The worst gig of my life

I have spectacularly limited gigging experience.

To the extent that I can count my drumming gigs on one hand, and still not feel the need to be cautious when using a power saw.

And one of those gigs involved using another drummer's kit. His kit was as different to mine as I could imagine. Smaller toms, different tom layout, different cymbal selection, and a ported kick which sounded like a wet slap instead of my kick's awesome ringy boom. Snare drum higher than Amy Winehouse. It was not a set up I would choose in a bajillion years.

If I'd said "expecting us to just make due (sic) is not acceptable" I would have looked like an arse. Sometimes we have to play on kits that are different to, and yes, sometimes objectively worse than our own. Sometimes if you want to play, that's what you have to do.

You don't have to play, but if you do play, sometimes you have to make do. If it's a venue you play regularly, there may be room for you to do something about improving the kit ("Hey Mr Venue Owner, how about you stump for new heads, and I'll set them up?").

Petulance and foot stamping is not the way.
 
drummingman said:
I think that if we as drummers all banded together and let it be known that giving us crap gear and expecting us to just make due is not acceptable and we all did refuse to play when treated this way you can bet that this practice would change. But it would take more of us willing to say no in these types of situations. Then when these clubs had no bands to play in them and the club owners and sound guys and others at these clubs were not getting paid they would be much more excepting of us drummers not putting up with these things.
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No it wouldn't. There would be another band willing to take the slot.

Look mate. I think you're making excuses for a crap gig. If you were halfway as good as you think you are, you could have adjusted your playing. Instead you're choosing to stamp your foot and be inflexible about something that has happened to all of us over the years.

You know what? That's life. Sometimes we have to compromise. Take it as a learning experience, approach your parts flexibly and see what happens. Seriously, if you were half-decent you could rock a terrible kit.
 
drummingman said:
I think that if we as drummers all banded together and let it be known that giving us crap gear and expecting us to just make due is not acceptable and we all did refuse to play when treated this way you can bet that this practice would change. But it would take more of us willing to say no in these types of situations. Then when these clubs had no bands to play in them and the club owners and sound guys and others at these clubs were not getting paid they would be much more excepting of us drummers not putting up with these things.
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If the venue in Huddersfield with the crap kit, with the bass drum with no legs such that they used wooden blocks to stop it rolling over, and a torn batter head, rang us today and said "we just had a band who won't use our drum kit. Do you fancy the gig but you'll have to scrub along with the house kit as is because we've soundchecked it and it works. We're willing to pay you the fee we were paying them".....

We'd be all over that gig like a rash. We'd make it work. I'd take some black tape along and patch the damn thing up.

And, I'd say, 95% of semi-professional bands would do the same.

And the remaining 5% would sack the drummer for being a whinger.
 
drummingman said:
Skyking said:
Im right with you on your posts Skyking. I dont expect everything to be perfect on any gig. I just want the gear Im playing on to be at least decent. Which is why I really only want to play on my own, or at least a kit I have had a chance to set up and make sure works for me. Like you said, I played the show and made do. But what I learned was its best not to let people crap all over you and you are just supposed to suck it up. I don't have a bad attitude at all. I play in less then perfect conditions most times that I play. I am a professional and will do what I need to do to get it done. But I do have standards that I feel are not unreasonable. Like I posted before, we have to come to expect to be treated with respect or this kind of crap will just keep happening.

There is no question me and you are on the same page Skyking.
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So, as I said previously, you should have used your brain and thunk outside the box. Dropped your first song, and spent 4 minutes extra setting the kit up so that you were comfortable with it.

This is live gigs man...this IS the game
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Skyking said:
If this is how "professionals" are really treated then I'm glad to be called a "hobbyist". Funny, but you'd think it would be the other way around. Too bad so many "professionals" can't speak up because they have to play venues where they are treated with so little consideration... just so they can pay the mortgage.

I am honestly not trying to be a sarcastic but we just disagree about what is professionally acceptable, it's not about providing perfect conditions. But, if the gig provides an instrument it should meet certain standards of playability. And, I believe the OP when he states it didn't and unlike a few here, I'm not going to lecture him on his "bad attitude". That's just condescending.
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You're missing my point. There can, indeed MUST, be plenty of "speaking up" when the circumstances warrant it and when the conditions are far, far below what can be reasonably expected given the venue/gig/money and when you didn't knowingly assent to those conditions ahead of time.

