What Keeps You In The Game ?

[Bluewine]

4 hours ago, msb said:

There’s joy that an appreciative audience brings to the gig. On a great night you almost feel the entire floor lift. And we’re coming into the season where things get hot and sweaty. 
There’s nothing quite like playing in a great room to a great crowd. 

That's great. Appreciative crowds make the night go fast.  However, all gigs are not going to be great. You have to take the good with the bad.

 

Daryl

[Bilbo]

61. I struggle to find people interested and able to play the kinds of music I love but, even so, I love the gigs, large or small. I don't see the point of playing without performing live with other people. I know musicians who never gig. Doesn't make sense to me at all. There is the social aspect of the playing that is welcome part of it but, mostly, I just want to play music as much as I can. Money is not really a consideration. The music is what matters 

[HeadlessBassist]

The Buddy Holly Tribute in our touring multi-tribute show is now 79 years old. Still out there and gigging. I also work here and there with a drummer who's now 76. 

 

As Rhino says, "You're Never Too Old To Rock & Roll".

 

 

[Buddster]

Good question. 

The company of band mates. 

The working out arrangements with band mates (even through the arguments and frustrations). 

Standing on stage playing while people in front of you are having a good time from something you've crated. 

But, I still get a viseral feeling from the weight and power of the bass that I love. Even on headphones, I love the sound of the bass, that slightly out of phase from a Jazz, that 'mwaw' of a filter or crunch of a distortion. The drive of 8's or the harmonic weave of a melodic line.

It's why I'm a bass player, not a guitarist or keyboard player. 

 

I stopped playing for many years (to work in music) and still have time to make up. 

Edited 2 hours ago by Buddster

[Leonard Smalls]

As someone who doesn't really like crowds, playing in a band is perfect for me...

During the day I can go climbing on some crag in the back of beyond, wallowing in the virtual solitude of just me and my partner.

And at night me and my bandmates can go out and make a racket somewhere safe in the knowledge that it will be empty.

Heaven!

[casapete]

I’ve been playing in bands for over 50 years, of which over 30 were to earn a living.

It’s so ingrained in my life that I just couldn’t imagine not doing it. I’m 67 and still in

reasonably good health, although some days feel like 77! 

I’m currently in two regular set ups - an acoustic duo with my best mate, and a 

blues rock trio with other friends. I chose to leave my last pro gig mainly to wanting

to be more at home due to Mrs CP having some major health issues. Fortunately she

is doing well, and I now do mainly local gigs with no overnight stays. 
I refer to myself as ‘semi-retired’. My gig money, although not essential, is a welcome

addition to our finances, and although I enjoy all the gigs I do it’s still nice to be paid

well for them. For me it’s also about the camaraderie ( all my friends are musicians

who I often meet up with for coffee / lunch etc) and just getting out there. I’ve been 

blessed with doing something great for a job rather than slogging away for years in

an unhappy work situation, so I never take it for granted. I have no plans to stop 

playing music live until I’m unable to do so, so fingers crossed! 
 

 

[Steve Browning]

It's in my genes and I couldn't imagine stopping. 

[Franticsmurf]

As has been said by others, I gig because I love playing live music. I love the camaraderie of a band on stage (the 'us vs the world' vibe) and some of the funniest and most enjoyable moments I've had with bands have been with friends on stage or in the studio. I've never lost the buzz I get from a successful gig or a good performance. I'm fortunate not to need the money (although it funds my GAS) and the current band I'm in plays solely for charity, which gives me another little buzz when we do the end-of-year distribution accounts. I've learnt so much from other, better musicians. In the early days I developed a self confidence which I was able to take back to other parts of my life. I'd like to think I've brought some fun to other people along the way.

[JapanAxe]

For me, nothing beats the enjoyment of a good gig. The absolute best is what’s sometimes called the ‘flow state’, where all the years of practice and preparation come together and the music almost plays itself. That doesn’t happen all the time, but even the bad gigs have a cash reward that can be put towards new gear to enjoy making music with.

 

As regards attitude, I’m with you Daryl. I do a lot of depping and I want to be thought of as the guy who helps to make it all work, from learning my part properly and getting the right sound, to stepping in with spare cables and batteries when needed.

[PaulWarning]

I've pondered packing it all in, but then I'd miss the gigs, I won't miss is the band hassles, loading my car up, all the setting up and breaking down, I don't look forward to gigs like I used too, but once I'm up there playing I still enjoy it, I'm lucky in that I don't have any health problems I suppose when I do that'll be the time to give it all up

[gjones]

I'm 62 and have been playing since I was 16. The first 10 years I was playing in originals bands trying to get a record contract. That ended when I realised we just we're good enough.

 

At that stage I fell out of love with music and I thought my time as a bassist had ended. 

 

Then, about 4 years later, my sister started dating a guy who was the singer and guitarist in a Blues band and he needed a bass player! Even better, he ended up marrying my sister and he couldn't then sack me. We played up and down the UK for the next 10 years. Then he and my sister fell out and that meant I had no choice but to leave the band.

 

At that stage I fell out of love with music and I thought my time as a bassist had ended.

 

But then the old drummer, from the Blues band, called me and said the new band he was in needed a bass player.

 

I've now been in that band for 23 years (other bands, over those 23 years, have come and gone and have disappeared without leaving a trace) but the Blues band keeps on going. The singer is now 66 and the guitarist and drummer are in their mid 50s. We've had to take a break from gigging, as the singer and guitarist are married and are involved in complex family matters (think of the Godfather part III) which prevents them from gigging.

 

At this stage I think I may have fallen out of love with music and I am thinking my time as a bassist had ended.

 

Hold on there seems to be a pattern developing.......

 

Of course I don't want to be a old fart, in a band full of old farts, playing to old farts. But as long as we don't look too ridiculous up on stage and I can still project energy into playing, then I'll continue on until I can't.

 

Oh by the way, my sister and my brother in law got back together and I still occasionally play in his Blues band, when his new full-time bassist has something better (or more lucrative - wedding gig?) to do.

 

 

 

 

[ezbass]

23 minutes ago, PaulWarning said:

I've pondered packing it all in, but then I'd miss the gigs, I won't miss is the band hassles, loading my car up, all the setting up and breaking down, I don't look forward to gigs like I used too, but once I'm up there playing I still enjoy it, I'm lucky in that I don't have any health problems I suppose when I do that'll be the time to give it all up

I feel that acutely today. I have a gig an hour away (not too bad), at a venue that the guy running it seems flakey at best. Parking is nightmare, unless the loading bay outside is free. I’m tired and irritable and could do without gigging today TBH.  

[Mickeyboro]

My career has been a doughnut with a kids and family-shaped hole in the middle. 
 

So I feel like a car that’s been garaged… less miles on the clock than you’d guess by looking at me. 
 

Hopefully the end of the Road isn’t yet in sight. Though wIth the passing of @yorks5string and @bumnote I am running out of role models…

[chris_b]

Playing bass is what I do.

 

Playing in a good band to an enthusiastic audience is the biggest buzz I've discovered so far. That never gets old. Even playing in an average band to 3 men and a dog is pretty OK, as long as I'm with a good drummer.

 

You don't retire, you stop when the phone stops ringing.