Whats the farthest youve traveled for a one-off show?

You know, we probably did, so it paid for dinner at the Taj Mahal. (The Tucson one, not the Fort Collins one.)

 

Lessee...

Boston -> Chicago, got shorted on the money, 5 hour nap, then Chicago -> Boston.
But we were young & stupid back then.

We had a whole midwest/west coast tour lined up, but that all fell through, with the Chicago date being the last gig standing. So we thought "why not?", & the universe answered back.

 

217 miles there, probably about 270 back (we got lost).

 

I flew from LA to Raleigh, North Carolina for a giant private event this past August. A family member who used to live out here knew the singer. He hired the band, we flew out on Friday night, did the gig on Saturday and were back on the plane first thing Sunday morning. The cool thing was the backline included a wonderful BF Twin that worked really well with my pedals.

 

good to see you back mandy ! about 630 miles one way, lebanon mo, to basset nebraska, NEVER AGAIN< a night mare ! we got paid good, expensives all paid to play a wedding party for a guy on a ranch, but ingeneral was a night mare !

 

800 miles from Toronto, Ontario to Halifax Nova Scotia. Did it 3 years in a row on March Break. A fundraiser for a local theatre company, go to perform with my brother and hang out for a week with him afterwards. A ton of fun!

Eat Kraft dinner for a week, and go do the gig!!!

 

CA to White Lake, NY

 

210 miles. I had my sis's family in the town we played, so at least we had a place to crash.

 

It sounds like a great time and that everyone is coming out to see you and welcome you back to town. What a great night!!
If you want to make the gig somewhat profitable, how about some kind of raffle?
Win a Date with Mandy!! $15 per ticket.
"I Knew Her When..." T-shirts - $20
Could the organizers collect prizes to be raffled? Or a silent auction?

Make it a fundraiser event for a local charity, after expenses of course.

 

I have a gig coming up in San Diego but its pounding nails

 

200 and something miles. A local lad married a Welsh girl and wanted us (the wedding band I was in at the time) so we went over on the ferry and came back the next day.

The moron who ran the band (I no longer speak to him...) actually went around bragging about our 'UK tour' afterwards. Seriously...not as a joke.

Thank god I'm no longer with them.

 

I did a solo gig (guitar and vocals) in St. Louis Mo. I live in Chicago. It was my birthday weekend and I wasn't that thrilled with the idea. I eventually did it because the people who hired me paid airfare and hotel for me and my girlfriend, and provided me with a PA and a guitar (a Tele!) to play in addition to my fee . Worked out pretty well, but I have found that you really have to think about ALL of the expenses you might incur when you do these types of gigs. I made less money than I could have because there were a few things I didn't figure into the cost (such as my rental car).

Not long after that I got an offer to do another solo gig at a wedding in Mexico. It would have been a similar situation, where I would have needed a sound system, guitar etc, plus airfare, lodging and my fee. I thought about it and decided that while it's cool to be able to say someone hired you to play in Mexico, I'd rather stay home, which is what I did.

 

California to Florida. California to New York a couple of times too.

 

Oh geex, I can't believe I forgot this: I flew from Chicago to NYC to play CB's (the acoustic venue that was part of CBGB's) about a month before it closed. Flew in that morning, slept in the airport after the show and flew back the next morning.

So yeah, that was probably the farthest for me.

 

The Celtic band I played in used to play on the Queen Mary (Long Beach, CA) for a Scottish Festival. We'd fly in from Denver. We got paid pretty well and got to sleep on the boat. We'd go ghost hunting at night around the ship. Almost got busted trying to be somewhere we weren't supposed to be. I think our profits got spent on food.

 

Probably the furtherest I've driven for a single gig was 504 km = 313 miles from Sydney to Pambula, down near the NSW / VIC border. A friend of a relative of a band member owned the pub (or something like that) so the pay wasn't that great.

I think we did that gig twice.

 

Did one down in Laredo, 270 miles one way.

Couple months later, did one in Lubbock, 390 miles the other way.


and never even got out of TX!

 

You mean, like, to play at? Tough one; probably my brother's wedding in Ohio

This weekend I'm going to Nashville to catch the Government Cheese reunion. That's about 900 miles... flying to ATL, where my GA pals will be picking me up, then we'll be driving to N'ville the rest of the way. The weekend will cost me north of $500.

Why? Why not???

[Nice to *see* ya here, Mandy!]

 

If we're talking about seeing a show (sort of off-topic), I once drove eight hours each way to see John Scofield sit in with Phil Lesh & Friends in Buffalo. Well worth every minute in the car.