Post-gig "hangover" symptoms (not booze-related!)

[Captain Bassman]

I don't know if it's just my age (I'm only 41 and not unfit...) but over the last couple of years I've started suffering quite badly after gigs.

Symptoms are hangover-like - muzzy, sickly headache, general lethargy and aches (no puking though!). I put it all down to the late nights, physical strains from rigging and de-rigging, concentrating on the drive home etc. (not booze...) but I never used to suffer like this until a few yers ago.

I have a routine of drinking plenty of water and stretching out my back, neck and shoulders when I get home. This also stops me going straight to bed whilst my brain is still buzzing from the gig and driving. Despite this though, after most gigs I feel pretty crappy the next morning!

Anyone else out there suffer like this too? Or am I all alone???

Any tried and tested remedies to share with fellow suffering Basschatters?

[charic]

Get wii fit and do the yoga youll probably find your over-excercising muscles i reckon

[cheddatom]

I think it's just the amount of work you do. You're "hyped up" for ages, you move a lot of heavy gear, when you're on stage you're concentrating and nerves can create real tension in muscles etc. It's just a stressful thing for your body to be going through. I used to drive to all of our gigs and I have a ridiculously heavy rig - I was always f*cked the next day.

[waynepunkdude]

I'm suffering from it now, I think it has something to do with carrying my rig into the drummers basement at 1am after the 2 hour drive home.

[Bananaman]

I get this too, even when i don't take my own bass rig. I am pretty energetic on stage which is what i put it down to.
I try to stretch a bit before and after.
I put it down to not doing enough general exercise so its a bit of a shock to my body!

Sounds like you're doing everything you can though in terms of stretching and drinking water. I think dehydration is usually pretty bad at gigs, especially under strong lights.

[Delberthot]

My main problem has always been that by the end of a gig I am totally hyper so I end up driving home really fast (within the speed limits m'lud, honest guv) this, in turn makes me even more hyper.

I used to do one of 2 things, have a bevvy and after a couple of hours i could go to bed [i]or[/i] not drink and be up until 6am.

I don't really drink as much now but what I do now is go through youtube finding interesting music videos such as Eddie Van Halen playing "why can't this be love" with a guitar tuned to a different key so that it sounds like a set of bagpipes. I find this helps me to get to sleep with the final video being Genesis' "Carpet Crawlers".

I must admit that I'm not as physically knackered the next day as I used to be. Seems to be a combination of having lighter gear than I used to, not drinking, not stopping off at the garage for a BLT, Ginsters, chocolate milk and the other assorted junk that they sell and losing weight.

There's also the mental side of it as well: I have a really good rig; a bass that is perfetly set up for me; I know all the songs back to front; I play with 3 other great musicians (well 2 and a drummer :brow: ); I arrive at the gig early and am totally relaxed. This means that all I need to concentrate on is putting on a good show for the audience.

[whynot]

Sounds like your not getting enough rest... which is exactly my problem as I also do a day job and 2 or 3 gigs a week.
It's that jet lag feeling fo me, bought on by late gigs and trying to stick to a normal day routine. Not good for your health.
Going straight to bed when getting in from a gig is the all I can suggest although I have trouble sticking to that myself.
I'm off to a gig on the Isle of Wight in a few hours. Probably won't be home till 6-7 in the morning. No sleep till Wednesday night which means I'll be a zombie throughout thursday.

Interestingly some of the guys in my band who do nothing else apart from the band always seem to complain how tired they are after 3 gigs in a row.

[Alien]

I've always put it down to adrenaline. The after effects of a protracted adrenaline rush (like, say, a gig) is like coming down off speed - not much fun.

Andy

[Lfalex v1.1]

I've never taken drugs (of the illicit narcotic variety... Sure, caffiene and alcohol get a look in...), and never understood the appeal particularly.
That is until I played a simply awesome gig one night in London and drove home alone.
It's at times like those that you are susceptible to a really bad post-gig come-down, and there's nothing to offset it. I can see why "rock stars" might need something to fill that kind of emptiness, especially during a lengthy tour.
I've never had it run on into the following day, only the fatigue if I had to work. (I'm not in a band at the mo' as my schedules at work preclude it)

[Kiwi]

I just try to drink lots of water during the gig and swimming helps keep the joints and back loose as well. Then when I get home I have a light snack of something without salt or fat and either have a shot of whiskey and a melatonin pill (never fails) or if I'm feeling tense, I drink as much milk as I can handle. Milk knocks me out as well but in a more gentle way than a shot of whiskey.

[Galilee]

It's all downhill once you're passed 40...

[Sean]

I sleep like a log after a gig usually. Though when I wake up I feel a bit down, like there's something missing. Do I grieve the passing of the previous gig? Who knows? It certainly has some kind of emotional effect and I agree that that "hole" is very easy to fill with whatever is around, fortunately nowadays that's tea and marmite on toast.

