Playing Live vs Not Doing That

[friendship]

I stopped playing a couple years ago because I got burnt out by scammy promoters, terrible soundmen, mentally stunted musicians, jaded/indifferent crowds, and so on. Although the bullshit became too much for me, I really love the essence of playing live, it's incredibly fulfilling and I miss it. Sometimes I fantasize about picking myself up and trying again, but I'm daunted by those negative experiences. I guess some would say "if you want to do it, just do it, don't focus on the negative," but--at least in my city--it's like ignoring someone constantly spitting directly into your face. Maybe it's folly to fantasize about an experience of playing with musicians you love and respect at a club that doesn't openly rip you off for people who don't believe they're above all music.

I just wanted to get other people's personal experiences. I dunno, maybe you've been through something similar.

[D.o.S.]

I love playing music with other people in a live environment. It's the best. Love going to shows, love watching bands, love everything about gigs when I'm not playing them.

I absolutely hate gigging.

[Eivind August]

Love playing live. It's a kick. It makes me focus more on actually playing stuff right. It feels like the stakes are slightly higher, though they're not.

[backwardsvoyager]

I love playing shows but yeah, same boat here. I've never played a show in my city that wasn't some sort of massive hassle in some regard. Hate hate hate hate the music scene in Sydney, the venues, promoters, other performers that are full of shit and take their sweet ass time setting up and packing down (i have had to wait an hour changeover after a one man act who just played looped acoustic guitar, among other things).
The minute i'm up on stage playing to the at least a couple of people in the room who give a shit i always have an awesome time and would love to be doing that as often as possible, but it's easy to be discouraged by all these other things and rightfully so. I mean this would be happening everywhere to some extent but i'm certain there are much better places out there to be playing shows.

[O Drones]

Same boat here. Total drag, and the I can see myself being happier not playing live at all, or at least very rarely.

[rustywire]

Mark me down for "Not doing that" as I've yet to play a live show. It hasn't been a focus of mine to this point.
I got into music (as a player) late in the game, when I already had (have) a full plate of other pressing obligations.
My effort has been focused on learning more about myself/sensibilities through the development of techniques that I can use to work out the song ideas I have kicking around.
I want to make a record. That's the goal. Putting on a great live show requires a different approach than putting together a great record. When I have a record then I'll worry about taking it on the road. As it is I have no desire in playing other people's music to generate hype.
I'll see to it that my record creates buzz. With fuzz

Also, I try to keep an ear to the streets and monitor how this new global economy "values" (read: mistreats) gigging musicians. Friends in the scene help keep me grounded & eye on the prize, with each new horror story. Shitty live sound is a dealbreaker for me.
I'm currently uninterested in spinning my wheels, attempting to find favor in a bunch of drunks (heavy on the d-bags) who aren't there to see me or hear the type of shit I'm trying to do. I'd rather focus energy on creating something that may connect on a more personal level and even stand the test of time. Regardless of whether it pans out or not I'd like to have something to show for my efforts. Battling against myself is tough enough as it is without vying for stage time and pitiful compensation beyond "exposure" to an unsympathetic audience.

/rant

[coldbrightsunlight]

I absolutely love playing live. On a good night the energy is way better than anything I can conjure up in a rehearsal or in the studio, and playing like that is worth the times that are less good for me.

I'm not sure what I just said works unless you're playing with other cool musicians though. If you can just find one person who's nice and on roughly the same page as you musically, hold on to them! I know it can be hard to find that, but for me when I have it's magical.

[Muff_Diver]

Bummer for you dudes who got turned off by the bad shit. Nothing is better than playing live. Wish I was on tour every day. 5 awesome shows make 20 bad ones worth it.

[voerking]

5 awesome shows make 20 bad ones worth it.

not sure if i agree with your math, but i agree with the essence of what you're saying.

[Muff_Diver]

That space between virginia and texas can be killer. I guess bad is also the wrong word.

But you get it.

[Seance]

That space between virginia and texas can be killer. I guess bad is also the wrong word.

But you get it.

Whoa! I had some mild dyslexia going for a minute and thought you wrote:
"The space between vagina and Texas can be killer".

Which sounds like some sort of "on the road" koan about the ineffability of groupies
(a level of live playing I never attained).

There are levels of live playing that might rekindle the fun of playing live! Like... try to convert your basement into a small venue.
Take the keys, create the space you want. Invite the people who "get it" and want to have a good time. Or... find some people
of like-mind (preferably one who has a sound-proofed basement with an exterior door to funnel crowds through).

Or... go multimedia. Sometimes people talk and are douche-bags and heckle at a live music show. Sometimes people talk
at the movies (people are used to being inside their own heads, watching shit at home or on mobile devices). So the solution
might be sensory overload so that the audience's critical brain gets shut down.

I've done a bit playing live with visuals. I want to do it more. But I want to create the visuals too (which is time-consuming) so I haven't
played recently. But a few years ago I opened for a band who were playing live music to Microcosmos (feature-length documentary about bugs)
and I played live accompaniment to two of my short videos before that. It was super fun.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8X1N3761Fg[/youtube]


http://vimeo.com/13174563

Or... just play music how you like it and enjoy it for what it is.

[D.o.S.]

I will also say that, IME, the unsympathetic audience is, I think, overblown a bit. If what you're doing is worth listening to, people will respond appropriately. I've just always been much more of a headphones person than a live gig person when it comes to presenting my own music, if that makes any sense.

Not that that means anything I've ever been involved with is any good, of course.

[Seance]

I think "unsympathetic audience" is still a thing. If people are expecting a jazz band and you come out and play heavy doom style metal... the audience might not be receptive.

There was a stretch there a few years back where every band seemed to be saying some variation on: "We started as a joke band just to piss people off. Then we started to
take this seriously."

Which might be a way of insulating yourself from people's judgments. In the early, fragile stages of exploration you can console yourself that you're just "joking around" and
that uptight people "just don't get it". Then at a certain point you realize you play music because you love it and are compelled to do it, regardless of response (positive or negative).

[moogboy]

I'll be perfectly honest-I don't give a single fuck about unsympathetic audiences. My first Juggable Offense show was at a Hard Rock Cafe-if that isn't an unsympathetic audience I don't know what is. For a while before I committed to playing any show I told whoever was booking it some variation of "I'm happy to play this show, but I play long songs with no breaks, it's weird music to begin with, it's loud, and there are no vocals. Do you still want me?" And want me they did, in spite of the fact that in one case I completely cleared the room, and in another I was soundtracking a bunch of college students blowing off steam in bouncy castles and shit. No one gave a single fuck then, and for most of the shows I've played no one has cared in the slightest, but as long as no one throws a full beer at me I don't mind. The live show is as much for me as it is for the yobbos in the audience.

Re shitty soundmen: My solution to dealing with shitty soundmen is to deny them control over my sound. I admit that this won't work for everyone, as most bands have drummers and vocals, which complicated things to varying degrees. However, for guitars (I fully admit that this is gonna sound batshit insane to goddamn near everyone), your guitar does not need to go through a guitar amp to sound good-buy a Catalinbread preamp sim overdrive and a nice EQ pedal, feed it into a cabinet simulating DI, and then into a mixer and only give the soundman the feeds from that mixer. Invest in a few of the bigger Roland keyboard amps (I use two KC350's for bigger shows/touring) and create the mix you want to hear in the world for the audience.

[cedarskies]

playing live is great. writing and recording is great too. unfortunately i usually have to choose between the two at any given time, due to how much time i can give. i actually find it rather surprising how many of yous guys haven't played out before. definitely a good experience to have. and really pivotal in building good local musician relationships.