Kit share at gigs - Drums

[rOB]

Morning folks,
Loving the rugby this morning.

We all know people's opinions about sharing bass gear. That has been well discussed and people have very strong opinions about it. Personally I'll share my amp or back-up bass if people ask ahead of time with a genuine reason or if they have had an emergency on the night.

Quick question about your experiences sharing drum gear from a non-drummer. It seems to be generally the case that at our gigs the band playing last provide drum shells (bass and toms) and stands whilst all the other bands bring their own breakables.

As the band leader (with no experience of playing drums) I make it a pre-gig courtesy to get in touch with the band playing last to say hi, offer local help if they are from out of town and to check that drum share is ok with them. If we're playing last then we would of course bring drums and expect to be sharing them with the other bands playing.

Is this necessary? Would your drummer be annoyed if another band didn't explicitly ask about drum share ahead of time?

[Spike Vincent]

We play a lot of all-dayers which inevitably means shared backline/drumkit,and policy is to provide your own breakables.It's definately ettiquette to sort out kit share requirements before hand,and yes,our drummer would be peeved if a support band simply expected him to provide kit without prior arrangement.

[Ou7shined]

Not particularly, although he'd be a bit miffed at being asked to share his snare and cymbals.

[PURPOLARIS]

[quote name='Spike Vincent' timestamp='1318670047' post='1404917']
We play a lot of all-dayers which inevitably means shared backline/drumkit,and policy is to provide your own breakables.It's definately ettiquette to sort out kit share requirements before hand,and yes,our drummer would be peeved if a support band simply expected him to provide kit without prior arrangement.
[/quote]

This +1

[rOB]

[quote name='Spike Vincent' timestamp='1318670047' post='1404917']
We play a lot of all-dayers which inevitably means shared backline/drumkit,and policy is to provide your own breakables.It's definately ettiquette to sort out kit share requirements before hand,and yes,our drummer would be peeved if a support band simply expected him to provide kit without prior arrangement.
[/quote]

Yeah, that's what I thought. Although its expected, its nice to check before hand.

I'll carry on doing it.

Cheers, Rob

[rOB]

[quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1318670413' post='1404926']
although he'd be a bit miffed at being asked to share his snare and cymbals.
[/quote]

Oo yeah that'd be bad form.

[Dad3353]

Good afternoon, Rob...

Your pre-gig communication is exactly how it should be done; keep it up, and congratulations. Now and again it will save your bacon (or at least, your drummer's...). There will be occasions when the 'headline' group kit will not do (I, for one, play 'lefty', and not all configurations can be tailored for all...). If incompatability is recognised beforehand, at least your get the option of bringing your own kit, and the day (or evening...) is saved. Quite right, too, about 'breakables' (cymbals, snare drum and bass pedal, plus sticks, of course...), although this is as much about personal preference as risk of breakage.
As for the semi, I think that the French were lucky that Wales let go of 11 points through off-form kicking. Pleasant match, but I don't see them holding off either of the last two teams for long. We'll see...

Edited October 15, 2011 by Dad3353

[rOB]

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1318684310' post='1405179']
As for the semi, I think that the French were lucky that Wales let go of 11 points through off-form kicking. Pleasant match, but I don't see them holding off either of the last two teams for long. We'll see...
[/quote]
To be honest I agree. Good luck anyway!

[charic]

Courtesy is never a bad start and could leave the other band remembering you being good to deal with.

Your obviously organised and polite, keep it up.

[Doddy]

[quote name='rOB' timestamp='1318669212' post='1404903']Would your drummer be annoyed if another band didn't explicitly ask about drum share ahead of time?[/quote]

I've known guys flat out refuse to let people share their drums when there has been no communication beforehand and they just
turn up and expect to use their gear.

[LiamPodmore]

I normally get in contact with the headline act beforehand, more as a matter of discussing cabs than kits, but i do throw that in there too. Our drummer has no problems with sharing his kit, even actually let another drummer use his whole kit before now (Breakables included, the guy was a good friend) without any problems. His kit is easy enough to change to a lefty configuration, so even Dad3353 could play it, its pretty much all on its own stand (Except the ride which is mounted on the kick) so its pretty versatile.

Edit: Although i check about drums myself anyway, its normally organised by the promoters that we work with for multi-band gigs, i just like to be sure.

Liam

Edited October 17, 2011 by LiamPodmore

[Low End Bee]

We always bring our drums even when we're not the last band. The only exception to this is when the 'house kit' is to be supplied b y the venue.
We were on as the penultimate band last on Friday.and we were very glad we did. Last band on who insisted everyone should use their kit turned up over 3 hours late. I'm glad I'd bought my bass rig too as that was on the same deal! The scenario if we hadn't isn't worth thinking about. Especially as the venue was jam packed with paying punters.
Unfortunately we expect other bands we don't know to let us down and prepare.

Back to the OP. Shells should really be provided by the last band on who should in theory turn up first.