I Hate Gigging!

[chris_b]

I'm playing tonight, tomorrow, the day after and the day after that. 2 gigs and 2 deps, 4 gigs in 4 days and I'm looking forwards to each one.

 

It's why I bought my first bass in 1965 and why I just loaded the car. Love it all.

[peteb]

15 minutes ago, chris_b said:

I'm playing tonight, tomorrow, the day after and the day after that. 2 gigs and 2 deps, 4 gigs in 4 days and I'm looking forwards to each one.

 

It's why I bought my first bass in 1965 and why I just loaded the car. Love it all.

 

I've played eight gigs in the last six weeks, from South East London to a bit north of Edinburgh. Like you, that's why I saved up to buy my first Fender Precision as a teenager! 

 

Edited March 23, 2022 by peteb

[Woody1957]

I absolutely love gigging whether its to 20 people at the Dog and Duck or 200 at the main stage at the Magna Beer Festival...

I love every aspect of it...the nervous anticipation of loading the car, meeting the other band members at the gig...setting up, sound checking and then walking on stage knowing you are supremely confident in playing the songs you've been rehearsing for a couple of night at home. I love trying out any new gear, different strings and different amp settings. I just love the buzz of performing and being as tight as possible with the other band members. Then after the gig, ragging down asap with a large beer, chatting with anyone who might have appreciated my bass playing and finally loading up to drive home for a sandwich and a whisky. I just simply love it, been doing it for 50 years while holding down a stressful full time job too....l must be some sort of crazed, demented animal who doesn't mind feeling knacked all the next day with blisters on his fingers....l just can't stop myself and l will gig till l eventually can't stand up anymore. I simply love it.........

 

[TimR]

3 hours ago, peteb said:

However, if you are not playing Mustang Sally, Sweet Child O'Mine, the Killers or the sexy fire song you may find that your audience is not going to be in the chain pub on the main street of a city centre and you may have to search out suitable venues further afield.

 

This is lazy setlist compiling in the extreme and going to end up the blind alley that the Dad Rock bands have gone down. If you want to play Hendrix and Led Zepplin becase that's the only music you like, then yes you're going to find fewer and fewer venues and audiences to play to. And that's why you have to travel around to find them.

 

"Play something we know." doesn't mean, "Trot out some tired old classics that we hear every week.", but it certainly doesn't mean "Play something else you like, but we've never heard."

[theplumber]

Been gigging in one form or another since I was 17. Now at 61 I wonder if its time to hang up my bass (it's not but I do wonder!) Last few years,covid aside I have managed to gig on a regular basis with some decent bands and decent folk. Usual covers in and around Glasgow and surrounding areas. The covid break let me take stock of things and I was offered a chance with a band I had depped with a few years back. Nothing wrong with the band I was in at the time but a change is as good as a rest as they say.At first everything was great! Good number of gigs,a great wee list of songs to learn and the guys were a good laugh......very quickly it went downhill! The volume of the band was off the scale  both live and in practise. No amount of talking to the band seemed to make a differance. I was made to feel as if it was my problem. Everyone pointed the finger to each other but nothing seemed to be getting done. That in itself would be enough to chase most folk away. Also the usual singer/ego/getting whizzed at gigs reared it's ugly head. I think I must have moaned a fair bit about learning new songs only for them to be played one or two times only and be cast back on the pile only to be dragged out months later when folk had forgot how they went! Shame really as despite all that it was a decent wee band lol. Hard to believe! Maybe it was a good thing to get a dear John message a couple of weeks back saying that it hadn't worked out with me and wished me all the best! There were other issues in the band but...well these things happen in bands! I heard enough about the bass player before me to know that the next bass player will be told it was all my fault! Anyway....it paves the way for another adventure in the land of dad bands in pubs!!

[Barking Spiders]

Over the last half dozen years I've been at many venues where a couple of dozen tunes get recycled ad infinitum key crimes being Mr Brightside, Sex on Fire, Seven Nation Army, Mustang Sally, Valerie, Brown Eyed Girl, Sweet Home Alabama.  Now when I hear one of these it's a 180 degree turn on my heels and back out of the door.

[peteb]

8 minutes ago, Barking Spiders said:

Over the last half dozen years I've been at many venues where a couple of dozen tunes get recycled ad infinitum key crimes being Mr Brightside, Sex on Fire, Seven Nation Army, Mustang Sally, Valerie, Brown Eyed Girl, Sweet Home Alabama.  Now when I hear one of these it's a 180 degree turn on my heels and back out of the door.

 

The thing is that they are all great songs - there is a reason why they have become standards that every lowest common denominator band plays. The trouble is that we've all heard them too many times.   

