Poll: How many shows have you played?

[Vinny Vincenzo]

1980 opened for Jim Carrol band, case of beer for my band lol!

 

[Bunk McNulty]

I have no idea. First paying gig was a private party at the Huntington Town House on Long Island in 1966. I was a little shrimp playing Beatles and Ventures! I was active from then until 1992, was off the scene until 2003, then got pretty busy since then. It's probably a big number, but I sort of don't want to know. Rock bands, blues bands, country, folk music (!), originals, covers, whatever.

 

[klokker]

I'll only count paying gigs because I play at church all the time etc., a few free block parties. I've averaged about one paying gig a month for 10 years. So about 120 shows. Sometimes we'll have 6 or 7 gigs over the summer with a few months of nothing etc.

First gig was at Bob's Tavern in Havelock, NE in about 2008, when I was about 52 years old.

 

[FugaziBomb]

My first gig was at an underground punk rock club in 2000 as a guitarist in my first band (a ska/punk travesty). Since then I've likely played over 2000 shows.

 

[Carl Hillman]

And/or where was your first gig?

Responses to my last thread on what covers have you played most got me thinking. Some people put down some incredibly obscure songs, and then it occurred to me - maybe they're much younger and have only played a small handful of gigs in their life?

Anyhow, I did a little rough math. My first gig was in a battle of the bands in 1976. Guitar was my instrument. First "real" club gig was CBGB in 1978. And I kinda quit music from 84 to the early 90s. That's when I picked up bass and fell head over heels in love.

All that being said, my best guess is I've played throughout my life just a little short of 2000 shows.

What's your best guess as to how many shows you've done?

Number of gigs since 1978 is conservatively 6,500. Around 2,000 of those were orchestra pit gigs, which I started doing in 1992.

2007 seems to be the high water mark. I did 397 gigs/shows that year. It's all downhill from there.

First paid gig was at a country club, wearing a tux, reading such fare as "Satin Doll", "A Train", and "Girl From Ipanema" because I didn't know any tunes back then. One of my high school band directors was the band leader.

A while back, I started keeping a list of the different types of places I have played:


Arenas
Ballrooms
Barns
Bars, Saloons & Taverns
Boats
Brewpubs/Breweries
Casinos
Churches
Colleges and Universities
Convention Halls
Country Clubs
Dance Studios
Discos
Department Stores
Elementary/Middle/High Schools
Flatbed Truck in a Parking Lot
Grocery Stores
Home for Unwed Mothers
Hospital
Hotels
Illegal "After Hours" Club (allegedly...maybe it was me, maybe it wasn't)
Jazz Clubs
Law Firms
Lesbian Biker Bar
Mental Institutions
Military Bases and Outposts
Museums
Offices
Outdoor Festivals
Presidential Libraries
Prisons
Private Clubs
Private Homes
Recording Studios
Restaurants
Retirement Homes
Stadiums
Swingers Clubs
Symphony Halls
Synagogues
TV Studios
Wineries

 

[DeltaTango]

Not sure if this counts, but I will say 30 "shows". I have been taking jazz combo class at a community college. We perform 2-3 times per semester but the combos only performs 3-4 tunes each. The audience is other students, family members, and some general public, especially when we play at The Nash in Phoenix. It's experience. I really want some experience playing with a band outside of the academic setting though.

 

[delta7fred]

Never counted but have been gigging regularly since 1968.

First gig was a junior school leavers dance (11 year olds), our singer's mum was a teacher at the school. We were well received by the younger members of the audience but their parents were not impressed. Looking back I must agree with them.

 

[Dynomuttasaurus]

My first gig was almost 3 years ago. We played at a Carhartt store in a strip mall. The set was "acoustic". This is the one picture of the gig I have. My wife teases me that it was my coming-out-of-the-closet gig.

 

[pbass888]

Hey Joe,
Last year about 125 shows according to tax records mostly in the 5 boroughs. A lifetime of playing in my 52 years . Finest shows were at SoB's , Smalls and Rockefeller center (wedding). I would have loved to play at the old 55 Grand and the Roseland , but never did. Biggest shows were Reggae festivals.Smallest were in a NYC hotel room. Craziest ones were in the PRC on tour in the 80s!

