"How do you people sleep at night?"

[AdrianP]

Been thinking about this for a while but the recent thread on nerves and anxiety prompted me to ask. I sleep really badly after a gig. The band did two gigs last year, our first two gigs in ages, and I probably didn't sleep more than an hour after each one. I put that down to the raw emotion of actually being up in front of an audience. But we did a major band rehearsal last night, where we hired a stage, and ran through our entire set four times at gigging pace. Didn't get home until after 23.00 and was still buzzing hours later. Slept, again, maybe about three hours and now in work on a Monday morning looking for a hole to crawl into and die. 

So how do you guys sleep after a gig, or a big rehearsal? Particularly the pro musicians for whom, after all, this is just a job. Or is it just me?

[KevB]

There is an adrenaline factor but I find if I'm gigging more regularly then it wears off pretty sharp. I suspect part of the problem is that if you only do very few in a year then each of those shows becomes a 'big thing' and it builds up the anxiety, plus there is more time to brood over thing between gigs. Gigging more regularly I find less stressful up to a point as they come regularly enough to not get wound up by stuff not going quite right, but then after that if I'm gigging more often than I know I really want to it gets stressful as I'm negelcting other things that need doing. Finding the right balance can be tricky.

[borntohang]

Farting and covered in kebab remnants, usually...

Jokes aside I've just about mastered the art of catnapping sat upright in the van on the way home, so if a real bed is involved I can be asleep before I even hit the pillow. Any real 'buzz' after shows is solely due to beer or caffeine these days, sadly!

Edited March 26, 2018 by borntohang

[FinnDave]

Once I've driven home and unloaded the car, I relax with a couple of large whiskies, then sleep is fairly easy.

[burno70]

I get like that after rehearsals sometimes too!

[mcnach]

25 minutes ago, AdrianP said:

Been thinking about this for a while but the recent thread on nerves and anxiety prompted me to ask. I sleep really badly after a gig. The band did two gigs last year, our first two gigs in ages, and I probably didn't sleep more than an hour after each one. I put that down to the raw emotion of actually being up in front of an audience. But we did a major band rehearsal last night, where we hired a stage, and ran through our entire set four times at gigging pace. Didn't get home until after 23.00 and was still buzzing hours later. Slept, again, maybe about three hours and now in work on a Monday morning looking for a hole to crawl into and die. 

So how do you guys sleep after a gig, or a big rehearsal? Particularly the pro musicians for whom, after all, this is just a job. Or is it just me?

 

I sleep like a baby

It does take a little time to come down, but not that long. On local gigs that we do midnight - 3am or so... I may feel tired when I arrive, but the gig itself wakes me up. When we finish I'm wide awake. We may hang out a few minutes, then go home... and I just have a shower, chill a bit... and within an hour I'm falling asleep. But then, I'm one of those people who can have a coffee at 11pm and go to bed at midnight... if I'm tired, I'll sleep regardless.

[Lozz196]

Well I take antihistamines for sleeping anyway, as I have a bad back but can`t take pain-killers on a regular basis due to substance issues, so all I do is take two instead of one and that works well enough. I`m usually really hyper after a gig, but a lot of that is the nature of our music anyway, full-on from start to finish.

[rushbo]

When I get home, I have a cup of tea, a couple of rounds of toast and I watch half an hour of poor quality TV -  normally "Family Guy"or some terrible expose of a hoarder.  Then it's off to the land of nod fairly swiftly. 

[LeftyJ]

I'm usually dead tired after a gig, so I have no trouble sleeping when I get home. After all the lugging with equipment, loading our cars back up and pulling everything out again at our rehearsal space, it's usually quite late too. Gigs after a regular day's work were always the worst. 

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited March 1, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Dad3353]

Back in my 'variety band' days, we went to see a buddy playing locally (for once...). He held down a day job and played bass at week-ends. That night, towards the end of the evening (remember... five-hour sets of dance music...) his forehead was resting against a cross-beam of the marquee (he was a tall bloke...) and he was to all intents and purposes asleep, still playing..! Never seen that before nor since..! 

[Graham]

I used to have the come-down issue after a gig, so I'd run a bath to soak my joints and read a bit before heading to bed, scotch helped too.

Now, I have typically a 45 to 80 minute drive home, so by that time the adrennalin has worn off and I'm usually quite happy to get straight into bed, I sometimes pick up a Big Mac on the way back if I'm particularly hungry.

