Gigging & Public Transportation

[ambient]

This is what I use on my trolley, to contain all my bits and pieces, volume pedal, PJB combo, equipment cases containing my audio interface, ebow and cables etc.

I use a rucksack waterproof cover over it all, keeps it nice and dry.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01KHGWR2U/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[NancyJohnson]

I know guys who seem to be able to use public transport for gigs, but in general they're reliant on other band's shellpacks or enclosures.

[Guest Jecklin]

About 12 years ago the duo i was in would often come across a band, I seem to remember were called Team B, who always went to their gigs around London by public transport. They loaded the drum kit and amps into a shopping trolley and this would then go on busses, trains and the tube.
Superb!

I guess this is the thing about living in London playing original music - The venues have their in house PAs so you only travel with your own gear.
I'm sure it's different for covers bands and the venues they play in.

The other evening on an overland train (that's a train that doesn't have divisions between the carriages so you can see the whole length internally) there was a string quartet, what looked like a 4 piece rock band with drums on a trolley and a double bassist & saxophonist all on their way to their respective gigs.

[ambient]

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1504453603' post='3364954']
I know guys who seem to be able to use public transport for gigs, but in general they're reliant on other band's shellpacks or enclosures.
[/quote]

What's a shellpack?

[Dad3353]

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1504454113' post='3364962']
What's a shellpack?
[/quote]

A set of drums, just the 'shells', not the stands, cymbals etc, although cymbals/snare stands [i]would [/i]count if we're talking transportation, because of the weight. The drummer just brings his/her 'breakables', ie: snare drum, cymbals, sticks, pedal...
Didn't you learn nuffin' at uni music studies..?

Edited September 3, 2017 by Dad3353

[ambient]

[quote name='Jecklin' timestamp='1504454071' post='3364961']
About 12 years ago the duo i was in would often come across a band, I seem to remember were called Team B, who always went to their gigs around London by public transport. They loaded the drum kit and amps into a shopping trolley and this would then go on busses, trains and the tube.
Superb!

I guess this is the thing about living in London playing original music - The venues have their in house PAs so you only travel with your own gear.
I'm sure it's different for covers bands and the venues they play in.

The other evening on an overland train (that's a train that doesn't have divisions between the carriages so you can see the whole length internally) there was a string quartet, what looked like a 4 piece rock band with drums on a trolley and a double bassist & saxophonist all on their way to their respective gigs.
[/quote]

Some seem to have drum kits and full backline too.

I'm playing at Water rats in London in October, they have everything there, not that I need every thing, but it's there if any artists need it. I often see posts on Facebook from London based friends asking what the kit, or the bass amp is like at such-a-such venue. so I'm guessing this is maybe the case at a lot of venues? Certainly all of the ones I've played at have had like you say, a PA available.

[project_c]

We have a regular bar gig in central london, I live in south east zone 4. I take a Genz Shuttle 8 combo on a small trolley and a bass on my back. It's a 20 min train ride and a walk. I would drive but London traffic is nasty.

We had a gig in Southend last week, I had to drive there in rush hour traffic, took me nearly 3 hours. Never again.

[spongebob]

Where I am, no car, no gig!

We play usually within a 1 1/2 hour radius....no public transport at night, and even during the day, there's nothing direct.

Never something I could even contemplate. I also enjoy a bit of comfort and performance in my transport!

[NancyJohnson]

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1504454401' post='3364967']
A set of drums, just the 'shells', not the stands, cymbals etc, although cymbals/snare stands [i]would [/i]count if we're talking transportation, because of the weight. The drummer just brings his/her 'breakables', ie: snare drum, cymbals, sticks, pedal...
Didn't you learn nuffin' at uni music studies..?
[/quote]

It's got eve more cliquey for drummers now...I've seen the headline act drummers actually removing their felts from cymbal stands as well.

