My current Rig (some Q's about playing a fest date)

loktide said:

on bigger festivals there are (mostly) functional monitors, so you won't need your 4x12 to hear yourself like when playing at the local bar :lol:

Click to expand...

Lozek said:

Festivals are always a bit of a commando affair, you just have to get in and get the job done. Get there nice & early, check out the stage and the monitoring situation, most importantly make sure you introduce yourself to the stage manager and discuss how things are going to work. Nominate one guy who will be the spokesperson for the band, so you don't ask the stage manager the same question 5 times over.

Some festivals will force you to use ALL of their backline (apart from drum breakables), some will want you to use their cabs and your heads, some will expect you to be fully prepared with all your own equipment. The main thing will be the drumkit, most festivals have two moveable drum risers so that your guy can build his kit up behind the stage while the previous band are playing, ready to be wheeled on and mic'd within 2/3 minutes of the previous guys finishing.

Best bet is to make sure you have everything with you that you would need and then you can deal with whatever comes your way. I can't stress enough though, make friends with the crew. It's a little bit luck of the draw with who you get, but generally if you turn up prepared with a professional attitude, they will want to work with you. If you turn up in a mess, un-prepared and leave all your stuff around where they can trip over it in their working environment, their attitude will immediately change to 'I f*cking hate working with musicians'.

And spares of EVERYTHING, guitar leads, speaker leads, guitars, strings, power leads.

Click to expand...