Poll: How many shows have you played?

[Flashback Bass]

50 to 250.

First "Gig" was a music school recital from the place I took guitar lessons. It was at a school auditorium. I was 9 years old and played "fourth" guitar in a "band" with four guitars, bass, and drums. We played Ally Cat. The Lead Guitarist screwed up the call and response timing and it was a train wreck! I did however enjoy playing all the low notes on the bottom two strings of the guitar! Yes, a sign of things to come. (I meant the bass, not a hatred of Lead Guitarists!)

Flash forward 20-something years and I worked with a guy who wanted to learn how to play guitar. Turns out his Brother-in-Law played drums and his best friend played lead guitar. Since we didn't need three guitars I bought a bass. Our first gig was at the Lead Guitarist's girlfriend's parents house in the sunken den!

Now flash forward another 10 years I played my first "real" gig with the same friend from work but with other guys. We played a street fair in Lakehurst, NJ for free, uh, exposure!

We finally made it to the Bar & Grill level and have been playing ever since. Two more bands later, last year we had one of the coolest gigs ever. We got asked to play a benefit at the Stone Pony. While we weren't paid and played for a good cause and dinner, it was still a thrill to play the "Pony". Growing up in Central Jersey the Pony is quite the hallowed ground!

Now the band is backing it down and we're only playing like once a quarter and that's fine with me.

 

[Pings Bass]

First paying gig: trumpet in a brass quartet for an Easter service at a Catholic church, ca. 1982. Hey man, 25 bucks is 25 bucks.

First bar gig: rhythm guitar with The Sloppy Drunk Blues Band ca. 1983. We were all in high school, three of us seniors, the drummer a sophomore, 15 or 16. Bar manager looks at the drummer and says, hey is he 19? (drinking age at the time) Me, 17 or 18 at the time: uhh.... Bar manager: make sure he doesn't drink anything, ok?

Bar manager, after the gig, attended primarily by our parents: You guys have an older crowd, eh?

 

[Jamvan]

High school house party in 1989. We'd been a vocal-less" band for a couple years but none of us could play and sing at the same time so we did "backing tracks" and drunk friends would get up on stage and sing. Mostly Def Leppard, Metallica, and the like. I played guitar at the time. I also played bass in church group during this time using my Cort headless and a cheap 15 watt bass amp with volume, bass, and treble controls. On good nights, I could pull in a radio station from Denver Colorado with that bass amp.

Played a lot through college in various groups but got out for a number of years a couple years after that. Picked it up in earnest about 4 1/2 years ago so i'm north of 250 shows but not by much.

(the first "gigging" band "Mista Meaner"...buddy playing the bass I learned to play on; a mid-70's Gibson Grabber. Thing weighed a ton.)

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

My first gig was at the USO in Memphis in 1963. I can't even hazard a guess as to how many gigs.

 

[Turbo Sparky]

CBGBs?! Legend.
1st gig: 2012 Back yard B-Day Barbeque, all the food/drinks we could eat...man-o-man are ribs guuud!
54 gigs later, it suddenly dawns upon me that we never go hungry or thirsty gigging, funds go back into the band, and the most fun and exhilarating (sp?) gig was at a 3-day arts festival...really cool to be unknown at the start...and 10 secs into second song people started multiplying each measure thereafter...
and all the ice water we could drink.
Tracks laid for 2nd EP...now the work of mix downs and vocals. Oh the horror
….but dang, the GAS pains LOL!

 

[el murdoque]

My first was in '94 or '95. A few friends from school formed a band and needed a bassist - I bought a bass and was in. A barely knew which side was up and which hand did what, but we performed the 5 songs we had so far.
First paying gig was shortly after that.
I played in two bands and occasionally for the school orchestra and then took a hiatus from '99 to '05 when I finished school and moved out of town.

I started again when a friend got a call because a band was put together on short notice. He was asked to play bass, but said he'd play drums and bring a bass player, then ambushed me with the plan for the gig in three weeks' time. I got my bass from the place I had it stored and played that gig. Right after that I read an ad from someone I knew by reputation who wanted to form a band. I was freshly hooked on playing live so I joined up. I was not up to the technical abilities of the rest of the musicians, but I fit the bill enough that they went with me (the fact that no other bass player showed up helped a lot). I practiced my lower back off and with the playing and the gigs, other projects showed up. I've spent most of my time since in an average of two bands (one gigging regularly and one playing the odd gig here and there) and have a few people that book my bass and me for shows that do improvised sets or play covers.

