A lot of the articles that I have read on this site seem to relate to recording, as you’d expect on the “indie recording depot.”
If you do still perform live do you perform covers, originals, or a mixture of both? Does your audience appreciate originals or do they tend to switch off at that point?
Have some of you never performed live and just kept to recording?
There are no right or wrong reples here… the responses will help me to get to know you all a bit better 
I play live rarely, I don’t much like it to be honest, I get way too nervous leading up to it. It’s always gone fine though and once it’s over I realize it was actually kinda fun. I’m still in a band but we are kinda on a break right now. We play mostly originals but we sprinkle in a cover now and then. We play them so different from the originals that they might as well be originals though. I don’t see the point in cover bands, or playing a cover and trying to make it sound like the original. There’s nothing creative about that.
We simply play covers to appease an audience. Yes I agree with you, to try and emulate somebody else by playing note for note is pointless, unless you set yourself up as a tribute band! We do them our way! Once I’ve qualified to have recordings bashed I’ll pop our version of Brown Eyed Girl for you to listen to… It’s not like Van the Man’s!
I look forward to hearing it!
Started as a band in 71 and still play benefits once in a while. The young ones never heard of takin care of business tho. haha
Paul
I played my last gig in “92”. I began playing and doing shows in “74”, toured from 77-82. I have kept playing and jamming all my life. Although in the eighties I began recording bands live and in practice spaces eventually building a flight pack that I flew all over the nation recording and mixing my heart out. In the nineties I took over a space in Northglenn Colorado called Avalanche recording. I sold the place in 99 facing the ADAT revolution. (We had sold the JH24 2" machine). And I became tired of trying to squeeze money out of great artists that could not afford a hamburger. I reserected and revised the flight pack and have been recording remotely and in select studios since. I have a studio that I work at regularly in south Florida, as well as my own project space. Keep on keepin’ on for the love of music❣️
I play gigs as often as i can. it usually is about 2 times a year but i have just started a new band and i hope that we will increase that. I am into originals for the most part. I was in a band that did some covers in 97 but i can’t remember doing one since then.
I’ve done several types of live gigging…I’d probably break it down like this:
Solo piano (Wedding ceremonies, lounge/restaurants)
Live band secular stuff (Bars, nightclubs, cruise ships, casinos, private parties)
Religious stuff (church choirs, church bands, youth camps, retreats)
Artist gigs (playing for major touring band, or with name artist)
…I’ve done music theater stuff in the past, and sideman gigs for comedians, circuses, celebrity impersonators and improv comedy, but I don’t do that anymore.
Still live gigging. I don’t seem to enjoy it as much but I can really really fake it good 
It beats sitting at home on Friday night, now at least I have an excuse to go to a bar and meet some people.
I still do live gigs. I do corporate, festivals and special events. No one wants to hear the stuff I write:) It is all covers. I don’t play clubs or garbage paying gigs. If I play live the paycheck needs to be there and it has to be fun as all get up. I do about 20-30 events a year. May June have consistently been my busiest times. 90% of my shows will be during these two months compared to most when it is June to Sept.
Did a gig last night in front on my entire family and friends in my garage. The sound was good. The harmonies on knockin on heaven’s door gave me goose bumps…ha ha
Nothin like being in the mix. Three of the four members of my original group from 1971. We were five last night
So where’s the video for all your fans and followers? ( Don’t forget the nitpickers too!)
Last year an old band mate got in touch to see if I wanted to play at the 20 year celebration for the band we started in Albany, NY 20 years ago. (gasp!) I haven’t been in a band since, but I said I would if he could get our original drummer to play too. …which he did. So he (the drummer) drove in from Maryland and me and the family drove in from Maine to play the gig in Albany. We arrived the night before and practiced for about 3 hours for the gig the next day. It was nerve wracking as hell but a total blast! And it was great to see my old mates again. It was also the first time my teenagers saw me play out.
I don’t miss the gigging too much, but I DO miss the camaraderie of playing with other musicians and putting together songs. With these guys, sometimes to come up with songs, we’d basically get baked, turn on a recorder, and jam. Then listen later and see if there was anything we wanted to work out. We used to practice in a basement with silver lined insulation along the walls. This is a song about that. Please pardon the sloppiness. As I said, it had been literally 20 years since we’ve played together!
Mike This is tight man. Love the song. Three chords CAN get you there. Are you the bass player or the acoustic? Great dancing song. Thanks for posting this. Most on this site won’t do that. Congrats.
Hi ingo. My amp crashed at the start up. ha ha I played dry with no effects at all. Oh well, fun was had by all. I have a short video I will post. We were anything but tight.
I’ve gigged pretty regularly since my first band started when I was 17 as variously a drummer, bassist, guitarist and vocalist. It’s never been a jam-packed schedule (except for the one weekend in 2009 where I had four gigs - Friday night, Saturday afternoon, Saturday evening and Sunday evening). For the last 10 years, my band has averaged about 30 gigs a year. Last Wednesday we did our final gig before calling it a day.
Most of my gigs have been original music, though I have done my share of covers too - I was in a Pink Floyd Tribute act for a few years, and a typical pub covers band. And on longer sets with my originals band we’ve often included covers since it keeps the crowd on-side when doing originals.
Really, it comes down to finding the right venues and audiences. A lot of my originals gigs have been in dedicated music clubs where the audience expect original music/ art and would turn their noses up at a band that played them covers. And equally, if you turn up to a busy town center pub with a varied crowd, you’ll clear the room playing originals even if you’re fantastic - so it’s about understanding what your role is as a band and what the expectation of the room is.
So, my band has just finished. But this week I’m going to be trying out for bass in a function band with the hope of getting something together that won’t involve much time investment once we’ve worked up a setlist, and maybe be one gig a month. And I’m hoping to find players for an originals project, too.
Funny thing is, I’m a relatively nervous/ confident person. I’ve got the typical cliched anxiety issues. But I love gigging, and there’s no better feeling than when a gig properly hits off. So, I battle through that and I’d consider it a defeat if I let that stop me doing something I enjoy.
This right here. Perfectly stated.
Thanks @feaker! I’m the bass player. Paul, the front man, kept things going with different line-ups over the years after the drummer and I moved away.
Mike @miked, this is great!! You all sound really good and are clearly having a blast. And there are people dancing, so you are doing something right!
I’ve never done any paid gigs, strictly family-jam type stuff, “guy with the guitar at the party” and so on. Maybe someday I’ll actually get on a stage… 
Thanks Dave! It was a lot of fun. My kids got a kick out of “all the drunks” dancing.
IMHO, the “guy with the guitar at the party” is a helluva lot more nerve-wracking that playing a set list with your pals.