Playing gigs in that there London. Getting around with gear....

Creed_Clicks

So folks, it's been a while since I've been on here. (Hopefully!) planning on a move to London before or after Christmas. I'm in Ireland at the moment, in a town/small city of roughly 100,000. 

It's easy to get to gigs. I stick the gear in the back of the car and away I go. There aren't any congestion charges and it's easy enough to pull up outside a venue to load in and load out.

I would imagine, without a car, it's darn near impossible to carry a guitar, a pedal board and a combo around on public transport!

I played a gig in Brixton a few years back, and the gear was hired and delivered to the location. It was a unique situation though, a showcase type of gig.

How do folk manage on a week to week basis gigging? Do you confine your travels to an area in or around where you are living to make it easier? Or is it a case that venues will have backlines and you just turn up with your guitar and pedals and so on?

If/when I make the move getting into the music scene is something I'd like to do from the off, but I won't be bringing the chariot with me.

I take it rehearsals in London would mainly be in rehearsal spaces unless you're living in a semi D well into the burbs?

Yes, I will be one of those pesky immigrants.

carlos

Lots of venues have their own guitar amps, it's worth calling in advance to find it out. Although you have to bear playing on some crappy amps sometimes. Getting around with a combo + guitar and so forth on public transport is a task for men manlier than me - just too heavy and transport is too crowded. You can try minicabs for small distances, but probably will cost whatever you're being paid! What I often do is just take a good amp sim pedal and plug straight into the DI box onstage. That does require a friendly sound engineer who'll provide you a good level onstage so you actually know what you're doing.

Creed_Clicks

Sounds like a bit of an ordeal then? Stick to the acoustic duo perhaps!

If I were a venue, I wouldn't be shelling out on a decent amp for every joe soap to use, so I can see their point.

I wonder how drummers manage it!

carlos

Most if not all venues have basic kits. The only thing the drummer needs to bring are 'breakables', i.e. cymbals. Even then venue will have stands for those. Bassists are usually happy to go DI. It's really guitarists who suffer, especially those who can't bear leaving their stack/combo at home.

Creed_Clicks

Yeah, my plan would be to sell my amp here anyhow, and I had thought of picking up a small 15 watt tube combo, or a small head and cab, but might not be a need to get anything at all yet.

I can't recall who the company was, when we hired in the gear for the gig in Brixton, but we hired in everything, jazzmasters, fender hot rod amps, nord keyboards etc. Granted, that was probably overkill, but it would have cost us more probably, to bring it on Ryanair...

paul_backskin

most established venues, or those that regularly put on gigs have cabs to use. a few will have crappy heads or combo's also.

i'm not gigging at the moment, but i'm no stranger to carting round a 100w 20+kg amp head on a trolley on the tube in rush hour. not fun. and not something i'll be doing again.

i'd recommend a 15/20watt head, under 10kg, you can carry, that has a speaker emulated DI out. so even if there is no cab you can go through the PA. or modelling unit like a POD etc. maybe also a 1x12" you could put on a trolley to take if you really had to.

VimFuego

just a note to add to what's been said, people on the underground are very understanding generally and especially to the needs of the gigging musician. They are perfectly OK with you putting your amp and guitar on an empty seat and many will happily give up their seat if you ask them. Enjoy your time in London.

stickyfiddle

Central London - total pain. The following highlights spring to mind:

- Leicester Square (spent a fortune parking nearby and still had to carry a 35kg piano across the square)

- Rough Trade, Brick Lane (not so bad, easy enough parking after 6pm. Load in still a pain.

- Proud Camden. Load in easy enough from a car, parked in Sainsburys round the corner. Not too bad actually.

- Covent Garden, audition only. Amps were supplied, had to bring pedals, guitar and cables/spares, so I went on the tube. Could barely play after carrying that shite from Leicester Sq tube.

All of the above would have been a nightmare on the tube and the one that was on the tube was a nightmare indeed. It's the sheer weight of a decent amp and guitar that does it - you can't move fast with them and everyone on the tube is an asshole. A Tele in a gigbag would be fine if the venue has a Marshall you can use (and they'll NEVER have anything else!) and you don't use pedals...

