Done gigging

wok

wok

Nasi Goreng Afficionado
For the foreseeable future

I was in a band and we were pretty good, got plenty of gigs and were planning to record. However, maybe because I am getting older and less tolerant ;-) , i found myself less and less interested in being in a band. I started hating rehearsals and the politics involved in a band etc.

I also started finding far more satisfaction in recording my own stuff at home, the total control and creative freedom.

So after a long time of umming and awwing, i decided to leave my band, sell all of my live gear and retire from gigging.

So, my tube amp is already on the way out, hopefully my 4x12 cab will follow soon and my pedals. Downsizing feels good.

Anyone else done this? How long did you last? :lol:
 
I am in that process now. I may do an open mic here and there, but don't see myself doing a full gig. I even have a couple of songs that I wrote recently; I haven't even bothered to record them. At this point, I have some other creative avenues that I am exploring and am quite content to step back from gigging.

Of course, I could change my mind later, but it doesn't seem likely right now.
 
jbj said:
Last band I jacked in (which really had potential to be a top notch wedding band) must have been around 12 years ago.

Suffice to say deciding being a DJ where I don't have to deal with rehearsals and arsehole band mates has turned out quite well both for my sanity and bank balance.
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Money was another big decider for me. Tired of scraping by with dead-end jobs I figured I could spend band time getting my career going
 
I'm building a solo act for myself because I'm sick of the scheduling and booking stuff, but I love spending time with my bandmates.
 
I did it in my early 30s, when we were about to have a kid. I did do one short west coast tour when my son was an infant. OTT, I lasted until he was about 10.
I'm possibly starting to think about it again--this time stopping the cover band thing and maybe getting some folks together for original writing/recording/YouTube vids. But I won't quit the former until I have the latter in place.
 
the last band i played in was before covid hit, and am not in any hurry to do so again.
i liked playing when we were playing some fun music and the crowd was into it.
but that went out the door with the last band. it just became a total drag, and we were only gigging once-ish a month and were only getting $20 each for one night. i got tired of driving 10-15 miles to the gig. set all the stuff up, incl. PA, play from 10pm to 2am, tear is all back down, back in the trailer, and drive home at 3am......FOR TWENTY FUCKING DOLLARS :mad:

i'm not selling any of my equipment, and i really don't have a lot. i never owned the PA system or lights or any of that.
 
wok said:
Money was another big decider for me. Tired of scraping by with dead-end jobs I figured I could spend band time getting my career going
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Wise move.

I've streamlined a lot of my workflow but the DJing is still a time sink when you do it to the level I do but the money more than makes up for it even after you've been fucked by the taxman.

Unless I was SUPER passionate about a band, particularly an originals band, and enjoyed it regardless, I really couldn't justify investing the time, energy and resources into it these days.
 
I haven’t been in an official exclusive band situation in a long time. I did it a bunch and got tired of starting over when they eventually went belly up…

I take that back. I was asked to join a band a few years ago. We “rehearsed” once a week. I write songs and have plenty of material to pull from. They wanted to write stuff together. Ok. That takes a work and decisiveness that never really came together. Still had a good time. We did a few gigs and got a bunch of positive feedback. I got offered a theater gig and they didn’t want to do it because they wanted to have material we had written collectively. Ok. I told them I would take the gig if they didn’t want to do it. Used another band I had sat in with a few times as my backing band and it was awesome. The guy that offered me the gig didn’t care who I brought. The band got pretty upset, which I didn’t understand. They didn’t want to do the gig because they didn’t want to play my songs.

Other than that the closest thing to a band I’ve been in is a group of songwriters who gig under one name. Everyone does their own thing independently. No hard feelings ever. If somebody can’t make it, we just find somebody else or do the gig as 3 instead of 4. We might gig once a month and turn down more than we take, which is a cool spot to be in. Keeps the money pretty ok. We don’t really do rehearsals. Just kind of keep things loose and fun.

I also like doing sideman work. I typically only say yes to folks that are ok with me just kind of winging it. I’m going to be respectful of the song and not play too much. Mostly Americana, country, blues type stuff. So it’s normally pretty easy to follow on the fly. This obviously wouldnt work for all types of music, but it keeps me going.
 
My last band called it quits about a year before Covid. My issues with the vaccine and anaphylaxis have pretty much squelched my playing out in most situations that involve crowds. It’s sucks because I love to play live for an audience.
I’ve tried dabbling at home recording but I’ve never been much of a writer. It’s hard for me to stay motivated without the input and interaction of other musicians. I’ve been making do with a small semi regular jam session, and I recently played bass on a recording session for a singer songwriter.
But call me an optimist, I ain’t selling my live gear. I don’t need the money and I have a nice room for it here at home, all set up and ready to go if anybody wants to visit me here in Alabamastan.
 
Pine Apple Slim said:
I’ve tried dabbling at home recording but I’ve never been much of a writer. It’s hard for me to stay motivated without the input and interaction of other musicians.
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I am the opposite. I find the creative freedom of writing alone super inspiring. I still collaborate with some musician friends remotely though, which also has its own rewards
 
I went a long time without gigging. Then right before Covid, @Guitar Heel drug me into his band as a drummer. We played 2 open mics then the world shut down. I think someone was trying to tell me something.
 
Put my last gigging band on hold back in 2017 as my son was coming up to his GCSEs (exams at 16 years old here in the UK) and the school was letting him down badly. I thought we'd start up again in the summer when it was done, but life had other ideas and things kept getting in the way. Hardly even get a chance to get a guitar out to noodle with these days but keep entertaining the idea that I'll find a way to change that and get back into it.
 
I'm really close.

We've got 4 shows over the next 9 days. That may put the final nail in the coffin.

That, and my COVID cautiousness making me really hesitant to play indoor gigs.
 
Might be the lockdown talking but I am getting more into it. Trying to figure out what live performance means in a post/perpetual covid society.
 
I'm gigging tonight, and I'll be masked up. Unfortunately, the gig is in east county, where the Tumpers live, so my being the only person with a mask could be interesting.
 
micwalt said:
I'm gigging tonight, and I'll be masked up. Unfortunately, the gig is in east county, where the Tumpers live, so my being the only person with a mask could be interesting.
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you should draw something snarky on the outside of the mask :idea:
 
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