skidder652003 Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 After a particularly awful gig last night (hardly anyone there, long drive, rubbish acoustics) and the prospect of another tonight (been there before, awful, foolishly booked again and obliged to honour it) but with fairly decent financial compensation, does anyone else feel sometimes they've become a bit of a money slut on certain nights when actually you'd far prefer a night in with a movie and a bottle of wine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 I can't for the life of me find the video on YouTube, but Pete Thorn posted saying if your gig has at least 2 of these 3 it's good: The money The music The hang (i.e. the craic) Can't argue with that! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 (edited) My drummer friend went to school to become a nurse. He said that he has accustomed to low wages, so working as a nurse is a bit like musician, except better workin' hours... Edited September 28, 2019 by itu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peted Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 I like it when there's a big crowd and they're all up and dancing, but i'm not as put out as the rest of my band when we play a gig and we're just providing background music for the event. Happy to be paid to play background music. All goes towards new and exciting music equipment 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 Not at all, seeing as we don’t take any money from the band, it all goes back into the band/business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikel Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 For me its never about the money. Its always nice to be well remunerated but I prefer to drive back from a gig buzzing after a great night. I spend enough time on the day job, thinking only about the money as its a drudge. A great gig is what I play for, the money is a bonus. Pro players will see it differently. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
machinehead Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 Lee Sklar says he gets paid for the travelling and being away from home and all the other downsides of touring, but he plays for free. Now that's a great attitude. Frank. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taunton-hobbit Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 Spend 500+ quid on gitar - 770+ on decent amp system, 8k+ on estate car - clear about 40quid a night.......... ....you do the math........... 😎 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowregisterhead Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 3 hours ago, JapanAxe said: I can't for the life of me find the video on YouTube, but Pete Thorn posted saying if your gig has at least 2 of these 3 it's good: The money The music The hang (i.e. the craic) Can't argue with that! Hmm. Only one out of three for me last night, then... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 In it for the money? Absolutely! I'm playing in an environment where someone is making money, ie promoter/landlord, from my efforts. It's cost me money to do the gig, so, yes, I want paying. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthurhenry Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 I would always rather be playing than not. Every experience is valuable to me as a musician. The more gigs I do, the better I should get. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 15 minutes ago, arthurhenry said: I would always rather be playing than not. Every experience is valuable to me as a musician. The more gigs I do, the better I should get. Best answer! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casapete Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 4 hours ago, JapanAxe said: I can't for the life of me find the video on YouTube, but Pete Thorn posted saying if your gig has at least 2 of these 3 it's good: The money The music The hang (i.e. the craic) Can't argue with that! Great answer. My weekly pub gig with my acoustic duo provides all 3 so happy days. My main playing job always has 2 and sometimes 3 on a good night which is good enough for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 Money can be a safety net, meaning if the band think "this could be a stinky poo gig" whether it's the venue, the event, the night of the week... We price it so its worth us turning up. We got asked to do a Thursday night recently. Local, and on our usual practice night. We used it to test run some new songs, had some fairly engaged punters in for half of it, we played fosters poor probably due to a number of reasons, one being a mostly empty venue on a Thursday night, but we each got paid £40, whereas it usually costs just over £40 for all of us to book a rehearsal room and you don't get to watch whether people are in to the song or not. And on a gig you play the song together, you don't spend ages arguing over "it goes DA-DUM-DA-DAAAA! THREE F'ING TIMES, THAT'S HOW WE ALWAYS PLAYED IT, I DON'T CARE IF ITS FOUR ON THE ORIGINAL!!" And other such productive things. