Sounds like some fun times. I've played guitar most of my life, but didn't play much with others until my 40s. Some years on I've played a fair few gigs for fun with various lineups as well as solo open mics. I've even written some songs. It is great if you can find the right people to play with, but I don't think I could have done the whole thing of struggling to make a career from music. I currently have a jazz band where I'm playing drums and we play gigs a few times each year.
I think you get out of music what you put in. I would not have got into these groups if I hadn't started a pub jam session as I just didn't know many musicians before then. I'll keep doing it for fun as long as I can.
I've not had a police raid at a gig yet :)
Rock on!
!BEER
RE: I was a musician. I was never a good one