The OP claims he didn't know he would be sharing a kit. Why not? There was a chance to speak up when the gig was booked. Perhaps he could have offered his kit to be the one shared by all the bands ahead of time. Perhaps he could've done more to get in contact with the band who would be providing the kit to find out what he'd be working with so he could make the necessary preparations? When I book a gig I gather as much information about the conditions as possible before agreeing. If they don't want to help me out with that info, then I can refuse the gig or take it knowing that I could be walking into trouble. Either way, it's up to me. I don't leave it to chance and, when I do, it's my choice.

A second chance to control circumstances was missed when somehow the OP didn't manage to even lay eyes on, let alone discuss with their owner, the drums he'd be playing before he walked on stage on the night of the gig. If you know you're walking into a potential problem (and anyone who has done kit-sharing gigs knows this stuff happens) then you do your best to be there early and to make contact with the person providing the kit to discuss what they're willing to let you move, etc. Even IF the owner had said, "no adjustments" the OP would then have had time to mentally plan how to cope. The time to find out you have a problem is NOT when you walk on stage with a wet foot, under pressure from the techs to get the changeover done and all the other anxiety that goes with making your entrance. If you want to put on the best performance, you take the necessary steps to manage the stress and anxiety of performing, not compound them with a lack of foresight.

So, I fail to see how it's "condescending" to suggest that if you willingly -- or by neglect -- create adverse conditions for yourself, that you should be prepared to accept the consequences of your actions and not run to t'internetz to blame drum sets and random other drummers for your poor showing. If you want conditions to be "professional" then you sometimes have to take a professional level of interest in making them so. Take responsibility, don't leave your performance up to some random guy at the venue or in some band that you've never met or spoken to.

Moreover, knowing that, despite our best efforts, conditions will sometimes not be perfect, what is condescending about suggesting someone fully prepare themselves technically and musically for such situations in the future? Even if the OP gets lucky and only plays in pristine conditions for the rest of his days, nothing has been lost by spending the time to learn how to adapt and conquer adverse conditions with grace and style and without sacrificing the quality of the music. I'm trying to help him have many safe and happy days of gigging, even when the gig sucks.
 
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Boomka said:
There can, indeed MUST, be plenty of "speaking up" when the circumstances warrant it and when the conditions are far, far below what can be reasonably expected given the venue/gig/money and when you didn't knowingly agree to those conditions ahead of time.
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This - & it's straight back to my earlier highlighting of communication. One of the biggest gripes I have is frequently a venue's / promoter's lack of communication, or even a basic understanding of how to run a show. The live playing scene is just a reflection of the cross section you'll find in everyday life. Some people are professional in all they do, some aren't, some suck royally, some don't care, some can't communicate effectively, some are just plain wonderful, etc, etc. That applies equally to musicians too, & yes, even drummers ;)

Expect to find that cross section, & prepare by negating as many variables as possible ahead of the gig. Heck, if using their own drums, most drummers could make a start by actually learning how to prepare their drums properly for the performance. I've actually witnessed drummers refuse the use of a very good back line kit (close in setup to their own), & decide to use their own utter piece of garbage that's more difficult to get sounding good FOH than scraping shit off a blanket!
 
If this is how "professionals" are really treated then I'm glad to be called a "hobbyist". Funny, but you'd think it would be the other way around. Too bad so many "professionals" can't speak up because they have to play venues where they are treated with so little consideration... just so they can pay the mortgage.

I am honestly not trying to be a sarcastic but we just disagree about what is professionally acceptable, it's not about providing perfect conditions. But, if the gig provides an instrument it should meet certain standards of playability. And, I believe the OP when he states it didn't and unlike a few here, I'm not going to lecture him on his "bad attitude". That's just condescending.
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Totally agree. If these are the conditions, I am so glad to not be a "professional" subjected to these conditions. If conditions are known to be not acceptable by reasonable standards, then we choose not to accept the gig. Simple. It's not a "bad attitude" of OP (or anyone else), it is personal preference. No disrespect to "professionals" that must take the work to pay bills, I totally get that.
 
