Andy
Honorary Member
Yesterday, I was booked to play the "Hoggin the Bridge" event at Chepstow racecourse with "Fired Up", but also to provide rear line drums for the event. It's a fairly big rally (3 - 4,000 attendance), 6 bands on the bill.
First challenge = the staging company failed to show so a trailer was hurriedly scrounged. That's fine, but stormy weather was predicted & there's no weather protection. Everyone got on with it. I did have video to put up but silly Andy forgot the wind shield on the zoom & the audio is terrible as a result
Anyhow, I took the English ash In-Tense kit mounted on a fairly ugly but very functional Pearl Icon rack. The rack is handy because it quickly facilitates multiple setups. Some drummers used the kit as provided, some stripped it down to a 3 piece shell set then added their own snare, cymbals, pedals, etc. All were respectful with the gear.
A couple of mini stories of note:
Of course, the hired PA sound engineer wasn't happy about the lack of hole in the bass drum reso head. I politely assured him it would be fine & instructed him to run the whole kit flat through the rig. He gave a rye smile. After we sound checked the kit, that smile was replaced by one of great satisfaction.
One drummer was initially protesting because he was told the rear line kit provided would be high quality "like a DW or something - not a small bass drum kit I've never heard of". Stage manager - "just play it!" He did, & after his set was most complimentary on the power of the bass drum & openness of the toms.
For my own part, we had a great gig, & I was very happy with the out front sound. It's the first time I've had the 6 piece through a reasonable rig. I was especially impressed with the little shallow 10" tom, & the 13" x 7" snare. Overall, compared to most rear line kits provided, I think these guys were pretty spoilt!
Here's some pictures. 1st one is the calm before the storm (early morning setup)
First challenge = the staging company failed to show so a trailer was hurriedly scrounged. That's fine, but stormy weather was predicted & there's no weather protection. Everyone got on with it. I did have video to put up but silly Andy forgot the wind shield on the zoom & the audio is terrible as a result
Anyhow, I took the English ash In-Tense kit mounted on a fairly ugly but very functional Pearl Icon rack. The rack is handy because it quickly facilitates multiple setups. Some drummers used the kit as provided, some stripped it down to a 3 piece shell set then added their own snare, cymbals, pedals, etc. All were respectful with the gear.
A couple of mini stories of note:
Of course, the hired PA sound engineer wasn't happy about the lack of hole in the bass drum reso head. I politely assured him it would be fine & instructed him to run the whole kit flat through the rig. He gave a rye smile. After we sound checked the kit, that smile was replaced by one of great satisfaction.
One drummer was initially protesting because he was told the rear line kit provided would be high quality "like a DW or something - not a small bass drum kit I've never heard of". Stage manager - "just play it!" He did, & after his set was most complimentary on the power of the bass drum & openness of the toms.
For my own part, we had a great gig, & I was very happy with the out front sound. It's the first time I've had the 6 piece through a reasonable rig. I was especially impressed with the little shallow 10" tom, & the 13" x 7" snare. Overall, compared to most rear line kits provided, I think these guys were pretty spoilt!
Here's some pictures. 1st one is the calm before the storm (early morning setup)
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