I Hate Gigging!

[lownote]

1 hour ago, frannie01 said:

Yes couldn’t have put it better myself although Ive been in situations where guns were pulled out so I totally get where your coming from  👍🏽

 

In Bournemouth??? I suppose it's all the retired colonels hanging onto their service revolvers.

[dmccombe7]

25 minutes ago, lownote said:

All the videos on how to succeed as a session muso (bass/ sax/ anything) include advice variations on 'don't be a richard'. Be prompt. Be helfpul. Smile. Offer encouragement. Help people pack up. Do they know how diificult that is when everyone else in the band is a richard? 

I'm very lucky that in both bands everyone helps each other unload and load including our female singer. My wife and other partners also chip in to give a hand.

Dave

[Newfoundfreedom]

2 hours ago, MacDaddy said:

 

From the internet:

 

Musician

 

A person who puts £2000 of gear, into a £500 car, to play a £50 gig. 

 

Yup. The ultimate dictionary definition. 

 

Although I wish I earned £50 from a gig. 😆

[Newfoundfreedom]

2 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Think @Newfoundfreedom has changed his views a bit since he started this thread in 2019.

Could be wrong but i'm sure he'll dive in soon with an update.

Dave

 

Indeed. As I did a couple of pages ago. 

 

I'm now in an all originals band which I find far more musically satisfying. 

 

We're all really close friends and all on the same page both musically, and with the expectation of how often we want to gig. Being in a band has always been about the social aspect for me. 

 

I still suffer from crippling anxiety every time I perform, but it's getting much more manageable, to the point where I now relax a few songs in and actually start to enjoy it. 

 

We even had a punter say to us at the last gig, that in 12 years of living in Bulgaria, we were the best band he's ever seen. (Incidentally, we were playing at Buster Bloodvessel's (of Bad Manners) place here in Bulgaria.  Lovely spot right on the side of a lake).

 

Make of that what you will. But I chose to take it as a compliment. 😆

Edited December 2, 2022 by Newfoundfreedom

[dmccombe7]

1 hour ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

 

Indeed. As I did a couple of pages ago. 

 

I'm now in an all originals band which I find far more musically satisfying. 

 

We're all really close friends and all on the same page both musically, and with the expectation of how often we want to gig. Being in a band has always been about the social aspect for me. 

 

I still suffer from crippling anxiety every time I perform, but it's getting much more manageable, to the point where I now relax a few songs in and actually start to enjoy it. 

 

We even had a punter say to us at the last gig, that in 12 years of living in Bulgaria, we were the best band he's ever seen. (Incidentally, we were playing at Buster Bloodvessel's (of Bad Manners) place here in Bulgaria.  Lovely spot right on the side of a lake).

 

Make of that what you will. But I chose to take it as a compliment. 😆

Now that's a success story if ever i heard one. Superb.

Just proves that if you find the right people and the right music for you then it can work. Problem is finding that happy balance.

Dave

Dave

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

1 hour ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

Incidentally, we were playing at Buster Bloodvessel's (of Bad Manners) place here in Bulgaria.  Lovely spot right on the side of a lake....

He's still alive then! Our trumpet player used to dep with Bad Manners. He had a few tales to recount I can tell you 🤣

[TimR]

5 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

My wife and other partners also chip in to give a hand.

 

Sounds like a very modern relationship. I've always found it best to keep my wife away from any of my other partners. 

[Newfoundfreedom]

8 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

He's still alive then! Our trumpet player used to dep with Bad Manners. He had a few tales to recount I can tell you 🤣

 

Yup. He's still alive and well, and still tours regularly. 

[BigRedX]

15 hours ago, MacDaddy said:

 

From the internet:

 

Musician

 

A person who puts £2000 of gear, into a £500 car, to play a £50 gig. 

 

I'm doing a gig tonight.

 

The gear I'm bringing adds up to considerably more than £2000, but it does include the devices that allow us to play without a drummer or second synth player.

 

I don't own a car at all. Our actual keyboard player provides the band transport for gigs.

 

We will be getting quite a bit more than £50.

 

 

Thinking about it apart from my very first gigs in the early 80s when I had no money and my gear was worth in total less than a couple of hundred pounds, I don't think I've ever gigged with gear worth as little as £2000...

[Woodinblack]

If you add the new price of everything I will be gigging tonight with, it is over £2000 but resale probably not (unless I take the spectors or Maruszczyk) - probably around that. But the we don't play for £50 and the car is considerable more expensive than £500!

