Last Gig of 2025

[tubatodd]

Last night I played for the Tuscaloosa Ballroom Dance Club Christmas dance. Overall the gig went well. I received a random compliment on my playing from one of the dancers. That was a plus. To paraphrase Victor Wooten, I told the guy "If I'm not groovin', you're not groovin'."

We played 3 sets for a total of 45 tunes and 3 hrs. This was a bass gig for me. I brought my G&L Tribute LB100, Cort Elrick NJS, Genzler Magellan Preamp pedal, Carvin BX250 head and Fender Rumble 210 cabinet. With all of those different brands I feel like my gig uniform should have looked like a NASCAR suit.

[bloke]

Interesting that you did almost The identical thing that I did in a similarly sized town and only a few weeks apart from when I did one of those and with about the same size band.
I think maybe a couple dozen more people showed up for the one I did. Maybe their club has been going a little longer or something.
Did you bring both basses that you own because you just wanted to play on both of them some during the gig? (completely understandable)

[tubatodd]

Interesting that you did almost The identical thing that I did in a similarly sized town and only a few weeks apart from when I did one of those and with about the same size band.
I think maybe a couple dozen more people showed up for the one I did. Maybe their club has been going a little longer or something.

Tis the season. It's been a few years since I played a Christmas or New Year's gig. It was great having one again this year.

There were a few more people in the audience than pictured. Many just hung out at the tables eating snacks.

Did you bring both basses that you own because you just wanted to play on both of them some during the gig? (completely understandable)

I have ab obscene number of basses, amps and cabinets. These were the 2 I picked for this gig. I don't know that I had a particular reason for picking them. I will say they each did the job VERY well.

As far as playing them, I typically swap basses from set to set just because I can. Early on with this group I'd bring a single bass. That was until I read a post on TalkBass about having backup gear at a gig. Now that I've read that post, I feared something would happen. From that day forward I've brought 2 basses, 2 amp heads, multiple cables....but 1 cabinet. My backup to the cabinet is my preamp pedal(s) which I could use to run through the PA if necessary in a pinch.

Before loading my Jeep with by gear, I decided I should test my rig. I'm REALLY glad I did. My favorite amp head gave up the ghost. Not sure how dead it is yet. Anyway, I ended up bringing the Carvin. I keep a Trace Elliot Elf in the back of my Jeep at all times. So that is my backup if I should need it. It's a palm sized amp that packs a punch.

[bloke]

Maybe you played for Tuscaloosa's chapter of "USA Dance"...(??)

I had to look back at the band's singer's fb page to find a couple of pictures of our gig.

The obvious reason there were more people is (I forgot which freakin' city in which I played this gig!) that this is the MEMPHIS ("greater" Memphis is c. 1.4M peeps) chapter.

' sorta proud of myself:

After FORTY years of the bass guitar being snapped up tight in its case (and you will remember that I put it up for sale, and then took it off the market) it only took me a couple of gigs to ween myself off of looking at the neck and "buzzing" the frets... Notice that I was staring at the CHART (and not the neck). This was BEFORE the bandleader realized that he was sending all the pdfs' lead sheets (along with the practice tracks) to a MISSPELLED email address ("sellmansgerger")...I was just haplessly assuming that he just expected me to sightread EVERYTHING (*which I was doing).



multiple bass guitars:

For a very short period of time, I had THIS bass PLUS a pre-CBS Fender "Precision" bass (part of a trade with a dealer (who ran an - actually legendary/famous...big-time musicians shopped there - unlicensed music store out of the large basement of his house in Brownsville, TN). I sold him a Mark VI tenor sax for $$$$ + that bass. I bought a conversion kit for (which was ingeniously designed to take advantage of the Precision model's wide neck and convert it to a FIVE-string WITHOUT drilling any holes or chopping on anything (ie. 100% reversible)...so I had the Precision set up as a 5-string and the Jazz bass ONLY altered by removing the clunky hardware with which they were factory-equipped.

I never bought myself any other basses, though we sold some pretty interesting ones in our brick-and-mortar store "back in the day".

