So, at the tender age of 72 (as of this week) I have been dragged kicking and screaming(ish) into doing a charity gig with the old retired band and a few top class singers as guests that I couldn’t ignore. Some old songs and quite a few new ones which I was very up for (up tempo and get them up dancing). So the first issue was what tech was I going to use, I decided to go for quality in sound and my old favourite technology so used Cantabile and my favourite plugins. (I’m keyboards and guitar). I thoroughly enjoyed putting together a tech set up that worked for me and the gig had a very tame sound man too which helped.
It made me remember what a great forum and community this is this with people like Torsten E and Dave D. Over the years, Brad had been excellent in the rapid support of his product and any tech issues. Thanks to all in this community who are only too quick to help. If only the new songs would stick in the brain like they used to. Sigh.
Yours for ever, briefly out of retirement.
I will be 74 this year, and after a few surgeries stopping my gigs last year, I am well and ready to get back in the saddle.
Most of the people I gigged with in the last 10 years were good musicians, but terrible performers. While I was off, I decided to become a solo act, and started building a rig and setlist to support it. My solo gig will be a performance.
I play many instruments, but I can only bring a few. Thanks to Cantabile, this new part of my life will hopefully be an enjoyable one. We old farts have to show the younger generations how it is done!
I certainly count myself as an old fart I’m glad you are still going strong Corky. A sad fact around my area is that since Covid a lot of pubs and clubs have stopped live bands and hence young bands aren’t coming through. A great shame.
That IS a shame. I’ve noticed a decline in live music in my area. But, there are still many venue owners fighting to support local musicians. This city has been known for it’s live music, and I hope the future keeps it alive, long after my generation is gone.
It’s bad in the uk post lockdown for venues, and our current government seems to be doing its dammedest to make venues even more unviable with business rates, minimum wage and employer national insurance hikes. Not sure how long my local venue can hold out for.
It’s a good job I’m not trying to make money out of music, just minimising my losses!
Employment in the arts has always depended on the conditions where you play so it comes as no surprise to me that there has been a decline in it for folks. Things are not great financially in my local. Restaurants and lounges & pubs are suffering from low traffic with fewer young people going out anymore. They are the ones who like late nights from my memory. Here it’s just folks over 45 that seem to really frequent these types of businesses. One of our haunts we play at started out slotting us at 8:00 to 11:00 then went to 7:00 to 10:00 and just this year changed to 6:00 to 9:00. The reason is to try to get the live music in front of paying seats at the dinner hour because later those seats will be empty. Older folks that favor live music like to get on home by a reasonable hour and 9:00 appears to be that limit. I’m not complaining either as I am in the same age group as Corky, Derek and Alan. As far as not minding staying up late to play we are in the minority. In general our bookings are down from last year and it sucks because I like to play still. Anyway it’s good to hear from you Alan and that you are well and a big cheers to Corky and Derek as well. Still dancing …
I must confess these days I am only gigging in my local venue as I can be home at a reasonable time! I am too old (62) by be zooming down the M4 to get back at 3AM in the morning. That is of course one of the drawbacks of living in West Wales (next stop Ireland) - I am literally in the (beautiful) sticks where decent venues within easy reach are very limited.
I’ll be honest, I do not know how long I will be doing this for. I am down to a few gigs a year now, which i am happy with as I want to make them special with the lights and visuals, and it is now more of a labour of love for a small but appreciative audience.
I am also starting to do some choice covers with the venue owner.- if that works out. There is still the constant threat of the Floyd band starting up again, but with so many false starts I will believe it when I see it.
the other problem I have is a really demanding day job, which can just suck away spare time - but it does mean I am never short of money for the musical toys!
I’m 66 and we spend Winters in SW Florida; I’m in a band down here and another one in upstate New York during the summer. Here in SW FL due to tourism there are many places to play, and the music scene is quite vibrant. However it seems about 80% of the bookings are single acts or duos, and bar/club band budgets seem to get tighter every year. While we certainly don’t do it for the money, if you can’t make $125 or more per band member, it starts to get old. And almost every booking is 6P-9P, with a few that are occasionally 7-11 p…I like that part! Starting last year we focused more on the retirement and residential communities, of which there are an almost endless amount down here. They have good budgets, the audience is mostly our age and are appreciative of our classic rock setlist, and the clients are a lot nicer than most bar owners. But in upstate New York, it’s a different story altogether… Fewer bars, more bands, budgets just as tight. And we play to a 20 something crowd so it’s mostly music I had never heard before. But that’s a good thing, and there are quite a few songs that are actually quite good! I hope to keep going until I drop in my tracks. Probably while loading 2 Subs into the car😄
Tom
I’m glad you are still going strong Corky. A sad fact around my area is that since Covid a lot of pubs and clubs have stopped live bands and hence young bands aren’t coming through. A great shame.
As far as not minding staying up late to play we are in the minority. In general our bookings are down from last year and it sucks because I like to play still. Anyway it’s good to hear from you Alan and that you are well and a big cheers to Corky and Derek as well. Still dancing … 