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoBass Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 4 hours ago, mikel said: For me its never about the money. Its always nice to be well remunerated but I prefer to drive back from a gig buzzing after a great night. I spend enough time on the day job, thinking only about the money as its a drudge. A great gig is what I play for, the money is a bonus. Pro players will see it differently. My attitude too ⬆️ The way my covers band works, we put all of our earnings into a kitty, and then dip into it with everyone’s approval if we need to; for instance this year we upgraded our lights, last year we upgraded the PA. At the end of the year we split whatever’s left three ways, a nice Christmas bonus, if you will. In my acoustic duo we just split in on the night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 5 hours ago, machinehead said: Lee Sklar says he gets paid for the travelling and being away from home and all the other downsides of touring, but he plays for free. Now that's a great attitude. Frank. This is great way of looking at it. I don't like gigs where I'm not paid for loading, travelling, setting up and tearing down but I always enjoy playing. BTW I don't actually dislike all the stuff that goes hand in hand with gigging but I do prefer to be paid for it. 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 9 hours ago, skidder652003 said: After a particularly awful gig last night (hardly anyone there, long drive, rubbish acoustics) and the prospect of another tonight (been there before, awful, foolishly booked again and obliged to honour it) but with fairly decent financial compensation, does anyone else feel sometimes they've become a bit of a money slut on certain nights when actually you'd far prefer a night in with a movie and a bottle of wine? I've played to an enthusiastic crowd of 3,000 and the next day played to10 uninterested people in a small bar. All this stuff goes with the teritory. It depends on your life circumstance. Me, I have no interest in wine or a movie or even a date with a pretty woman over playing a gig. Not saying that won't change and probably sooner than later My point, we all will play crappy gigs. Money slut? Yeah , I get that a lot. " Blue ? Yeah if you throw him a hundred bucks hell do it" But that 100 bucks might make a $400.00 weekend for me. I'm a low level bar band guy. I know some of you don't need the money but I do. Blue 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 (edited) 6 hours ago, mikel said: For me its never about the money. Its always nice to be well remunerated but I prefer to drive back from a gig buzzing after a great night. I spend enough time on the day job, thinking only about the money as its a drudge. A great gig is what I play for, the money is a bonus. Pro players will see it differently. For me it'ss both. Riding home after a good gig with $500.00 cash in my wallet for playing for 70 minutes. I really felt like I had made it. Granted , that's happened once in the last 10 years. But it was a great ride home. Blue Edited September 28, 2019 by Bluewine 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 2 hours ago, BrunoBass said: My attitude too ⬆️ The way my covers band works, we put all of our earnings into a kitty, and then dip into it with everyone’s approval if we need to; for instance this year we upgraded our lights, last year we upgraded the PA. At the end of the year we split whatever’s left three ways, a nice Christmas bonus, if you will. In my acoustic duo we just split in on the night. No band fund here and our band leader pays us in cash before every gig. No monkey business. Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoBass Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 1 minute ago, Bluewine said: No band fund here and our band leader pays us in cash before every gig. No monkey business. Blue No monkey business here either. It’s a decision we made collectively that we’re all happy with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 6 hours ago, chris_b said: In it for the money? Absolutely! I'm playing in an environment where someone is making money, ie promoter/landlord, from my efforts. It's cost me money to do the gig, so, yes, I want paying. I like where your heads at.😄 Blue 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 3 minutes ago, BrunoBass said: No monkey business here either. It’s a decision we made collectively that we’re all happy with. No choice for us, it's the way she does business. Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidder652003 Posted September 29, 2019 Author Share Posted September 29, 2019 well, it was a crap gig, over an hours drive in the piddling worst downpour and wind and dark there and back, about 20 people in a huge social club. Weirdly however I probably played the best I ever have due to not giving a monkeys and we got paid £350 between the 3 of us so that was a nice little unexpected bonus so it just goes to show you never know how they'll turn out! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Starr Posted September 29, 2019 Share Posted September 29, 2019 Social Club shudder.... Did they tell you to turn down and then stop you for the meat draw? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigAlonBass Posted September 29, 2019 Share Posted September 29, 2019 I stopped having fun, and it all became about the money for me. I felt I wasn't being paid enough to deal with the antics of ar*ehole "musicians", ar*ehole Punters, and ar*ehole Venue owners, so I retired. Happy now. 😎 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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