The end is nigh

koneguitarist

I think the majority who turned up for my final gig weren’t there to see but make sure it was the last one! 

Fooled them though! 

ESBlonde

So I’m 67, in my 3 piece band I’m the boy. Bass 77 and drums 82! I’ve taken the summer off gigging as I’ve had spinal surgery Tuesday and have a 3.5kg lift limit with no driving!
We have a 1 hr. Set backing a singer 12th August where I may need a roadie, otherwise it’s all go (soon anyway).

mrkb

Roland said:

relic245 said:  If you're the kind of person who is gigging into his 70's then I can't imagine you as someone who will suddenly talking up pipe and slippers and watching countdown as a way to fill your days...

One of the reasons for moving is that we want a new life adventure. I guess I’m also tired of the covers circuit, and the repertoire which goes with it, and want to play a different type of music.

In Dorset you can probably join the Sea Shanty scene or the Morris dancing scene for a new challenge

Danny1969

I've just turned 57. I feel fine, I don't find gigging hard and I don't find amps heavy etc. I did 4 gigs on Sat and Sun in 3 different cities and never felt tired or any kind of fatigue. But that will change as I get older. Maybe I have another 7 years or so in me, bit more possibly. The trouble is I look old in comparison to some of the players I work with because I am 20 years older than them. 

It's the money I will miss the most. I've always done well money wise and music is the reason I can afford the lifestyle I enjoy in terms of holidays and not working 9 to 5 every day. I do the odd pub gig if it's local but most of my gigs are ticket gigs or private events. Most of them are in venues with proper PA as well so travelling is light. The moneys is great and the work is less. 

The annoying thing for me is I feel the older I get the better a player I am. It's kinda opposite to how it is in the sports world. Things I struggled to play in my thirties are just effortless now. Thousands of gigs have given me the experience and technique to do that. 

But I do feel things are shifting into an uncertain world music wise in the future. I see an era coming where DJ's spin their own AI music they have created and that becomes a form of art in it's own right. There will be no need to spend 40 years honing your craft on an instrument anymore. You just need the ability to imagine music.  Already people are way too accepting of BT's in live music. The majority will accept AI music without complaint in the future as they will have been born into it. 

But I'm grateful I got to gig in the era I did. From early 1980's pop to mid and late eighties hair metal. Then the grunge stuff, then BritPop, Then some great noughties stuff. Finding cover material now is hard as there's no one radio station every one listens too. It's fragmented now over many platforms and into games and from films. Music is kind of a filler product rather than the staple it used to be. When I tell youngsters these days I was out every Monday, some Weds and Thurs and every weekend playing hair metal 35 years ago they are amazed that was possible. But people used to love live music. 

JAYJO

It would be a shame for people not to experience live music in a small venue. The closeness to the first live band you see is an amazing experience...first live drums and guitars..will move anyone. This is enough to inspire young pub goers to at leat visit the pubs that provide live music if not to pick up an instrument. The experience is far too good to be forgotten. 
 pubs in the wrong locations will have to look for some other way to survive. Even the old park band stand can draw a crowd when the band begins to play and again its an amazing experience to watch..as is a marching band.

Roland

JAYJO said:  ... The closeness to the first live band you see is an amazing experience...

One of the most rewarding things I’ve experienced in over fifty years of performing is seeing a child experience live music. It can be at a big wedding or in a small pub. It can be when you hit a chord, and the speaker goes WHOOMPHhh. It can be when you play a fast phrase, or a string of notes that resolves somewhere unexpected like the punchline of a joke. 

I’ve just been listening to Tom Bukovac talking with Dann Huff, and Tom said that live music will always have a place because of those moments.

JAYJO

Roland said:

JAYJO said:  ... The closeness to the first live band you see is an amazing experience...

One of the most rewarding things I’ve experienced in over fifty years of performing is seeing a child experience live music. It can be at a big wedding or in a small pub. It can be when you hit a chord, and the speaker goes WHOOMPHhh. It can be when you play a fast phrase, or a string of notes that resolves somewhere unexpected like the punchline of a joke. 

I’ve just been listening to Tom Bukovac talking with Dann Huff, and Tom said that live music will always have a place because of those moments.

Completey nailed what i meant. Well put. 

koneguitarist

There is plenty of live work around and always gigs on in Sherborne.we also have the Sherborne Summer festival on the 27th of June which is smack in Center of Sherborne and free. 

If you’re about this way, pop in and see me, I’m running everything back stage and can introduce you to some bands etc. 

Roland

@koneguitarist Thanks Taff. I’ll see if we can arrange to be around that weekend

Moltisanti

@Danny1969 any pics of your hair metal days ?

Clarky

I think I'll stop gigging the day after they nail down the lid

Supportact

Danny1969 said:

...

The annoying thing for me is I feel the older I get the better a player I am. It's kinda opposite to how it is in the sports world. Things I struggled to play in my thirties are just effortless now. Thousands of gigs have given me the experience and technique to do that. 
...

Yes this annoys me as well.  I wish I had  been able to play like I do now when I was in my 20s. Not that I think I've really nailed it yet - I don't suppose anyone ever does really - but I'm definitely much better. It's frustrating but I suppose it wouldn't be much fun if you started out brilliant and gradually became less and less competent each year. That would be worse.  

Roland

The deed is done. The last chord has sounded, (D major if anybody cares). The cables are all back in their boxes.

horse

Roland said:

The deed is done. The last chord has sounded, (D major if anybody cares). The cables are all back in their boxes.

Hope it was a good last gig (for now)

vasselmeyer

Hope you had a good gig

Are you planning to start selling off the band gear now?

Roland

@vasselmeyer Yes. The lighting will go into the Classifieds later today. A local charity has first refusal on the PA. All the other stuff will need sorting through. It’s been accumulated over decades, and I don’t know exactly what I’ve got.

Roland

Cataloguing my accumulated equipment has started. It turns out that n=16, plus the half dozen guitars that I gave away to a music school. 

Heaven knows what I’ve got in parts. I think I’ll keep those in case I start building again.