How many this year?

[louisthebass]

13 hours ago, Jus Lukin said:

This comes up often, but I guess I'm like a musical psychopath- I just don't have a conscience which tells me that what I'm doing is wrong! I love music of all sorts, and am happiest when playing. The more the merrier, I don't mind what the material is, but I do want things to be as of good a quality as possible. Nevertheless, I took a gig this year with a very bizarre drummer, playing the usual covers 'dross'. However, they're a lovely bunch of guys, the frontman is guaranteed to make the gig work for us and the audience, and the band pay a good fee. That's win-win for me!

I've umm'ed and ahh'd about quoting this, and it's really hard to word things like I mean. I've deleted a vast tract of what I hope was pretty balanced views, but for the sake of brevity, the bottom line, I guess, is that many can take or leave a gig, but some of us really need even those small gigs just to make ends meet.

Apologies if what I said came out the wrong way - all the pro guys do music as a full time job and doing the "small" gigs go towards paying the bills out of necessity just as much as the "big" ones they do (which I appreciate is necessary). I think that's why I highlighted the point earlier on in my post about the gig scene shrinking (for the non-pros), especially in the South East of England which is (supposed to be) a relatively affluent area of the UK. Pubs are closing all the time, and the breweries are cutting back (in some pubs) on the number of bands they take on in a year - obviously an adverse reaction with the state of the economy (especially with the "B" word creating so much uncertainty).

I think that's where bands have to up their game in relation to the competition in many respects (playing and marketing) if they want to work a lot (or a bit more than they are).

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited February 25, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Sibob]

Really really quiet year for me at 39 (including NYE).

Here's to next year!

Si

[drTStingray]

47 for me plus 18 unpaid (one monthly jam session; charity gigs)

[gjones]

56 this year.

[super al]

3 this year which is 2 more than last year (I should get out a bit more!)

[KK Jale]

NYE will make it 51 this year. Two bands have gone very quiet but are still a pleasure when they happen. The trio/duo has been making most of the running. On top of that there are occasional deps in two or three other outfits. This year has been slightly more guitar than bass, again. A new and potentially busy old-school rockin' originals start-up has just imploded, making the diary look a lot thinner than I had hoped. Boo!

[acidbass]

My upcoming gig on New Years Eve will be my 185th of 2017. To be fair, this includes weekly residencies as well as some extended tours of the USA, GB and EU. To be honest I feel like I could have done more - have had plenty of nights off where I wanted to be gigging.

[bazzbass]

only three, in a six week period recently.

 

But they were my first gigs since 1995

 

why did I leave it so long? Enjoyed it so much I reformed my old originals psych-punk band from 1986 too

 

2018 is gonna be all about FUN

[chris_b]

On 12/23/2017 at 09:13, chris_b said:

My 2017 total has been 59.

Last minute dep for Xmas eve. Now 60.

I prefer round numbers!

[Passinwind]

10 or so. The number has been on a steady decline for several years (~100 a decade ago), and I am quite content with that. I only did the ten as favors to a few old and new friends. Many of my friends have ported to weekly jams at one person or another's house, so I still get out and play somewhere at least a couple of times a week, typically.

Highlights? Various open mikes with former bandmates, and two big band hits as a sub in the community band I was in full time last year. I tend to sound much better and enjoy gigs much more when they're sporadic and don't feel so much like work.

Next year: shooting for one a month on upright with the top players from my Friday night bluegrass jam crew, who did pretty well in their last gigging iteration a few years ago. Then hopefully a few jazz sub gigs and a few duo or trio hits with a singer-songwriter friend. Things are blowing up for me on the technical side, which historically has always been my "professional" side in the music business. If that means zero gigs, no worries at all.

 

 

 

Edited December 26, 2017 by Passinwind

[dmccombe7]

Pathetic year for me as band i was rehearsing with broke up in Sept. We did one gig in that time for guitarists birthday.