[Adrenochrome]

Yes I always have a hangover after gigs - no doubt caused by the heat from the lights and smoke machine etc. Sometimes even after a normal pub gig I can't get to sleep until 3. My kids get up around 6, 6:30ish so yep, I'm knackered the next day. I find that eating after a gig helps my energy levels next day - but then I've had 4 meals so that's not great for my beer belly!

[waynepunkdude]

[quote name='Sean' post='255351' date='Aug 5 2008, 01:24 PM']I sleep like a log after a gig usually. Though when I wake up I feel a bit down, like there's something missing. Do I grieve the passing of the previous gig? Who knows? It certainly has some kind of emotional effect and I agree that that "hole" is very easy to fill with whac[/quote]


It is quite sad waking up on te morning after a gig you have really enjoyed

I'm with you on tghe recovery Ravioli on toast and a coffee, then again I don't drink,smoke or do drugs so ravioli is the next best thing.

I'm so Punk

[Adrenochrome]

In the old days we'd get ripped to the tits on drink and drugs and go on the rampage wherever we were . Sadly this is not possible anymore...
[drugs are bad m'kay]

[johnnylager]

Post gig regimen -

Back to guitards house, get pished on cheap cooking lager, put on David Coverdale wigs and headbang to 'Back in Black' - the whole album mind, at a volume that makes the thermal cut-out on his posh audiophile amp cut in. Or should that be cut out?

You're guaranteed to feel so dreadful the next day, the post gig comedown will not get a look in. Then leave [b]him[/b] to apologise to [b]his[/b] neighbours.

[cheddatom]

I've always managed to drink a case of beer, or a bottle of gin with the rest of the band, as well as some smokes. But yeh, when you have to go to work the next day it's probably not a good idea. I have an excellent coping method for the morning after, but it's probably not wise before work.

[Cantdosleepy]

Didn't drink last night. Band played like a bunch of eejits. Feel bad today. Sent an e-mail about how bad we were. No-one agreed. Feel worse.

[Captain Bassman]

[quote name='Galilee' post='255338' date='Aug 5 2008, 01:11 PM']It's all downhill once you're passed 40...[/quote]

Ah, that'll be it then...sorted!!

Glad to know you're all sufferers too, in a nice way!

I hadn't thought that it might be partly mental too, you know the come-down after a gig. Hmmm.

I have got a damn heavy rig (DB750 plus 2 Aggie cabs) which probably doesn't help...but me likes the sound too much!

Maybe I just have to suffer for my art...

[waynepunkdude]

I'm so tired from last night still

Bed at 9 tonight

[cheddatom]

[quote name='Cantdosleepy' post='255550' date='Aug 5 2008, 04:41 PM']Didn't drink last night. Band played like a bunch of eejits. Feel bad today. Sent an e-mail about how bad we were. No-one agreed. Feel worse.[/quote]

Was it the first time you've listened to your band sober?

[lowdown]

Hangover

I have a 3 & half year old lad who wakes up at 7 every morning,
Thinking he is sporticus from Lazy town
I have no time to think about the day before!
Its all about the day ahead
Stay positive....!
Rock & Roll man..................

Garry

[jakenewmanbass]

I've gigged since I was 12 (28yrs yipes!!!)
I have developed an adjustable wake up time and/or can survive with very little sleep and then catch up with naps.
I think it's largely through lack of or poor sleep, due to adrenaline/buzzing from exertion.
Hard if you do a day job, I don't, but like Garry the kids often get me up at stupid o'clock.
If I stay in bed past nine I start to feel groggy anyway.

[MananaMan]

Sounds like something I used to get when I worked as a rigger / sound engineer for a PA company.

After a long gig and then drive home you get pretty strung out on adrenaline and lack of sleep / tiredness. It takes a while to get to sleep due to your altered blood chemistry, then when you wake up you're tired, groggy and kind of sick in the pit of your stomach...

I'd recommend eating a banana or two in between setting up and playing the gig, lots of cordial on the way home (don't drink too much plain water, it leeches the salts and minerals out of your blood and makes you feel worse if you drink too much!) and have a bottle of lucozade in the morning before you have breakfast / tea / coffee etc. At least, that's what I used to do and it worked fine.

The bananas give you a good boost of sugar to help keep your energy up for pack down, then you're not burning too much fat during the hard work - which puts all sorts of nasty crap into your system. Should also help you keep alert for the way home, if you're still flagging have some isotonic sports drink or something.

A bit technical sounding, but when you're working 120-hour weeks 8 months of the year you need to know what you're doing!

Only rarely have I ever resorted to illegal stimulants to keep going - in my experience they always make you worse in the long run. f you're into that kind of thing (I don't do it any more personally, but I've been there so I don't judge), I'd recommend finding some coca leaves to chew for long days. Its totally natural, as used by colombian mountain farmers for thousands of years. Its a very gentle lift to your whole outlook (a bit like a mix of adrenaline and caffeine, but a lot less intense!), keeps your stamina up and lasts for hours. They also have the pleasant side affect of allowing you to drink all the alcohol in the pub without feeling drunk!