How far do you travel for a pub covers gig?

[spike]

My band plays mainly around the Beds/Herts area and most of our gigs are about 20-30 minutes journey from my house, some a bit nearer and some a bit further. We have one gig in London that takes me about an hour to get to which I don't mind because we only go there a couple times a year.

We have just auditioned some drummers and the one we really like lives outside our area and would probably have to travel an hour each way to most of our gigs and to rehearsals. He says it's not a problem but I can't help thinking that after a while he'll get fed up with the travel.

So, what do people here think is a reasonable travel time to do a gig for pub money?

[markstuk]

An hour for me..

Although that covers South Brum, Coventry, Worcester, Oxford, Northampton and anywhere betwixt which is a fair amount of ground :-)

Edited September 9, 2016 by markstuk

[FuNkShUi]

Personally I wouldn't drive an hour each way, regularly, for Pub gig type money.
That's not t say wouldn't though.
I think if you've laid it all out there for him initially, and he I keen, go for it

[fretmeister]

All depends on the money.

[bertbass]

a couple of hours each way.

[RockfordStone]

gigs for me up to an hour each way, hour and a half if the gig is worth it.

i wouldn't travel an hour for a 2 or 3 hour practice tho, unless the band was really something special

[FinnDave]

Hour and a half each way is about tops for me. Done a couple recently that far away.

Edited September 9, 2016 by FinnDave

[Les]

We'll probably travel an hour but I would say the average is about 30 minutes drive.

[HengistPod]

Slightly more remote up here, perhaps, so most gigs are an hour each way (e.g. in to Aberdeen). Wouldn't really go more than an hour and a half tops. A couple of Aberdeen gigs seem to have taken an unexplained dislike to us recently, so we won't be going there so much anymore anyway. I suspect some of the long established bands were having words in ears because we were increasingly replacing them at their regular gigs ...

Having said that, the Aberdeenshire rock/blues cover band I was in about 15 years ago used to regularly gig in places like Ullapool, Isle of Skye, Tobermory, Dingwall, Dundee and even a couple of air bases in the north of Englandshire. We'd organise two gigs somewhere like that over a weekend with food and accommodation, and quite happily played at being proper weekend rock'n'roll warriors for a couple of years.

We were much younger then.

[dudewheresmybass]

About an hour or so. Since I live in North Kent, it puts me across the south Coast as far as Brighton, and into South Essex.
Occasionally into that London.

[BrunoBass]

About an hour is plenty for me, which is quite a wide catchment area for where we're situated (North Oxfordshire). We often get offered stuff on tbe south coast or the north but being honest I can't be bothered to travel 3 hours to play in a pub for pocket money.

[TimR]

I'm near Stevenage so lots of gigs with an hour. Even as far as Cambridge.

The thing is though for a drummer it's a hell of a load in and out on top of that hour so he'll end up doing 4 hours of 'driving duties' for each outing.

I used to be 40mins+ from rehearsal space. On top of my daily cummute. It did my head in and I'm now 15mins from my current band.

.

Edited September 9, 2016 by TimR

[Les]

[quote name='spike' timestamp='1473410351' post='3129869']
We have just auditioned some drummers and the one we really like lives outside our area and would probably have to travel an hour each way to most of our gigs and to rehearsals. He says it's not a problem but I can't help thinking that after a while he'll get fed up with the travel.
[/quote]

Original line up was all Wigan based, now 5 years on there's only me and the singer in Wigan, the guitarist is 25 minutes north of us and the drummer is 25 minutes south. Some they win some they lose depending on the direction. Surely there must be some gigs that work out for this new lad ?

If he says he's up for it and he's the right man I'd run with him.

Les

[molan]

I'm about 45-50 minutes each way for rehearsals and gigs are usually about an hour, sometimes 75 mins.

Doesn't bother me at all. Get in the car, put some music on, spend an evening with good friends doing something I really enjoy

[Ghost_Bass]

I'll drive as far as it's needed as long as the travel expenses are covered in the gig's price. The further we travel the higher the price of that gig.
We price our gigs that way, we have a fixed amount per musician, add the travel costs and (if the venue want's a reciept) the taxes on top of that.

[bassjim]

if you have the luxury of all band members and gigs in you own town great. but.....sometimes if the mountain wont come to buddha.......

I travel 15-30 miles in both directions several times a week to gig and/or rehearse with my current band. The best pool of accessible musicians for me is currently in another town. Everyone local to me that's good enough is already doing something. My last good local band did have every thing on our doorstep and so we were spoilt. When it came to an end, rather than stop I travelled even further a field for a while to play with a not so good band rather than nothing at all. Just to keep my hand in so to speak.

Gig wise i will go up-to about 50 miles for £50.00 if its a good gig for the shear pleasure of playing music. If its a known rubbish gig playing to a handful of mentally challenged yobs then no, i dont need the money that badly. We will give most places upto a max of an hours drive a go once to test the water. Some of these far away gigs can produce weddings. For top wedding lolly (£2-250 on average each, occasionally even better) we will go the extra with no complaints but these are usually closer to home.

From the point of view you are worried he will get fed up with the travel: he may be really good but he also may be in the same dilema that I was in ie: no one worth playing with that's local to him. He will make the effort if its all worth while so if you all get on well and make the the right noise together cant see a problem. The only thing you need to worry about is a better offer popping up local to him in the future....

Edited September 9, 2016 by bassjim

[spike]

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1473414392' post='3129938']
I'm near Stevenage so lots of gigs with an hour. Even as far as Cambridge.

The thing is though for a drummer it's a hell of a load in and out on top of that hour so he'll end up doing 4 hours of 'driving duties' for each outing.

