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Bar band Gigs are too long
- Thread starter glenb73
- Start date
hahaha
the gigs are shorter and,
the players are softer
it used to be 9 - 2 (you'd actually quit about 1:45 at last call)
5 - 40 minute sets with 20 min breaks - it was standard ALL over the country
I did this usually 6 nights a week (Sundays off) for years on the road - some places even 10 - 3 or 4am at after hours joints
we were proud to do it - professional musicians and all - we made about $350/wk (+ meals & rooms)in the 70's - decent $$ then
hahaha
BTW, you had to have 50 strong tunes or you'd be repeating (which totally sucks)
the gigs are shorter and,
the players are softer
it used to be 9 - 2 (you'd actually quit about 1:45 at last call)
5 - 40 minute sets with 20 min breaks - it was standard ALL over the country
I did this usually 6 nights a week (Sundays off) for years on the road - some places even 10 - 3 or 4am at after hours joints
we were proud to do it - professional musicians and all - we made about $350/wk (+ meals & rooms)in the 70's - decent $$ then
hahaha
BTW, you had to have 50 strong tunes or you'd be repeating (which totally sucks)
I have a regular bass gig at a coffee house where I get better than that for a 45 minute set every Thursday night, and I'm home by 8.
I'm not a great bass player. I don't understand why some of you guys sell yourselves so cheap. I'd never play my main axe for the kind of money you guys seem to be content getting out there in the big market regions.
Doesn't matter. If the crowd isn't listening, and they're only making $25 a head...... it doesn't matter.
Here in the Pacific Northwest - 4 sets of 10, band starts at 9, play 45 min, 15 min break, rinse / repeat. What was the appeal? If you played the right songs, played them well, the (ahem) really good looking gals were out there having fun and I enjoyed watching them 
Oh - and prior to start time and on breaks, the multi thousand watt PA was my portable mega-stereo... hearing that system in different rooms, with different crowds, and with some of my favorite recorded music, was a treat for me.
Wages? Umm... you can, and should, do much better than that
Oh - and prior to start time and on breaks, the multi thousand watt PA was my portable mega-stereo... hearing that system in different rooms, with different crowds, and with some of my favorite recorded music, was a treat for me.
Wages? Umm... you can, and should, do much better than that
I'd like a gig just like that. I don't even care about the money, the fact I can get home at a decent hour is good enough
I don't drink at gigs, and the bars never give us free food, and I'm already married, so the getting laid part is of no incentive
That right there. I didn't work 32 years of non-music jobs for a living and finally get the opportunity the past year to work well over a hundred nights to piss it away for not liking working the bars late at night four one-hour sets. I'm having the time of my life, and yes, it's a slog, but a happy one. I'll take it any day over the crap I've done.
I once did a show that was 4 hours and 35 minutes with no breaks (just to prove we could). We banged out 52 songs because we didn't want anyone saying we pulled it off by BSing between songs. It was a fun night. Our sax guy ordered pizza from the stage during a song. I tapped out a couple of songs with a bass neck in my left hand and a slice of pizza in my right. Good times.
That truly sucks- "Time to quit." that ain't worth it on any front. I never took less than an even cut in any band I played in. (Now if I backed Sting or something that would be a different animal)
As for the 50 songs, they must be picking easy repetitive type songs, because most of the songs I play in bands have been challenging and getting 30 down is usually tough, due to people in the band jsut not remembering how to play them and where the changes/stops are. Songs like Interstate Love Song, and Alive require quite a bit more work than Louie-Louie... just saying.
Bottom line,..do you want to play for fun? Or do you want to try to make somewhat of a living with your instrument? Either choice is fine.
Don't accept one of the choices and then be upset about it though. That just ruins the the whole point of making music.
Don't accept one of the choices and then be upset about it though. That just ruins the the whole point of making music.
I play for fun and love it , and would do it for free. But my point is this, I love to play for 1-2 hours and that's it, but the way the game is set up you have to play for 3-4 hours and get home at some ungodly hour. It would be nice to have some sort of middle ground.
Exactly how I remember it too. This was long ago for me also. I was lucky to make a living out of it for many years, but we had to work it and work it hard if we wanted to get the higher paying rooms. 5 sets? Who cares when you're doing what you love and getting payed (and sometimes free drinks, food, etc.)
Sorry it's not working out for you.
Why are the guitarist and singer getting far and away more than you? Normally, if they are doing promotion and getting bookings for GOOD PAYING gigs, and/or they are showcase players, drawing lots of people into GOOD PAYING gigs, then it makes sense for them to take a bigger cut. Should be an equal five way split, in this case. What am I missing here?
If you are getting less than $500 a week , you are playing for fun. Even that would be tough to live off with the devaluing of the $.
It's kinda dumb. The singer gets a bigger share because he brings in a lot his friends and feels like everyone is there to see him only. The guitar player books the gigs so he feels like he deserves a bit more too.
But what really drives me mad, is even though the singer brings in 20-30 people, granted, all his friends do is drink and play pool, shoot darts, flirt with girls, and not even listening to us. We finish songs and no one knows we even played.
The more I think about it , the more and more annoyed I'm getting about this.
That's because super star legendary bands have played a million gigs (good, bad and everywhere in-between), command a lot more money and play when they want, what they want and for as long they want. I don't know which super star bands you see, but the ones I go to play for a long time, even if they have been at it for over 40 years.
If you play with other people, is it fun? That should tell you something.
When I saw Black Sabbath, they played 15 songs.
Iron Maiden played about 15 also
Megadeth played a measly 12 songs.
Only bands that gave me my moneys worth were Pearl Jam and Foo Fighters
