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Just played my last gig with my band

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Dante:
Folks,

I just played a 'farewell' gig with a band of brothers that I consider, well....brothers. There was no ill will among us, there were just LIFE obligations getting in the way for a couple members of the band and it frustrated the shit out of the rest of us. So, we decided to mutually part ways with no animosity at all, lots of love and a great gig. We really rocked it. Really.

It was a festival, 12 hours long, Noon to Midnight. We asked to play early, and ended up being the 3rd band, behind a very VERY cool Prog Rock band that played everything from ELP to YES to Floyd and a Sabbath toon! I loved them, and told them they are my new favorite band. ANYWAYsss...back to my story...we played our 1.5 hours in rare fashion. Things really came together and I don't know or don't care why, but we were firing on all cylinders for sure. It was  fantastic time and it made me sad that it was ending.

We all have other projects going (except for the two guys with too much life obligation to commit to their hobby) and there may well be another cover band in the works between myself and two other members of the band. Who knows where that'll lead. The point is we sounded really good, really tight, and that is rare. It took work. We can probably play a 'reunion show' in ten years and be on, because we are so polished. I've never been in a band so tight, especially with five members. So, it's a punch to the gut. I feel like my dog died, and when another guy asks about me playing in his band (because he knows I'm available now) I feel like he's trying to give me a puppy.

Dude, my dog died, I don't want to go through all that re-learning with a brand new puppy. It's a bunch of work that I'm not in the mood for right now

tomy:
Man... that's sad ! But even though, that means no bad memories spoiled your band's adventure. And that's makes you, guys very lucky !
The last band I quit split because of misunderstanding : You know what upset me ? I really feel ashamed  about what happens and what we've done with this band, while we should be really proud because we've done such a good job together... 

But that's life ! Even in ten years you will have the chance to meet for reunion gig. And I'm sure, it will be also good playing than before !

Tomy

Harley Hexxe:
Dante,

   I think we've all been there at some point in our lives. I know I've been down that road at least three different times in my life. One was a really tight funk band in the mid 80's,(myself and the sax player were the only white people in a band of nine musicians), then again in the late 80's with a glam/metal band, and then again in the late 90's with an all original band called "Band Of Heathens" which was only a three piece band. The last one was the most emotional one for me since I wrote all the music and lyrics for most of our compositions. It was very difficult to have to break up the band since we had become like brothers to each other, overcoming a lot of obstacles and road blocks, both internally and externally, and were making a pretty good splash between Cleveland and New York. The reason for the breakup: The drummer had been in several dirt bike crashes in the past, and couldn't physically handle playing the drums at that point. At the end of the shows, he couldn't straighten up on his own, and the bass player and I had to help him off the stage at the end of it. It was sad because BOH could have gone the distance, and we were contacted by an A&R rep from Tower Records at the time the breakup. Talk about taking the wind out of your sails!

  Since then, I've only been sitting in with various bands and doing very non-committed gigs from time to time, but mostly, I've been wanting to focus myself on doing my own recordings and producing some of the BOH material to the best of my ability, as well as recording some of the newer compositions I've written since then. I've kept an open mind though about getting in with another group of musicians if it should ever happen to work out that way, but considering the declining live music scene in the area, I'm not holding my breath.

   I can certainly relate to where you are coming from.

   Harley 8)

Kim:
Yeah man that has to be a hard time.....even among plenty of other hard stuff going on.

The first real band I was in ,which was actually my second, was sad to leave because there was just so much potential there.  But the two founding members just seemed to do everything they could to shoot us in the foot.  Blame the internet; run your mouth there and that shit talk travels really fast.  :poop:  Anyway, the drummer's wife was schooling for a veterinarian career, and once she graduated she had job offers from all over the US and they soon moved to the West Coast.   The bassist didn't want to hang around while we try to find another drummer...and I didn't want to hang around while we try to find another drummer and a bassist.  We had one gig left to play that year and we all honored it; blew the freakin roof off the place, DGAF, got paid (wait, what?) and then parted our ways in the parking lot after the show.

The bassist and myself then joined his previous band, a different musical direction that was a bit challenging for me at the time because it was less of the Slayer/Nuclear Assault/Megadeth style that I was comfortable with and more of the heavier, darker sides of Rush/Pink Floyd/AC-DC that I wasn't used to.  It turned out pretty cool though.  I had to leave though after 2 years there because after all that practice, we played only 2 shows in all that time...and they were at the same place.  >:(  Besides that, the family health issues had reared it's ugly head, so it was an easy and painless decision for me to bow out of that band.

Now I have my own band, writing and composing everything we're doing so far (except one original song the bassist brought in and one cover), and trying to make good of all my past learning experiences.     

Maybe Dante......maybe you might find some of your own artistic creations along the way on this new path and you might surprise yourself.
If that door opens, there's 3 things you can do.  Shut it and walk away, stand in the doorway and wonder, or take a step inside to explore. Whichever of the 3 you choose, make sure you can be at peace with your decision....that door may never appear again.  Best of luck with everything, Brother.

vansinn:
I of course never saw your band life, but I did view/listen in several times, and what a great band it was!
Sure, things gets in the way of things, always did; some times resolvable, sometimes not.
I've seen bands continue for too long, i.e. past the days of being inventive.
Seems to me you all made the cut while being damn good, and this will be your memory and legacy.
Aaaand.. I've seen bands get together again later. With a vengeance.. ;)

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