[Dad3353]

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1504460937' post='3365041']
It's got eve more cliquey for drummers now...I've seen the headline act drummers actually removing their felts from cymbal stands as well.
[/quote]

They're breakable..?

They're not drummers, they're bar stewards.

[FinnDave]

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1504462149' post='3365052']
They're breakable..?

They're not drummers, they're bar stewards.
[/quote]

I've yet to discover anything a drummer can't break...

[GarethFlatlands]

I've done it, it was a gig in town which is 10-15 minutes away on the bus and I used a Zoom B3 with headphones for monitoring rather than an amp.

For the most part though I think a car isn't necessarily essential, but you're relying on someone else in the band to sort your transport out which isn't something I like doing.

[Dad3353]

When I was involved in our summer festival (Les 3 Elephants...), we ran a shuttle minibus to pick up band members arriving by train, 50 Km away. The festival stages had backline provided, corresponding to the technical spec we'd received, of course, and many of the groups had separate transport for their gear. Many flew in, to Paris or to Rennes; I suppose that counts as public transport..? For local gigging bands here, however, some sort of autonomy is essential.

Edited September 3, 2017 by Dad3353

[blue]

Over here in the rural Midwest no car means you can't gig.

As a matter of fact many of the "bass player" wanted ads specify " must have reliable transportation"

Blue

[BigRedX]

IME it depends on the type of band and whether you need a car for other aspects of your life.

Covers bands from my personal experience of being in a couple and from what I've read hear do tend to be very insular. Every member is responsible for his or her own gear and each turns up to gigs in their own vehicle.

For originals bands it's entirely different. For a start few have to worry about lugging PA and lights about (I've done only a couple of originals gigs in the past 10 years where the band has had to organise their own PA and lights because the venue didn't have any). Secondly any serious originals band playing outside of their home town will have a band van along with a driver/roadie/merch seller so individual transport isn't a requirement, and local gigs can almost always be accessed by public transport or taxi. Also IME originals bands tend to be a lot more accommodating if non-driver members can bring something else important to the band such as free rehearsal space, storage for band gear, free design and printing of posters and flyers etc.

And it very much depends on whether or not you need a vehicle for the non-band aspects of your life. I've managed being in gigging bands for almost 40 years now and I still don't own a car. If I did it would only be used for band activities, so my income form the band would have to completely cover the purchase and running costs in order for me to justify it. I've never needed on for my work - before going self-employed and working from home I never lived more than 30 minutes walk from my place of work, the exercise certainly did me good, and on the few occasions when one of my colleagues gave me lift him, rush-hour traffic meant if I saved at least 10 minutes on my journey we were doing very well!

The last time I looked into buying a suitable vehicle for gigging, I found I could get a year's worth of taxis to rehearsals and local gigs before I had covered the cost of buying and insuring said vehicle let alone the other running costs.

[toneknob]

As a London gigster I use public transport if I know there's an amp at the venue for me to use - I use an iGig bag plus Pedaltrain effects case. If there's no amp I'll use ZipCar or Uber to take the above plus amp.

Having said that I used to be in Genesis tribute bands. The load for that gig would be: bass, double-neck, acoustic 12-string, bass amp, guitar amp, case for effects/cables/etc, stool, Moog Taurus bass pedals - all of which would easily fill the back of a VW Golf (seats down)

Edited September 4, 2017 by toneknob

[stingrayPete1977]

If i lost my licence I wouldn't be able to gig where I live, Jam nights in the nearest town would be my best option.

[wulf]

Not having a car limits your options and more so on bass than most other instruments. Having a car makes you an invaluable member of the band...

Wulf

[thebrig]

In my home town of Bridgnorth there are no buses after 6pm and none at all on Sundays, so a car is essential for me.

[NickD]

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1504454413' post='3364968']

I'm playing at Water rats in London in October...
[/quote]

Nice little setup there, did it a couple of weeks ago. Soundguy is pretty cool too, sound on stage and out front was great.

