PaulWarning]

Working with 3 or 4 other people is always a challenge, more so I would imagine when the 2 main members are in a relationship, there's another band localish to us that have a similar thing (very much like Macca and Wings) and they seem to get through a lot of members too, God knows I've had enough ups and downs over the years, but when its good its bloody good, first thing is really enjoy what you're playing, I couldn't be in a band for long if I wasn't enjoying the songs

[Guest gazzatriumph]

[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1489161833' post='3254876']
I like to play for people. Just sitting at home playing to records would bore me rigid.
[/quote]

I've played bass for forty odd years and I have got as much pleasure playing bass to records as playing to an audience, a different kind of pleasure but I just love playing bass in any situation. I learnt alot when I was younger learning different styles from playing along to records and still get the same thrill now as I did forty years ago. Remember back in those days there was no Internet so you had to learn stuff by ear or buy music books and I can't read music. Being in a good band is great but for me not being in one is fine too.

[Woodinblack]

So what was the reason you were let go - was your dissatisfaction obvious?

I have moments of getting annoyed about things, but I love gigging, and you can't expect everything to be perfect. My current group is enjoyable enough so any irritations are minor, and we do a lot of stuff (maybe too much). If anything there are probably not enough gigs, but better than none.

However if I was to leave or be pushed, I would be looking for another quite quick. As much as I like playing, I do like gigging.

[inthedoghouse]

[quote]

... (band revolves around guitarist and singer couple) which probably speaks volumes.
[/quote]

I had exactly the same thing in my last band. They weren't a couple though (two males) but they might as well have been. One small disagreement with one of them becomes a big thing for both of them ... end of a really good band, by text message

Now I'm back trawling JMB and local FB pages a few times a day with little, if anything, of interest. And I'm not part of any local or fairly local clique, which doesn't help. As I've said on another thread, I really miss and want to be in a rock band again, even after 40+ years of playing (and I need a few £££) but I'm not prepared to be in just [i]any [/i]band for the sake of being in a band - the standard of musicicianship, and more importantly, people matter a great deal to me.

You might be interested in this thread too
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/300984-cheesed-off-i-really-am/"]http://basschat.co.u...ff-i-really-am/[/url]

Good luck with whatever you do in the future :-)

Edited March 10, 2017 by inthedoghouse

[scalpy]

Two married couples in our band! Sax and guitar, singer and bass. No arguments, we all know bass runs the show.

[Telebass]

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1489161195' post='3254869']
No working band is going to hire a 64 year old bass player in my neck of the woods.

Blue
[/quote]

This.

Until The Rock n Roll Outlaws reformed, I was nowhere. Same age. So glad to be back at it with a band that gets offered gigs, rather than has to hunt them down...

[KevB]

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1489174670' post='3255038']
So what was the reason you were let go - was your dissatisfaction obvious?
I have moments of getting annoyed about things, but I love gigging, and you can't expect everything to be perfect.
[/quote]

No I dont think it was obvious at all. There had been some pretty crap venues to play in recently and the set list was getting stale, there seemed to be inertia in learning new stuff but I was prepared to ride it through. However when any input I tried to make was pretty much ignored because when it boils down to it they want total control and then in the email being told I was not interacting enough in the band then it becomes a bit laughable.
I think its the band leader (I'm afraid his other half just tends to parrot whatever he says) who is looking for unattainable 'perfection' and just seems to go through endless amounts of gear to get some sort of magic fix and treats other band members much the same. Thought they might have matured a bit in the intervening 8 years but sadly it seems not.
I wouldnt be at all surprised if the whole thing doesn't fold within next 2-3 years and they return back to their default position of duo with backing tracks because they 'cant find the right people'. As I said theyve been through 3 drummers and 3 or 4 bass players since getting the band started under 2 years ago. But its always someone elses fault, right?

[seashell]

Yah boo sucks. Just unfriended him on FB. That'll teach him.

[tauzero]

[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1489184339' post='3255130']
Yah boo sucks. Just unfriended him on FB. That'll teach him.
[/quote]

You really know how to hurt a man.

[seashell]

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1489186235' post='3255136']


You really know how to hurt a man.
[/quote]

And I've unliked his rotten band. :-)

Edited March 10, 2017 by seashell

[Woodinblack]

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1489183308' post='3255122']
However when any input I tried to make was pretty much ignored because when it boils down to it they want total control and then in the email being told I was not interacting enough in the band then it becomes a bit laughable.
[/quote]

email? Harsh!

