I Hate Gigging!

[Muzz]

2 minutes ago, Muzz said:

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 largely 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...

Bugger...quoted meself instead of editing...as you were, sorry about that...

Edited March 24, 2022 by Muzz

[Newfoundfreedom]

For me on a purely personal level it boils down to one simple thing. I'm not a professional musician, music is my hobby, and if you're not enjoying your hobby, then why the hell are you doing it? 

 

You just have to figure out which parts you do and don't like, and work accordingly. 

 

I'm still trying to keep an open mind in the hope that gigging with the new, originals band will be a much more pleasurable experience, time will tell. I definitely enjoy the music more, but I suspect the crippling anxiety and imposter syndrome will still rear it's ugly head. 

Edited March 24, 2022 by Newfoundfreedom

[TimR]

7 minutes ago, Muzz said:

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,

 

Just to clarify. By Dad Rock, I mean the stuff you get on a CD compiled by Jeremy Clarkson popular as Fathers Day gifts. 

 

I'm talking about bands playing generic setlists that every band plays. 

 

Tribute bands who market themselves and play specialist gigs are completely different. The audiences will be there to see the band sometimes having travelled a way in to see the band. 

 

People are just not going to get up off their sofas in large numbers to listen to yet another cover of Freebird.

[Stofferson]

20 minutes ago, Muzz said:

 

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

Drunk people isn't the issue, that's fine, them songs though . . . *shudders*

[bassbiscuits]

I guess not everyone likes gigging - the often less than perfect circumstances, the travelling, all the unglamorous lugging and setting up, sometime poor pay, dealing with band members, compromises on songs etc.

 

Me? I love it. It's the reason i took up bass in the first place, looking at all those old gatefold sleeves of live bands onstage in the 70s and 80s and thinking "I'm gonna do that!" It's equal parts my social life and therapy - an antidote to the grind of a desk job.

 

I've spent a lot of time on the motorways of Britain recently, and yes it can be exhausting (especially if you've got kids and a job too), sometimes frustrating or even disappointing, but I'd choose that every day over sitting at home.

 

 

 

Edited March 24, 2022 by bassbiscuits
Edited for a typo

[Barking Spiders]

2 hours ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

 

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. 

For me, playing to an audience that are sitting down or just standing there with pint in hand is pretty dispiriting. While I like a bit of rock (post punk and some Grunge) when playing, it doesn't come natural to me. I'm much more at home playing tunes written for the dancefloor. Also, from what I've seen, most of those in rock crowds are older blokes. When I used to play funk/soul/disco/new romantic, it was usually more women and girls watching and dancing, which I always preferred playing to.

[casapete]

1 hour ago, TimR said:

I'd guess the difference now is there's no top 40 and Spotify etc have replaced Radio 1 as the mainstream music source. 

Don't want to be that guy but....

 

https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/uk-top-40-singles-chart/

[TimR]

38 minutes ago, casapete said:

Don't want to be that guy but....

 

https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/uk-top-40-singles-chart/

 

 

Yes. My point is its not really representative of anything or on anyone's Radar.

 

I've just listened to the number 1.

 

I'm either very old or the algorithm is broken. 

 

"Seventeen Going Under" Sam Fender would be a good simple quick track to do.

Edited March 24, 2022 by TimR

[casapete]

4 minutes ago, TimR said:

 

 

Yes. My point is its not really representative of anything or on anyone's Radar.

 

I've just listened to the number 1.

 

I'm either very old or the algorithm is broken. 

 

Assuming it's not fixed, then it must be on some people's radar? 

 

'The UK's Top 100 biggest singles of midweek is compiled by the Official Charts Company, based on sales of downloads, CDs, vinyl and audio and video streams ...'

 

13 minutes ago, TimR said:

I'm either very old or the algorithm is broken.

From what I've seen , I would think that there aren't that many people on here who follow the charts - historically the singles chart has been dominated by the choices of (dare I say) it a younger demographic. When you start questioning their choices then you're probably just too old - I know this from experience, my interest in Top 40 stuff having been steadily on the decline since the mid 1990's.😄

 

My old band played one or two times a week at a city centre bar for 15 years. We used to keep our massive set list 'topped up' with the big tunes of the day, and some of the punters appreciated it. Once the song had left the charts though, the majority of the requests we got were for old standards and classic rock stuff. People want to hear something they know in these situations, the trick is covering the big songs but adding a few forgotten ones too. Once you start getting self indulgent and just doing the tunes you like, the audience will move on somewhere else. 

[ubit]

I think it depends on where you are too. Some peoples experience of audiences can be vastly different from someone else's depending on location. Round here most classic rock fans just don't go out that much any more.

 If you play traditional music in this part of the world you go down a storm with the young ones. That seems to be the fashion just now.

[Newfoundfreedom]

1 hour ago, casapete said:

Don't want to be that guy but....

 

https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/uk-top-40-singles-chart/

 

I've only heard of three of the acts in the whole top 40, none of which I'd listen to. If that means I'm getting old then I'm perfectly happy with that. Give me "Dad rock" any day. 

[ubit]

The charts ceased to matter to me about 15 years ago when I left my old job. We had a radio on all of the time in the workshop which was always tuned to Radio 1. That is the last time I listened to Radio 1 and the last time I heard any songs that had anything to do with the charts.