Later on I was playing covers outside of central London - all over the SE corner in the triangle defined by Blackheath, Dartford and Sevenoaks including regular rehearsals in Bromley. Drove to every one of them from E3 via the Blackwall Tunnel. Much easier. Central London can suck it!

Creed_Clicks

I suppose my only experience to date of London would be central London, Islington, Hackney, Brixton, Dalston.

It's one thing playing in a venue. It's getting to the venue I'd imagine is a nightmare.

How do folk who gig regularly, (covers or originals) do it? Do you just not gig in central London?

I noticed that mates in Manchester seemed to have a much easier time getting from A to B (for obvious reasons). Not all of them had cars though.

Voxman

I refuse to gig anymore in central London. Just too stressful; takes too long to get there plus parking is a nightmare.

prh777

rehearsal spaces much the same problem.  range from awful (denmark street) to great (the premises, hackney) and expensive but meh (the joint) .  You can find that recording studios will rent out in the evening and they can be great.

In terms of transport - if I drag my gear to work I take the guitar/bass and a lunchbox head (using the cabs wherever we head) or if it's east london as a rehearsal destination I'll pony up for an addison lee cab and take the Combo amp.  

hugbot

I'd invest in a nice pedalboard that you can trust to sound good into whatever backline the venue have.

Also as a sidenote because someone mentioned proud camden: it has some of the worst sound of any venue I've been to.

Drew_TNBD

ooooooo I love a good non-Londoner entitlement thread! Yeah coz everyone has to move out of YOUR way because YOU happen to be carrying YOUR guitar amp! The nerve of those people, going A to B about their daily lives. What assholes!!

I'd recommend getting a Kemper and just using that.

Danny1969

I gig in London, we just drive the van to the venue and load out same as any other city. Getting there is a pain traffic wise and parking is a nightmare but generally there's always somewhere to park. Getting home generally only takes an hour unless it's North London. If your gonna be living in London with a car then public transport is gonna be pointless

stickyfiddle

Drew_fx said:

ooooooo I love a good non-Londoner entitlement thread! Yeah coz everyone has to move out of YOUR way because YOU happen to be carrying YOUR guitar amp! The nerve of those people, going A to B about their daily lives. What assholes!!

I'd recommend getting a Kemper and just using that.

I don't think anyone's saying that. But it's still true that London is, logistically, a pain to gig in compared with most of the rest of the UK.

Agree a Kemper is actually a good idea though. Anything reliable you can plug straight into a PA and get "your sound" is a winner.

Drew_TNBD

stickyfiddle said:

Drew_fx said:

ooooooo I love a good non-Londoner entitlement thread! Yeah coz everyone has to move out of YOUR way because YOU happen to be carrying YOUR guitar amp! The nerve of those people, going A to B about their daily lives. What assholes!!

I'd recommend getting a Kemper and just using that.

I don't think anyone's saying that. But it's still true that London is, logistically, a pain to gig in compared with most of the rest of the UK.

After 7 years of doing it, I'm going to have to disagree. Biggest pain for me was and still is Sheffield. London is a cinch.

stickyfiddle

Drew_fx;430327" said:

stickyfiddle said:



Drew_fx said:

ooooooo I love a good non-Londoner entitlement thread! Yeah coz everyone has to move out of YOUR way because YOU happen to be carrying YOUR guitar amp! The nerve of those people, going A to B about their daily lives. What assholes!!



I'd recommend getting a Kemper and just using that.










I don't think anyone's saying that. But it's still true that London is, logistically, a pain to gig in compared with most of the rest of the UK.

After 7 years of doing it, I'm going to have to disagree. Biggest pain for me was and still is Sheffield. London is a cinch.

Sadist, masochist, or both?

Drew_TNBD

I dunno. Maybe I'm just a left handed London based guitarist who takes issue with fallacious arguments with no evidence whatsoever? *shrug*

midlifecrisis

Voxman said:

I refuse to gig anymore in central London. Just too stressful; takes too long to get there plus parking is a nightmare.

same, I live on the north London, herts border, all our gigs are north, no parking, no playing, even st albans is a real pain as many pubs don't have car parks.

Creed_Clicks

Revisiting this thread, I may well be in the above scenario in a few months time...

prh777

Über cabs just became your new best friend. Last the office late and indulged myself. 10.66 gbp for 4.5 miles.