Jaded post about being in a band

[NickC]

Text from bassist in band:
"Hey Nick, do you want to play this gig down in Cornwall next Wednesday? It's a 6 hour drive, so we'll pick you up from work, drive straight there then drive straight back afterwards so we can all go to work the next morning"

No, no I don't.

As much as I love travelling places to play gigs. I just can't be arsed anymore.
I've done this sort of thing countless times, and most gigs are actually really fun, and the journeys aren't that bad. But I just can't be arsed.
I'd rather just book between 1 and 3 or 4 weeks off work as a holiday and go on tour.

But then, thinking about that, we recently did a 4 week tour of Europe.... absolutely amazing!! Best time ever!
But now I'm back in work with no holidays left, so I can't get any time off till next April. By which time the band will want to do another tour.
So I have no free time to just take a week off to do just mess about on my own or relax or anything.

And I'm in 3 bands, I work nights and only have 2 nights off a week. So those 2 nights are spent having band practices and I often have a practice before I go to work.

No free time to just go to the pub with my mates/try to get a girlfriend/go to the cinema etc etc.

Band practices, playing gigs, going on tour, recording and releasing our own records are all awesome!
But being in bands sucks.

Discuss.