Edit: Adding the disclosure that I am not an attorney, nor a peace officer, etc
I'm 30 and a drunk. So, quite honestly I drive when I shouldn't and drink way more than I should. Not really proud of it or anything, but you don't see many sober recovering alcoholics in bars three nights a week playing music.
Please remember to keep the BAC under .08! If the cops get you then you can't gig easily...also it's unsafe.
I *hope* the cops get you, and take away your license, for your sake and for the sake of others on the road. I understand completely that when people are drunk, they are physically, definitively incapable of making sound judgments, but to know in advance that you are going to drink and drive is ridiculous and absurd.
Do you realize that the only reason drinking & driving resulting in someone's death isn't legally considered to be premeditated is that the driver, *because* he is drunk, can not definitively be identified as making the decision, with sound mind, to drive unsafely with extreme recklessness with regard to human life? Revealing on Talkbass that you plan to drink and drive, or even worse, that you do it regularly, and are aware that it's illegal, unsafe, and potentially dangerous, might be enough to charge you with second degree murder instead of vehicular or voluntary manslaughter, or something along those lines, if you ever kill someone doing this. Murder, in the US, means there was "malicious aforethought" - that is, 1) intent to kill, 2) intent to cause grievous bodily harm, 3) a "depraved heart", or 4) felony murder. A depraved-heart, or "abandoned and malignant heart" murder is one in which a person acts with extreme recklessness with regard to human life (e.g. stating in advance of getting drunk that you plan to drive while drunk, knowing that you are disregarding human life by doing this). A felony murder is one in which a death occurs during the commission of a felony (depending on the circumstances, can be satisfied if the driver is drunk and has his license revoked, etc). Any of these 4 conditions being met results in a murder charge, rather than manslaughter. If a murder is deliberate, premeditated, and willfull, it is generally first degree. Otherwise it is second degree.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not attacking you personally, and I don't want you to go to jail or anything like that - I don't even know you, man - but if you know you can't be responsible with a driver's license, you should just turn it over to the cops now, before you kill somebody or yourself. I want you to be safe, just as a fellow TBer, and if you know you're going to drink in excess, at least make other travel arrangements.
As far as the thread topic, when I'm at a gig, I'm "at work." I wouldn't drink at any other job, because even if it's allowed, it's unprofessional and it affects my ability to perform at my best.
After load-out, I might drink one or two, if I'm not the driver.