 

[peteb]

1 hour ago, TimR said:

 

This is lazy setlist compiling in the extreme and going to end up the blind alley that the Dad Rock bands have gone down. If you want to play Hendrix and Led Zepplin becase that's the only music you like, then yes you're going to find fewer and fewer venues and audiences to play to. And that's why you have to travel around to find them.

 

"Play something we know." doesn't mean, "Trot out some tired old classics that we hear every week.", but it certainly doesn't mean "Play something else you like, but we've never heard."

 

I'm currently playing in a Led Zep tribute that travels up and down the country. We're gigging all the time, making decent money and packing out most of the shows we do. I've no problem with that so why are you turning your nose up at it?

 

If you love playing blues (or reggae or whatever) and are good at doing it, then FFS that's what you should do. You may have to travel away from your home town, you might even spend the occasional night in the odd travelodge, but that's what being a musician is all about. Why celebrate being mediocre? 

 

I've nothing against playing pubs at all, but if you pick your venues you can still play an interesting setlist. A few years ago, I was playing pubs around West / South Yrks / Lancs playing a set mainly based on 80s hard rock (AC/DC, GnR, Van Halen, Skid Row, etc) and we were very successful. It helped that we had an ex touring pro guitarist and a convincing LV / frontman (singing that sh*t is not easy), but we played the right venues and got a decent audience. We made a point of not playing the most obvious songs from that genre, but had a great response wherever we played and built a pretty respectable audience. I would rather do that than playing random bog standard standards because that is all punters who are not really interested in live music know! 

 

[leroydiamond]

39 minutes ago, peteb said:

 

I'm currently playing in a Led Zep tribute that travels up and down the country. We're gigging all the time, making decent money and packing out most of the shows we do. I've no problem with that so why are you turning your nose up at it?

 

If you love playing blues (or reggae or whatever) and are good at doing it, then FFS that's what you should do. You may have to travel away from your home town, you might even spend the occasional night in the odd travelodge, but that's what being a musician is all about. Why celebrate being mediocre? 

 

I've nothing against playing pubs at all, but if you pick your venues you can still play an interesting setlist. A few years ago, I was playing pubs around West / South Yrks / Lancs playing a set mainly based on 80s hard rock (AC/DC, GnR, Van Halen, Skid Row, etc) and we were very successful. It helped that we had an ex touring pro guitarist and a convincing LV / frontman (singing that sh*t is not easy), but we played the right venues and got a decent audience. We made a point of not playing the most obvious songs from that genre, but had a great response wherever we played and built a pretty respectable audience. I would rather do that than playing random bog standard standards because that is all punters who are not really interested in live music know! 

 

A couple of years back a Zep tribute (from the UK I think) played Dublin and had to put on a Saturday afternoon gig, such was the demand for tickets from those too young to be allowed in to a late night performance. The most popular local venue close to me, has lots of tribute acts of what might be called 'Dad Rock' bands and get full houses, the vast majority of the attendance being under 30. Not surprised that your Zep tribute is doing well, as there is a market there that you have tapped into.  

[peteb]

25 minutes ago, leroydiamond said:

A couple of years back a Zep tribute (from the UK I think) played Dublin and had to put on a Saturday afternoon gig, such was the demand for tickets from those too young to be allowed in to a late night performance. The most popular local venue close to me, has lots of tribute acts of what might be called 'Dad Rock' bands and get full houses, the vast majority of the attendance being under 30. Not surprised that your Zep tribute is doing well, as there is a market there that you have tapped into.  

 

The thing with the real 'classic' rock stuff like Zep or Hendrix (and many other bands), etc that people like Tim dismiss as 'Dad rock', is that they have stood the test of time and are constantly rediscovered by kids who seek out as an alternative to the stuff they are spoonfed these days. 

 

A few weeks ago we played to a relatively disappointing audience of 70 or so in a well known venue just to the south west of London (we had had been led to expect an audience of three or four times that). Pretty much all of the audience were blokes in their 50s or 60s who looked like they didn't get out too much to rock shows these days and were there because it was a reminder of their youth / a tribute of their favourite band. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with that and there is no reason why these people shouldn't go see bands playing the music they love, they were an appreciative audience and the ones we spoke to after the show were very friendly.

 

The next night, we played in Newcastle (I know, sack the booking agent) to a packed and entirely different audience, made up of plenty of people of the same age but obviously very different in the way that they dressed and reacted to the band, but also to a sizable number of much younger people who were all very much LZ fans. Fortunately most gigs are closer to the second gig (although it must be said that Newcastle has always been a particularly good audience IME). 

 

The thing is that there will always be an audience for live music and for classic rock in general, but it is never going to be like it was 20 or 30 years ago again. But times move on and there is still plenty of scope to play to decent size audiences, play music you love and make a few quid at the same time. I would much rather do that than play lowest common denominator stuff at weddings of people I don't know and have nothing in common with (not that I haven't done that happily enough in the past). 