__________________________________________________________________________
*
Again: he has FOUR types of charts
[1] bass clef with most/many of the actual notes written out in the string bass octave
[2] treble clef typical "C" lead sheets (melody and chord changes)
[3] WORST: lyrics, NO BAR LINES, chord symbols typed above the word where the chord changes, and WORDS telling the bass player what notes to play on the intro, tag, and bridge, and OFTEN these arrangements have a novelty "feel" (type of dance beat) that's NOT like the original recording. (' better catch it quick!)
[4] simply a piece of paper with the title of the song and the key

I noticed that they spent a heckuva lot more dough on your band (and with fewer people dividing up the cost).
As seen, there were only five of us:
- trumpet/keyboard/vocals
- guitar/keyboard
- drummer
- bass
- vocalist

[tubatodd]

@bloke definitely a similar gig. Mine, thank goodness, was all fully notated parts in numbered order in a 3-ring binder. We literally played chart 1 - 45. Even with the parts notated...well....we had a couple of mishaps. First, we had some tunes with edits and apparently not everyone edited their parts the same. One tune had a third-ending (with 3 repeats) and at one rehearsal we changed the number of repeats.......and the final rehearsal we swapped back. Yeah.....you can imagine how that one went. Excluding those, sub-optimal tunes, the rest of the show went well.

I can read lead sheets and make up parts if needed. I can't say that I'd be worth a darn if all I was given was the name of a tune and a key. Nope. I'm out. I'm just glad this gig is just reading charts. A few last night, I could swear, was the first time I saw it. My first gig with this group (Veterans Day 2013 at the Southern Museum of Flight) 12 years ago was about 60% sight reading. That was a fun gig.

[arpthark]

The other day, I got handed a flute part in G for a tune I had never seen at a klezmer gig and the bandleader told me, “Do this but in Bb, take the solo and make it jazzy” about 15 seconds before we started the tune. Okay, boss.

[bloke]

Referring back to the four types of charts...

I'd MUCH rather have the title of a "standard" called out (and the key would be nice, but - by middle of the first bar - I'll be in anyway...or I'll pick the most likely key and it's usually that)...

...than the "lyrics with chord changes typed over them and no bar lines" crap...again: particularly when it's a gimmick arrangement (and not the same type of beat at the original recording).

bloke "being redundant...' sorry !

[bloke]

The other day, I got handed a flute part in G for a tune I had never seen at a klezmer gig and the bandleader told me, “Do this but in Bb, take the solo and make it jazzy” about 15 seconds before we started the tune. Okay, boss.

Back when I was messing around much more with trumpet playing (before I was pigeonholed as a "tuba repair specialist" - other than by pro players who know better) and messing around playing the trumpets I'd just repaired, I was hired for my ONE-AND-ONLY klezmer gig (wedding reception)...well: so far.

A rabbi was the bandleader/drummer, and this was going to be his LAST-EVER gig, because he was moving up to a higher level of rabbi, and considered it "undignified".

...but the principal trumpet in the Memphis Symphony (customer/friend) was the other trumpet player, and there only two trumpets, a keyboard, bass, and drums. Scott (the other trumpet player) was laughing because I was sight-reading the asymmetrical-time/modal tunes (lead sheets) and harmonizing with him (looking at the melodies and chord changes...and - sure - listening).
me...?? ...as long everything was SOMEWHAT predictable,stayed in the lower part of the staff (ie. harmonizing), and tunes didn't last more than 4 minutes or so, I could do that.

I rarely mess with the trumpet anymore, and don't sound as good as I did - decades ago - when playing it.

[bloke]

re: "last gig":

My two best (not musically-speaking, but wampum) gigs - each year - are at a very wealthy (duh: Anglican) church.

Christmas Eve is particularly nice, though I don't get home until c. 1:30 A.M. (Christmas morning)...and it's been (for quite a few years) my "last gig of the year".

When coming up on December (ie. in the fall), I don't worry about saving back any of the mouthpiece sales revenue, because I rely on my xmas December gigs - each year - to restock mouthpieces and components.

