77 minus 70

It's my band's last gig of the year tomorrow night. At the Unicorn on Camden Road. It's free entry if you're around? This is where our new line-up had it's first outing back in December 2007.

That makes a grand total of....
....
....
....
....
....
....
....7 gigs, this year.
Gulp.
That's right, 7.
Not 77, but 77 minus 70.
Seven.
That's one gig every seven weeks or so?
Is that enough?
Not really.
So what you gonna do about it?

Well, we don't just need more gigs, we need better gigs too. I need to crack on with the idea that inspired the Rock-Til-You-Drop site and that is facilitating older musicians joining forces and playing gigs together. This will help maximise attendence. These events can also double as social networking occasions for mature musicians. This will be my New Year resolution. This is my mission for 2009. You read it here.

I have a few friends coming tomorrow night. The loyal few. Maybe they'll be ten or twelve of them. But what happened to the days when you could get thirty or forty people out? Here lies one of the main problems with gigging as a mature musician.

The band got up to speed last night in rehearsal and we've finally got round to including three or four of the newer songs. Thank fuck for that. After two run-throughs we we're firing on all cylinders. We don't get a warm-up tomorrow night, though.

The wife is working late but is coming to the gig. She is bringing some mates too, which is good. I have to let the babysitter in at 6pm. At which point, I have to dash across Camden with my guitar, my 100w Marshall combi and my kit-bag. I put my amp on a trolley and my guitar on my back. Soundcheck is 6:30 - if you believe it?

I shall let you know how the gig goes.