 

 

[moley6knipe]

I’ve just started gigging again with a new covers band… me and the drummer are fine, singer and guitarist (his band) need some work. Like, not having to look at the fretboard all the time sort of work. First gig was last Saturday, and yeah it was the same old covers to a local pub audience but I loved it.

 

Main band has petered out due to health, grandkids and being too comfortable on the sofa. But I’m loving the new band despite any issues. It’s made me play again, and learn the PROPER bass line for stuff. I’m loaded in and set up in 30 mins coz I’m just playing, not PAing or singing and the gear’s so light and small these days I don’t even need the seats down in the Golf!

 

I get why the appeal fades, but it’s very much back for me… another 7 gigs booked this year so far, all new pubs to me. I’m the bass player in a pub rock covers band - perfect!!

[TimR]

1 hour ago, peteb said:

that travels up and down the country.

 

[jimmyb625]

3 hours ago, TimR said:

 

I think the thing here, is that Pete travels up and down the country playing well attended gigs to appreciative audiences. He mentions he's in a Led Zep tribute band, so it makes sense that not all of the gigs will be in the same geographical area. 

I know a few bands from the Manchester area who play original music (I'll count my band as one of them) who play around the UK, simply for the reason that you can't keep doing the same stuff to the same crowd continuously.

I think the days of the "dance band" playing in the same location week in, week out, are long gone. The audiences want some variety in what they hear nowadays and even if you have an alternative setlist, it's only going to be sustainable for a finite number of gigs.

[Newfoundfreedom]

14 hours ago, ubit said:

I Have played songs I don't like and as long as people were dancing and enjoying themselves I enjoyed it too. The fact that they were dancing proving that we were playing the song/songs well.

 

I've done the same and absolutely hated it. So it's horses for courses.

 

To be honest I don't even really understand the obsession with "getting the audience up dancing". I've been to hundreds of gigs and never once got up dancing. I go to listen to the music. 

 

I suppose again it largely depends on the type of band your are and the music you're into. Yeah if you're playing covers on a Saturday night down the pub, that's probably your mission. But if you're, for example, trying to carve out a bit of a niche in the local festival scene, it's a totally different ball game. 

 

I'd personally much rather play something I enjoy to a disinterested audience, than play something I hate to a bunch of drunks dancing. 

 

In my last (covers) band, the rhythm guitarist insisted on doing Rocking in the Free World. It was usually the last song in the set and went down a storm, but after about the third time of playing it, I knew I'd pretty much done with the band. If there's no creativity and we're just there to be a Jukebox to drunk punters, I'm just not interested. 

[leroydiamond]

4 hours ago, jimmyb625 said:

I think the thing here, is that Pete travels up and down the country playing well attended gigs to appreciative audiences. He mentions he's in a Led Zep tribute band, so it makes sense that not all of the gigs will be in the same geographical area. 

I know a few bands from the Manchester area who play original music (I'll count my band as one of them) who play around the UK, simply for the reason that you can't keep doing the same stuff to the same crowd continuously.

I think the days of the "dance band" playing in the same location week in, week out, are long gone. The audiences want some variety in what they hear nowadays and even if you have an alternative setlist, it's only going to be sustainable for a finite number of gigs.

The venue and location is all important. The covers band I last played with worked a Saturday night residency for over 10 years and the set leaned towards classic rock, but would best be described as guitar rock, playing everything from Creedance up to the Foo Fighters and the like. The venue had huge footfall in a touristy city, so there was a fresh audience together with regulars. It was always a full house with all age groups represented. In another venue with less footfall, the story would have been very different. There was a synergy between the band, venue and audience and thats what made it work. It was a very handsomely paid gig as well.

[leroydiamond]

20 hours ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

Yes. I'm writing / rehearsing most weeks with my new (actually about 2 years old now minus interruptions) originals band. Now that Covid is settling down a bit, we should actually be able to get out and test the waters. First "gig" which is actually a small Festival in my garden with another couple of bands (or in my barn in the weather's bad)  is in 9th April. 

Well done with keeping the interest up. Unlike you, once I stopped playing, I put the bass into its case  and that's where it has remained. I realised I had enough of gigging, but more surprisingly enough of playing bass. Having said that, I could well be interested in an originals project with little emphasis on gigging. It is just around these parts, the focus bands have  is on gigging and that is of no interest to me.

[ubit]

49 minutes ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

To be honest I don't even really understand the obsession with "getting the audience up dancing". I've been to hundreds of gigs and never once got up dancing. I go to listen to the music. 

 

 

That can be taken a number of ways. You could be playing at a party/wedding where you literally get people up dancing. Or you could be playing in a pub where you get people waving their arms and tapping their feet. You could be playing at a larger venue where you get people cheering and waving their arms. you don't have to actually dance to show appreciation of a band.

for the record I will dance unashamedly if a decent sound is coming from a pa.