[TimR]

My bass was £400, amp £500 and each speaker £250. So £1400 for me. Pay can be variable but £80 is handy. 

 

No one has £500 cars anymore. A tank of petrol and set of tyres would double its value. 

[dmccombe7]

Some gigs with the punk band i was only just breaking even by time i paid for fuel and bought myself something to eat after sound check and before the gig. Add in a new set of strings every 1-2 mths at £30 a pop i'm finding the cheaper gigs are gonna have to up their game a bit for 2023.

Have noticed fuel prices are coming down with petrol around here sitting at £1.58 / litre at moment so that's a good sign and about time too.

Dave

 

 

Edited December 4, 2022 by dmccombe7

[peteb]

34 minutes ago, TimR said:

My bass was £400, amp £500 and each speaker £250. So £1400 for me. Pay can be variable but £80 is handy. 

 

No one has £500 cars anymore. A tank of petrol and set of tyres would double its value. 

 

My current, pretty stripped down, gear that I take to a gig is somewhere in the region of £5k.

 

I've had plenty of £500 cars in my time, but these days they are few and far between. I tend to spend £5-6k on a car then run them into the ground! However, the guitar player in a couple of my bands recently had his car written off by an old fella doing something erratic at a junction, so he went and got a pretty decent focus for £1.5k that allows him to gig all over the country.

 

According to the drummer (who used to be in the motor trade), you can still pick up a perfectly decent car for £1 -1.5k if you need to... 

 

Edited December 4, 2022 by peteb

[Stub Mandrel]

2 hours ago, TimR said:

My bass was £400, amp £500 and each speaker £250. So £1400 for me. Pay can be variable but £80 is handy. 

 

No one has £500 cars anymore. A tank of petrol and set of tyres would double its value. 

 

My car was £800, but that was in early 2030.

 

Value of gear is scary if you add it up. Two hard cases, two straps, two tuners, two leads and two stands is north of the value of the car these days! Forget two basses, two amps and a cab.

 

Then add on my small piece of carpet!

[Woodinblack]

6 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

My car was £800, but that was in early 2030.

 

Well, by definition if it is worth £800 in 8 years time, it must be worth a lot more now!

[Dad3353]

23 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Well, by definition if it is worth £800 in 8 years time, it must be worth a lot more now!

 

It's a DeLorean..! 

[Steady Eddie]

Tell me about it.

You get up in the morning and drive the van round to collect the guys and the gear, then you motor over to the venue and unpack and set everything up. Then there’s the sound check and when everyone is happy you wander off looking for somewhere to eat. After that it’s a matter of killing time until you are ready to go on stage. As the evening wears on the punters get more raucous. The set is due to finish at 11.00 p.m. but the crowd keep calling for encores. Then someone wants you to accompany his granny singing Ten Guitars. You finally finish and then dismantle all the equipment when there are still bodies staggering about, getting in the way. Finally you escape around 1.00 a.m. drive home, drop everyone off and unload the gear. Back at your place you creep in the door not wanting to wake the family. You slip into bed and lay there exhausted. Then the wife slides her leg over your thigh and begins to nibble your ear. What a life!

[Newfoundfreedom]

51 minutes ago, Steady Eddie said:

Tell me about it.

You get up in the morning and drive the van round to collect the guys and the gear, then you motor over to the venue and unpack and set everything up. Then there’s the sound check and when everyone is happy you wander off looking for somewhere to eat. After that it’s a matter of killing time until you are ready to go on stage. As the evening wears on the punters get more raucous. The set is due to finish at 11.00 p.m. but the crowd keep calling for encores. Then someone wants you to accompany his granny singing Ten Guitars. You finally finish and then dismantle all the equipment when there are still bodies staggering about, getting in the way. Finally you escape around 1.00 a.m. drive home, drop everyone off and unload the gear. Back at your place you creep in the door not wanting to wake the family. You slip into bed and lay there exhausted. Then the wife slides her leg over your thigh and begins to nibble your ear. What a life!

 

My wife's the singer in my band. She's far too exhausted from lugging the PA around for such shenanigans. 😂

[dmccombe7]

1 hour ago, Steady Eddie said:

Tell me about it.

