Members formula428 Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 Have my yearly festival-type show all-day tomorrow (Thursday). The schedule of bands runs from 8am to midnight. We start at 4:45pm and play until midnight, trading on/off with another band. There are 5 minute change overs between bands, which is clearly not enough time to setup a drum kit. Is it rude to setup behind one of the earlier bands (say around 2pm) while they are playing? This way, I can be ready to go by 4:45, when the rest of our group arrives and crowds the stage. My instinct is to not setup, but then I'll be throwing my gear around at 445 and fighting for moving/loading space with the rest of my group (and other group leaving the stage), which I'd prefer to not do. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rezrover Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 Are there two stages? How do you direct without accidentally cueing the band on-stage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kmart Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 Can you? Yes Is it rude? I'd say yes to that as well. Does it take you 2 hrs/45 mins to set up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Musicman717 Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 I agree with kmart. I mean you got to look at it this way. if it was your band and they were up there playing , then the stage should be theirs until their show is over. It would be very distracting for a band to be playing a song and then all of a sudden see someone putting stuff on stage I know i have been there. What i would do is this , on shows that gave me that length of time to change bands . I would go with some backline stuff Like drums . if you already got a set up there and set up and miced then thats 5 to 7 mics you won't have to mess with and you can keep your settings and it will be easier for you. I am currently thinking of doing that very thing if i start getting more events with more than one band playing. hope this helps your decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mogwix Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 Set up off-stage as much as you can, then when your set comes up, just carry your kit to the stage in pieces. This is a lot faster if you have a rack. Why are there 5 minute changeovers? Why can't you just take your time and start later, you're playing 5pm till midnight, I'm pretty sure you can afford the 10 extra minutes or so. If for some reason it's not at all possible to take your time setting up, why can't you share backline? We've headlined a lot of shows where the openers agree to use our {censored}, under pre-arranged terms. Drummers bring their own snares and cymbals, guitarists and bassists bring their own guitars and pedals. There are easy ways to go about putting on a show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members banddad Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 I'd say no - would you like another band setting up behind you? Let courtesy and professionalism reign. What can help is to pre-assemble your kit off to the side, so it's an easy transfer when it's your turn. Can you co-ordinate with the band prior so the exit to one side of the stage and you, and your bandmates, come on from the other side?On a deep enough stage, I've seen the last band set up first, in the back, the next band in front of them, and the first band in the very front...you get heh idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bugzie Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 and I think 5 minutes for a changeover is being overly optomistic! Hell It takes most bands more than that just to get on stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fireax Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 We've done this exact thing in the past.Our turn-around was 15 minutes, but even that is NOT enough time.What we did was this.We talked to the band before us, and explained that we may need to do some set-up, but we would try to do it "discreetly"We also grabbed some volunteers, and let the first band know...we would help them get their stuff off-stage.They were OK with this.We also set up what we could on the sides, so all we needed to do was run it on stage.Because we did this...we did not have to get on stage during the set.Surprisingly...We were able to get it done...in a little over 15 minutes.We then assisted with the first song/soundcheck.Other than the fact that the "Soundguy" didn't have a clue what he was doing...it went well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members formula428 Posted March 17, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 I'm typically the only drummer for this show...it's mostly traditional Irish folk music. Last year, we (annual soundman and myself) were surprised because the alternating band had a set of e-drums (played by their percussionist/leader/owner of pub, who was not a drummer). Not even sure if those e-drums will be there this year. And, sorry guys, I'll play anything except for e-drums, not to mention, I highly doubt the owner would go for it. Anyways, I used a rack with a 6-piece last year, and I did setup as much as I could off-stage. Being that this is a larger show, approx. 500 people, the kit was mic'd (see last year's post about the soundman taping mics to my rack). We went well over our allotted "change" time...it took me about 20 minutes to setup. That's a long time, but alot has to do with the poor stage layout. The alternating band's leader and percussionist happens to be the owner of the establishment. This guy is nuts. This is the 4th year I will have played there. However, the first year, he wanted me to take down my kit after every 45 minute set. We compromised by stuffing me into the corner of the stage every year, and his bongos were centered on the stage. Last year, his e-drums too the place of the bongos, which were again centered on the stage. The "w" is a drum wedge for e-drums. The "L" are for light tripods The "x" are for mic stands As you can see, the problem with this setup is that there's only 1 set of stairs for the 3-foot elevated stage (the black line to the left), which happens to be next to my kit. So, it's very hard to setup because that's the high-traffic area of the stage. Between our two bands, we have 13 people accessing those stairs between set changes. Last year, I didn't have a