Outdoor gig - will I be loud enough?

[bertbass]

Ah, but it's a lovely sunny, summers night. I know that's just dreaming.

[Bassman Steve]

I would agree with the RCD. I did a gig wehere we soundchexcked and everything was great. The guy ran out a nice long mains and we plugged in all was fine.

Soundcheck over I realised |I hadn't used my RCD. I plugged it in and it tripped. Long story short it turned out there was no earth. Carry an RCD and make sure you use it.

[paulmcnamara]

We played The Dub Aid Festival in March, which was in a marquee, taking about 400/500 people. PA was 10K, but it was the decent monitoring that made the difference. This was not our own PA I might add, an ideal set up for all the participating bands, but once you go outside whether under canvass or not, its a totally different ball game.

[ben604]

We played to this crowd:
[attachment=111529:AwK366fCAAALyFI.jpg]

from this lorry:
[attachment=111530:AwK3kbzCIAIxB4M.jpg]

At the weekend. Our gear:

2 x 900w 14" tops
1 x 500w Mackie SWA1501
1 x Marshall DSL2000 through an Orange 2x12
1 x Peavey 6550 through an Orange 4x12
1 x Ampeg PF-500 through an 8Ohm Matamp 4x10
1 x JBL Eon15 monitor

Everything through the PA (all drum shells), but most of the guitar came from the backline. I needed a little bass DI'd to get enough bottom end.

Everyone commented on how good and full we sounded, I think the lorry and walls at the back helped keep the sound in somewhat, but it was windy.

If you've got the backline and decent enough tops, I think you can get away with quite a modest setup outdoors in the right circumstances.