Loved the music
Loved the people
Loved the friendly informal atmosphere of the clubs (UK)

You'd think that would be enough, wouldn't you?

BUT:

Hated the motorway queues and monotonous hours of unscenic roads
Hated the rocketing price of petrol and the constant smell of traffic fumes
Hated the unproductive hanging around
Hated the increasingly competitive hustling for too few spaces and diminishing returns

A gig any distance away pretty much hi-jacks your life, and you spend most of your day (a) getting to the gig (b) waiting around for the gig to start (c) eating crap fast food while doing (b)

It just meant that I couldn't do anything else with my life with any measure of consistency, or spend enough quality time with people I loved. The whole day would often be spent in service of that hour or so of performing in the evening. And sitting in a car/van for hours is the bum-numbing PITS, even if you don't factor in the carbon footprint or the expense.

These polluting factors finally outweighed the joy and rewards of it. I could probably have put up with everything else - even the poor money - if gigging hadn't sucked up so much of the rest of my life into its downside. It was the time drain that really did for me.

Do I regret it? Sure
Will I always love that scene? Sure
Would I go back? No.