Gasman

Hey @Geek99, just interested to notice, a member since 2008, over 7000 posts but not used to playing in a band and a bit fazed by a 12 bar sequence? Are you a classical double bassist by any chance?

Everyone messes up sometimes, (even our superb lead guitarist has been known to forget to put a capo on) so don’t worry. Part of the art of being a bass player is the ability to fumble around down the shiny end of the neck while you work out who to follow in what key!

Colette Kelly - 'City of Fools' - super northern soul number, nice bass and sax! 1969, Volt records https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVVh1cWFlg4

...and happy birthday, @Bluewine, hope your day was great!

I’m sure I’m not the oldest active gigger on here but at 74 I must be bubbling near the top! However, I’m up for as many gigs as my band can get, so: Q: Why have you no gigs? A: we have January and February off to recuperate and avoid travelling in what’s normally rubbish weather. We have 30 gigs in the book for the rest of the year, more coming in all the time Q: Do you rely on agents? A: not at all, all word of mouth Q: Who finds/confirms gigs? A: Gigs come to us! Our singer is contact, diary managed by drummers wife Q: Are you or any band members in it for the money? A: None of us rely on gig money to live. However, we have a minimum band fee and never play for free as a matter of principle. My cut goes towards travel expenses and GAS Q: How much do you want to gig? A: Forever! Put my Bongo bass in my coffin, I’ll be sentenced by St Peter to playing Sweet Home Alabama eternally in the worst pub in Hell - my just desserts for not living the life I should have lived...

Imagine how blokes like me feel - I'm well overdrawn on my threescore and ten! What scares me at night? Waking up dead, I suppose...

A bit retro from me - I can still remember hearing the first play of the first three tracks from 'With the Beatles' on Radio Luxembourg on my bedside crystal set - wow! 1 It Won't Be Long 2 All I've Got To Do 3 All My Loving

Leo Sayer - 'I'm a one-man band'?

23 gigs so far lined up so far for Mustang Sally - last year was 35 so we're on target!

You've got a Prince Albert on your plucking digit? Respect!

Our new keys player is late 40s, singer and drummer early 60s, guitarist 70 next bday, me on bass 73. We still rock the joint, I really believe that the longer you can keep playing, the younger you’ll get!

I did have trouble with my first wedding ring, but solved that by getting divorced... No trouble with the current one

Thank you 😊!

To Mere in Wiltshire for Mustang Sally's final gig of '23 - the rest of the band live very close to the town but I had a 50-mile journey through some very heavy rain and minor flooding; still, say what you like against 4x4s, but when it comes to this kind of journey the Jeep Cherokee just lapped it up! The George pub has three large-ish bars - we were set up in the front one with all tables taken and a lot of punters eager for the gig to start at 10pm. Due to lack of space in the band area and the low ceiling I decided to use the HB shorty rather than the Bongo but made a mistake in not putting a booster pedal in the chain thinking it wouldn't be needed - but it would definitely have been handy. Although the bass was going through my Ag700+Darkglass 212 rig as well as the PA, volume levels on the PA couldn't be maximised due to the room acoustics giving incipient mic, sax and acoustic guitar feedback, so I was left with the only option of cranking the amp up to 11 just to be heard... recordings I made revealed later that this was not excessive! Pix below show cramped 'stage' area. We had a great time, with the place rammed until we finished at 00:50 - 20 minutes extra so the landlord paid us extra too after a very busy night for him, saying that last year there were only half a dozen punters at 11pm so he'd paid the band off and closed early (wrong band maybe?!) and watched Jools Holland instead! Old Lang Syne was successfully tackled, our lady singer climbed on a table to deliver the last few numbers, the drunks managed not to collapse into the band gear, and we were able to introduce a couple of new numbers. 'Brown Sugar' may not be quite PC nowadays but the audience loved it; 'Hotel California' is an interesting thing to play on bass (I realise now why the Eagles dubbed the number 'Mexican Reggae') but it needs polishing before we resume gigging in March. It was really nice that Mrs G agreed to come to the gig and enjoyed herself - she has developing Parkinson's and has lost so much confidence in communicating and being in new places with strangers over the last year, but all the folk at the gig were so friendly and inclusive - surely the best kind of therapy! It was another wet 50 mile drive home, arriving at 02:30, asleep by 03:15, feeling whacked out today!

Interesting, it doesn't seem to matter that the OP set out the situation very clearly on page 1, there’s still a tendency to jump in with inapposite comments... (not @Neepheid) Regarding working with a close relative or partner in a business environment (which a gigging band actually is) it’s a quick way to generate tension - Oasis, the kinks, fleetwood Mac for example plus in the office in a day job. My worst experience was as a singleton in a five piece where the others were two married couples... I was so glad to quit re letting her play bass, unless there’s an added value musical reason (as in my band where our guitarist plays bass on a short set allowing me to play sax) don’t agree to it, unless you want to find yourself leaving!

Tsk Tsk, read before posting!

Buying 2 new shorty basses (a 4 and a 5) for our guitarist to play on three numbers so I can play sax...

Phew, that was hard work...

I’ve bought from and sold to Andy, he’s a fair guy running a bassists’ wet dream emporium, highly recommended!

...with ‘any money’ following close behind...

Another North Dorset gig for Mustang Sally, this time at Rocky’s bar in Gillingham. It’s a very well updated sports pub, but at first sight not an obvious venue for our melange of classic rock, country, soul and pop - but why? Well, the age profile was 18-35 for a start, and the hoooge flat-screen TVs stayed on all night showing (without sound, TG) Man-U losing to Newcastle. Add to this the arrival of an already-merry rugby team, rather ‘happy’ after a win, and this could have gone one of two ways... fortunately, after a slow start it got better and better, with table dancing, singalongs and many encores. Ok, it was a near midnight finish instead of 11:30 but no-one minded, it’s what good gigs are made of! Back home at 1:30am to a censorious glare from our cat. He was bought off with two very early breakfasts...

Duplicate post, sorry!

Times have changed re cash vs card or Paypal. Some years back Mrs G owned a cafe business which was 90% cash takings. She needed a new (to her) car so we swapped £9k cash in £10 notes (thus avoiding bank paying-in charges) from the business for her annual dividend and presented an M&S bag to the dealer full of tenners. He was shell-shocked but carefully counted the first £4k then said OK, awarding himself the CBA (Can't Be A*rsed medal) of the day. I think he thought we were suburban drug-dealers... well, coffee, innit? More recently we had a conservatory added to the place, amazingly the builders wanted card not cash - 3 x £9.9k payments over 3 days accepted without any problem by the card company, who nonetheless still hassle me for phone verification over £5 buys on eBay. Paypal? Biggest musical payment to a total stranger was for a King tenor sax (£5.5k) bought from a guy in the States, who said he could deliver it in Europe while on business. I met him in the arrivals lounge at Gatwick, we found a corner with seat, I played the thing with a mouthpiece I'd brought along to check it out, to the alarm and despondency of the security folk who thought I was setting up to busk, shook hands and did a Paypal transfer on the iPad I'd also brought along. I did have to answer one security question, but luckily I could remember my mother's maiden name... So all methods are available - least bothersome was the sale of my Fender Bassman 135 cab to a fellow basschatter - price was paid exactly in cash in a local carpark - £1.00!

What would be your 'normal' set-up to compare with this?