NYE gigs:
totally out-of-style (at least, around here)
Some orchestras tried doing "NYE" concerts (and maybe some still do, which ended at traditional times - c. 9:30 P.M...so no "bringing in the New Year"), but I'm thinking that not many of still do them...probably mostly ended up being flops, attendance-wise.
In the past, I worked at casinos on NYE (and before that - at restaurants/clubs/etc.), but they seem to be just about totally gone/out-of-style...and with around half of the casinos now shuttered (surely: a good thing, as casinos are - mostly - a scheme for dubious corporations to addict the poor to gambling, while government uses casinos - ie. "their portion of the take" - to tax the poor).
With the serious enforcement on DWI/DUI (thankfully), I'm thinking that really discouraged NYE parties in general. ie. "What's the point of a NYE party without getting drunk...but then, how to drive home without ending up in the pokey...or that PLUS wrecking the car ?"

amp:
I've been borrowing my son's Ampeg BA115v2 (remarkably fine-sounding amp, in new condition), but I SHOULD just freakin' CLEAN THE POTS on my OWN Peavey (BW-equipped), and/or get my (ancient) Polytone Minibrute (12") repaired (symptom: dropouts). My 1973 B15 Portaflex...It works great, but I just deem it as too fragile to be hauling around.

LOL... coincidence:
I just got a text that the Memphis group wants us back in the early spring. I'm guessing (??) they meet monthly, but usually dance to recordings.

[tubatodd]

Genzler amp update:

I tried my Genzler Magellan 350 head with each of my cabinets (Hartke, Fender, Markbass and Ampeg) and with different combinations of amp cables. It worked 100% of the time. So, Saturday night's test was a fluke. I'm just glad it's not the amp. I am a big fan of Genzler products.

[bloke]

I know there is gear way better than this available, but having not been into this instrument for four decades, I'm just glad to have a couple things around the house that turn on and make a sound:

https://tubaforum.net/viewtopic.php?t=13070

[1 Ton Tommy]

Two years ago our rock band played our last NYE gig at the Eagles club. That included dinner and drinks and we got paid well! This year no NYE gigs at the usual local places, many of which have changed hands since. The owner/bartender of the most likely place, which has a big dance floor and a disco ball, broke her back falling out of a tree while limbing a branch overhanging the outdoor stage. That was in early November and they're still closed.

And...The fallout from Covid continues with chronic staffing shortages as too many younger people who worked at those jobs have left town mostly because they can't afford rent, or find a place to live. And that includes younger musicians. We lost a doghouse bass player who moved to NYC and the remaining string bass player isn't happy about being the only one in the big orchestra. If we lose her, I'll be playing string bass parts on my Mammoth instead of bass trombone parts on my Eb.

So, this year what has resulted is a theater-orchestra sized group playing for the Unitarian Church. Our trombonist, having the closest thing to a baton in the form of his slide, will conduct. We rehearsed last night and it went fine. But I could tell my trumpet chops are our of shape by the time we got to Jingle Bells at the end. The 1st trumpet went to SFO to visit family and show off the new baby, so I'm in the hot seat. No point in both me and the 2nd trumpet having to learn new parts as she's played all the literature on 2nd and I've played most on 1st at one time or another.

The weather has been terrible (torrential rain that made the national news) and the skiers have stayed away so it doesn't look good for any pop-up gigs at the last minute. But then, it snowed hard on the way home from rehearsal, 35 MPH in a 60 zone, and there's 4 " on the ground this morning so there's hope, God willing and the creek don't rise. Maybe they will come but only one of our four mountain passes is open after the last storm, DOT says months to repair, so they'll have to come from the flat lands if that should close. At least we've got power and water, which is more than I can say for Denver according to my sister in law who lives there.

[bloke]

21st Century pay is low for MOST gigs (including most "full-time" orchestra jobs), whereby most all gigs are now defacto amateur ("for the love of it person" - amateur - amore, etc.).

The orchestra jobs that seem to pay well are year-round and in VERY high cost of living cities (whereby the musicians have to scramble doing other things and - goes without saying - their spouses have to work full-time...and who's raising their children...??).

