Anyone else here stopped gigging?

Lestratcaster

Roland said:

Playing at home isn’t enough for me. For the last 20 years I’ve got my kicks playing with covers bands. If the current band folded then I’d find another one. How long will it continue? Until I can’t do it any more - either my wife’s health or my own. I’m 65. I limit wear and tear by cutting back on other playing. So I’ve stopped playing acoustic at home. I’ve stopped going to folk clubs and open mic nights. I’ve even cut back on practice, doing the minimum amount to keep my touch. If I had to stop gigging then I’d probably go back to acoustic, and start playing folk clubs.

Others have talked about finding gigs. It’s getting harder. Fewer venues, less money because venues can’t afford it. Punters who want karaoke backing, or expect us to be a juke box.

I'm looking to get into covers after so many years of originals bands. I haven't actually played in a cover/function band before funnily enough! I'm saving up for a Kemper so I can get all the tones I need for a wide repertoire.

I still love performing just I think I'm drifting away from the originals thing now as there's so much work and effort needed to get off the ground, and the drama/politics. You still get this in covers bands I bet but the money is better. Plus there are loads of them around.

imalrightjack

I once did 50 gigs in a year. That was literally over 20 years ago. It has been sporadic at best since then and I’m currently without a band. I’d love to play live more but a) don’t feel a clear direction as a writer to drive a project b) have little interest covers.

I still keep buying and practicing (and don’t question why because I enjoy progressing) and I’m 43. Feels a bit sad to be half-retired at my age.

TTBZ

Lestratcaster said:

I still love performing just I think I'm drifting away from the originals thing now as there's so much work and effort needed to get off the ground, and the drama/politics.

Yeah, I think I was actually at my happiest and most inspired/“prolific” when I was just writing stuff at home by myself with EZdrummer, a guitar and a bass. Playing with others you have 3-4 other people to please and pander to, not to mention working around everyone’s schedules. Maybe it’s just an ego thing or maybe I just like to write better without external distractions.

After years of trying with only a couple of gigs to show for it and still no band in the end, I can’t really be bothered with all that again! I’ve always thought if I could sing/write lyrics I’d have no real need for a live band. I might tie up with the singer in my last band to do some recording-only stuff.

Musicwolf

Lestratcaster said:

I'm looking to get into covers after so many years of originals bands. I haven't actually played in a cover/function band before funnily enough! I'm saving up for a Kemper so I can get all the tones I need for a wide repertoire.

As someone who has gigged in a covers band with a Kemper, and now with a Helix, I can tell you that you don't need a vast array of tones.  I still have a 'patch-per-song', but that's more about putting set lists together and sending MIDI messages to other gear.  The whole set is made up from a relatively small number of core rigs that I've refined over many hours of practice and gigging.

There are a great many benefits of a Kemper and alike but you can have too much choice when it comes to tones.

stickyfiddle

I'm about 6.5 years since my last gig; career stuff and shitty location with a very odd music scene conspired against me. I miss it.

Musicwolf

TTBZ said:

Yeah, I think I was actually at my happiest and most inspired/“prolific” when I was just writing stuff at home by myself with EZdrummer, a guitar and a bass. Playing with others you have 3-4 other people to please and pander to, not to mention working around everyone’s schedules.

I have very mixed feelings about this.

I've had home recording setups since the 1980's and have had a dedicated room for the last 30 years with everything permanently set up and ready to go.  I play guitar, bass and keyboards and I know my way around Superior Drummer and Cubase.  Modellers / Profilers and a set of headphones also mean that I can work on stuff at any time of the day or night.  The room is acoustically treated to allow me to produce a half decent mix.