Some good ones down in New Orelans and Houston too
I feel much gratitude thinking about the musicians I've got to play with .

All the best to you and many more .

 

[eldorado2001]

First ever was at a birthday party for a high school classmate, around 1974. That band did little more than practice and jam, but we did win our HS battle of the bands in '75. Got to split $100 if I remember right.

 

[SgtHulka]

I have a feeling that of all living bass players abraham laboriel, and Phil Lesh are number one and two in total shows played.

 

[PaulCISSA]

My first "gig" was 1975 as a freshman in HS. Performed a full set for a theater group showing of ?? (I can't remember).

First Band Gig came out of a bunch of us from that troupe. 1976, HS talent show. I had the only voice and a killer '60s Tiesco guitar I bought at a yard sale for $25. I'm still in touch with the drummer and bassist. Good times and Rock & Roll.

100's of gigs later things are very different now -

Evolution happens!

 

[mellowgerman]

Not positive but I think (not counting school orchestra) my first real gig was in early 2004, in Buffalo, NY with my brother's punk band. The bassist had gotten in a fight with the drummer, so he either quit or was asked to leave. They still had gigs lined up though, so they needed someone quick. I was 15 and really not a punk-rocker, but had already been taking formal lessons for a good 3 years, so I had the chops to learn the songs quick enough and throw in a few fills here and there. It was a great time and the Buffalo punk scene around that time was really something special. That same year I put together the first "real" band of my own and I've been gigging on and off ever since, 98% original material with a few covers peppered in here and there in each project. The bulk of my shows that puts the count well over 100 was in 2014, when I did a year of full-time touring. I've slowed down quite a bit since, taking music more as a creative outlet in my spare time, playing out every now and then. Just started a new band but it will probably be a while before we start gigging... 40hr/wk jobs and homes to take care of make it tough to get together more than once a week. In any case, I'm always looking forward to the next session and enjoy the time I get to spend playing music more than ever... kind of what it's all about, right?

 

[74hc]

- First gig was in 1979 in Oceanside, CA.
- I have no idea how many total gigs I've done in my lifetime.
- Since I've started to take it seriously again, i.e. actually not missing a single practice or gig... ~28 gigs since January of this year. I think 1980 was last year prior to where I took it seriously as I've define it for myself.

 

[rashrader]

My first gig was March of 1985 at the YMCA in Severna Park, MD. We opened for Marginal Man and Shudder to Think.

 

[Tim669]

First gig was 1990-ish and I have done 1200 or so since then with about a 7 year break after getting married. High profile to extremely low profile. I've played in front of thousands and sometimes just the bar staff. Even the crappy gigs are fun in retrospect.

 

[HamOnTheCob]

My first show was at a crappy local bar in 1998 or 1999. They offered us $100 to play 4 hours. No PA or anything. We brought our own for vocals. By the end of the show, we had run out of material so we each took turns playing and singing stuff that we halfway knew. We even played that song "Godzilla" but no one knew the music or the lyrics, so we just made up music and kept singing the chorus over and over. "Ohhhhh no. They say he's got to go, GO GO GODZILLA! Woooooo" hahahaha what a trip that was. Now that I'm thinking about it, it was maybe the most ridiculous thing that I was ever a part of on stage.

 

[tekhedd]

I saw the poll options, and I'm asking myself "do you mean just so far this year, or..?"

It's feast or famine. Or sometimes both, considering how places want to pay these days, knowwhatimean?

 

[shadven]

I played saxophone in the school band, and then in 6th grade electric bass in the "Jazz" band. That same year my rock band played a school assembly in every elementary school in our hometown... 4 schools.

My rock gigs were few in high school. But the summer after high school it was on! I've never stopped playing bands and gigging since. Some big shows with major acts and millions of bar gigs and little tours.

 

[two fingers]

For the better part of a decade I was doing upwards of a couple hundred a year (especially if you count every single Wednesday night being the house bass player at an open mic night). I was a weekend warrior before and after (still am). So it's gotta be around 2,000.