Even when the pay is something like $1800-$2000/week (in big blue cities, where most of the higher-dollar range orchestra jobs are found), often their just-large-enough-for-everyone-to-squeeze-in homes' property tax is something like $200/WEEK ($10K/year), their water bills are HUNDREDS of dollars a month, their house notes (NOT including the c. $1000/mo. property tax) are way up in the $2XXX range, they pay state tax on their income and personal property, car tags are astronomical, utility bills are confiscatory, the cheapest grade of ground beef is $6/lb. these days, etc., etc. Anything that their kids do costs a zillion dollars, (I have an offspring who deals with all of this.) ...so that $1800 is all spent, while that full-time orchestra musician is spending 20 hours each week rehearsing/performing, probably another 30 hours traveling back-and-forth as well as getting ready to travel back-and-forth (plus gasoline, if they're driving...and who knows how much to pay to park), and then there's home practice for maintenance, studying unfamiliar pieces, and working on difficult passages.

I'm thinking that - when I'm paid a meager $120 for two-hour gig (particularly living in rural Tennessee in a mostly rural county with extremely conservative anti-taxation commissioners) that I'm actually making (certainly: keeping) more per hour than many of these full-time big-city orchestra musicians, certainly considering that most of the tunes that play at these jobs are "on autopilot"...whereby I've played all these songs so many times for so many years that I can think about other stuff ("Should I replace that strut on the passenger side, or let it go for a while?"..."That guy over there is even funnier-looking than I am" - etc...) while playing them.

Finally...if these full-time big-city orchestra musicians are grossing $90K - $100K from their primary job (and somehow managing to cover all these costs, fees, and taxes - with both them and their spouse working), when they pick up a pretty good second job (teaching at a college, etc. along with private students, or whatever) most all of that money has to go to cover FICA and FIT...

...and I haven't even gone into the "When I was 20 years old, I thought I'd be playing Mahler, Strauss, Wagner, Holst, Ravel, and Bruckner all the time, and not underneath a screen playing along with 20-year-old Disney movies" types of "artistic" issues.

[1 Ton Tommy]

Well, as of this Sunday morning I've played my last gig of 2025, unless somebody comes up with a pop-up NYE gig. That's once again possible since it snowed 6" last week and froze. The skiers haven't cancelled their reservations according to Mr. Trombone who runs central reservations. He conducted this morning's church gig.

So, this morning I played 1st trumpet and introduced the history of each carol we played. That may have been too much for me. I chipped a couple of high As and lost track of where I was on the chart altogether on one piece. I was just playing along and realized that I was playing entirely by ear and there was a technical passage coming up and couldn't find it on the chart. I managed to play it from memory and all was well but I realized that I was losing my concentration. This has happened several times in the last couple of weeks, most recently on the Hallaluja Chorus where there is so much sound pressure with the full orchestra and 60 voices that I couldn't think.

For that piece, concentration was very important as I was transposing the Bass bone part up an octave to Bb trumpet. With so much noise I couldn't think and lost about 16 bars before I recovered. This has me worried. Nobody said anything but it wasn't a one off. I slip-seat from tuba to trumpet, sometimes in one performance, and need the concentration. In practice I do fine on the technical stuff but in the heat of battle when it really counts it sometimes comes unglued.

What do some of you do to maintain concentration? Of course there's getting a good night's sleep but what else?

[MikeMason]

Hello all. I too have a jazz group called Ain’t Misbehavin. Ha! Ours is a trio with me on Sousa and vocals,jazz trumpet and guitar/banjo. I’m the leader, so pick the tunes. Always happy for input from the guys. Playing the gigs is fun . It’s booking the gigs that’s the hard part. Yes, pay is tiny,and I am basically that amateur/hobbiest you’re referring to. We don’t play for free. We did donate our services to the humane society for a fundraiser last year, and were happy to help. In no way has gig pay kept up with inflation. Luckily, my day job has.

[arpthark]

My last gig of the year was a klezmer gig at an Orthodox synagogue.

With the fantastic Gary Buttery on tuba, I played baritone and improvised some harmony parts and took some lead parts, which is what I tend to do when Gary is on these gigs. Fun times, very nice people, and a big spread of bagels and lox.