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Hardest load-in.

#44
1977, B-3, Leslie, Fender Rhodes, 2 Marshall Stacks, Sunn Coliseum Bass w/ 2 - 2x15 cabs, PA and Drums and way too much happy powder up a narrow staircase to a second floor gig in Myrtle Beach, SC. For some reason I think about this a laugh. Wow, those were the days.
 
#47
I get asked to play biker campouts a lot. I only ask for money if I need to schlep a bunch of gear. If I can show up on my motorcycle with a guit box bungied on the back I give the coordinator a nickel. I then have fodder to bitch about paying to play.
 
#49
SteveHeissner said:
What nightmare scenarios. This is why everyone needs a small relatively inexpensive "I don't give a fu#$" bass rig reserved for those questionable gigs. Mine is an Avatar 210 NEO with a GK Backline 600 head and Squire VM Jazz bass. It comes in handy when some hillbilly books us to play their redneck wedding outdoors.
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Been there, done that. We eventually came up with a bare-minimum Pile o' gear for "Fire Escape Gigs, Lose-your-ass/locash Gigs" etc. Gits & bass all DI, 4-piece drumkit, minimal PA, no lights/trusses/backdrops...
 
#50
busmandan said:
Actually, there was an elevator there - they just didn't like bands using it.
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Come to think of it, you're right; now that I think about it I remember being mad as hell when I found out they had one; the guys who made that call obviously never had to lug an Ampeg fridge up a fire escape.

They also bumped our set from 10:30 to 9:30, so when all the people who came out to see us play showed up, we were done. That place was a real classy joint.
 
#51
Buxtehude said:
Venue didn't release loading dock details as this entrance requires you to drive 200 meters on a pedestrian mall: a practice they discourage except for regular deliverers.
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If they have live music there on a regular basis(or even semi-regular basis), IMO, using the loading dock should be standard practice.

I guess they're concerned about liability in the mall(ped getting hit by a truck/car.

Seems to me that an easy solution would be to provide a security guard to provide guidance through the mall for the load-in/load-out.

Ridiculous that you have to carry your rigs so far to set up. :atoz:
 
#52
about 20 years ago, drove from Albany, NY, to just outside Niagara falls. Springtime, boondocks, middle of no where. Find the bar, drive behind, then manage to get our large truck stuck in the muddy cornfield behind the bar. I mean mud- at LEAST 12" of sloppy muck. None of the locals would help us out, so yup, we had to walk in that crap and carry all our gear in. So here we are, 5 hard rockers in hicksville, playing a yee haw bar ( thanks booking agent!) standing in the middle of a pile of gear with mud up to our knees. The owner eventualy drove his tractor behind the bar and pulled us out. Another of those "NEVER again" jobs.

Dave
 
#53
It didn't even occur to me that we could whine about other peoples' gear.

My first officially professional gig was with a gospel group. At first I assumed they hired me for my awesome bass skills. Later it became obvious they hired me for my strong back.

This was in 1982. We had a keyboard player with what was then considered a 'full touring rig'. He had a Rhodes 88 sitting on a suitcase cabinet, a B3 with Leslie, and a Yamaha Electric Grand. That group was the only one I ever worked with that had a tourbus. So the cargo area for the gear was all underneath the bus where Greyhound puts the suitcases. So bend waaaaaaay over and lift the 300 lb hunks of gear.

Yeah. It sucked.

The churches we played were not all that hard to get in to. It wasn't generally that far, that steep, or that obstructed. But crap, man. Toting a Rhodes 88 isn't ever easy or convenient.
 
#54
Mine isin't too bad physically but it was frustrating...

Was playing this Hispanic festival; showed up, brought gear on stage, and it turns out the drummer forgot all his cymbal nuts and a leg for his floor tom. He had to drive an hour and half back to the house and come back. Thus, we had no soundcheck and no set run-through beforehand, which was what was planned. As a result, upon asking some people i knew in the audience, there was zero guitar, almost no horns, and zero violin in the mix.
 
#55
wyattharris said:
Mine isin't too bad physically but it was frustrating...

Was playing this Hispanic festival; showed up, brought gear on stage, and it turns out the drummer forgot all his cymbal nuts and a leg for his floor tom. He had to drive an hour and half back to the house and come back. Thus, we had no soundcheck and no set run-through beforehand, which was what was planned. As a result, upon asking some people i knew in the audience, there was zero guitar, almost no horns, and zero violin in the mix.
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The soundguy wasn't listening?
 
#56
mcnach said:
The soundguy wasn't listening?
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The soundguy was on the side of the stage, not out in the audience. He was listening through some kind of earbuds.

Idk, he seemed kinda sketchy. He had a SUPER nice rig, but before we went on, my guitarist asked him how loud he should set his amp... This dude said "as quiet as you possibly can" and then proceeded to stuff an SM57 IN THE BACK of his combo. I think he might have been paranoid about clipping, as he had all the mics set ridiculously low and he gave me this whole speech about how the volume on my DI "barely needs to be at 1".
 
#57
Every day of working for a sound and light company in NYC was a nightmare load in. Two or three trucks full of gear, double parked, often over cobblestones, through NYC pedestrian traffic, through a tiny back door, through a kitchen, into an ancient too-small elevator, only to be greeted by and a$$hole when you finally arrived. Set up, do the corporate event, wedding, bar mitzvah or whatever the event was, then load it all back in the trucks sometime around 2, 3 or sometimes 4 in the morning. Get home around 5 or 6 AM and start again at 2 or 3 PM.

I lasted about a month.
 
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#58
LothrtheTerribl said:
Come to think of it, you're right; now that I think about it I remember being mad as hell when I found out they had one; the guys who made that call obviously never had to lug an Ampeg fridge up a fire escape.

They also bumped our set from 10:30 to 9:30, so when all the people who came out to see us play showed up, we were done. That place was a real classy joint.
Click to expand...

I don't miss it at all. The best description I ever heard about the sound in that place was "You can hear everything and nothing at the same time".

My current band plays several marinas(i.e floating buildings on lakes). With the current drought that's going on in Texas, some of these lakes are down 15-20 feet - which means that the floating docks leading into them are getting awfully steep these days.
 
#60
Some friends of mine booked a multi band show years back on a bridge on the Mississippi River that's been turned into like an observation deck. They realized the evening of the gig that they'll have to carry the gear about 1/4 mile out onto the bridge. About twenty of us grabbed some gear and started walking. Took us all about two trips.
 

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