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Post by GuitarAttack Forum on Apr 13, 2020 5:08:52 GMT -6
I’ve been catching up on quite a bit of guitar work lately, but I haven’t been playing any music outside of the house. A friend of mine with a sound company posted this meme. It does seem to ring true! John  |
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Post by dnic on Apr 13, 2020 7:17:23 GMT -6
That is great John!
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Post by GuitarAttack Forum on Apr 13, 2020 8:35:28 GMT -6
I did a run of gigs in the panhandle of Florida late last summer that was very enjoyable but wound up in the loss column on the balance sheet!
The old joke was that a pro musician in Nashville had a $3,000 guitar, a $1,000 car, and the only event he/she could afford to attend at Nissan Stadium (where the NFL Titans play) was the Billy Graham Crusade...because it was free.
John
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2020 9:47:15 GMT -6
Sounds about right.
I can\t tell you how many times I lost money playing out. People don't realize how much it cost for someone for musicians to come and play. I don't know why when it come to hiring a band or person to come and play, that the people think we should play for free (to get your name out there) (so that they can tell you the same thing) LOL!
Or they don't even pay you enough for gas and food.
I have played way to many times for free!
Well, anyways. The only time I made really good money playing on stage, was when I was 15 to 17 years old. I was making an average of $750 a week. That is the most I ever made. That was back in the late 60s early 70s.
Back then we not only got paid but they would set us up in a hotel and feed us. I felt like a rock star! We were treated like royalty. Those were the days.
EB
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Post by antares on Apr 14, 2020 1:54:29 GMT -6
That was serious money back then EB. I've never played for money so all my balance sheet is red! When at family gatherings I am regularly exhorted to play- or at least they try to persuade me, but I refuse to play what amounts to background music. If I give in and pick up a guitar ir's barely a minute before they're all yacking to one another and then I stop abruptly. Straight away they say "go on- it's lovely" but I'm done. These days I just refuse by and large because I understand their fruit fly attention span. I play for my own (or Best Beloved's) benefit. It's not that they're trying to tell me I'm rubbish- far from it, more that it's a social gathering and they've come along to renew friendships and family ties. I understand that, just don't ask me to play because it trivialises life long achievement. If I was being paid then I'd have to take it on the chin. Folks can take whatever they want from whatever they've paid good money to see or hear, but "Real Good For Free" (TY Joni ...) as muzak? Not a hope. I'm comfortable with that and it's not my loss.
e&oe ...
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Post by dnic on Apr 16, 2020 7:48:13 GMT -6
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Post by dnic on Apr 16, 2020 8:04:45 GMT -6
Steve, I used to feel bad for bands that came to the coffee house I ran sound for. Many would travel hours to get there and of course spent many years learning there trade. Then once loaded in and set up would be asked if they could turn down a bit so the customers could chat. Live music is for listening too if you want background music put a CD in the machine. We had many long discussion about this with the coffee house board.
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Post by GuitarAttack Forum on Apr 20, 2020 13:31:28 GMT -6
Steve, I used to feel bad for bands that came to the coffee house I ran sound for. Many would travel hours to get there and of course spent many years learning there trade. Then once loaded in and set up would be asked if they could turn down a bit so the customers could chat. Live music is for listening too if you want background music put a CD in the machine. We had many long discussion about this with the coffee house board. I started preferring to play at bigger venues; It was less personal and we had some social distancing between the stage and crowd! My latest experience in clubs has been a mixed bag...mostly people on their iPhones or talking, not paying a great deal of attention. It makes you wonder just how much you want to prepare to play in a situation like that; does anybody really care how well you play, and will they remember anyway? How is that for a positive outlook? John |
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Post by dnic on Apr 20, 2020 18:55:57 GMT -6
John, I think we are so overwhelmed with entertainment as a society that people, especially young people have a very narrow focus concerning what they like. So if they didn't come to see your band specifically they will just ignore you entirely or worse talk over you. Larger venues prolly means people come for a concert and are prepared to listen and or clap along or be engaged at some level.
Don't think you are being negative at all just telling it like it is. And since you are still in the game you are speaking from a legit frame of reference.
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Post by antares on Apr 21, 2020 1:43:15 GMT -6
Bands often want to air their latest releases, and since they're there to promote themselves that's understandable, but often folks pay increasingly stratospheric prices to see their chosen heroes and they want to hear their own preferred "Stairway to Heaven". Figure on having paid north of two hundred bucks to see your preferred band , and they ignore audiences clamouring for the golden oldies and trot out their latest experiments? Last year I saw Tedeschi Trucks Band at The London Palladium and I was lucky to go both nights. On the first night they played "Midnight in Harlem" which remains a stadium experience on a grand scale, but on night two Susan told the crowd "You know we never play the same thing every night, but we're back next February at Wembley so maybe we'll play that then ..." and I felt genuinely sorry for all those disappointed folks, most of whom had hemorrhaged a lot of folding green beer tokens to get their relatively rare fix of TTB delights.
Some of the songs they played were random R'n'B cover versions- well done as expected but not really what folks paid to see. I can understand bands getting tired of trotting out the same old same old, but it's a game they've chosen to play. It sure beats "Working in a pi.. factory- cleaning the pipes" (Patti Smith) but it comes at a price and folks will start to chat (or shout!) amongst themselves? It's a symbiotic relationship and bands need to remember that.
Yes TTB did indeed play "Midnight in Harlem" at Wembley and it was genuinely awesome.
e&oe ...
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Post by stratpurist on Jun 23, 2020 13:06:48 GMT -6
Back in the 80's I played in a wedding/party band and we made decent money ($750 for 3 40/20 sets) but it was soul sucking work - 2-3 gigs a week - working every holiday weekend.
My current crew plays 4-6 gigs a year. We turn down an equal number b/c of lack of ambition. I was asked to consider joining a full time band just last Saturday but not sure I want to go that road at this stage in life - I need time to fish too!
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