Probably best out of it, plenty of other groups around!

[inthedoghouse]

[quote]
... plenty of other groups around!
[/quote]
I wish ...

Edited March 10, 2017 by inthedoghouse

[Les]

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1489187683' post='3255153']
email? Harsh!
[/quote]

Dispicable, not got a pair of balls between them.

[Krysbass]

Despicable - but I daresay they are in some sort of denial as to their situation (low-paid gigs etc) and the true causes of that.

I left a classic rock band last year because too many of the song choices were driven by the self-indulgence and preferences of the two guitarists. The last gig I played with them was a disaster; as the audience clearly wasn't familiar with much of what we were playing - we might as well have been an originals band!. The great, well-known songs that I'd originally joined the band for had one-by-one been arbitrarily dropped by the two guitarists.

That's something to watch for if joining a classic rock band; because there are so many good ones out there and it can be tricky to find the right balance between playing all the same crowd-pleasing songs as everyone else or ending up being too obscure with your song choices. We had great difficulty getting gigs and the few we did get never seemed to win us repeat bookings - the standard of playing was high, but we definitely hadn't got the song choices right.

By the way; I'm in my 50's too and last year started a mostly 80's band with my son; who's a drummer; that seems to be taking off now. Hope you find a new project soon.

[inthedoghouse]

[quote name='Krysbass' timestamp='1489222487' post='3255242']
... too many of the song choices were driven by the self-indulgence and preferences of the two guitarists.
... we might as well have been an originals band.

... it can be tricky to find the right balance between playing all the same crowd-pleasing songs as everyone else or ending up being too obscure with your song
... the standard of playing was high, but we definitely hadn't got the song choices right.

[/quote]
Exactly this for me too, apart from in my case it was the singer and guitarist. When I first joined the (newly formed) band I had never heard a majority of songs in the set, even though I enjoy rock music. We had a few "classics" in the set and it was no surprise that they were always the best received.

Any sugggestions from me that we might play some better known songs, not necessarily 'standards', was met with almost scorn by one of them. I even tried using an example of a friend's set list. The response "anybody who plays that should be shot". An audience member was overheard to say "why don't they play anything we know?", to which the response was "why don't you know anything we play?". Not really the attitude from an experienced and skilled musician you would hope for. Knowing your audience is such a basic. The result, generally small and disinterested audiences. Very sad, seeing as we were all very experienced and capable players. More than a few times I had people come to be and say what a good band we were but they didn't recognise many of the songs.

Edited March 11, 2017 by inthedoghouse

[PaulWarning]

[quote name='inthedoghouse' timestamp='1489226098' post='3255274']
Exactly this for me too, apart from in my case it was the singer and guitarist. When I first joined the (newly formed) band I had never heard a majority of songs in the set, even though I enjoy rock music. We had a few "classics" in the set and it was no surprise that they were always the best received.

Any sugggestions from me that we might play some better known songs, not necessarily 'standards', was met with almost scorn by one of them. I even tried using an example of a friend's set list. The response "anybody who plays that should be shot". An audience member was overheard to say "why don't they play anything we know?", to which the response was "why don't you know anything we play?". Not really the attitude from an experienced and skilled musician you would hope for. Knowing your audience is such a basic. The result, generally small and disinterested audiences. Very sad, seeing as we were all very experienced and capable players. More than a few times I had people come to be and say what a good band we were but they didn't recognise many of the songs.
[/quote]occasional someone will suggest doing an obscure song, and I always say if nobody knows it we might as well do one of our own, also if we do a song and it dies at a gig a few times it quickly gets dropped

[KevB]

The set wasnt obscure but it didn't evolve much, lots of potential songs in the genre we were covering but sadly it did show up the singer's limitatons. Not a bad voice but not great either and limited range (needed a second bass tuned down a whole tone as that was the only way she can sing some of the songs, a whole tone lower than originals) so our choices were always compromised. I think the real issues run deeper. They are never wrong and won't listen so any sound issues are met with knee jerk swapping of gear and if the gigs arent so good then swap out a band member, always seem to be looking for a quick fix than working on getting the best from what they have. I thought I might hack it for a couple of years once I'd seen that they hadn't really changed from 8 yrs ago but in the end I was ready to go before we got that far.

[Trueno]

Sounds like they will be reverting to a duo. Can't believe they manage to keep a supply of replacement bassists and drummers tbh.
Better off out of it.