I voted 50-250 gigs, but while writing this, I realized there were probably more.

 

[bkirk]

I was just thinking about this a couple of weeks ago and estimating the number of gigs I've played since roughly 1970. Best guess is in the 1500-2000 range.

 

[lfmn16]

I'm not sure. I've been playing for 48 years, a lot of the 70's was full time, I'd say 1,500 - 2,000, conservatively. My first gig was 3 sets at a bar when I was 13 in 1970. I forget who got us the gig but it was an afternoon job. I've been hooked ever since.

 

[2saddleslab]

First paid gig was 4th of July, 1986. I've got over 3000 gigs under my belt since then.

 

[neddyrow]

we used to play acoustic music on hay wagon rides at a friends apple orchard.

when we finally booked a real gig in a bar, we called ourselves, "Off the Wagon"

very fitting since our guitar player was blind drunk during most shows.

 

[FretFree]

1st gig on bass: JR High "jazz band" concert at the local shopping mall around 1988. Fun fact: my E string had broken the day before so I played on the three remaining.

I voted 1000-1500. At my musical peak, the group I was in averaged 200+ shows a year across a 4 year period... and I've played plenty of shows before and since!

 

[Space Pickle]

I was fortunate to go to a high school with a great music program and then study music in post-secondary school, but I don't count those performances as gigs. My first real gig was joining a cover band in 2013 and doing the local bar scene, I've played in a variety of covers and originals bands ever since. Played a lot of small venues, some places were great, some were total dives. Played some great gigs and some stupid gigs.

I'm currently trying to figure out how to move myself from the sideman life into more of an original artist type thing.

 

[Chad Bennett]

The first show I recall was the Iroquois club in Roanoke Va. Would have been around 1991, it was mid week and I remember there being about 5 people there (all family of band members) we were all about 13 at the time. Quiet Riot had played the night before, and we took all the set lists they left taped to the floor.

I would guess I would fall in the 750-1000 range.

 

[Jon Lars]

First show was opening for Romeo Void at Luis' La Bamba in Portland...

..and our set was our own originals.

Instrumentals.

Playing my Sunn amp, Traynor cabinet, and new Gretsch TK-300.

Jon-Lars

 

[RichardW]

First gig was May 2009 at my own 50th birthday party. Just played the band's 60th gig at my 60th birthday last weekend.

First paying gig was our 3rd overall, in December 2009. I'd say 90 percent have been paid since then.

 

[brocket]

Public gigs with a band: 30 (25 of which have come in the last 1.5 years with my current band)

Including church: 230+

 

[And I]

My first "gig" was at a high school talent show. My first gig outside of high school was at a metal night at a club somewhere in NJ (while I was in high school). The band was called "Scepter" and I was playing guitar (a sweet Washburn N4 that i borrowed from a friend). My first gig on bass was with a band that played only the one gig and I don't think we had a name at that point. It was at a function hall for the drummer's birthday.

I've been gigging for about 25 years years. During my busiest year I did maybe 75 shows. I figure maybe I have averaged 25 gigs a year for 25 years? Total guess...

 

[BooDoggie]

Wow... My first gig was in 72 or 73 at a private party. I wasn't old enough to drink.(wink,wink) I pretty much played bass in various bands almost every weekend until 2001.

 

[Meyatch]

I've been in my current band for 9 1/2 years, playing around 50-75 shows a year. We are busier now than when we started. Not sure how many I played before that, maybe around 100. I voted 500-750, but I have no idea.

My first gig was at a sportsman's club opening for another band. It was a halloween party, and my avatar is a picture of me that night.

 

[Flashback Bass]

First paid gig was 4th of July, 1986. I've got over 3000 gigs under my belt since then.

Wow!

So 2019 minus 1986 is 33 years! 3000 divided by 33 is 90± gigs a year. So that's around 45 weeks of every Friday and Saturday night for 33 years. That right there is some serious dedication!