I just had the unique experience of "trying' to play in a tent in the middle of winter for a winter carnival event. (-14c {17f in US language}) There were four little electric heaters up on stage but, they were about as helpful as placing a candle under a five gallon pot to boil soup.
They couldn’t close the tent flaps because people were coming and going constantly and what little heat we did have was so full of moisture from people breathing that we could almost feel the dampness on the instruments. They kept bring us steaming hot coffee and chocolate which really help the moisture problem.
The lead guitar, myself on steel, the banjo picker and the drummer were supposed to play two solos each over the one hour fifteen minute session. We opted out of that because no one could keep anything in tune long enough to last one song. Even the drummer was complaining about moisture messing with his sound.
It was suggested that next year (if we agree to come back), we do sound sync instead of playing live. We had courage though and stuck it out so we are somewhat proud.
(I am not right all of the time but I sure like to think I am!)
I've played four outdoor jobs at night and I swear each time I will never do it again becuase it's shear agony for me.
2005 I played Kodiak Alaska 46 degrees light mist and the rest were Texas with one in a tent and three on flatbed trailers outside with temps down in the teens that night.
Played a benefit for a sick little girl once on the outshirts of Americus Georgia,in a pasture on a flatbed truck,it had a cover and canvas draped down the back and sides,but the temp got down to 17 degrees that night,that was a ROUGH show,But raised over two grand,so it was worth the disconfort,but still not thawed out yet,DYKBC.
Hard headed, opinionated old geezer. BAMA CHARLIE. GOD BLESS AMERICA. ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVIST. SUPPORT LIVE MUSIC !
We will be playing this sat. night Feb 2 in a tent out in the desert with a portable wood floor. It rained 3ins. at our house last night but I understand the flash flood warnings will be lifted before the job. But we get to play OLD country!!! Doc
I have done it a few times and I don't like it. I can remember seeing my dad playing non pedal outside in Columbus, Ohio back in the 50s with snow coming down.
My old band played for the closing of the Christmas/Winter Festival in Cleveland. On a flatbed, on Public Square. 7 degrees! They were judging the ice carving competition in front of the stage!
John Billings wrote:My old band played for the closing of the Christmas/Winter Festival in Cleveland. On a flatbed, on Public Square. 7 degrees! They were judging the ice carving competition in front of the stage!
My band , played for the 4h kids,they sponsered a round n squaredance,it was about 38 degrees outside, in an old cattle auction barn. i knew it was going to be cold so i borrowed, a heat lamp, from work.[kitchen equipment,restuarant sales] I placed it on the floor under my feet between my seat and my steel ,kept me nice and warm. plus it kept my steel warm. i didn"t have to keep tuning it. I told the band , I not just another pretty face,i"m handy too!.the band told me ,I was right I"m not another pretty face!!! Tk
Yeah. Last Saturday in Pulaski, Tennessee. 30 degrees, no heaters. I only brought a lightweight fleece thinking we would be inside. I've been sick as a dog ever since.
hmmmmmm only one time.....in The Netherlands.4Celcius and the hardest part of all was that it was on a lake.Water as far as the human eye could see with a nice North-West wind.brrrrr.
Never ever do that again.Just for a measly 100-bucks.
Come on guys. You know there's nothing like holding a popsicle in your left hand for 4 hours. Really wakes up the nerves. After about 2 hours, your right hand becomes the claw!!
Never played in a tent but did a New Years Day Parade in Dallas with the Hella Temple Shrine unit. The parade was being Nationally televised so each unit had some many sconds on TV. There were over 180 units in the parade. Temperature was 19 degrees and it took 4 hours to complete. This was early 80's if my memory serves me right. Never been that cold before or since.
Jim Bob Sedgwick wrote:Come on guys. You know there's nothing like holding a popsicle in your left hand for 4 hours. Really wakes up the nerves. After about 2 hours, your right hand becomes the claw!!
I always carry my Stevens dobro bar with me so at least I had something that stayed in my fingers. My bullet bar would have been out in the audience somewhere after the first two minutes.
I played in a church band in the Atlanta Ga area one winter they were in a buiilding process. Had a giant tent in the parking lot everyone had lots of blankets. The only thing that kept us warm in the band was they were on TV and those big hot TV light kept the Stage warm.
Glad they built a nice warm new building.
Larry
A couple of years back, on a bright sunny day, I was invited to play for a very nice gentleman that had come to town for this daughter's wedding. It was a really nice set-up in a fashionable location.
Lot's of pretty white chairs beneath a pretty white tent arrangement, beneath a tall stand of old growth Douglas Firs. The band was located off to the eastside of the tent so no real worry about sunburn.
Just as the crowd was arriving and we prepared to start playing.....the lightening flashed, the thunder clapped, and the rain came flooding down at about a 45 degree angle, into the tent and started puddleing on top of our amps where the knobs are located. The grass was wet and I was very fearful of electrical shock. Then came one of those Texas type micro-bursts that preceed a thunder storm. Part of the tent went this way, part of it went that way, while the band went another.
Bottom line, we didn't play but got to keep the $100.00 paid to us in advance. Nice host to say the least. NO MORE TENTS for me.
I REMEMBER PLAYING A HALLOWEEN STREET DANCE IN MID 50s IN ZANESVILLE, OHIO. ABOUT HALF WAY THROUGH THE JOB THE DANCE WAS CALLED BECAUSE IT HAD STARTED TO SNOW.
Last few years, Halloween party under a huge tent. These guys know what they're doin' though. Everything is reinforced and anchored to the max.
Actually, it must be more than one unit as it is so large.
Anyway, they have the big oil fired heaters in there and it's as toasty as you please even with the cold temp.
One of the best groups to play for ever as well.
Other times, not so lucky. Several times, I have endured experiences similar to those described above. I have nearly weeded all those out and decline all invitations except the one I first mentioned.
been there too.. But something I will never forget is living at Gt. Livermere when I was 14 and the house was an un-insulated house built of asbestos panels from a local air base and my Mum ironed the shirts, hung them in my wardrobe, and in the cold winter morning they were stiff (frozen) within my bedroom.. that was cold.. Even done a POO into a solid iced toilet too at times.. DH