 The new band i joined couple mths back had several start up issues culmanating with a serious domestic for the singer that runs the band. 

Finally they settled down but won't start rehearsing with them until 11th Jan 2018. Will see how that goes. Hopefully get some decent gigs for 2018.

[bassace]

46. Which surprises me because my health has been a bit ropey this year, with a serious lung infection in Sept and it seemed like a lot fewer. So, although well down on my usual tally, nearly one gig a week with 12 bands is OK.

A highlight of the year was meeting up with Tony Bennett’s DB player, Marshall Wood when they were playing at Symphony Hall. I remarked that he must have a dream job; he agreed but said that it necessitated being away from his family for 212 days this year. So I suppose the moral of the story is keep things in proportion, be careful what you wish for.

[dmccombe7]

5 minutes ago, bassace said:

46. Which surprises me because my health has been a bit ropey this year, with a serious lung infection in Sept and it seemed like a lot fewer. So, although well down on my usual tally, nearly one gig a week with 12 bands is OK.

A highlight of the year was meeting up with Tony Bennett’s DB player, Marshall Wood when they were playing at Symphony Hall. I remarked that he must have a dream job; he agreed but said that it necessitated being away from his family for 212 days this year. So I suppose the moral of the story is keep things in proportion, be careful what you wish for.

12 bands. That has to be a record. 

[bassace]

35 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

12 bands. That has to be a record. 

Probably not. We jazz tarts freelance all over the place, thanks to the telephone.

[dmccombe7]

Don't ruin it for me. I like to dream 

[lowdowner]

7 - all drumming (long story about 'filling in' and getting stuck behind the drum kit!)

 

[mcnach]

57 this year, with the last one on the 9th of December, and nothing now until late January... my fingers itch!!!

On average I tend to do around 40-50 a year, but next year is not looking to be as busy as I'd have liked. My main band is intending to record our third album, and generally gigs slow down while we're busy with that. I don't see why, we're perfectly capable of doing both, but that's how it's been previously...

[Adrenochrome]

About 20 this year, one of my lowest since I started, however by choice for health reasons. My main band is limited to about 1 per month [~15 in total], I've also done 2 gigs with my acoustic trio, and 3 dep gigs. 

[Kevsy71]

A mere 5 this year - but very enjoyable gigs with much audience dancing

[ezbass]

On 24/12/2017 at 03:11, acidbass said:

My upcoming gig on New Years Eve will be my 185th of 2017. 

As of tonight, 12. I already have that many booked for next year, so I’m hoping to have had a better year than this come next December.

Edited December 29, 2017 by ezbass

[alyctes]

Five this year I think.  Five to ten next year, probably.  Mostly in care homes, paid little if anything.

[Delberthot]

35 including NYE this year and almost the same already in the diary for next year so should be a lot busier

[Al Krow]

Been quite an enlightening thread!

We've got a number who are doing more than 100 gigs a year: 

@acidbass 185; @Jus Lukin 172; @casapete 150 - are you guys all full time pro's?

and what about @M@23 with 96 and @ambient at 72 - semi pro?

@chris_b 70; @mcnach 57; @ g jones 56 and @ kk jale 51 - what about you guys? Long established weekend warriors? Also working full or part time as well?

All very impressive guys! Do you guys all use agencies or is it a case of long established and recurring relationships with pubs and clubs?

[dmccombe7]

2 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Been quite an enlightening thread!

We've got a number who are doing more than 100 gigs a year: 

@acidbass 185; @Jus Lukin 172; @casapete 150 - are you guys all full time pro's?

and what about @M@23 with 96 and @ambient at 72 - semi pro?

@chris_b 70; @mcnach 57; @ g jones 56 and @ kk jale 51 - what about you guys? Long established weekend warriors? Also working full or part time as well?

All very impressive guys! Do you guys all use agencies or is it a case of long established and recurring relationships with pubs and clubs?

Good question. I'm quite curious too.