It's been a long time guys. I stepped away for a bit, and when I got back on and read a few posts, I felt like I'd been watching a movie, went to take a leak, came back and found that I'd missed a section and couldn't get back into the rest of the movie. New characters had appeared and I was at a loss for what their roles were. When that happens during a movie, I just don't watch it anymore then and figure I'll catch it the next time in it's entirety. Doesn't seem to work that way on BandMix. BM doesn't have any reruns. Oh, well.
Anyway, got a notice from BM saying I hadn't been on here in a few months and they would like me to come back, so here I am. Logged in, password accepted and, lo and behold, I had a message from back in February! So, I replied to it and when I clicked "Send" (or a reasonable facsimile), it deleted my reply and said I would have to become a premier member to reply. When did they start doing that?
Well, musically, life has been in the ubersuck mode as far as live gigging goes. I had grown tired of feeling like everyone was taking advantage of me, letting me be responsible for PA, lights, bookings and all. I decided to take a break. Here awhile back, I had gone out and jammed at some parties and actually had fun (PA and stuff was already there) and decided it's time to get back into it again. My old band buddies had been wondering when we were going to play again and we were all truly excited. Played an outdoor biker bash a few weeks back and the crowd loved us, we had lots of strangers wondering where we were from and where we'd be playing. Ok, that's the upside of it.
Now, the downside. I had told my bassist what time I was going to be there to set up (5 o'clock and we started at
. He and another guitarist that rode with him got there around 7, after I had set up all the equipment. I was hot, tired, dirty and dusty. I dumped some water over my head, shook it off, changed clothes, and played (while also running sound) for 5 hours. I was so worn out when we started, that about halfway through, I was almost ready to give out. When we'd take breaks, I didn't get to get out and visit the crowd like I usually do, I had to get off of my feet and sit and rest. When we were done, I rolled up cables and got everything ready and then let them load it back in my van (which they did a crappy job of and I had an equipment avalanche on the way home 'cause I was too tired to check it). We blew an 18" speaker in one of my subs which will cost about 140 to replace, yet no one offered to help me cover the cost. I had booked us as 3-piece, but the bassist wanted us to get this other guitarist to play too (and he's a good guy and great guitarist) so, instead of making $100 each, it was $75.
So now, I'm ready to go back into hiatus, and if they ask when we're going to play again, I'm going to tell them that I can't afford to. I lose money by playing gigs. Ain't that just sad.
Anyway, that's my rant and I'm stickin' to it.
Hope all is well with the rest of you. I'll try to get on here a bit more.
Peace out!
Anyway, got a notice from BM saying I hadn't been on here in a few months and they would like me to come back, so here I am. Logged in, password accepted and, lo and behold, I had a message from back in February! So, I replied to it and when I clicked "Send" (or a reasonable facsimile), it deleted my reply and said I would have to become a premier member to reply. When did they start doing that?
Well, musically, life has been in the ubersuck mode as far as live gigging goes. I had grown tired of feeling like everyone was taking advantage of me, letting me be responsible for PA, lights, bookings and all. I decided to take a break. Here awhile back, I had gone out and jammed at some parties and actually had fun (PA and stuff was already there) and decided it's time to get back into it again. My old band buddies had been wondering when we were going to play again and we were all truly excited. Played an outdoor biker bash a few weeks back and the crowd loved us, we had lots of strangers wondering where we were from and where we'd be playing. Ok, that's the upside of it.
Now, the downside. I had told my bassist what time I was going to be there to set up (5 o'clock and we started at
. He and another guitarist that rode with him got there around 7, after I had set up all the equipment. I was hot, tired, dirty and dusty. I dumped some water over my head, shook it off, changed clothes, and played (while also running sound) for 5 hours. I was so worn out when we started, that about halfway through, I was almost ready to give out. When we'd take breaks, I didn't get to get out and visit the crowd like I usually do, I had to get off of my feet and sit and rest. When we were done, I rolled up cables and got everything ready and then let them load it back in my van (which they did a crappy job of and I had an equipment avalanche on the way home 'cause I was too tired to check it). We blew an 18" speaker in one of my subs which will cost about 140 to replace, yet no one offered to help me cover the cost. I had booked us as 3-piece, but the bassist wanted us to get this other guitarist to play too (and he's a good guy and great guitarist) so, instead of making $100 each, it was $75.
So now, I'm ready to go back into hiatus, and if they ask when we're going to play again, I'm going to tell them that I can't afford to. I lose money by playing gigs. Ain't that just sad.
Anyway, that's my rant and I'm stickin' to it.
Hope all is well with the rest of you. I'll try to get on here a bit more.
Peace out!