SquadLeader said:
drummingman said:
So, as I said previously, you should have used your brain and thunk outside the box. Dropped your first song, and spent 4 minutes extra setting the kit up so that you were comfortable with it.

This is live gigs man...this IS the game
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Exactly. Things happen and then what do you do? How do you respond? My last rider provided me with everything I asked for, more actually. DW Collectors, all 9000 hardware and pedals, it was like literally playing my own kit only a different color. Then at another casino last year a totally different experience. We were to play with this Lynyrd Skynyrd cover band from Florida and I was instructed by the casino not to bring my drums, that I would be using the other drummers kit. I googled the band and gave it a look see. Decent enough one up one down, I brought some cymbals, my seat, snare, and pedals. What the casino didn't tell us is that "Freebird" had cancelled and an R&B act from Chicago was taking their slot. This other band was literally coming from the airport and guess what? No drums. At the casino I find a Tama Stagestar? (the sound guys cousins drums) a bop kit with an 18" kick, the wrap was just bubbled everywhere, the heads were absolutely trashed, and the cymbals are all cracked badly. So I made it work. I had to spin the BD batter to get a worn thin spot away from the beaters. Pulled (literally) a shower curtain out of it and tuned it up as best I could. I had a crash, ride and china but had to play a busted Zildjian K hat, and of course my trusty DW snare. My gear saved what would have been a complete train wreck. After I was set up I just put it out of mind. When set time came I just went into my act as if I wasnt sitting behind a child's kit. Stand on you mark, face the audience, smile ��, and play your part. The casino was aware of how badly they dropped the ball and their entertainment director was very happy with the way we handled of the situation. The $1250 dollar check cashed and they've booked us six more times since, but I always bring my own kit now ;)
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We'll the "pro's" win. No more attitude, foot stomping and petulance for me. I'm selling my kit and buying the finest North American cardboard, (none of those cheap Chinese boxes will do). Pity the fool who plays a kit. Who needs a drummer when you can have a "thumper". I'll move far from home to study under the best thumpers in the business. Micing could be a problem but who cares because I'll post my own reviews. Don't you get it? It ain't about my sound, because I sound and play great. Just ask me. I'll tell you how great I am and how you aren't XXXX cause you can't make fine North American cardboard sing like me. Any gig, anywhere, that's for me, because it's not about the sound, or the money, or even my reputation, its about....uhhh, crap I forgot what it's about. But I know I'm right. Did I tell you how good I can make a box sound?

Now that was sarcasm and like the other side of this "discussion" a bit unfair. Believe it or not we are on the same side. I get your points and I think the OP does too. I just hope you can see, at some point, how ridiculous and harmful unchecked exploitation can be to musicians. Play at any cost, eventually costs us all.
 
keep it simple said:
This - & it's straight back to my earlier highlighting of communication. One of the biggest gripes I have is frequently a venue's / promoter's lack of communication, or even a basic understanding of how to run a show. The live playing scene is just a reflection of the cross section you'll find in everyday life. Some people are professional in all they do, some aren't, some suck royally, some don't care, some can't communicate effectively, some are just plain wonderful, etc, etc. That applies equally to musicians too, & yes, even drummers ;)

Expect to find that cross section, & prepare by negating as many variables as possible ahead of the gig. Heck, if using their own drums, most drummers could make a start by actually learning how to prepare their drums properly for the performance. I've actually witnessed drummers refuse the use of a very good back line kit (close in setup to their own), & decide to use their own utter piece of garbage that's more difficult to get sounding good FOH than scraping shit off a blanket!
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Have faith in God, but tie your camel.

-- Arab Proverb
 
What about the people who play kits like the one that was being complained about in the first place? Aren't they similarly entitled to demand the setup they're used to? Can you see the problem here?

It's always a compromise. Unless you're in the Rolling Stones, but most of us aren't. Compromises can even be fun. I'm certainly not expounding on the great benefits of being miserable all the time. It's just...not that big a deal, really. If you can have a great time playing any kit, this problem ceases to exist. That's the ideal I'd personally like to aim for.
 
