Hamers and Hanging It Up

[cmatthes]

2 hours ago, Jakeboy said:

I turn 61 next month and  could crank out a 4 hour set at a local bar easily…,it is still that fun for me…but…I will not play for free unless it is at church.  I quit gigging to start recording originals cause with a day job, there was not enough time to do it all.  I’ll start a new album in January and I am getting the itch to form a band again…,I have the vocalist already who plays  good rhythm guitar….so I just need a drummer and bassist.  We’ll see . I don’t miss herding cats and finding/scheduling gigs.  I do enjoy going to local jams for 3-5 songs for fun supporting a blues society.  When I slam a chord the love of the 18 year old me playing guitar comes right back,

Right on, brothah!  
 

I actually thought about you the other day - I was dropping a bass at a friend’s repair shop for some tweaking and he mentioned that he had something new that he knew I’d want to check out.  He pulled a real “Mark Revel Special” out from the back - a nearly new/mint 1977, like the one you had in our old MHS days…

[stonge]

"normal people don't do this"

I have friends for whom music is a commodity like ice cream or just background noise to their days; they just don't get it.  They'll never realize the joy of creating the big, fat groove that gets the room bouncing, or the magical joy of trying to palm-mute that screaming guitar and amp set to kill during the count-in where the crowd had no idea that the country band they were watching all night was about to nuke them with "Play it all night long".  When you get to the end of the song and everyone looks at each other in amazement "where the fuck did that come from?" (In a good way lol). When your hands magically produce the note that you hear in your heart, and everything that is you steps aside and lets the music flow.  Normal people don't do this, but I hope they find their own peace/joy/happiness somewhere.

To quote DBT: " I'll keep living just to bend that note in two".

[The Shark]

12 hours ago, cmatthes said:

Damn, that hurts.  Peace to you and those to whom he no doubt meant the world.

Thanks, Chris.  He was a good man.

[Navigator]

[Jakeboy]

20 hours ago, cmatthes said:

Right on, brothah!  
 

I actually thought about you the other day - I was dropping a bass at a friend’s repair shop for some tweaking and he mentioned that he had something new that he knew I’d want to check out.  He pulled a real “Mark Revel Special” out from the back - a nearly new/mint 1977, like the one you had in our old MHS days…

Thanks for this, Chris! 
I did love that guitar and 0006 finally got me over losing it….!  

[Jakeboy]

18 hours ago, stonge said:

"normal people don't do this"

I have friends for whom music is a commodity like ice cream or just background noise to their days; they just don't get it.  They'll never realize the joy of creating the big, fat groove that gets the room bouncing, or the magical joy of trying to palm-mute that screaming guitar and amp set to kill during the count-in where the crowd had no idea that the country band they were watching all night was about to nuke them with "Play it all night long".  When you get to the end of the song and everyone looks at each other in amazement "where the fuck did that come from?" (In a good way lol). When your hands magically produce the note that you hear in your heart, and everything that is you steps aside and lets the music flow.  Normal people don't do this, but I hope they find their own peace/joy/happiness somewhere.

To quote DBT: " I'll keep living just to bend that note in two".

This is so very true! When a song goes stratospheric and everyone collapses into smiles and laughter at the end because it was just so good and emotions take over. Love that feeling, and you post encapsulates the feeling exactly.

[Brooks]

I can relate to so many things said in this thread. I will be 57 next month.

My last band gig was May 2022. It wasn't a great band; I am probably done with band gigs unless something special comes up. I still jam w/ my pals Kolton & Donovan (we did a tune on the HFC Vol IV), we get together maybe once every 4 to 6 weeks and bash out Sabs/Zep/ZZ Top/Mountain, so I still get the kick of loud jams without the hassle of gigs. 

I have been doing jazzy solo gigs with a looper pedal since 2015. I do 3 hour gigs standing up (I play better, plus hunching over my guitar in a chair makes my back hurt). I have stepped it up some in 2023 in that I've added some vocal tunes (mellow classic rock), and I got a looper w/ some appropriate drum beats (it's not as lame live as it seems reading it here, haha), it has perked my audiences up a bit. If you guys can put together a solo or duo act, DO IT. Give it a shot, it's not as cool as a cranked up band but it's still rewarding. I am thankful that I have a few places I play regularly that pay good and appreciate what I'm doing, stylistically. 

