The Music Scene - Past my bedtime

[Tricia]

@Philpug and I have a few friends who perform in a local band. We get invited to listen to them on a regular basis, but we've never done it. The reason - the gig usually starts 8:30 or 9 PM.
At 9 PM I'm thinking about pouring a night cap and heading off to bed.

Imagine my interest in this article.
If you want to keep the local music scene alive, start shows earlier.

 

[scott43]

I hate to sound old..but..if the shoe fits.. I live in an admittedly happening town. Toronto has a lot of nightlife and it's a big city. Back in the day, if we stayed at a place until1am, when all bars were lawfully required to shut down, that was a rare occasion. I mean, we still had a good time but yeah, we started at 7 or 8pm. Nowadays, I'm heading downtown at 11pm, which is extremely late for me these days, to pick someone up or whatever, and people are rocketing downtown to get their nights STARTED!!! Like, clubs don't start filling up until 11pm or midnight. WTF?? Don't these people work?! Or have kids?! Most of the DUI car wrecks seem to happen at 4 or 5am these days..

 

[mdf]

Lol...
I had a multi-day meeting near New Orleans last year. After dinner I strolled along Bourbon Street, and I remember wondering "Why are all these people so old?" Then it hit me, it was 9:30 pm. I was leaving, too, since I had be back at work at 7 am.

The last night I was there, I didn't have anything the next day till an afternoon flight home, so I started later. Sure enough, the youngsters were just starting to show up around 11 pm.

 

[Jilly]

Our local by-laws have a noise hour of 11:00pm. So any outdoor venues have to shut down at that time. Bars in Ontario close at 1 am. Bars in Quebec are 3 am. The young folks don't necessarily want to travel to see a band, unless it's big name. Local talent can be just as good or better, so they are missing out. At one time the Beatles were just a bunch of kids in Liverpool.

I think it's my age too. I'm with Tricia, after 9 pm, I'm turning in.

 

[graham418]

If the band would start at 8:30 or 9, that would be fine. Because mostly its 10 or 10:30, technically past my bedtime . Even if they slated to start at an earlier time, they never do. A musician thing.

And the club thing in Toronto is like @scott43 says. Things don't start till midnight. In the summer I'm regularly coming home from a regatta in Hamilton or Oakville, and the traffic is blocked solid at 11pm, kids coming into the city from the burbs.

 

[Crank]

I play in a band that gigs a lot and often friends express interest until I tell them we start at 9:30 or 10. We had a gig on Father's Day that went from 4PM -8PM and I didn't know what to do with myself afterwards.

We try to start on time, but some places don't have a dedicated stage and have to move tables out of the way for the band to set up. If they have customers eating at those tables nothing gets moved until they leave. We have showed up at many a club and sat around drinking for an good hour before we can even start carrying gear in. Those nights we don't start until 11ish.

The tough part for me is driving home at 2:30AM.

 

[Tominator]

I used to play in a duo at a local restaurant from 6 - 9 PM every other Saturday night - perfect gig for an old dude - in bed by 11 PM!
(By the way, the place went out of business!)

 

[Lauren]

I for one, enjoy my days a lot more after 7-8 hours of sleep, and have shifted my priorities to achieve such sleep time.

In Portsmouth, NH we have concerts in the park at 7:00pm on Wednesdays in the summer. I LOVE that it starts that early. It's probably because it's not a bar/restaurant setting and the neighbors don't want music too late.

Pretty solid line up for this summer, hoping I'll be around for Michael Franti, Brett Dennen, and a couple of the blues bands coming.

 

[KingGrump]

I'm in NYC, the kids don't come out until after 11 PM. It's good to be young.

Besides age, some of us are just night birds by the virtue of our DNA. I remembered Mamie and I used to playing tennis every Saturday and Sunday morning at 6 am when we were younger (40 years ago) because we haven't gone to bed from the night before. Now, I am the early sleeper in the family. Usually somewhere between 1 to 2 AM.

On the other end of the spectrum, I always feel like the youngster whenever I go see a matinee on Broadway. Hate going to matinees, they have a tendency to interrupt my breakfast.

 

[Posaune]

It's a matter of $$$. Young folks want to stay up late and sleep in. They also buy lots more drinks than geezers who have one or two. The music keeps them there and winds them up to drink more.

I used to play in bars but quickly found that I'm a morning person and it was tearing me up to stay up that late and then wake up at 6:30. The only gigs I play any more are daytime and early evening. Bars are out but we play for the community at various events. It keeps us all sane and healthy.

 

[Philpug]

We party like rock stars then are in bed by 9:30-10:00.

 

[mdf]

I'm a night bird too. We are rarely in bed before midnight. Skiing, airplanes, and mandatory meetings are the only things I get up early for.

One hint for you early birds -- getting up earlier and earlier to beat traffic isn't working. When I have to catch an early flight, I am amazed how much traffic there is at 5:30 am. It's mostly over when I go to work around 9.

 

[Jim Kenney]

We have a geezer-friendly outdoor music venue near me called Wolftrap. It seats about 7000 and hosts a bunch of shows each summer. They offer a mixture of artists, but the line up is heavy with older groups/performers. Been to many shows there over the decades. My wife and I are going to see Sting there in early Sep. One of my favorite things about Wolftrap, besides being only 15 mins from my house, is that they allow you to bring your own food and drinks including adult beverages. Wolftrap is in the middle of a residential neighborhood and all shows end by about 10 or 11PM, probably by some kind of ordnance. Sting show starts at 730PM.

 

[Crank]

Just checked my band's schedule and other than saturday nights bar gig our next 3 are outdoor concert and festival appearances, 2 at 6PM and 1 at 1PM. And only 1 of those will be a full 6- 9 type gig. Nice for sleeping! Also nice because we try to avoid bar gigs in July and August as crowds are low in the summer around here.

 

[Tricia]

@Crank I could dig that.

 

[neonorchid]

We party like rock stars then are in bed by 9:30-10:00.

9:30 - 10:00AM ...sounds about right

 

[surfsnowgirl]

We are avid live music peeps in the off season ie summer so this is something we do alot. Whether the show is in nyc or somewhere in CT it is what it is as far as acts going on late, especially in the city (new york) so i just try not to make plans early the next day. Usual bed time on a show night is 2am or if Vegas or NOLA, even later.

I fortunately don't require much sleep so as long as i get around 6 hours I'm good. My guy however, needs more so i try to not make early next day plans so he can sleep more.

Don't get me wrong i love chillin at home at night in my jammies too but i rarely get to bed before midnight on any given night anyway.

I do try to restrict late night shows for weekends as that allman brothers show at the Beacon midweek when i had to work the next day was a tough one. In bed around 3 am and up at 6 for work. There was alot of caffeine that day lol.

 

[Dadskier]

I'm a night bird too. We are rarely in bed before midnight. Skiing, airplanes, and mandatory meetings are the only things I get up early for.

One hint for you early birds -- getting up earlier and earlier to beat traffic isn't working. When I have to catch an early flight, I am amazed how much traffic there is at 5:30 am. It's mostly over when I go to work around 9.

I commuted Providence to Boston for a couple years. Learned that later was better. If I shot to get to work at 10am and stayed till 6:30 I cut my drive time in half.