I'm personally burnt from the " sh!t " gigs myself. This past weekend we had gotten asked to play a gig. No set times, no actual load time just " Gonna be raging all day " I'm sorry, if you don't have your things together, don't ask me to play. I don't mind not being payed, or even little people in the room. But I like show details, show me you actually know what you're doing. I'm at a point where I'm putting shows together. One - because any more than four bands in a 5 hour span of time is too many ( seriously a few shows my band recently played has been 12+ hours of back to back to back local bands. Talk about burn out city ) Two - everyone deserves a little money. Even if it's for gas and food. You spend your time and money getting here, should get something back. And Three - we ( in my opinion ) as local bands need to throw events. Not just bands, but have a show. Maybe burlesque,comedy,etc... It's sad to say but on the whole, being a local musician is the worst. You wanna get out and play all the time to build a name, then you over saturate and only your friends come out, and even then they'll stop. Then what? Play another state? Spend time,money,etc for??? I swear you have to either really love this or be nuts to do it. It's not easy and it's always a battle. Love playing out, love playing shows, but I'm getting too old for what I like to call High School games. I'm not a band for your amusement and solely here for your pleasure. This is my job. Do you expect a newly hired Electrician to work for free to build his name because he " needs " the work? I think not. And that's my biggest issue. We as players on the whole don't get the respect of doing a job. We get looked at like " well you need to play " when in reality none of us do. I say local bands across the country should strike. Sorry had to end on a silly note. Ok ranting over.

I love playing, I just don't like hauling gear around anymore. Maybe I'm just getting old and lazy. I'm sure after a few months I'll be missing playing live and will get back to gigging.band3

I know a fat, useless, arrogant guy that anyone would want to punch out when he opens his mouth, who also `thinks`` he,s a drummer. He said he thought about giving it up for the same reason, just don't like hauling. So, he cons a friend of a friend to be his roadie for the night, for half his pay!!...What a moroooon!!Laughing H

I sure started enjoying gigging more when I went to all lightweight vintage stands and a 14" bass drum. Isolate what your biggest gripe is and see if there's a solution!

I can relate to this 100% My first break was in June 2001 when I left for the Army; prior to that I had been playing live and in bands (gigs, recording, tours) since 1996. I played while I was in my first Army hitch from 01-05 for the church, teaching and so forth just not to the same extent.

From 2005 to 2009 I really took a serious break...no practice, no gigs nothing!

From about 2010 to 2014 I gigged in Germany, the States, in a few bands you name it! At first it was great in Germany; I always had stage hands and loading in and out was perfect. In my band there I even got paid when I was not playing (we had steady gigs lined up).

In the states I played in two bands; one consumed way too much free time and limited how I could play. The other was a punk band. The amount of time I spent away from my family and young kids I can't get back. Literally get off of work and then head off to practice sometimes 3 times a week.

Bottom line when I moved to take a new job I dropped out of all bands. I was offered a few steady gigs but I decided for now I prefer to focus on my family. I still teach, play a lot of jazz on my own, and do the odd fill ins / sessions and play for my Church.

Honestly I am 100% happy where I am with my playing. Teaching up and coming drummers has challenged me more so than some of my bands. I don't miss hauling gear hours on end for little to no pay.

So in summary - Life is short my friend! Seek out what makes you happy. Your drums, bands and all that will always be there for you when you get back. I value my time now more than anything else and would be very very particular about how I spent that time.

Just my two cents!

Though not about vintage drums, I like this thread. I like everybody's engagement with the subject.

My :2Cents::

Take a break when feeling burned out, of course. And then see what happens. But I think you should keep an open mind about what makes you feel burned out. The things you mention yourself could be it, but I've also read useful suggestions in this thread.

I have a slight form of hypermobility syndrome, so I'm quite vulnerable for injuries, especially in my left wrist. Over the years of drumming (started when I was 26, I am 41 now) I learned that I am less easily injured when I really dig what I am doing musically, because my overall energy level is higher. My injuries or your feeling burned out from gigging, that's two different subjects, but what I mean to say is: you could ask yourself whether you really dig the the music you're making. Does it interest you enough? Is it challengeing enough?

A friend of mine (guitarist) had the same feeling you have. He stopped doing shows. He started experimenting at home with equipment, and other ways of constructing songs. Looking for ways to surpise himself. Took him two years. Then he came up with completely new and surprisingly good material. Found musicians and played shows again.....

In my first band we made the tradition of starting our shows with playing a song the wrong way, without making agreements beforehand on how we would do that (for instance play a punk song as a ballad or vice versa). Strangely, the audiance allways loved it (many times comments afterward: "That first song was so cool"). Nobody heard the tons of mistakes we made. The most important however was that it made us feel very sharp and it made us focus on the here and now of music making; there was little routine to lean on (except for the structure of the song). This mind-set really intensified the way we played the rest of the show. The audience felt this intensity and responded (girls dancing, guys lifting their beers and shouting, you know that stuff). Mind you, we were just low level amateur musicians (I still am), but that did not seem very important.

I mean: the flow of creative energy is most important. Finding ways to get it flowing. With or wthout audience.

But maybe these thing don't apply to your situation.

Another idea:

If the sheer quanytity of shows and too little audience are the main problems, why not simply play less shows, that is; just play the shows you'd like to play?

Take a nice vacation and forget about it for a week. Maine coast sounds nice. :)

Sounds to me like you need a break. A bit of time off to relax and do some solid woodshedding and I'm sure you'll get the itch again.

If the 'lugging gear' thing is really that big of a deal, maybe offload some vintage gear that isn't getting used and go 'high tech' with some super lightweight Tempus (or similar) drums and Axis aluminium hardware. I seem to remember Tempus claiming you didn't need cases (for local haulin' at least) because the drums/finish is so durable. Or maybe a 20/12/14 MIJ kit in bags... fit the whole thing on one trolley.

Ludwig Standards are the lightest drums I have found. I mount a small ride and crash cymbal to the bass drum hoops. I use a light weight hihat and snare stand. I use a good pedal and throne. I can haul it in with 3 trips and set it up in 10 minutes. Makes the worst part of the gig much easier.

Anyone have a Ludwig Standard kit?Clapping Happy2. How do you mount cymbals to kick? Do you have a picture? That's one reason I have my custom Rochefort kit for sale, they are a bit heavier than vintage drums.