Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
How many gigs have you played?
- Thread starter fat-bottom
- Start date
in my first ever band, an amateurish high school chums affair (i played lead guitar but also owned a 1979 p-bass), we played two shows total in the winter/spring of 1984, at a local club's open mic night. we broke up several months later.
in my first professional group, we played an average of two gigs a week between july 1985 and january 1987, the longest stretches being a thanksgiving 1985 weekend where we played wed. and thur. night at a resort (where, ironically, my father would become head of time share sales ten years later) and fri./sat. at a regular venue, and a four-night stand at a local club where I ironically played my penultimate gigs with them -- est. 150-200 shows.
in my next group, a slightly lame bar band given to jamming and frequent personnel changes but devoted to practicing, we only did two gigs (both parties) in 1986, and about one or two shows a month for about six months for the first half of 1987. (in case anyone's wondering, i took a short sabbatical from that first band after an onstage injury and got involved in the second band, leaving entirely in feb. 1987 for personal musical reasons), so approx. 12 to 14 shows.
it would be about seven months before i ended up in another group, a hard-rock combo that lasted from feb. 1988 to april 1989. shows came an average of monthly between august 1988 and my quitting the band in april 1989. ended up in a pickup band directly after that, doing a handful of shows for the rest of the summer. again, approx. 12 shows with each group.
finished college between fall 1989-spring 1992 (graduation delayed by inability to get a final p.e. credit because of how quickly classes would fill, what a bogart!), joined one band in 1990 that only played one gig but lasted three months afterward,
i spent two years trying to be a punk rock prince or todd rundgren with my four-track in my bedroom, rehearsed briefly with a classic rock band in 1992, didn't get actively involved with music again until i joined a top-40/rock bar band in 1996. rehearsed most of winter/spring of 1996, played one or two shows a week with them between april and october 1996, choosing to quit the group out of disgust after realizing that all the talk of having an equal say in the set list and other matters was just a lie because they were desperate to get a bass player for the band (they went through three or four bassists in the 'previous' incarnation of the group before they changed their name and asked me aboard. approx. 48 shows with them until i quit the group by choosing _not_ to show up for another gig in one of the redneck bars that the drummer was fond of booking us into. oddly enough, the drummer was still rather friendly with me after that (the only guy who stood by me in the group 90 percent of the time), yet the son-of-a-bitch stole my amplifier (which i never got back) a year or so later.
have not played in a band since ... the music scene in northeastern pennsylvania simply sucks. trying to get something musically different going in the post-nirvana, post-badlees being on a&m records musical atmosphere (reduced to a lot of classic rock and southern rock cover band rubbish -- new bands outside of those two fields cannot even get gigs around here anymore!) has been an uphill struggle, combined with the proliferation of tuneless garbabe by untalented and tone-deaf nu-metal bands, has had me question why i even bother with guitar-based music anymore. (90% of what i've bought over the past two years has been in the electronic medium as a result...)
sorry for the rant, but the truth had to come out.
cj
in my first professional group, we played an average of two gigs a week between july 1985 and january 1987, the longest stretches being a thanksgiving 1985 weekend where we played wed. and thur. night at a resort (where, ironically, my father would become head of time share sales ten years later) and fri./sat. at a regular venue, and a four-night stand at a local club where I ironically played my penultimate gigs with them -- est. 150-200 shows.
in my next group, a slightly lame bar band given to jamming and frequent personnel changes but devoted to practicing, we only did two gigs (both parties) in 1986, and about one or two shows a month for about six months for the first half of 1987. (in case anyone's wondering, i took a short sabbatical from that first band after an onstage injury and got involved in the second band, leaving entirely in feb. 1987 for personal musical reasons), so approx. 12 to 14 shows.
it would be about seven months before i ended up in another group, a hard-rock combo that lasted from feb. 1988 to april 1989. shows came an average of monthly between august 1988 and my quitting the band in april 1989. ended up in a pickup band directly after that, doing a handful of shows for the rest of the summer. again, approx. 12 shows with each group.
