Did you ever feel like you were performing for peanuts?

Isn’t that the truth schleping all the amps and guitars and sound system. Makes my back hurt thinking about it :D
 
We tell people our band plays for free, but we charge for moving our gear. We're all old and have real jobs (or are retired). I had a lot of fun in my 20s when I made my sole living with a guitar, but I'm glad I don't play to pay the rent anymore. The local venues here pay less per night now than they did in the '80s. (And there are not nearly as many venues available. The music biz in this town has just about dried up and gone away.)
 
And there are not nearly as many venues available. The music biz in this town has just about dried up and gone away.

Yea, and I'm a bit worried that it's going to be even worse after the pandemic finally recedes. I heard a favored club is not going make it out the other side....closed for too long and cannot survive...
 
We tell people our band plays for free, but we charge for moving our gear. We're all old and have real jobs (or are retired). I had a lot of fun in my 20s when I made my sole living with a guitar, but I'm glad I don't play to pay the rent anymore. The local venues here pay less per night now than they did in the '80s. (And there are not nearly as many venues available. The music biz in this town has just about dried up and gone away.)
Aye, the days of playing paying gigs are rapidly coming to a close. And that was even before the Coof. People will just as easy go see a band as they will go to a club and dance to a DJ playing his playlist. And he's a lot cheaper then hiring a band. I've seen that happen even to singer songwriters, getting replaced by a DJ. Don't bother to come, DJ is doing fine as is. You gotta youtube, or twitch, or whatever, I can no longer keep up, That's where your audience is these days.
 
South Florida lost the majority of it’s live venues well before covid and booking gigs as they were on their way out felt worse and worse each time. In 2003 I was in an original prog-metal band that was making $800 every Friday night to play for 4 hours in a divebar. We had that slot for about 2-3 months straight, mixing in a few covers with our originals. The last gigs I played down here we were lucky if we got a bucket of beer and the better the venue, the less likely we were to even get that bucket of beer.

I only know, for sure, of two clubs that have live bands right now in Ft. Lauderdale, which is f*cking sad. I’m not sure if the beach bars that normally had duo’s survived covid, I haven’t been down there yet. I know they were all protesting about 6 months back because everything else was allowed to open except the beach bars (which are all open-air seating) and they were facing evictions.

Live music is why I moved here originally in 2003 and why I moved back in 2012. Now that it’s gone, I have no use for this city and it’s become a chore to live here. I decided last year I’d be much happier being closer to my family and friends back up in New England. At least then I can start a band with my childhood friends and there’s a bit more of a live scene around Boston than there is down here.
 
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