 

Much as I hate most chart type music when you are hearing it all day some tracks do grow on you whilst others grate. It's usually the ones that grate that get played the most, or maybe that's just my mind torturing me.

 

I am not averse to new music just not the type that is so called mainstream chart type music. My only exposure to this is accidental when you are in a waiting room or some other place that has a radio playing.

[BigRedX]

First of all, to answer the OP question: IMO if you don't like gigging then just don't do it. Give the band slot to someone who does like it and find something else musically to do. If you don't rely on music to make your living there are plenty of interesting musical-based alternatives that don't involve having to play gigs.

 

Like many things in life there are aspects to gigging that are not so pleasant - travelling for hours to get to the venue, getting back home at 4/5 in the morning and having to unload the gear before you can go the bed (if you are lucky and you don't have to then get ready to go straight to work). What you need to do is make sure that enjoyable parts like playing music you love to people who are enjoying it, and getting paid for it, more than make up for the boring and less enjoyable bits.

 

And lets lay that myth to rest that you can't make money from playing songs other than covers. IME there are three reasons why "originals bands" don't make any money:

1. They have chosen deliberately to play for free, or do gigs that are not paid.

2. They are simply not entertaining enough - in music or performance.

3. They are just starting out and have still to build up a reputation. (IMO this is allowable - every band has to begin somewhere, but if you can't start expecting to get paid 10 gigs or 6 months into the life of a new band then see point 1  and/or 2).

 

If you want to ensure that all the songs in the set are ones you enjoy playing, then the easiest way is to write them yourself. Over the last 45 years, apart from two originals bands where I have chosen deliberately to be just a musician, I have been the principle composer of the music of the songs I perform, so if there's songs in the set that I'm not 100% happy about playing, then it is entirely my fault.

[ubit]

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

If you want to ensure that all the songs in the set are ones you enjoy playing, then the easiest way is to write them yourself.

 

 

Not necessarily. I have heard of artists who get sick of songs they have written and get annoyed when fans keep asking for these songs as they maybe want to showcase their new material.

 

 

And look what came up on Facebook

 

https://planetradio.co.uk/planet-rock/news/rock-news/bryan-adams-summer-of-69-interview/?fbclid=IwAR0OIaA_a-oeO0jEP9-G-UGvnn5vdeO3gNwZCVH--nCiDHXvsMf6ahBR1d0

Edited March 24, 2022 by ubit

[Leonard Smalls]

1 hour ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

I've only heard of three of the acts in the whole top 40

 

Funnily enough, when I was a youth I used to watch Top Of The Pops every week in the hope that something more interesting than the usual chart fodder would come on... Hated at least 95% then, and still would now if I could be bothered! When you get to my age etc...

[ubit]

3 minutes ago, Leonard Smalls said:

 

Funnily enough, when I was a youth I used to watch Top Of The Pops every week in the hope that something more interesting than the usual chart fodder would come on... Hated at least 95% then, and still would now if I could be bothered! When you get to my age etc...

 

Yup, I still remember Motorhead being on and AC/DC. Few and far between moments.

[TimR]

You don't have to learn new songs from the charts every week. You just need to be aware of what people are listening to, which ones are hanging around for several weeks (there's a few there that have been in the Top 40 for 12 weeks) and which ones can be quickly learned and adapted. 

 

I've also had the feeling from a lot of other threads that many bands take ages to pickup and learn new material. A lot of these songs have 4 chords and can be learned quickly and binned just as quickly when they're done. That's one way of keeping your musical interest up.

[TimR]

Top of The Pops and the top 40 were different things. On the Top 40 you'd get a load of new entries from 40 down to 20 played and then you'd get the whole top 20 played.

 

I'm guessing Top of the Pops was whoever was available to appear.

[ubit]

1 minute ago, TimR said:

Top of the Pops was whoever was available to appear.

 

 

Yeah but they would be selected from the top 40

[Nail Soup]

Just now, ubit said:

 

 

Yeah but they would be selected from the top 40

Only songs which were rising in the chart too.

[Barking Spiders]

If there's Dad Rock there should also be Mum Pop, Dad Rap, Old F*** Folk etc. New angle there for marketers of CD compilations. Guess the electronica I listen to, mostly from the 90s might be termed Dad Dance.

[Nail Soup]

2 minutes ago, TimR said:

I'm guessing Top of the Pops was whoever was available to appear.

Or Pans People 🙂 

[TimR]

5 minutes ago, Barking Spiders said:

If there's Dad Rock there should also be Mum Pop, Dad Rap, Old F*** Folk etc. New angle there for marketers of CD compilations. Guess the electronica I listen to, mostly from the 90s might be termed Dad Dance.

Westlife and Take That. Although that's probably granny pop now. Probably Spice Girls now.  

 

 

Edited March 24, 2022 by TimR

[Barking Spiders]

12 minutes ago, TimR said:

Westlife and Take That. Although that's probably granny pop now. Probably Spice Girls now.  

 

 

Which also means Dad Rock is now probably more Grunge and Nu Metal while the likes of Led Zep, Who etc constitute GrandDad Rock

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, Barking Spiders said:

Which also means Dad Rock is now probably more Grunge and Nu Metal while the likes of Led Zep, Who etc constitute GrandDad Rock

 

And beetles and stones would be great grandad rock