3 hour nightime outdoor gig on New Years in New Enlgand. Would you do it?

Hell yea unless you have a significant other that would be sad to miss you that night

 

New England is a big region. Are we talking Caribou Maine or Westerly Rhode Island?

 

I've done winter patio gigs at ski lodges in the northern Adirondacks. (Blue Ridge, too, although winter here doesn't compare.) Don't talk of heaters; get 'em in the contract, and be specific. With a tent and event-scaled propane heaters, those gigs are comfortable enough. With no heaters or wimpy patio style heater towers, miserable.

And load out at altitude is going to be winterish. Arrange for nearby parking in your negotiations.

 

I've played a few cold outdoor gigs and can say that it is not my favorite situation for nimble fingers. Heaters are your friends in such situations and hope for no wind.

 

exactly how much money are we talking here? I don't like the cold but I love gettin' paid.

 

Agree, if the money's good . . .

 

If they have heaters, sure. Otherwise, it's gonna be torture.

 

more than Spotify, and less than an entry level day job

 

I gather the pay is satisfactory? Hopefully, the heater talk will be more than that. If you do the gig, I’d bring a space heater just for you alone. Wear thermals. When I did my cold outdoor gigs, I used to have my SVT, I’d stand real close to it. Those warm tubes made for a cozy fire!

 

Do it. Make sure there are heaters.
And accommodations. Driving after NYE is amateur hour. Have fun.

 

Fingerless gloves. Fingerless gloves. Fingerless gloves.

 

So much this.

For me, if the heaters aren't gonna keep me hot enough to play in a t-shirt, i personally would pass. Playing with cold hands/wrists/forearms is not only miserable and reduces my playing ability, it's really unhealthy as far as CTS and tendonitis, and could cause playing issues well after the gig is over. I don't mean to be a primadonna, but i might be. Honestly, though, for me, i'm not desperate for money or gigs, so i have the luxury of being more picky. But really, playing a gig that harms your bass-playing-body-parts is counterproductive.

Also, if you do take the gig, bring gloves with the finger tips cut off, wrist bands, and a bunch of those self-heating hand warmer packets. (The liquid ones with the metal disk get hotter than the ones you just expose to air.) And if the heaters are adequate for your body but you're still feeling cold in your wrists or hands, put on the wristbands and the gloves. Tape the hand warmers to the inside wrist-side of the wrist warmers, and in the gloves on the back of the hand.

 

I recall some NYEs in this area being in the single digits or worse. (BTW, I am about 8 miles from the NH line). It is a crap shoot, but sounds insane to me. Ever tried playing your bass outside in that weather? For three hours? Even a three walled lean-to with heaters doesn't impress me, but I WOULD do it for... <Dr Evil voice> One Million Dollars! LOL

Seriously, I would suffer through *almost* anything for the right price.

 

Nope. And why would the venue think that customers want to be outdoors in that weather? Even if they're mostly inside? Seems strange.

 

Your timing will be thrown off by the cold. There is literally no way to compensate for the fact that your fingers will not move when you want them to. They will move, but frustratingly slowly.

I played an outdoor gig in November in 2020 - we had 3 bassists tag teaming the thing (long story). I only had to play 4 songs. I stayed inside until I had to go out, and made it through a couple songs before my timing started to decline. If there isn't a guarantee of 70 degrees at your fingertips, I'd politely decline - 3 hours is way too long to be horridly sucking at timing.