When I'm inspired I can rattle off stuff at a rate of knots - but it's also possible to stagnate.  I've worked in bands and I've collaborated with others and it brings benefits.  New ideas, people challenging your work which drives improvement etc etc.  The drawbacks you've already identified.  Definitely a case of the 'grass being greener'.

phil_b

you could try to find an alternative. some suggested a practice band or you could try making videos to post on youtube. even if only turn out to be a gap filler until you get back on your feet it might be worth while

Fortheloveofguitar

I haven’t played live since 2012. The only thing I miss is all the female attention 

Barnezy

How about finding someone else to do open mics with? Gives you a reason to keep playing an that live performances factor, but with only a couple of songs, less prep work.

p90fool

I "retired" from seriously pursuing a music career when I was 19, and didn't play guitar at all again until I was in my late 20s when I spent a couple of years touring a blues band. Then I stopped again until I was 33, when things got much more serious with lengthy European tours and a good few studio sessions, and in the 20 years since I've been at it pretty well constantly doing originals and covers, and busy with my own home studio. 

I do have a "between projects" break for a few months every now and again, and like all the lengthier breaks I've taken, my guitar playing just fizzles out.

I don't really see electric guitar as a home-based solo instrument so it it feels a bit foolish and pointless after a while, and "jamming" bores me because it's the whole picture and arrangement of music and songs in particular which interest me, so unless I have work to do I just don't play.

In the grand scheme of things, much as I enjoy it the world is not a vastly poorer place without my music, and there are many other things in life which interest me.

If you're not busy with music there's no need to beat yourself up about it, just do something else for a bit, and if you do come back to it you'll probably find you've vastly improved as an all-round musician just by not doing it all the time. 

monquixote

I played on and off with bands for about 20 years.

Before my eldest was born I was in two bands and depping with a third. 

After than I dropped it down to one which was manageable, but got to the position where the gigs were either:

• Badly paying gigs at pubs on the verge of closure, full of ancient barflies 
• Well paid gigs at functions which blew out a whole weekend 
• A handful of unpaid, short festival slots

It got so I was only really enjoying the festivals, but that meant working all year to play maybe 3 enjoyable gigs in summer.

The guys wanted to focus more on functions which didn't work for me so I ended up leaving.

I'm not really interested in playing for the sake of it or home recording so I play way less now. It sounds weird, but I defined so much of my identity on being "the music guy" that I almost went into a period of mourning when it stopped.

I can't imagine wanting to go back to it any time soon though the odd jam night might be fun.

TTBZ

Musicwolf said:

When I'm inspired I can rattle off stuff at a rate of knots - but it's also possible to stagnate.  I've worked in bands and I've collaborated with others and it brings benefits.  New ideas, people challenging your work which drives improvement etc etc.  The drawbacks you've already identified.  Definitely a case of the 'grass being greener'.

I did find this can be a help but also a big hindrance. Everyone (rightly so) wants to have their say and whilst in some cases it’s helped massively to get that outside perspective from other instruments, most of the time it just draws out the process - it becomes a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth (imo). We found because we weren’t all 100% on the same page musically we never got anything done because it was always “ooh what about trying this or that” - the songs we ended up finishing and gigging were all the ones me and the other guitarist wrote completely by ourselves at home - the collaboratively written ones at rehearsals didn’t work out.

Creed_Clicks

Interesting to read this thread. Played covers for roughly the last 20 years, and some original music thrown in as well with a few bands along the way. Not being playing much the last 3 years. Not knowing where I'll be settling means it's impossible to commit to anything.
Covers ended up playing music I didn't really like, but it fizzled out anyway due to people moving to different places. I played guitar and and sang.
I'd like to do it again sometime, but this time play bass. I've dabbled in bass live over the years and enjoyed it. If I were to do covers, I'd like to do post rock, alt rock, grunge, even metal. Non crowd pleasers. Might not get a gig but who cares...
Original stuff I'll try and keep a spoke in it, but be realistic.

Musicwolf

TTBZ said:

Musicwolf said:

When I'm inspired I can rattle off stuff at a rate of knots - but it's also possible to stagnate.  I've worked in bands and I've collaborated with others and it brings benefits.  New ideas, people challenging your work which drives improvement etc etc.  The drawbacks you've already identified.  Definitely a case of the 'grass being greener'.

I did find this can be a help but also a big hindrance. Everyone (rightly so) wants to have their say and whilst in some cases it’s helped massively to get that outside perspective from other instruments, most of the time it just draws out the process - it becomes a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth (imo). We found because we weren’t all 100% on the same page musically we never got anything done because it was always “ooh what about trying this or that” - the songs we ended up finishing and gigging were all the ones me and the other guitarist wrote completely by ourselves at home - the collaboratively written ones at rehearsals didn’t work out.