[stedge]

I am 57, last gig 2016, too long since.  Been working too hard since then and, well, times are a changin. Moving in a few months and hope to get in with a local group of old farts like myself, play weekends.  Just for giggles.  I wont be taking call anymore, so my evenings are free!  

[Willie G. Moseley]

[crunchee]

As time goes on, I look on guitars less and less as the end to a means, and more as a tool, like a shovel.  Sure, there's purty shiny ones out there for breaking ceremonial ground, but nowadays I rely on the ones I've had and used for years for my own purposes, that fit me like a glove and feel just right, for maintaining my own health and well being.  And it's difficult to get things done if you need a shovel, but don't have one.      But that's just me.

[Rich_S]

My onstage persona has since the '80s been sort of a cross between Rick Nielsen and Pete Townsend.  Last month my old college frat parties-and-bars band played our first reunion show since COVID.  At some point during the first set, I jumped up in the air, and landed flat-footed, wearing the requisite red Converse hightops.  When I landed, it felt as though someone hit the bottoms of my feet with a sledge hammer.  I realized then that I either need to change my persona, or switch to some of those fancy high-tech Hoka running shoes with the inch-and-a-half-thick space-age foam soles.   Looking back after the show, I realized that my persona was nowhere near as energetic as it once was.

However, I also realized that biennial shows with my old band (a seven hour drive away) just wasn't enough play time to suit me.  I decided to get involved in the local music scene in Buffalo, which I haven't done in the two years we've lived here.  Miraculously, I found a band on the first day I started looking, that's right up my alley stylistically.  I checked out their FB page and saw they were fronted by a keyboard player who sets up front and center.  My first thought was BORING!  What kind of show is it if there's no one out front moving around.  But the more I thought about, the more appealing the idea of simply playing music became.  We can still put on a good show without risking hip fractures or coronaries from jumping around like maniacs.  Thankfully, it's the kind of band where small combo amps are appropriate so we won't be lugging half-stacks or SVTs around.  A man's got to know his limitations but I think I've got a few more years of playing out in me.

My audition is Wednesday.

[alantig]

5 hours ago, Willie G. Moseley said:

 

[Biz Prof]

19 hours ago, Willie G. Moseley said:

 

 

[RobB]

I like the idea of giving up. I support that 100%

[alantig]

 

[scottcald]

17 hours ago, Rich_S said:

My onstage persona has since the '80s been sort of a cross between Rick Nielsen and Pete Townsend.  Last month my old college frat parties-and-bars band played our first reunion show since COVID.  At some point during the first set, I jumped up in the air, and landed flat-footed, wearing the requisite red Converse hightops.  When I landed, it felt as though someone hit the bottoms of my feet with a sledge hammer.  I realized then that I either need to change my persona, or switch to some of those fancy high-tech Hoka running shoes with the inch-and-a-half-thick space-age foam soles.   Looking back after the show, I realized that my persona was nowhere near as energetic as it once was.

However, I also realized that biennial shows with my old band (a seven hour drive away) just wasn't enough play time to suit me.  I decided to get involved in the local music scene in Buffalo, which I haven't done in the two years we've lived here.  Miraculously, I found a band on the first day I started looking, that's right up my alley stylistically.  I checked out their FB page and saw they were fronted by a keyboard player who sets up front and center.  My first thought was BORING!  What kind of show is it if there's no one out front moving around.  But the more I thought about, the more appealing the idea of simply playing music became.  We can still put on a good show without risking hip fractures or coronaries from jumping around like maniacs.  Thankfully, it's the kind of band where small combo amps are appropriate so we won't be lugging half-stacks or SVTs around.  A man's got to know his limitations but I think I've got a few more years of playing out in me.

My audition is Wednesday.

Hope it goes well.  Keyboard out front can be OK.  Are there songs where the keyboard moves out of the way and the person just sings and moves around or do they never come out from behind the keys?   To me, the better setup if they never leave the keys is to the left or right but still facing front with maybe a slight angle to see the rest of you, then you and the bassist can interact more without having to navigate around.  But, that's just me.   I don't think people have to jump off risers, but just standing there in their own silo playing isn't a fun show to me.   I like to see the performers interact and somebody nodding or raising a hand to end the song etc. 