finished college between fall 1989-spring 1992 (graduation delayed by inability to get a final p.e. credit because of how quickly classes would fill, what a bogart!), joined one band in 1990 that only played one gig but lasted three months afterward,
i spent two years trying to be a punk rock prince or todd rundgren with my four-track in my bedroom, rehearsed briefly with a classic rock band in 1992, didn't get actively involved with music again until i joined a top-40/rock bar band in 1996. rehearsed most of winter/spring of 1996, played one or two shows a week with them between april and october 1996, choosing to quit the group out of disgust after realizing that all the talk of having an equal say in the set list and other matters was just a lie because they were desperate to get a bass player for the band (they went through three or four bassists in the 'previous' incarnation of the group before they changed their name and asked me aboard. approx. 48 shows with them until i quit the group by choosing _not_ to show up for another gig in one of the redneck bars that the drummer was fond of booking us into. oddly enough, the drummer was still rather friendly with me after that (the only guy who stood by me in the group 90 percent of the time), yet the son-of-a-bitch stole my amplifier (which i never got back) a year or so later.
have not played in a band since ... the music scene in northeastern pennsylvania simply sucks. trying to get something musically different going in the post-nirvana, post-badlees being on a&m records musical atmosphere (reduced to a lot of classic rock and southern rock cover band rubbish -- new bands outside of those two fields cannot even get gigs around here anymore!) has been an uphill struggle, combined with the proliferation of tuneless garbabe by untalented and tone-deaf nu-metal bands, has had me question why i even bother with guitar-based music anymore. (90% of what i've bought over the past two years has been in the electronic medium as a result...)
sorry for the rant, but the truth had to come out.
cj
Wow. It's been almost 8 years since anything was posted. Well....
Total, I've played eight gigs. Four with my current band (the vids are on YouTube, but no way am I giving you the link), and then one gig each with four solo guys. There would've been more but several gigs were cancelled.
Total, I've played eight gigs. Four with my current band (the vids are on YouTube, but no way am I giving you the link), and then one gig each with four solo guys. There would've been more but several gigs were cancelled.
- Dec 23, 2008
- 157
- 0
- Disclosures
- Staff Producer / Audio Engineer: Blue Tower Studio, Denver, CO & Mighty Fine Productions, Denver, CO
911, at least since I started keeping track in 1997. There were some before, but probably not many more than 50, I think my first real gig was somewhere around 1988 and I didn't really go "pro" till the late 90's.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
You've got plenty of years ahead of you to get your numbers up.
I'm 40, and have less than 10. I'm currently looking for a new band, though.
About 1500 to 2000 with current band of ten years. In one day, 3 with doing one the night before. Nothing like a 7am call time after you get to bed at 3am and worked 14 hrs the previous day. Played a gig in two different countries(territories) in one day. About 8yrs ago did a St.Pat's parade on the island of St.John USVI and then took the ferry back over to the island of Tortola BVI and did our Saturday nite gig. It was easy except for customs.Lol! There must be a hundred more of these stories out there. Just another day at work.
Eric, I thought you had a lot more than that under your belt. No offense, if you take any by it, but I thought you have had more than that.
Funny I was thinking/talking about that earlier today. I honestly don't know. Played stuff in school. First pro gig in 1977. I never really stopped for any length of time. Some times average 4-5 per week, some times 3-4 per week. some times 2-3 per week. Only lately have I slowed down, and now it is usually 1-2 per week. occasionally a week off. YOU do the math, I'm too tired.
Hmmm, I have more basses than gigs played :/ I have probably played 80 or so times in public. This includes open mics. Probably 30 or so times paid gigs.
None, thus far, and no plans to in the future.
I have only started playing out in the last year or so and I think I'm up to about 29. Thats with 3 different bands. Two original band one cover band. My current band only plays out once every other month or so. 
I'm with Bob G.-first gig in 64 or so. My personal peak was in the mid 80s-through '05; 150-200 jobs a year for that period. It's less consistent now, but still at least one a week.
In my 40 year career, I have played well over 3,000 gigs and that included a self imposed break of about 8 years. My current band has played 604 gigs as of last night and currently have about 40 upcoming gigs on the books.
Hard to tell exactly, I was a weekend warrior at best, but at my most active point I was in a band for about 7-8 years that did two to three gigs a week. We had a policy if you couldn't make a scheduled gig you were responsible for a sub. I had perfect attendance. 
However, we did take a weekend off here and there, so about 800, I guess.
All other gigs, I have no idea. I had about 10 years prior to that with an on and off type of schedule. Studio, probably only about 6 or so demo type recording and only about 2-3 actual hired recordings.
Haven't gigged in quite a while.
However, we did take a weekend off here and there, so about 800, I guess.
All other gigs, I have no idea. I had about 10 years prior to that with an on and off type of schedule. Studio, probably only about 6 or so demo type recording and only about 2-3 actual hired recordings.
Haven't gigged in quite a while.
