If I could do it all over again....

[skygzr]

I'm in my early 60s. Hopefully I'm not done gigging but realistically most of them are behind me. So what's my regret?

I wish I'd kept a gig diary!

I've played weddings and weird parties and wonky bars with five people in the audience and arts festivals in front of thousands. I met really interesting people and drunken idiots. I've had the circuit breaker blow in the middle of a set and I left my bass in the back of my pickup truck for a coupe of days (it was still there, later).

But I don't know when these things happened, and all the other details are lost to memory. I don't know how much we were paid or what the food was like or whether is was raining or hot.

It wouldn't have to be like a teenage girl's diary talking about my feelings with big loopy letters (but that would be OK, too). I would just like to know where I've been all these years.

Happy and safe 2021, y'all.

 

[Spidey2112]

I'd say you're doing alright if most of what you remember is good.

 

[Mike JV]

I've heard it said that when you get older the years start blending into one. I'm 67 and am finding that statement is very true. Played in many of the same circumstances as you and while I remember certain details it's hard remembering where and when these things happened. But by and large I'd say we all had a pretty good time!

 

[Zooberwerx]

I'm a huge proponent of selective amnesia.

Riis

 

[Krisfield]

There are a few gigs and rehearsals I wished I had videoed.

 

[Groove Doctor]

Reconnect with your old music buddies while you still can. Ask them to fill in the blanks. Tell each other stories and relive your glory days. Laugh lots and feel alive again.

 

[2saddleslab]

A year after starting a band back in 1986 our drummer mentioned how many gigs we did the previous year and how much we made. I was shocked and asked how he knew that. He said he keeps a band diary. I was even more shocked I didn't think of that myself.

From there on I kept "the books" detailing the gigs, recording sessions, gear purchases, and some short commentary on each, if warranted. It's been a treasure trove of info and a blast to go back & read some of the entries.

 

[Eidolon0274]

Side note, just watched a great documentary on the Apollo theater, the stage or booking manager kept gig notes starting back in the 30s or something, super cool to see the handwritten notes on pay, short gig review and audience etc.

Maybe some TBers were at some of those early Apollo gigs?

 

[Milo Spleen]

I surprise myself at times with the stuff that I DO remember. Cheap motels, girl's names, club information, and I think that it's good for the brain to keep trying to remember as much as possible. I do agree that having a journal would be really funny Covid fodder on Facebook right about now. Touring in the 70's was good.

 

[RCH]

Forgetfulness is another form of freedom.

 

[NortyFiner]

I wish I had started learning music much earlier in life.

 

[JRA]

I would just like to know where I've been all these years.

...or, what it all means...

 

[Pdaddy1978]

I didn't have the foresight to keep a "diary " of our adventures, but I did compile a "scrapbook" of ephemera from the gloriest of days.
Flyers, posters, newspaper clippings, stage passes, stickers, ticket stubs.
Flipping through it reminds me of great many things I would have otherwise forgotten.

 

[mattj1stc]

I wish I had learned to read music and understand theory sooner. So much easier when you have an idea of what you're doing.

 

[Helix]

Prosecutor: Do you remember anything about all those shows you did in the 80's and 90's?

Defendant: No.....I cant remember

Judge: Case dismissed

 

[Pings Bass]

I'm kind of with you; most of my gigs from the 80s are lost in a psychedelic haze. I remember highlights and lowlights, and maybe that's good enough. The lead guitarist from my band in that era was our archivist and has a record of sorts in soundboard tapes and flyers. The 90s was a haze of side-man gigs, lots of unmemorable lunch pail kind of work, with a smattering of memorable gigs. I recently came across a pocket calendar from one of those years, and was briefly amused. The 00s were layout years, with young kids at home not conducive to playing out. Then church gigs with my daughter; not much I need to remember from that, though I still have the sheet music if I really want to remember the guitar solo I played on a Cold Play song backing up the high school hand bell choir.

But I'm mostly a "here and now" kind of guy, so I'm not prone to nostalgia trips. It's all a journey, and I'm still on it. I'm much more interested in what tomorrow will bring than in where I've been. I have no regrets at all. Every past decision brought me to where I am today, and I'm in a good place. So...

 

[PWRL]

I remember most of them.

 

[Claymore]

talking about my feelings with big loopy letters

Thank you. I needed that.

 

[Samatza]

Luckily one of our guys is an accountant so he kept track of gigs and expenses and the other was a photographer so we have plenty of photos.

Strangely I can recall most of our gigs over 36 years. I turned 60 this year and I'm hoping that I can keep at it for another decade or more.

 

[juancaminos]

I'll be 66 in 16 days and I've played gigs since before I had a drivers license. Our little band played neighborhood parties that we walked to. We played Junior High School dances called "Drop In's". Then moved up from there.
I was the first to marry and move out of state in my early 20's. From there a string of bands in country bars, blues bars, drug infested bars and the most exciting...biker bars. The biker events all over the West. Biker club house exclusives as well. I have some memories but never kept a diary. Boy I wish I did.

I remember playing a dance at the local Junior High, I had just got my license to drive and had been given the family 63 Ford Galaxy. It had a bad motor mount which caused the shift linkage to fall out of place. In which case reverse would be forward. Well the principle said that I needed to move my car from the back of the hall we were in. I gave him the keys and he proceeded to run into the building!

Another time the guitar player and I got into a fight at a high school prom we were playing. That was just a small portion of the train wreck of a gig it turned out to be. We played rock and passed the audition with flying colors. But during the gig everyone wanted to hear country. It was rough!

Other than not keeping a diary I sincerely wish I would have taken some band classes.