I've actually tried the pool approach, it is fine until there is a paying gig, suddunly there is no way to avoid haveing eight mouths to feed on stage and I have to spend a month on the street busking to pay the leaches. I am seriously considering this last gig my last, and the next step is a hack licence. I can't get my wife to move to a country where people think in terms of mutual respect and cooperation, the effing ME generation in the US has destroyed the place, and frankly, I haven't a reason on earth to live here.
Cheers
Larry