Really, playing live is, at best, a sporting event. You're watching these guys and waiting for something amazing to happen, something you've never seen or heard before, and usually it doesn't happen. You may not know the exact ending, but you've got a pretty good idea. At worst, playing live means money. Money to pay for equipment, practice spaces, recording, etc., but money just the same.
Live music sucks.
When Linus played at Sound Exchange, I kept getting jostled out of the way by people shopping, for Christ's sake. No one gives a shit about music. People just go to hang out, because they've got nothing better to do with their pathetic, miserable little lives. I hated that whole fucking experience of getting up on a stage and looking out at the three or four wretched rejects who would show up to see the Mike Gunn because they had nothing better to do. It boggles the mind.