If you play that late, it is always going to take time to wind down. Your body is cranking out endorphins and that takes a while to counter. Think about getting off work at 5:00 and then trying to go to bed at 7:00. It aint gonna happen. It's also worse if you are drinking. This is a big reason why we don't schedule shows where we have to play past midnight. If you are going to try to keep playing that kind of schedule, I would recommend trying melatonin, or 5-htp. Melatonin will induce natural sleep. 5-htp is also natural and will take the edge off post gig. It's mild enough that you can take in the daytime for anxiety. Both take about 30-45 minutes to kick in. You could take it about 15 minutes before you hit the front door and should be fully in your system once you are getting out of shower. Worth a try.
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Anyone else have this problem?
- Thread starter birminghambass
- Start date
I'd advise anyone to stay away from that stuff.
Melatonin works well for me. Stops the busy brain...
I do that with half a tab of that Sleep Aid you can get from Cosco. I go to sleep every night now. Rather nice.
Well, of course you realize that's why so many musicians drink, right. They're too wound up after a gig to go to sleep. And then they end up with a drinking problem.
Back in the early 70's when I was in a touring nightclub group, we would play 5-nights a week, 50-weeks a year. Did that for 3-years. We typically played 9PM to 1AM. We'd finish at one and then go get dinner. That would help us unwind a lot. We'd usually be done by ~2AM and would hit the sack by 3 AM. Then we'd get up around noon, sometimes as early as 11AM. Slept like a stone and have never had a problem since.
So, I'd suggest you go out to eat after your gig and give yourself a chance to unwind before you try to go asleep. And, of course, trying to read a book once you retire will put you to sleep in short order.
Not sleeping at all after a gig is a different matter though, that is miserable, not being able to switch off. How do the other guys in the band do with sleep? If you have a slight imbalance, in that your brain over-produces the adrenaline and all of the rest of the goodies, that'll keep you up. When others are subsiding, you're still going. And that is exhausting, body is done but brain won't stop.
