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Pet Peeve - loading in/loading out

Load in: when the guitarist lays his honking pedal board down before everyone else has brought their equipment on stage.

Load out: when said guitarist LEAVES pedal board on the floor while people are trying to get off the stage.

How about your pet peeves?
When the guitarists pedal board occupies just a small spot on a HUGE carpet that aforementioned player place front and center!
 
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When singer comes to or leaves thinking he or she didn't bring any gear, so why stay to help set or packup any gear.

Guitar players who doodle around.

Drumers who take forever setting up and then hits every drum tom by tom while setting up. As if looking for the perfect pitch on each tom. Set the damn think up and then take a few minutes to fine tune please!!!!!!
 
Unrealistic setup expectations. One club we play does a big dinner business. They want us to hit at 9 pm, but they don't want to let us start setting up until 8:30! (They have to remove tables to create a dance floor.) So no matter what, it's always chaotic. We used to try to sequence things: drum kit first, PA next, then amps. Somehow it didn't really improve things, so now we all just wade in and say "excuse me" a lot (expletives are often employed). On a good night, we're ready to go in 45 minutes. Last Saturday night it was almost an hour, because Bill The Sound Person's iPad was being cranky. Love technology until it doesn't work...and in the end, we did what we always do, play an extra half hour to make up the time.
 
“Here’s the power you said you needed”
Tiny two prong green extension cord.

Mic stands, particularly, during load in. If you bring in a stand, at the very least pop out the feet and stand it up. DO NOT lay it down on the floor, for me to bend over and pick up. Or lean it in the corner precariously and on top of the drummers hardware that he needs to get to.
 
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Unrealistic setup expectations. One club we play does a big dinner business. They want us to hit at 9 pm, but they don't want to let us start setting up until 8:30! (They have to remove tables to create a dance floor.) So no matter what, it's always chaotic. We used to try to sequence things: drum kit first, PA next, then amps. Somehow it didn't really improve things, so now we all just wade in and say "excuse me" a lot (expletives are often employed). On a good night, we're ready to go in 45 minutes. Last Saturday night it was almost an hour, because Bill The Sound Person's iPad was being cranky. Love technology until it doesn't work...and in the end, we did what we always do, play an extra half hour to make up the time.
I sometimes play a restaurant gig with a similar set up. There’s a chefs table where the band sets up that they move. Thing is it’s the biggest table in the place, so large groups that linger, or meet other groups there always use it. Hard for me to patiently sit at the bar, taking my time to eat, and not glare every time they order deserts or another round.
 
I used to play with a bass player who would just take his bass off and lay it on the floor in the middle of the stage at the end of his set. I think he would put it down and then just walk off to get a beer or something...

I didn't play with him long. I'm a total stickler about getting my stuff packed up quickly and exactly how it was packed up before I unloaded it. I use a pretty minimal setup for both bass and guitar (racked amps with proper cable management, single 2x12 guitar cab, 2 1x12 bass cabs) so I can get it done pretty quickly.
 
I sometimes play a restaurant gig with a similar set up. There’s a chefs table where the band sets up that they move. Thing is it’s the biggest table in the place, so large groups that linger, or meet other groups there always use it. Hard for me to patiently sit at the bar, taking my time to eat, and not glare every time they order deserts or another round.
Back in the day, when I used to play Irish bars on Union Street in Boston (near Faneuil Hall), this was pretty common. It was common to see a group of glasses with coasters on top while the patrons went out for a smoke.
 
several years ago, the drummer i played with had like a dozen cymbal stands. refused to use a rack. I'd help him load in, then he'd start drinking while screwing around with his setup. After a couple gigs, I just started bringing a friend to help me carry my modest amount of gear.

Don't really miss playing with that guy.
 

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