I play for free all the time at Open Mics, but those aren’t gigs. I consider those live practices and keeping-the-chops sets.

That all being said. I’ve booked gigs that paid really-really good and then have seen it get a lot more competitive with a sharp reduction of gig pay-outs. It seemed that the local musicians with better connections that’ve landed paying gigs in general as of late. I’m not complaining. I have been very fortunate to secure a list of paying gigs while seeing others not do so well.

I do have to frown; however, about my Halloween gig at the Astro Lounge in Bend, Oregon. I was asked by a friend to open for his band. The venue is downtown and I was fortunate to get a parking spot in the back. I pushed my handtruck full of my gear and waited for my sound check. I’m proud to say that I’ve got my set-up down, giving the sound guy just two connections to adjust from a pre-mixed sound.

It was a great set. Plenty of smiling faces and applauds. I quickly packed up my gear for the other bands to get onto their set and wheeled it out of the venue through the halloween crowds. After all the gear was safely stowed away. I went in to support the bands and left a little early feeling pretty good about the night.

The next morning I found out that the closing band walked away with ALL of the night’s earnings. WHAT? We’ll apparently the sound guy just handed all of the cash to the closers and didn’t think about the bands that held it for the two and a half hours before them. WTF?

I didn’t ask for much, just a $50 guarantee, which a lot of musicians would be pissed off at me for asking so little for such a busy night. But my thoughts are, a guarantee is bare minimum and there will be a split at the end. But NOTHING is not only insulting but almost stealing.

Holding an entire show on your own is quite a feat and over the years Jeff Tweedy has really started to master that craft.  His solo show is very entertaining. He has a line of acoustic guitars that are positioned behind him as he plays. His guitar tech comes on stage after he finishes a song and grabs the guitar for re-tuning as he selects another, making a smooth transition between songs. He plays the same songs (for the most part) that he does in Wilco, adjusting the delivery to more of a fireside performance than a rock show. What really makes the show for me is his witty banter he has with the random audience shout-outs. 

At Portland Jeff Tweedy started the Wilco show with “Sunken Treasure” as he did in his solo show. What made me appreciate the song even more than I already did was how the band gently worked its way into the song, accenting the long-sung note that characterizes the song and other hooky parts of the song. I think now that I’ve been following Wilco for the past few years I’ve discovered that I’m appreciating the individual musicians that make the band. In my opinion all of the artists are masters of their own craft and that’s what makes their show so spectacular.