I do sometimes listen to ambient music in bed to help me drift off, there's an artist called ProtoU who's work I like for that

[Woodinblack]

3 hours ago, mcnach said:

 

I sleep like a baby

You p*ss yourself and wake up crying? 

but yes, me too!

Edited March 26, 2018 by Woodinblack

[Rich]

Many of our gigs are up to an hour's drive from home. So I use the drive time to de-buzz, listen to something quiet on the radio -- the shipping forecast is wonderful for this, really soothing and evocative, and I always chuckle at the bass-fail on Sailing By** . When I get home I have a wee bite to eat and a cup of coffee (the caffeine doesn't keep me awake) and maybe a bit of quiet telly until I start nodding, which isn't long. Crawl into bed, head>pillow>zzz.

 

** 1:54... horrid bum note followed by two seconds of "where am I?" chart-searching silence. https://youtu.be/dFdas-kMF74 

Edited March 26, 2018 by Rich

[goingdownslow]

Quite uncomfortably, after I've stuffed even more gig money into the mattress.

[JBP]

A good nightcap or three normally does the trick for me...

[MacDaddy]

5 hours ago, rushbo said:

When I get home, I have a cup of tea, a couple of rounds of toast and I watch half an hour of poor quality TV -  normally "Family Guy"or some terrible expose of a hoarder.  Then it's off to the land of nod fairly swiftly. 

carbs before bed? A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips!

[ambient]

My sleep pattern is a little different to most people’s, I don’t usually go to bed until about 3am anyway, then I get up between 9.30 and 10.00. Consequently any sleep inhibiting issues that would be caused by the gig have passed by bedtime.

[Linus27]

My sleep has always been dire. Takes me ages to wake in the morning and I can be sleepy late into morning and into the afternoon but no matter what, regardless of if I have had little or lots of sleep, come 9pm then I usually wake up and ready to party. Regardless if I am gigging or not or I try and go to bed early or get up early, it just makes no difference. If I try and get into a pattern then I just end up laying in bed wide awake until I finally drop off in the early hours of the morning. I put it down to 30 years of gigging and being used to being up late and playing late into the night. I used to take a bottle of whisky on tour to help knock me out but it just resulted in drinking more and more until it just made little to no difference. So nowadays, I will get home, watch a bit of stinky poo TV, maybe a whisky and something light to eat and hope for the best.

[lojo]

For years I had trouble getting to sleep after gigs or playing footy in the evening , my solution was audio dramas , earbuds or sleep phones and I'm off within 10 mins , it seriously worked 

[AdrianP]

5 hours ago, Jus Lukin said:

Well, I hope that part is tongue in cheek!

Well it was, sort of! I was actually thinking about the other thread on here about the differences between pro, semi-pro and weekend warrior musicians. I was wondering if there are other differences besides sources of income. I was also thinking that, if I was so wired up after a day's work every day, it would drive me crazy within a week.

I think with me, I'm a really poor sleeper anyway. I get off OK but keep waking up constantly during the night. I've just noticed that, after a gig or a 'gig conditions' rehearsal, my sleep is even worse. Actually, I'm glad that so many on here have found ways around this. I'll probably take a leaf out of Keef's book and see how far that get's me!

[TorturedSaints]

22 hours ago, Rich said:

. . . I always chuckle at the bass-fail on Sailing By** . 

** 1:54... horrid bum note followed by two seconds of "where am I?" chart-searching silence. https://youtu.be/dFdas-kMF74 

OT - never noticed the bum note!  :-) 

[seashell]

I find it difficult to come down after a gig, however small (and most of mine are very small!).  So yes, sleeping is usually difficult. I used to get this when I did a lot of amateur theatre - but that would be for a week at a time 2-3 times a year. So I would try to take the week off work and then sleep in late.

Now with the music, it's just like a series of little 'highs'.  And sometimes I can't concentrate too well the next day, as I keep thinking back to it.

Anyway, I have found the solution - I'm retiring from work at the end of June! Hurrah! 

 

[Dad3353]

9 minutes ago, seashell said:

...Anyway, I have found the solution - I'm retiring from work at the end of June! Hurrah! 

And so young, too..! 

[KevB]

Congrats on the retirement Shelly and sorry I couldn't get to either of your recent gigs, weather was shocking.