[TimR]

5 hours ago, jimmyb625 said:

I think the thing here, is that Pete travels up and down the country playing well attended gigs to appreciative audiences. He mentions he's in a Led Zep tribute band, so it makes sense that not all of the gigs will be in the same geographical area. 

I know a few bands from the Manchester area who play original music (I'll count my band as one of them) who play around the UK, simply for the reason that you can't keep doing the same stuff to the same crowd continuously.

I think the days of the "dance band" playing in the same location week in, week out, are long gone. The audiences want some variety in what they hear nowadays and even if you have an alternative setlist, it's only going to be sustainable for a finite number of gigs.

 

Exactly.  And as I pointed out if you're playing specialist gigs you'll have to travel around to find the venues and Pete claimed you wouldn't, and then said that's what he does. Additionally he has to use an agent to find the gigs. 

 

Successful dance bands have always kept their setlists fresh, my dad's band always had a numbers from the current top 40. I'd guess the difference now is there's no top 40 and Spotify etc have replaced Radio 1 as the mainstream music source. 

 

So we have to search around and pick newer songs to learn, but audiences really appreciate not hearing the 'classics' that every band seems to trot out. Bands seem petrified of trying anything different. No wonder some bass players are bored with gigging. 

Edited March 24, 2022 by TimR

[Steve Browning]

14 minutes ago, TimR said:

 

Exactly.  And as I pointed out if you're playing specialist gigs you'll have to travel around to find the venues and Pete claimed you wouldn't, and then said that's what he does. Additionally he has to use an agent to find the gigs. 

 

Successful dance bands have always kept their setlists fresh, my dad's band always had a numbers from the current top 40. I'd guess the difference now is there's no top 40 and Spotify etc have replaced Radio 1 as the mainstream music source. 

 

So we have to search around and pick newer songs to learn, but audiences really appreciate not hearing the 'classics' that every band seems to trot out. Bands seem petrified of trying anything different. No wonder some bass players are bored with gigging. 

 

You're not JTUK are you?

[Stofferson]

Gigged solidly (2/3 times a week) a for a good 6 years up to the Pandemic, band split over lockdown so formed a new one from scratch this time last year.

Wrote and recorded an album by June, started gigging in August, managed around 13 gigs between then and Christmas.

 

Got a decent calendar for the summer, all originals.

 

I love gigs, I hate driving, parking, loading in and out, waiting around, watching a band eat in to your set time haha. 

I wouldn't change anything though.

 

[peteb]

33 minutes ago, Steve Browning said:

 

You're not JTUK are you?

 

So you have wondered about that as well...! 

 

[Newfoundfreedom]

41 minutes ago, Stofferson said:

Gigged solidly (2/3 times a week) a for a good 6 years up to the Pandemic, band split over lockdown so formed a new one from scratch this time last year.

Wrote and recorded an album by June, started gigging in August, managed around 13 gigs between then and Christmas.

 

Got a decent calendar for the summer, all originals.

 

I love gigs, I hate driving, parking, loading in and out, waiting around, watching a band eat in to your set time haha. 

I wouldn't change anything though.

 

 

Good stuff. That's pretty impressive for a new originals band over lockdown. 🤘

[TimR]

Nope. 

 

Neither have I ever played Mr Brightside or Sex on Fire and the last time I played Mustang Sally was 2008.

 

No one wants to play them and the only ptime people dance to them is when they're massively drunk. 

 

Again, the recurring theme on this thread is no one wants to play those tunes to a room full of drunk people. And you really don't have to. 

[Muzz]

On the Dad Rock thing; a good friend and ex/sometimes BL of mine is in a well-regarded (rightly; they're very, very good at what they do*) Status Quo Trib, and yeah, they travel to gigs, but that's as much because they play to big audiences, whether at festivals or their own gigs, and their calendar's booked solid this year. We played (the old originals band; we were the only non-Quo band on, to some bemusement from the audience) on the bill at a Quo Festival in Glasgow last year, and both nights the venue was full.

 

There's a sizeable audience out there for all sorts of music, even something like Quo, which has been considered 'unfashionable' and sniggered at in various places for decades now, if you're prepared to seek it out and cultivate it. I suspect lots of people that might have sniggered would kill for their following, even as a Trib...

 

 

* Which is, as the saying goes, a lot harder than it looks...well, it should be, after all...

[Muzz]

Just now, TimR said:

Again, the recurring theme on this thread is no one wants to play those tunes to a room full of drunk people. And you really don't have to. 

 

Tim, the title of the thread is 'I hate gigging'...it's not really a surprise how much moaning is on here, is it?