I used to be 40mins+ from rehearsal space. On top of my daily cummute. It did my head in and I'm now 15mins from my current band.

.
[/quote]

I used to live south of Dunstable and a previous band I was in rehearsed weekly in Bedford. Like you, 40 mins + to get there and it did my head in.

My present band only rehearses to learn new songs or rehearse new members and I reckon if we went with this drummer it would only take a couple rehearsals to get him up to speed.
My main worry is how keen he will be to drive from north London to Luton or Bedford on a Friday after work once he's done it a few times

[JTUK]

30-40 mins for £60.. If someone travels an hour, we have to pay them £80 which obviously means this is THE factor in the gig

[spike]

[quote name='bassjim' timestamp='1473418637' post='3130014']
if you have the luxury of all band members and gigs in you own town great. but.....sometimes if the mountain wont come to buddha.......

I travel 15-30 miles in both directions several times a week to gig and/or rehearse with my current band. The best pool of accessible musicians for me is currently in another town. Everyone local to me that's good enough is already doing something. My last good local band did have every thing on our doorstep and so we were spoilt. When it came to an end, rather than stop I travelled even further a field for a while to play with a not so good band rather than nothing at all. Just to keep my hand in so to speak.

Gig wise i will go up-to about 50 miles for £50.00 if its a good gig for the shear pleasure of playing music. If its a known rubbish gig playing to a handful of mentally challenged yobs then no, i dont need the money that badly. We will give most places upto a max of an hours drive a go once to test the water. Some of these far away gigs can produce weddings. For top wedding lolly (£2-250 on average each, occasionally even better) we will go the extra with no complaints but these are usually closer to home.

From the point of view you are worried he will get fed up with the travel: he may be really good but he also may be in the same dilema that I was in ie: no one worth playing with that's local to him. He will make the effort if its all worth while so if you all get on well and make the the right noise together cant see a problem. The only thing you need to worry about is a better offer popping up local to him in the future....
[/quote]

Interesting post, especially the last sentence...

Maybe we are a bit spoilt, as TimR said in his post there are loads of opportunities in our area which means we don't have to travel far to find gigs or other musicians. Might not be the same for everyone.

[JTUK]

If a drummer is travelling an hour to get to why the main band is located, then you aren't going to take bookings further away from that.

Two factors in this tho...is the guy good enough to 'accommodate'...and is the band worth it from their POV.

If the answer is no to either, I give the arrangement 3 months MAX

[TimR]

[quote name='spike' timestamp='1473418972' post='3130019']


I used to live south of Dunstable and a previous band I was in rehearsed weekly in Bedford. Like you, 40 mins + to get there and it did my head in.

My present band only rehearses to learn new songs or rehearse new members and I reckon if we went with this drummer it would only take a couple rehearsals to get him up to speed.
My main worry is how keen he will be to drive from north London to Luton or Bedford on a Friday after work once he's done it a few times
[/quote]

Wow!

That depends on where in North London he is and what time you're expecting him to be at gigs. Doesn't matter how keen he is, that's a serious undertaking for a Friday night.

[spike]

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1473419726' post='3130040']
That depends on where in North London he is and what time you're expecting him to be at gigs. Doesn't matter how keen he is, that's a serious undertaking for a Friday night.
[/quote]

To be fair, we're talking Harrow and most of our gigs are Saturdays but Friday night in Bedford is a regular for us.

We do have a couple regular gigs in Watford and Ruislip which will be fine for him but everything else is north of Harpenden and Stevenage

Edited September 9, 2016 by spike

[TimR]

[quote name='spike' timestamp='1473420463' post='3130046']


To be fair, we're talking Harrow and most of our gigs are Saturdays but Friday night in Bedford is a regular for us.

We do have a couple regular gigs in Watford and Ruislip which will be fine for him but everything else is north of Harpenden and Stevenage
[/quote]

Google maps is giving me 1h20 on a Friday lunchtime avoiding current minor congestion on M1. If he can do that inside 2 hours at 5-6pm he's doing well.

Maybe meet him for a beer in Bedford one Friday night first to see what he thinks.

.

Edited September 9, 2016 by TimR

[bassjim]

For me it comes down to passion over anything else. Money and fame is nothing but a fringe benefit as Jeff Berlin once said.... (obvs applies to us that have a day gig and the gig money pays for GAS ect)

I get a kick out of playing the style of music i like with the best musicians that are available to me. Because we as a band do our thing reasonably well, most of our pub gigs pay us £60-80 each (5 piece).

Occasionally I will put up with the odd one here or there to keep the peace so to speak. I wouldn't throw the towel in over these. Its not worth rocking the boat over.

Like most musicians here, bands form our social network and although it is sometimes a ball ache driving up the motorway on a Friday after work to play at the Pig and Horse Manure pub in the middle of nowhere.....its just what we do. What else would we be doing instead that we would put in front of a gig?

rough with the smooth and all that. You are into it or you are not into it....that for me is what decides how far you will go. Also food for thought.... If you got a call from a bunch of well known outstanding players to join their outfit I bet the miles,money to is it worth it ratio would change. I think what I'm trying to say is ,is it a positive outcome more often than not every time you travel to do this band?

[Cat Burrito]

I spent years playing in a Watford based band whilst living near Newbury (an hour away). The band wasn't really earning anyway so I lost money on balance but liked the band. Everyone has different thresholds so if it isn't a problem I wouldn't worry. Also I had a very good bass player play for a band I put together, based in Hungerford with him coming from Staines. Equally, I know guys who grumble about playing 5 miles away.