Yep, ultimately you need to have the right blend of people with that all important common ground.  I was lucky in that I fell in with a group of guys where, once we were down to a four piece, everything just fell into place.  We started out with more diverse influences / ideas etc but we fairly quickly established a band direction and the song writing came naturally.

We still had all the usual problems of availability, differing amounts of time that people could commit etc, and there were still some 'artistic tensions' but everything held together for more than 10 years.  I can also relate to the band situation that you describe - I've got more than one of that particular T-Shirt.

thomasross20

I look forward to reading the replies when I've time. 
I only gigged for two years after near 20 years playing and building up to it. 
Thing I miss the most is mid-week practice sessions. Cool to rock and and social. 
Gigs hit and miss. Few and far in between, pay not worth it, playing to pissed punters who don't care, there for hours and back late at night, lots of effort for not much other than the love of music, which is why I did it. 
Probably prefer home recording. 

I think you do need an outlet like gigging or recording otherwise what's the point.. I'm playing a lot less nowadays but still plugging away at an album (the recording bit) and doing ACOUSTIC now with view to one-man coffee-house type gigs (might never happen but think they'd be preferable). 

I still see guitar as sort of defining me and it gives me a real reason to "live" if that doesn't sound corny... but of late without playing too much... I don't know what to do with myself. Just go out and have a social life like any normal person lol? 

EricTheWeary

I've never been a great guitarist or the hardest working man in showbiz but I played in bands that would gig once or twice per month for a good few years.

It's been over a year since I last gigged. I've never enjoyed jam nights very much and don't have a circle of friends to make music with or any desire to record my own music. I miss bits of gigging, other bits I don't. Interesting to read that other people are also often happier with rehearsals and learning than the actual gig as I sometimes felt like that. I suffered from stage fright although overcoming it was a good feeling.
It feels like if I don't do something soon then probably by default I'll have stopped gigging for good. I thought I’d put the time into something else constructive but in practice I don’t, just more TV and lolling about. It was also my only significant form of exercise so I miss that! 

Misty

Well I really wasn't banking on such a great collection of thoughtful and honest replies....all really interesting, and in particular to read such a mixture of genuine enthusiasm for gigging as well as thoughts from those who are maybe no longer so keen. I've always been enthusiastic to continue, having been the vocalist as well as guitarist in my blues rock trio for many years now.  But my current situation, with the sudden brain tumour which has stopped me doing a number of activities, has really caused me to think carefully about the immediate future at least. I've had to cancel gigs for the rest of this year, and I don't know when I can start again, if at all. Surprisingly I find that maybe I'm OK with that, as if I'm honest with myself there are quite a few gigs which I'd be quite happy not to do again, and only a few which are really worth repeating. So I've got lots of thinking to do, but it looks like no gigs for some months, and more practice at home, no bad thing.
Thanks for all the helpful comments, I'm really grateful!

Kebabkid

Sorry to hear about your medical issues and wishing you a full and speedy recovery.

Not quite but with each year, I worry if it's getting close.

I've gigged as a guitarist since I was 18 and I'm coming up to 56 this year. I was even pro for a short time and on the signed band route (didn't like it) and for me, I realised quite early on that it's definitely something that's an active hobby rather than a profession.

My most prolific gigging period was in the last 20 years when I could be out every week and sometimes a couple of times a week, playing in a couple of different bands. Nowadays, I gig about 6 times a year, but it's mainly been a bass gig for the last 5 yrs and I've only done one guitar gig this year. The latter are sadly diminishing but I am currently getting a new band off the ground and hope that changes things.

As I said, for me, the prospect of not gigging at all worries me as whilst I've enjoyed recording in the past, and I still practise to a certain degree,  it's always been about live performance and that's what shows off your mettle. It's where you hone your sound, learn about your gear, interact with your band mates, the audience and if you've the synergy and understanding between you, can get around mistakes on the fly, learn your stagecraft and that's when you learn to truly relax and enjoy your gigs, but ultimately, I love the buzz of live which I don't get from anything else.

