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No FOH instruments...HELP!

Bring whichever amp you'd usually run.

I've played a number of those kind of events here in the frozen tundra. They all went fine, what we did was run at regular volume settings and ignored the venue. So we weren't very loud, but we sounded like us. It is a trade off, but by choosing this approach, we kept cool and didn't go out and buy a ton of stuff in a reactionary mode.

Good luck on the gig!

Jim
 
So, my band is playing the Boston Music Festival tomorrow night at the Wonderbar. It used to be a big live music venue, but recently is been more DJs than anything. The whole festival is extremely poorly organized, and we JUST found out that, "You can only plug in vocal mics to the PA, no instruments. If you have a keyboard or guitar amplified, please bring an amp." Now, of course we were going to bring amps, but I have two; a 100 watt all tube ampeg, and an SWR redface 350. I almost always use the ampeg, because it sounds great, and I go direct anyways. But...I think it will get pretty distorted if I have to fill a whole room with just an SVT 4x10 HLF. This is propable the first show in 5 years I've played without FOH reinforcement, so, do you think I should take the Ampeg and risk sounding totally fuzzed out at high volumes, or use the SWR with a SansAmp to warm it up a bit?
Thanks guys!! :help:

I know this doesn't help, but this is the exact reason why I own my own PA. Won't let me use FOH? Fine, I'll set up my own.
 
A lot of places won't let you, especially festivals with a main stage.

Dude, I wouldn't sweat it. Just do what you do and it'll be fine.

This sounds more like a "festival" in a bar, than an actual outdoor festival with multiple stages, but I'll change my statement none the less.

That is the exact reason I own my own PA. And if the venue does not let me use my PA in this sort of situation, I do not play there.
 
yea i own my pa as well. you could always tell the venue that it's just a big amp. they told you to bring amps. personally in your situation i would have called it off. my tolerance on free gigs is very low. just remember to keep the volume within your means. sounding bad is not good exposure and it will hurt you rather than help.

does anyone else think it's weird that the place hosts dj's but their pa won't handle a kick drum. maby some tactful diplomacy might get an equitable solution to the problem.
 
Yeah, we are all pretty set on actually playing the gig tonight, so we are just going to have to approximate our sound levels in the audience, and play accordingly. Like I said, we aren't a very loud band to begin with, my only concern is that the kick drum will completely disapear. Oh well, its ALLSTON ROCK CITY!
 

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