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Hardest load-in.

#61
No hard load outs like described above but in 72 I was 16, guitar 17 and drummer 15 when we had a steady bar gig for $50 a night and all we could drink!!! Yes! They loved us and we had ID's that got us in, I mean we played every Saturday night! Oh, for the load out we only had a 2 door Impala and a Volkswagen bug to haul Sunn Concert amps for Bass and Guitar, PA (Sure towers) and Drums (sometimes a keyboard). It's funny as we pulled all the seats out of the VW and sat on gear! Yes this was the good old days!
 
#62
Not sure if this is on same level, but second floor bar, no elevator. Both guitarist and drummer were legitimately injured, so guess who did all the heavy lifting on stairs?

So we get everything up and are setting up. Our singer/sax player shows up with her husband (they had a long drive w traffic), and the hubby's first words to me - "do you guys mind helping get her stuff up?".

Needless to say, hubby no longer comes to gigs for his own safety, and singer understands about the concept of division of labor.
 
#63
Ski areas! - those who know, know I need say no more First you drive through winter's worst to the top of a mountain. Then, how about loading gear 1-2 pieces at a time onto a snowmobile, up a slope, and then hauling each piece up to the 3rd floor up the back stairs and through the kitchen? ...and let's not even talk about 2 a.m. load-out. Good thing they pay well!
 
#65
We've had a few ugly load-ins, but our keyboard player does this for every rehearsal: up from his basement, through his house, outside to a detached garage, then once he is in my driveway he has to walk around the fence to a gate, across a deck, then down to the basement. 6 trips to load in, 6 trips to load out, repeat at the end of rehearsal, 24 trips total. It's especially fun when it's -35.
 
#66
Used to play a big rock club in Michigan. Older building, with a theatre 2 1/2 floors up, and no elevator. Four 215 cabs, amp rack, synth and stand for me, but I had to help with the other gear. Keyboard player had a chopped B3, so it was only 200lbs, and a Leslie, a Rhodes, several other keyboards, and a couple of PA speakers with mixer and amp. I don't even want to talk about the PA system itself...
 
#68
Fluid Power said:
No hard load outs like described above but in 72 I was 16, guitar 17 and drummer 15 when we had a steady bar gig for $50 a night and all we could drink!!! Yes! They loved us and we had ID's that got us in, I mean we played every Saturday night! Oh, for the load out we only had a 2 door Impala and a Volkswagen bug to haul Sunn Concert amps for Bass and Guitar, PA (Sure towers) and Drums (sometimes a keyboard). It's funny as we pulled all the seats out of the VW and sat on gear! Yes this was the good old days!
Click to expand...
My first band played at a club on a lake about 20 miles out of town. They closed at 3:30 on Saturday nights. So did we. I had a four-door '70 Impala that I drove home, crammed full of gear. I always had a splitting headache by the time I had the car packed up. I couldn't deal with unloading when I got home so the whole works would be waiting for me on the driveway whenever I managed to get up. Good old days? Yeah, they were.

Some of you guys' stories make me hurt all over.
 
#72
My worst was in the mid 70's. We played a high school in the UP. Gig was in a racketball court, on the third floor...no elevators. SVT with 2X15 folded horn cabinet, two Dual Showman bottoms in the PA along with large EV treble horns, two tube 6X10 guitar amps and Ludwig Octa Plus drum set...all up three flights of stairs.

Next week was at a golf course...down the spiral staircase and through two kitchens. I remember the gigs but not the load ins and outs. Part of the job.
 
#73
Worst for me was a club downtown with no parking at all within 3 blocks. We had to park in the alley illegally, carry our gear up a flight of stairs then get s#$t for loading in during the dinner hour, the only time we were given by management. No sound check cause that'll disturb the dinners. High end club low end management. Needless to say we were not asked back as we were listed as trouble makers cause we ended up having a rather loud discussion regarding loading in. Then to top it off at the end of the night we were again told to come back on Sunday to load out cause the staff wanted to go home early Saturday night.
 
#74
My worst doesn't seem that bad now. Double parking on West Broad St. in Richmond, then up one of the longest staircases to the "second floor" I have ever seen. This staircase had to be 80 or 90 feet tall. Ridiculous. And the pay was terrible.

But really, most load-ins are bad. Roll/carry gear for 200 yards just to get to the door, or load-in through the kitchen, and you can start loading in at 10 but we don't clear the tables out of your way until 10:30... and make sure you start by 11. Who thinks of this stuff?
 
#75
Anyone ever played Los Globos in Silverlake? Had to park a half mile away and schlep my **** up two flights of stairs. Cool room though. Another would be Sassafras in Hollywood. Great venue, but the stage is up above the room on this little balcony, and you have to get your stuff up this tiny staircase with low ceilings to get to it. I swear, the doorways were the exact dimension of my DB without the case. When it was all said and done though it was totally worth it.
 
#76
Worst I've had were two that I think are tied:

Locally: the local Legion (which has since moved) used to have the dance hall area on the second floor, but you were never allowed to use the wide front staircase, always the back stairs.
Two flights of steep, very narrow stairs with tiny landings which could just barely accept the larger pieces of gear, and only one of the loading doors worked.
Quite an awkward load in/out with all the tight turns/twists required.

50 miles away: a club with the entertainment area (again) on the second floor.
Access to this was up a rickety wooden fire escape on the outside of the building.
No fun in the winter or when slick with rain at 3:00 am with very little light.

I must mention that our most difficult piece of gear was a road case (that I built!-all my own fault I'm afraid) that contained the power amps, and weighed in at just over 200 lbs.
Really no fun when you were the guy on the 'downhill' end (usually me).
 
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#77
Dave44 said:
Worst for me was a club downtown with no parking at all within 3 blocks. We had to park in the alley illegally, carry our gear up a flight of stairs then get s#$t for loading in during the dinner hour, the only time we were given by management. No sound check cause that'll disturb the dinners. High end club low end management. Needless to say we were not asked back as we were listed as trouble makers cause we ended up having a rather loud discussion regarding loading in. Then to top it off at the end of the night we were again told to come back on Sunday to load out cause the staff wanted to go home early Saturday night.
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I remember one like that! I recall we hustled all the gear out of the restaurant to a landing in the stairwell - then had to haul it through a blocked-open fire door and then down a long hall to an elevator down to a locked loading dock. Somehow we got it out - bribed security? ...really don't remember. Needless to say the restaurant staff were long gone!
 
#78
Fat Steve said:
Anyone ever played Los Globos in Silverlake? Had to park a half mile away and schlep my **** up two flights of stairs. Cool room though. Another would be Sassafras in Hollywood. Great venue, but the stage is up above the room on this little balcony, and you have to get your stuff up this tiny staircase with low ceilings to get to it. I swear, the doorways were the exact dimension of my DB without the case. When it was all said and done though it was totally worth it.
Click to expand...

I've always found playing on a balcony an odd thing - nice view sometimes, though ;).
 
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#80
TomB said:
I've always found playing on a balcony an odd thing - nice view sometimes, though ;).
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There is a joint about 30 miles away that has a similar balcony.
We always left the PA cabs on the floor below the balcony.
They wouldn't fit either up the stairs or on the balcony with the band anyway.

And yeah, great view sometimes, though the pay was often tiny.
Heh, we got paid in balony and fries one night....
Very poorly run joint.
The owner's favorite saying: "don't be bitter, reconsider".
:sour:
 
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