To help with gigs, because the loading up, packing down, lifting etc does get to you after a while, I've seen quite a few friends look to the more portable and lighter options we now have available e.g. the modellers or a smaller amp. I've actually just done this and gone from my Divided by 13 head and a heavy-ish 2x12 cab and pedal board and I'm now using one of the diddy Mesa MK5:25 heads and the mini recto cab. It's great,small and light,loud and pretty versatile, but the jury's still out as to whether it's better sounding than my previous rig, despite certain benefits. More on this*

Ironically, I've found that as the gigs have got less, I've not stuck with equipment for as long as I did in my 'more active years' and have never had such a period of gear indecision* where I've bought and sold on so many perfectly good guitars and bits and I think it's probably because I've not given them the chance they deserve in the live performance area. It could also be my frustration coming out at not playing live as much as I want to and making up for it instead by spending more time talking about it here with you lovely lot or *'searching for the right guitar/rig'.

I also found it can affect your confidence when you haven't played live for a while meaning that you can talk yourself out of offered gigs.

So, if it comes to not playing live anymore, I think I would turn to recording at home and scaling back all my gear to something like a Kemper and the like, or a Deluxe Reverb and 1 or 2 guitars, maybe a few pedals and a bass (one rig for all), but I'm hoping that inevitable scenario is still a good few years away from me.

If you have the time to play and still enjoy it, keep your hand in and do it in whatever way suits you, but playing with other people is a great thing and of course, so's having fun with it.

All the best and good health to you

Lestratcaster

TTBZ said:

Lestratcaster said:

I still love performing just I think I'm drifting away from the originals thing now as there's so much work and effort needed to get off the ground, and the drama/politics.

Yeah, I think I was actually at my happiest and most inspired/“prolific” when I was just writing stuff at home by myself with EZdrummer, a guitar and a bass. Playing with others you have 3-4 other people to please and pander to, not to mention working around everyone’s schedules. Maybe it’s just an ego thing or maybe I just like to write better without external distractions.

After years of trying with only a couple of gigs to show for it and still no band in the end, I can’t really be bothered with all that again! I’ve always thought if I could sing/write lyrics I’d have no real need for a live band. I might tie up with the singer in my last band to do some recording-only stuff.

I kinda experienced alot of that in my previous 2 bands, the 2nd to last one that I left 2.5 years ago was a prime example of just how the dynamics and chemistry of the band didn't work. Songwriting was very difficult due to multiple people trying to take the song a different way and too many changes so in the end no actual backbone (i.e a verse and chorus) was written. The bass player who joined (the original one left after a year) kinda took over and I kinda got pushed aside from it (I did most of the guitar writing before) so I lost input gradually and kinda had to follow his rhythm and harmony.

We spent a lot of money on recording and now both of us aren't in the band anymore. But I have no intentions to return as I don't miss it.

Now what appeals alongside the cover band thing is just doing recording, so composing on my own (or with a guitarist mate) just for fun to see what we churn out. If its good we might think about playing live but it can just go up online.

Lestratcaster

Musicwolf said:

Lestratcaster said:

I'm looking to get into covers after so many years of originals bands. I haven't actually played in a cover/function band before funnily enough! I'm saving up for a Kemper so I can get all the tones I need for a wide repertoire.

As someone who has gigged in a covers band with a Kemper, and now with a Helix, I can tell you that you don't need a vast array of tones.  I still have a 'patch-per-song', but that's more about putting set lists together and sending MIDI messages to other gear.  The whole set is made up from a relatively small number of core rigs that I've refined over many hours of practice and gigging.

There are a great many benefits of a Kemper and alike but you can have too much choice when it comes to tones.

Originally I was going to get a DSL40c and a few pedals, but seeing as there's alot of lugging around at venues that most likely have flights and flights of stairs the less I can travel with the better.

Also as a tutor I would like to be able to do a lesson using a Fender twin, then a Marshall stack and then a Peavey 5150!