The band played two gigs last year, both were gratis (a charity event and a block party just for the experience), then after the band imploded and regrouped, we had two gigs earlier this year, both of which got cancelled. The first one was also a block party, but we would've gotten $300 if it hadn't rained. The second was another charity event, again to get a gig under our belt, and because it was an important venue. One of the questions potential clubs ask is "Where have you played before?" To be able to say we played at this place would have been big.
All the church stuff I've done the past five years has been volunteer. Lotsa fun, lotsa work, no cash.
So we finally, finally played an actual gig for money last night. It was a shitty little club, and the owner was an asshole, but there was a booking agent dude there who said he was impressed. That right there was probably the biggest payoff of the night.