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Worth the trouble? checklist


pogo97

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One of my bandmate wants to gig even though it makes him very anxious. The other bandmate would prefer to not gig and sent this little checklist to help decide whether a gig is worth doing:

 

I'm ok with a gig as long as it checks more than one box on our gig decision checklist.

 

- it's an exceptionally good cause

- it pays very well

- it's an opportunity to learn something new

- it's an opportunity to play with new/interesting people

- it would be fun and easy (e.g. PA gear is provided)

 

Seems reasonable to me.

 

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I would add something about distance... how far do you have to travel for a gig can add or detract greatly from its appeal.

 

I really like gigging, but yes, I am in favor of gig filters. Last original band I was in our singer would book tons of gigs and I finally just started being "busy" many of those dates. Just was not worth it to me to drive for an hour each way to play for no money and a dinky bar with 10 or so patrons.

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Me Short check list. Better to list the reasons why I'd refuse one.

1) Bad gig or not appropriate for the music we play --- which would be a bad gig

2) Not worth the money offered for the time/mileage

3) For a cause I just cannot support (like for a political candidate that I oppose or a group that supports hate).

 

I love to gig. It's the most fun I can have with my clothes on.

 

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If playing a gig makes someone anxious, maybe they should do more gigging to get used to being on stage? Some of my retirement gigs (assisted living & independant) make me nervous because it's treated as a concert. They expect to be entertained and many watch every move I make. No problem with a band, but being solo it's hard to get used to it.

 

Long term care facilities are much easier. Must be the meds :)

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Solo work is like a highwire act without a net. Any error, they know it is you. I absolutely admit that the first solo gig I did, I was a nervous wreck until I was packing up. I've been performing one way or another to audiences since I was a small child, but always in some form of ensemble; even a duo takes half the pressure off.

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My gig last night with a Willie Nelson tribute act met the criteria. $55 tips, well attended (hotel lounge), well received and fun music. Couple drinks comped too. Nice people all the way around, on stage and off. The night had some spontaneity too- I spotted a lady who used to tip me extremely well for playing Mona Lisa, so I asked the singer if he knew it-which he did (I guess Willie has covered everything). We did a quiet run-through at the end of the set and he said LETS DO IT- so we did after the break.

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Hadn't thought about the safety issue. We haven't been asked to play any unsafe places but I would decline.

 

I never tell anyone we will bring in our own crowd. If they ask, I tell them that we have a mailing list of 500 people, sometimes a lot of them come, sometimes none of them come, so bank on none and if a lot come, figure it's a bonus.

 

Since our audience is usually 50 years old and up, they are unpredictable.

 

I've been playing the retirement crowd since I was in my 40s. It's good money for short hours, the people are nice (no fights - it's save), and in South Florida the work is more plentiful than the bars/lounges.

 

If I don't like the gig, I'll sometimes simply quote a high price, and if they bite, at least I'm getting paid for it ;) but most of the time they just decline.

 

Notes

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Happily married to my band-mate. She was in the audience when I met her (I've never met a female without the help of my saxophone), we got along great, and I found out she was also a musician.

 

This is like a gift from heaven. We enjoy playing music together, neither one of us like to drink alcohol on the gig, and we have very intense play ethics (it's like work ethics, but it's fun). So meeting women in the audience are no longer a reason for me.

 

But I do remember the days on the road when I was young, single, and had an excess of testosterone. I do hope all the wonderful women I had fun with remember it as fondly as I do. They were part of my life, and although I got the best one for keeps now, I still remember many of the others.

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Speaking of women from the past, lately I've bumped into a couple of ex-girlfriends from years ago. Interesting to see how much they've changed but also stayed the same. Strangest instance was a while back. A buddy and I both went out with the same lady. He reconnected with her decades later, and he and his wife, me and my wife and she and her man all had diner together. Had the makings of a TV show...

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The flip side of that is, being solo but not in the spotlight- wallpaper, ambience-type gigs- that can lead to feeling isolated, or at your paranoid worst, that there is a pact, agreed to upon entering the room, to ignore the musician. And any attention you do get is of the "most unpopular person at the party really hits it off with the dog" type (and guess who's the dog, lol).

 

Working as a duo can relieve that sensation.

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