Boomka said:
But, if you take a gig without firming up the conditions and then complain about the conditions, well...
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This is pretty much the most important thing of all, being prepared. Lack of preparation sounds like it played a major part in the OP's predicament to me.
 
Skyking said:
We'll the "pro's" win. No more attitude, foot stomping and petulance for me. I'm selling my kit and buying the finest North American cardboard, (none of those cheap Chinese boxes will do). Pity the fool who plays a kit. Who needs a drummer when you can have a "thumper". I'll move far from home to study under the best thumpers in the business. Micing could be a problem but who cares because I'll post my own reviews. Don't you get it? It ain't about my sound, because I sound and play great. Just ask me. I'll tell you how great I am and how you aren't XXXX cause you can't make fine North American cardboard sing like me. Any gig, anywhere, that's for me, because it's not about the sound, or the money, or even my reputation, its about....uhhh, crap I forgot what it's about. But I know I'm right. Did I tell you how good I can make a box sound?

Now that was sarcasm and like the other side of this "discussion" a bit unfair. Believe it or not we are on the same side. I get your points and I think the OP does too. I just hope you can see, at some point, how ridiculous and harmful unchecked exploitation can be to musicians. Play at any cost, eventually costs us all.
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It's NOT exploitation to say to 5 bands, "guys we're using one drum kit, and these guys were here first/we use a backline/you can draw lots".

It's common sense. Not everyone on a multi-band gig can use their own kits. Everyone would generally like to. But not everyone can.

It's their venue and they're the paymaster. The tail does not wag the dog.

You seriously think this is exploitation??

Bizarre way of thinking.
 
PQleyR said:
What about the people who play kits like the one that was being complained about in the first place? Aren't they similarly entitled to demand the setup they're used to? Can you see the problem here?

It's always a compromise. Unless you're in the Rolling Stones, but most of us aren't. Compromises can even be fun. I'm certainly not expounding on the great benefits of being miserable all the time. It's just...not that big a deal, really. If you can have a great time playing any kit, this problem ceases to exist. That's the ideal I'd personally like to aim for.
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Correct. Everyone's entitled to use their own gear, which means in the world of the drummer that no-one is.

And I agree. I've played plenty of kits which have been an absolute dream. I've also played some real dustbins.

You're UK so I imagine your experience isn't disimilar to mine...I'd love to see what happened if I turned up with my band and refused to play the house/someone else's kit.

I would hazard a guess a) the venue owner would tell us (ie. the band) to piss off. b) the band would tell me "sit down...you're playing what's there"

:)
 
I wonder how long a gear share policy would last with guitar players if guitars varied in sizes as much as drums do. "Ok mate, the neck is 5 inches longer, the strings are 3 mm further apart from each other, and the body is half again as big and weighs twice as much. Make the best of it. Have a good gig!"... Yeah, right.
 
Ghostnote said:
I wonder how long a gear share policy would last with guitar players if guitars varied in sizes as much as drums do. "Ok mate, the neck is 5 inches longer, the strings are 3 mm further apart from each other, and the body is half again as big and weighs twice as much. Make the best of it. Have a good gig!"... Yeah, right.
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The issue with drums is purely a practical one. I think if drums could be magically changed over, in full, in the space of 3 minutes like guitars, that there'd be no discussion here.

Hey, we knew all this though when we chose the instrument right ?
 
drummingman said:
I think that if we as drummers all banded together and let it be known that giving us crap gear and expecting us to just make due is not acceptable and we all did refuse to play when treated this way you can bet that this practice would change. But it would take more of us willing to say no in these types of situations. Then when these clubs had no bands to play in them and the club owners and sound guys and others at these clubs were not getting paid they would be much more excepting of us drummers not putting up with these things.
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Errr, you didnt say it was crap gear you said it was a setup not to your liking and was not adjustable. Not the same thing.

I say again, If there is not time for all the drummers on the bill to setup and tear down there own kits then that is the situation, make the best of it.

If you never want to do a kit share again, its easy. If you are offered a gig ask how many bands are on the bill, If its more than two tell your band you wont do it.

Sorted. Then phone one of the other drummers on here so they can pick up the gig for there band.
 
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