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How Does Your Band Get to Gigs?

#21
Bradass said:
We all live in the same town and I'm roommates with lead guitard, and the drummer and rhythm tard live together too. We take 4 vehicles to gigs now that we have our own PA. When we started out we managed to get everything into two cars. Now, with new cabs for me and my roommate, and the PA, we need all 4 cars and each of us drives on our own. It completely sucks, but whatever. No money for a trailer right now, although now that I think about it, maybe it's time to start pricing one out. Driving to gigs alone just feels kinda lame.
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Yeah... you're kind of in no man's land. Can't quite justify a trailer yet but at the same time, realizing it's silly to roll all your vehicles to every gig.

A couple things to consider besides the cost of the trailer. Those being, recurring expenses to insure and license the trailer, occasional outlays for tires/maintenance (occasional costs), and also potentially the need to buy a vehicle to pull it if none of your current personal vehicles is up to the job.
 
#24
Up until recently we had a tour bus. Everyone in, all equipment and roll to a gig. We rarely play a show less than an hour away, so it worked perfect. Blew the motor on the bus, so we are currently looking for a 15 passanger van and a 16 foot trailer.. When we do play gigs that are really close, we drive ourselves and are responsible for our own equipment
 
#25
Everyone general gets there on their own. Couple of the guys might carpool since they live close to each other.

Anything out of town is usually worth consolidating. I expect if we start doing regional stuff on weekends we'll pull a small trailer behind one car.
 
#26
jaywa said:
Yeah... you're kind of in no man's land. Can't quite justify a trailer yet but at the same time, realizing it's silly to roll all your vehicles to every gig.

A couple things to consider besides the cost of the trailer. Those being, recurring expenses to insure and license the trailer, occasional outlays for tires/maintenance (occasional costs), and also potentially the need to buy a vehicle to pull it if none of your current personal vehicles is up to the job.
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Good to know, didn't even think about having to insure it :scowl: Drummer drives a Jeep so that would do the trick on the pulling front.

Sometimes driving alone can be ok...get your mind in the right place, run through stuff you're not 100% on, etc. But no matter what it still feels lame to roll up by myself and start unloading stuff. I have always had more fun with bandmates to ride with, discuss plans and such, and then critique the show on the way home. I think that's what I miss the most about driving together, being able to discuss the show right away while it's still fresh.
 
#28
baba said:
Sometimes by car, sometimes by boat. Nothing like rolling up to a gig in the boat!:cool:
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Wow. See, my band could almost do this as we play a ton of venues that are like 2000 feet from the shore but I'm not trusting my gear on catamaran haha! Totally want to own a holder 14 just so I take a combo amp and a bass and sail up the coast to SanFran instead of drive and spend gas. Save money on our planned tour haha. Do tell more, that sounds fun!:cool:

Bahhh I drive the "biggest" car, so I usually take most of the band. I dont consider my 97' manual Camry to be large but they do ...so I drive. Worst thing for that car is to load it down with 5 large passengers and the trunk full of amps, and all the guitars on the laps of everyone in the backseat ...totally never get beyond the far right "slow" lane on a freeway on the way to a gig anymore.:rolleyes:
 
#29
2 bands, 2 different ways -

originals band - 3 vehicles
rythm gtr player has an chevy s10 so we pack two 4x12's and my 4x10 into the bed thats covered by a topper. then he puts his guitars / pedalboard into his cab and drives himself. i then put the lead guitarists guitars, my basses, our pedalboards, 2 tube guitar heads and my solidstate head into the back of my toyota celica. and another person (usually the lead gtr) rides with me. drummer brings his equipment in his van, but he lives on the other side of town and us other three live within 10 minutes of each other.all of our gear (2gtrs,bass,vox - sans drums b/c of above explanation) is at my house.

cover band - BL brings all PA gear from warehouse practice space(that he owns) in a moving truck or trailer depending on where gig is (he owns a moving/storage company). most of the band equipment is loaded in said trailer/truck earlier in the day and we drive seperatly to the gig. then after the gig we take whatever gear we want home in our own cars and the PA goes back to the practice space were (at the next practice) we unload if needed.
 