wedge mix (soundman had some hack-job 2-mixer FOH thing going and couldn't figure out how to route everything to my wedge) for two sets and consequently couldn't hear anything because there was not enough time to set it up. Today, I'm reducing my footprint by bringing a 4 piece with stands. It's a minimal setup, but it still requires around a 6x6 footprint. I asked this question because it would greatly benefit my cause to setup w/o anyone else in my way. Normally, I'd just get there earlier than anyone else. However, the music started at 8am and I'm not about to camp out for 8 hours to watch my gear. Oh yea, and I'm NOT bring the Delite's for this show, either. Definitely not worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators MarkGifford-1 Posted March 17, 2011 Moderators Share Posted March 17, 2011 It's just 2 bands swapping sets? If so, find a way to get all of both band's stuff up there - share what you can. How many sets is each band doing? No amount of money would make it worthwhile to have to do a complete changeover between each set... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members formula428 Posted March 17, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 It's just 2 bands swapping sets?If so, find a way to get all of both band's stuff up there - share what you can.How many sets is each band doing?No amount of money would make it worthwhile to have to do a complete changeover between each set... Every 45 minutes, the other band plays. There are also a few 20 minute sets with about 25 Irish Step Dancers (who also go on the stage!) and a few Bagpipers. I agree, I'm never moving/resetting my stuff up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members formula428 Posted March 17, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 I was just seeing if my gut-feeling was correct...to not setup behind the previous band. I may still go about 1.25 hours early and ask if I can setup in the background, just for the hell of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gspointer Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 This would seem to be a good opportunity to share a kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Christhee68 Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 This is not quite in the same league as what you guys are doing, but I played at an open mic once (almost entirely acoustic solo/duos) and one guy set up his electric guitar rig with huge pedal board, two amps (each one mic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 6Imzadi Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 I would not really worry about leaving your drums setup during the day. Set up before the 8AM show starts, then put a colored(black) bed sheet over he top of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members formula428 Posted March 18, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 18, 2011 Well, the show was interesting. Of course, we rocked all the way. FOH was good, but a little hot around 1k. The owner's band ripped into the soundman a few times (very heated arguments). Our group was pretty much cool with everything. When we got there at 4:45, the other band insisted we setup while they were playing. That was fine by me, I just setup in the back corner of the stage. About 8pm, the Irish step dancers came. The stage was only about 15 deep, so that was quite interesting. I had to tear the kit down, mics and all. I removed the BD, cym/tom stand, but left the ride stand. The owner ripped into me and bitched because I take up too much space and had to lose that stand. Good thing it was only a 4 piece with 3 cymbals! But since I didn't have my rack, the last thing I wanted was a heel into my BD hoop. Of course, if I had brought the 6pc w/rack, it wasn't coming down. But, we sounded good. Doubt the soundman will be back next year. As an aside, after the show, our band discussed our performance. We felt we really got the crowd into the show. However, we also realized that the presence of a stage manager or stage tech would really help changeovers and coordination. Also, it would be nice to share gear...because that stage is just too small for everything. Poor organization (which we think a stage manager could improve). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 6Imzadi Posted March 18, 2011 Members Share Posted March 18, 2011 You can't fix stupid, as the owner sounds like. I'm glad your band made out alright. What was the discussion about between the soundman and the owner? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dennis a Posted March 18, 2011 Members Share Posted March 18, 2011 Stage tech and stage manager are two totally different and unrelated animals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members formula428 Posted March 19, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 19, 2011 Stage tech and stage manager are two totally different and unrelated animals. True. I guess my point was, we need organization, and a little help on stage (to minimize stress on FOH eng.) wouldn't hurt either. And, in the best of cases, the 2nd guy could also run monitors too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members W. M. Hellinger Posted March 19, 2011 Members Share Posted March 19, 2011 It's done all the time, but it can turn into a cluster if not well planned and organized: From what I recall of the above event, not included (visable) in the above picture, but also set-up on stage, mic-ed and ready to go (5 or 6 band's worth of gear one behind the other) was possibly the 1 or 2 other complete trap kits, and 2ea. complete B-3 rigs, and at least a couple other bass rigs (both SVT's as I recall) and a slew of guitar amps. As I recall, the event management team became somewhat frustrated with us when we ran out of board inputs at somewhere north of 100ea. (approx. 140 or so as I recall). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members formula428 Posted March 19, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 19, 2011 The show I played on Thursday is right in the middle of a semi-pro show, and a ma' and 'pa event. It's too complicated for the low-level coordination attitude, but does not pay well enough to have it planned out with the appropriate personnel required to ensure smooth operation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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