[scottcald]

2 hours ago, RobB said:

I like the idea of giving up. I support that 100%

But then what if you give up on that? 🤣

[Biz Prof]

19 hours ago, Rich_S said:

I checked out their FB page and saw they were fronted by a keyboard player who sets up front and center.  My first thought was BORING!  What kind of show is it if there's no one out front moving around.  But the more I thought about, the more appealing the idea of simply playing music became.

I'd say that having a keys player with a legit rig up front is not nearly as annoying and clunky as having a random percussion instrument (especially a single tom or massive bass drum) up there front-and-center like some of these nauseating electro/alt pop bands like Imagine Dragons or Arcade Fire. 

[Willie G. Moseley]

[Willie G. Moseley]

[Jeroen]

Maybe weird, but at 51, I don't feel the need for playing live gigs anymore. I do maybe 4 a year now. I hate all the shizzle what comes with it. I am more into recording and songwriting now, though I don't spend as much time as I would like:(

[BillW]

On 11/11/2023 at 3:17 PM, Brooks said:

If you guys can put together a solo or duo act, DO IT. Give it a shot, it's not as cool as a cranked up band but it's still rewarding. I am thankful that I have a few places I play regularly that pay good and appreciate what I'm doing, stylistically. 

Yeah, I've been doing that since the pandemic started and the local venues couldn't/wouldn't have more than 2 people on the stage. It is cool to at least play music ( even just acoustic music). Honestly though, (mostly) strumming cowboy chords for several hours gets old after awhile.  I still love playing electric! Especially now that I don't lug a half stack to gigs, and it's kind of nice not to finish at 2 am anymore also. I know my days are numbered, though ( just turned 55) so I still like jammin out.

[scottcald]

On 11/18/2023 at 3:32 AM, Jeroen said:

Maybe weird, but at 51, I don't feel the need for playing live gigs anymore. I do maybe 4 a year now. I hate all the shizzle what comes with it. I am more into recording and songwriting now, though I don't spend as much time as I would like:(

It’s funny, I’ve written songs, on my own and with others.  It’s good and satisfying, but the reality is few will hear those songs. Friends and family will say it’s nice even if they don’t care. 
There’s something about playing live for direct reaction from people. I’ve just had poor luck gathering people/joining a group. Going to give it a go again soon. Playing on my own doesn’t appeal that much, especially if it’s a background type of thing. 

[diablo175]

1 hour ago, scottcald said:

It’s funny, I’ve written songs, on my own and with others.  It’s good and satisfying, but the reality is few will hear those songs. Friends and family will say it’s nice even if they don’t care. 
There’s something about playing live for direct reaction from people. I’ve just had poor luck gathering people/joining a group. Going to give it a go again soon. Playing on my own doesn’t appeal that much, especially if it’s a background type of thing. 

This has always been the duality of my musical aspirations: write and record my own shit and play live to satisfy my performing jonz.

I was lucky enough in the late 80's & early- mid 90's to do both with original music but that ship has sailed. Finding venues nowadays that will accommodate original bands, especially one that play self-indulgent, hardly-accessible "prog-ish hard rock" is like trying finding a 4 leaf clover.

That said, I ain't about to give up playing guitar and writing/recording original material. So long as the ol' body will accommodate performing live, I'ma keep rockin' for any audience that are willing to be subjected to my unique form of cover song torture.

Long live rock!

[polara]

About ten years ago (I'm 60) it became too much trouble to get four guys together to do a traditional rock band, so Missus Polara and I become a duo. No amp, no drums. Quick and easy load-in, and we have the option to be as weird or aggressive or quiet as we like.

As a duo, we can, if we want, gradually ease into being a retirement-home act: acoustic guitar and vocals doing boring atmospheric melancholy stuff. A lot of the older players here, some of whom I knew when we were all young punks trying to change the world, are into really esoteric stuff now: modular synths, theremins, sound samples, etc. You can still have the fun of being creative, but now you're performing in art spaces for people who sit quietly and dig the sounds.