You get up in the morning and drive the van round to collect the guys and the gear, then you motor over to the venue and unpack and set everything up. Then there’s the sound check and when everyone is happy you wander off looking for somewhere to eat. After that it’s a matter of killing time until you are ready to go on stage. As the evening wears on the punters get more raucous. The set is due to finish at 11.00 p.m. but the crowd keep calling for encores. Then someone wants you to accompany his granny singing Ten Guitars. You finally finish and then dismantle all the equipment when there are still bodies staggering about, getting in the way. Finally you escape around 1.00 a.m. drive home, drop everyone off and unload the gear. Back at your place you creep in the door not wanting to wake the family. You slip into bed and lay there exhausted. Then the wife slides her leg over your thigh and begins to nibble your ear. What a life!

You had me until the last bit which made it unbelievable. 

Dave 

[DaytonaRik]

I just added up the cost to replace the PA that gets carried around in the van - think I'll have to adjust my insurance policy!!!!!

[Linus27]

1 hour ago, Steady Eddie said:

Tell me about it.

You get up in the morning and drive the van round to collect the guys and the gear, then you motor over to the venue and unpack and set everything up. Then there’s the sound check and when everyone is happy you wander off looking for somewhere to eat. After that it’s a matter of killing time until you are ready to go on stage. As the evening wears on the punters get more raucous. The set is due to finish at 11.00 p.m. but the crowd keep calling for encores. Then someone wants you to accompany his granny singing Ten Guitars. You finally finish and then dismantle all the equipment when there are still bodies staggering about, getting in the way. Finally you escape around 1.00 a.m. drive home, drop everyone off and unload the gear. Back at your place you creep in the door not wanting to wake the family. You slip into bed and lay there exhausted. Then the wife slides her leg over your thigh and begins to nibble your ear. What a life!

I think the last bit should read, 'You slip into bed and lay there exhausted and totally unable to fall asleep as you're still buzzing, analysing the gig, and thinking about how you played, how you could of played better, how the audience reacted, how your bass sounded, what new gear you should now buy, what someone said to you, how you're never going to play there again, do I need a wee, how you're going to tell the singer what you think, the girl on the left of the stage was super cute, why does the guitarist never lug any gear unless it's his own, what time is it, why does the drummer never buy anyone a drink, I definitely need a wee, why can I never hear myself on stage, when's the next gig, why can't I fall asleep, I'm going for a wee' 😂

[Paul S]

17 minutes ago, Linus27 said:

I think the last bit should read, 'You slip into bed and lay there exhausted and totally unable to fall asleep as you're still buzzing, analysing the gig, and thinking about how you played, how you could of played better, how the audience reacted, how your bass sounded, what new gear you should now buy, what someone said to you, how you're never going to play there again, do I need a wee, how you're going to tell the singer what you think, the girl on the left of the stage was super cute, why does the guitarist never lug any gear unless it's his own, what time is it, why does the drummer never buy anyone a drink, I definitely need a wee, why can I never hear myself on stage, when's the next gig, why can't I fall asleep, I'm going for a wee' 😂

 

Thatis scarily accurate  

[LewisK1975]

1 hour ago, Linus27 said:

I think the last bit should read, 'You slip into bed and lay there exhausted and totally unable to fall asleep as you're still buzzing, analysing the gig, and thinking about how you played, how you could of played better, how the audience reacted, how your bass sounded, what new gear you should now buy, what someone said to you, how you're never going to play there again, do I need a wee, how you're going to tell the singer what you think, the girl on the left of the stage was super cute, why does the guitarist never lug any gear unless it's his own, what time is it, why does the drummer never buy anyone a drink, I definitely need a wee, why can I never hear myself on stage, when's the next gig, why can't I fall asleep, I'm going for a wee' 😂

I'll just add 'I'm hungry' to that...

[Lozz196]

3 hours ago, Steady Eddie said:

Tell me about it.

You get up in the morning and drive the van round to collect the guys and the gear, then you motor over to the venue and unpack and set everything up. Then there’s the sound check and when everyone is happy you wander off looking for somewhere to eat. After that it’s a matter of killing time until you are ready to go on stage. As the evening wears on the punters get more raucous. The set is due to finish at 11.00 p.m. but the crowd keep calling for encores. Then someone wants you to accompany his granny singing Ten Guitars. You finally finish and then dismantle all the equipment when there are still bodies staggering about, getting in the way. Finally you escape around 1.00 a.m. drive home, drop everyone off and unload the gear. Back at your place you creep in the door not wanting to wake the family. You slip into bed and lay there exhausted. Then the wife slides her leg over your thigh and begins to nibble your ear. What a life!

Should have brought her in a McDonalds seeing as she’s hungry 🍔

[TimR]

I usually lie awake wondering where that high pitched whistling sound is coming from. And then wonder why I put my earplugs in my pocket instead of my ears.