#30
I prefer to drive myself, that way I can come or go without having to rely on someone else or wait around/bolt early.

If I'm supplying the PA, that's the only option because I have no room in my Toyota Matrix after loading up my rig, 2 instruments, 2 subs, 2 mains, 2 monitors, mic stands, speaker stands, mics, cables, mixer, power amplifier, and 2 light trees.
 
#31
My main band the bandleader has an excursion and a 14 ft trailer. We usually all ride together. The band I sub for I will sometimes carpool with another member when possible or drive myself in a ford ranger pick-up.
 
#32
Bradass said:
Good to know, didn't even think about having to insure it :scowl: Drummer drives a Jeep so that would do the trick on the pulling front.

Sometimes driving alone can be ok...get your mind in the right place, run through stuff you're not 100% on, etc. But no matter what it still feels lame to roll up by myself and start unloading stuff. I have always had more fun with bandmates to ride with, discuss plans and such, and then critique the show on the way home. I think that's what I miss the most about driving together, being able to discuss the show right away while it's still fresh.
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First off... don't assume on the Jeep. It would depend on the size of the Jeep and the trailer. Some of those trailers weigh a lot and that's before your load em down.

Re the 2nd point, that's one thing I've really grown to appreciate about riding together. We all get along well and it seems like on most gigs anyway, a real "team" vibe builds while we're riding to the gig. By the time we pull in to town we feel like this little gang that's ready to conquer. We also get a lot of band business and strategizing done during those rides which saves us having to send each other a ton of e-mails or spend valuable weeknights on "band meetings" and such. If the BL is on the phone with potential clients on the way (which he often is), we're all right there to tell him whether or not we're available on a certain date, etc. The ride home, not so much as most everyone except the driver is usually sleeping.

Now, if I were in a band that didn't get along then a 5 or 6 hour roundtrip would truly be a curse... but I probably wouldn't be in that band for long then anyway.
 
#33
There are four of us. We each have a pick-up truck or SUV. We can fit everything into two vehicles if logistics permit. Otherwise, everybody is responsible for hauling and setting up their own gear. Lead guitarist and I seem to be the only ones capable of setting up the PA so we handle that angle too, if needed.
 
#34
It all kind of depends.

Back in my 20's (not to be confused with the 1920's, I'm not THAT old! :smug:) we were able to make use of one of the trucks from the family business complete with lift gate. Since we were hauling a ton of gear this really paid off. Additionally I picked up a couple of sales for the family business while we were out doing our thing.

Later it was simply hauling stuff in the back of my pickup. Lately though I haven't been in a band that really required any more lifting than a bass and a kick amp. I don't know if that's a good thing or not. :hmm:
 
#35
I'm in college with my two other bandmates, and the house we practiced in this past year (lived in an apartment last year = many a noise complaints) was usually never more than a fifteen minute drive from the bars we'd play. I would put the drums and my bass in the back of my SUV while my guitarist would put the amps cables and mics in his car.... Two car system for a three man band.
 
#36
Drive separately 90% of the time. Each member has a BOSE system.
For the 10% with FOH provided, sometimes carpools.
I drive myself 99% of the time as I live 100 miles away from Houston where the others reside.
 
#39
For my country group I always drive myself with my rig. For a really small gig where I don't need my huge rig or my upright I could possibly get a ride with my guitarist, but I'd much rather drive myself. Being under 21 I cant hang out in the bar most of our shows with the rest of the band so when they go early and watch the first bands then leave late it really pisses me off when I have to wait outside for them to be ready to leave.

For my larger gigs I have to take my own truck because I can just fit my upright, 2x15 cab, rack head, BG and my upright stand. If I tried to hitch a ride it wouldn't all fit.
 
#40
We all drive ouselves. Everyone lives in a different part of town and I live out in the sticks, so there's no other way.

If I had to do the PA I'd take my truck, but normally its my little car. Amp, cab, bass, mic stand etc, and a little bag with batteries, tuner cables, VT deluxe etc.
 

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