Well that was a waste of energy...

A 3 minute drum solo?!

 

been there done that. my band played a battle of the bands last year and they said that equipment would be provided, bring instruments and effects, we get there and they had expected the same thing, that we would be able to run everything through a PA, so my guitarist makes a mad dash back to his appt to get his amp and didnt get back till my drummer and i had been on stage for almost five minutes

we did a killer jam session while he was gone though, just drums and bass

 

That's when a ToneBone would've come in handy.

 

a what?

 

This should be a sticky note, I've had this happen SO many times..it always pays to have your own gear along just in case, coz lots of people in charge of organising events know nothing about the music side. Always ask if there is a soundguy or someone in charge of the music stuff otherwise it will probably be a waste of time,

LOL amen to "Never rely on anyone but yourself"

 

Radial Tonebone

Basically a distortion, preamp.

 

I use a certain amount of onboard amp effects (light distortion, chorus, etc), so I don't gig without my amp... ever. Now that my bassist has a rockin' bass amp that doesn't weigh a ton, we use hers exclusively also. My drummer occasionally will use a house set, but more often than not, he'll just use his own.

Of course, a lot of guys have the fancy Line 6 POD setup or something like it so that they can deal with whatever equipment situation they come into contact with.

I once did an acoustic gig where they said they would provide "PA". It ended up being an 80s Peavey guitar amp, and a Radio Shack special hardwired mic plugged into it. Ick.

 

Yep...always have your own equipment with you. Like you, I've learned the hard way that "sound equipment will be provided" usually means a PA, and often, not a very good one. I always bring my amp.

Cherie

 

Even when I'm told backline amps will be provided, I **STILL** bring an amp and leave it in my car, just in case. To do otherwise leaves you exposes at least 40% of the time with people who organize these things and give you their word.

 

Actually, when I organize an event that requires a backline (only when bands are going through fast and we wouldn't have time to switch amps and things), I will specifically list everything that we're providing - down to amp models, number of channels, number of outlets, number of available DI boxes, etc, etc, etc (as long as I have them). I will then be in contact with the bands and make sure that they understand what they have and we understand what they need.

Heck, even then, half of the bands STILL bring their own equipment and it just sits offstage.

We did a battle of the bands once where one of the bands brought their own wireless mics for us to plug in rather than using our wired mics. I was about to say no, but the sound tech didn't think it'd be a problem. I figured it'd be her problem, so no big deal.

Of course, then you've got the guys who tour with guitars, processors, and drums. Talk about relying heavily on the house system. I organized a concert with a professional touring band once and they walked in without any amps whatsoever. They had asked about house drums, and I explained what we would have (my band was opening), and they decided to bring their own kit, but they NEVER mentioned that they wouldn't have any amps!

Needless to say, I was scrambling to try to find a way that they could use our equipment without totally screwing up our settings. Unfortunately, they still screwed with our amp settings, and our band sounded rather horrid... but at least the pro band sounded pretty good.