Good stuff here folks. Yes, everyone needs to chip in with carrying and plugging etc… and then STOP and let the bass player mix it. End of. Only game in town. Why we’re best suited to this I don’t know: but there it is. Leaving it to eg keys has resulted in eg mic’ing the kit o/h and racks with condensers and not engaging phantom.
I’ve drummer-proofed (well, y’know… as much as one can) our setups by getting all of the cables out into piles, out of the way of where people are lugging amps around, shortest to longest left to right:
XLRs 1m, 3m, 6m, 7m, 9m, 10m
IECs 2m, 2.5m, 5m
Male XLR to Jack adaptors
Female XLR to Jack adaptors
EDIT: Sure, they’re balanced. I’m not an animal.
I always run power around the stage after checking socket polarity and plugging breakers into the wall. Else, the band build a small electric fire for me.
Monitor chaining across two auxes remains beyond the reach of m’colls so I do that. Tricky, because the XLRs go “not the same way as for microphones”