London is a bit of a special case I guess. particularly the central London Venues. There's pretty much nowhere more than an hour away on the Tube/Overground, and most have everything you need. I just need to take a gigbag and a smile!

[thepurpleblob]

I live in Scotland. I have a 4x4!

The band has a Transit van, however...

Edited September 4, 2017 by thepurpleblob

[CamdenRob]

I have travelled to all my gigs / rehearsals on the London transport network for the last few years.

Most of the time it's just bass on my back and I DI straight into the PA. On the rare occasion I have to take an amp (only ever for backline) my whole setup fits on a trolley and weights 16kg.

Uber has changed everything these last couple of years though. Hundreds of cabs going past my house at any given time of day / night which can be booked and paid for instantly through the app. Usually costs less than a tenner and gets me and all my gear from my front door to the gig and back 😊

[toneknob]

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1504529572' post='3365456']
Uber has changed everything these last couple of years though. Hundreds of cabs going past my house at any given time of day / night which can be booked and paid for instantly through the app. Usually costs less than a tenner and gets me and all my gear from my front door to the gig and back
[/quote]

Ever been declined a ride because of your gear? I have - couple of weeks ago the Uber rolled up and took a look at my gig bag and effects case, said no way mister and off he went.

I asked the next one who turned up "Ok if I put my gear in the boot?" "yeah, no problem. What else you going to do with it?"

[Hazy Bass]

I was living in London a few years ago (Greenwich/Blackheath area, 2 minutes walk to the nearest station), playing in an acoustic jazz/blues trio (acoustic guitar, harmonica, vocals).

We used to play regularly at the 12-Bar Club, so we'd get the train into Charing Cross & walk up to Denmark Street. We usually had a mid-set billing and last train back was after midnight it so all worked out fine ...

... except that the music went on till around 2 am and after a couple of beers we always wanted to stay & watch the other bands, so the taxi home invariably cost more than we'd actually earned from the gig (south of the river mate? this time of night? you're 'avin' a larf!) ... but we had a lot of fun, saw some fine bands, and spent considerably less than on a normal Saturday night out in the west end!

[blue]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1504517693' post='3365318']
IME it depends on the type of band and whether you need a car for other aspects of your life.

Covers bands from my personal experience of being in a couple and from what I've read hear do tend to be very insular. Every member is responsible for his or her own gear and each turns up to gigs in their own vehicle.

For originals bands it's entirely different. For a start few have to worry about lugging PA and lights about (I've done only a couple of originals gigs in the past 10 years where the band has had to organise their own PA and lights because the venue didn't have any). Secondly any serious originals band playing outside of their home town will have a band van along with a driver/roadie/merch seller so individual transport isn't a requirement, and local gigs can almost always be accessed by public transport or taxi. Also IME originals bands tend to be a lot more accommodating if non-driver members can bring something else important to the band such as free rehearsal space, storage for band gear, free design and printing of posters and flyers etc.

And it very much depends on whether or not you need a vehicle for the non-band aspects of your life. I've managed being in gigging bands for almost 40 years now and I still don't own a car. If I did it would only be used for band activities, so my income form the band would have to completely cover the purchase and running costs in order for me to justify it. I've never needed on for my work - before going self-employed and working from home I never lived more than 30 minutes walk from my place of work, the exercise certainly did me good, and on the few occasions when one of my colleagues gave me lift him, rush-hour traffic meant if I saved at least 10 minutes on my journey we were doing very well!

The last time I looked into buying a suitable vehicle for gigging, I found I could get a year's worth of taxis to rehearsals and local gigs before I had covered the cost of buying and insuring said vehicle let alone the other running costs.
[/quote]

I'm starting to think we have more of a car culture here in the States. The only people I know that don't own cars live in NYC.

Without a car I wouldn't be able to buy groceries or even get to a doctor appointment.

Again age is a factor and location. From the responses it seems like public transport is easier in the UK only if you reside in one of the larger metro areas.

Blue

Edited September 4, 2017 by blue