Playing 2 shows/2 nights at same bar. Leave gear there?

AxisDrummer

Senior Member
Hey guys, I'm sure many of you have experience with this....

My band was already scheduled to play a show Friday night. The Saturday night band cancelled and the owner asked if we wanted to play Saturday night too (with an increased pay.) We know we won't draw as many the second night, but anyway,,,,

Should we leave our gear there? I personally own my drumset (of course), the entire PA/monitors/mixer and lighting. Basically everything but the guitars and guitar amps. So basically the drums and PA take the longest time to set up.......so that would be the obvious time saver.

The bar owner assured us she has cameras, an alarm, and insurance and we'd be OK. But the bar DOES open around noon the following day, so there will be patrons there until we show up at 7:30 or 8pm.

Any thoughts?
 
If you know and trust the owner, I don't see why not. The place I play the most has a great owner, and we all know him fairly well, and would trust to leave our things there. In fact, they use some of my microphones regularly. I haven't seen them in months, but I know they're in good hands, so I don't worry about it. I have a ~$5,000 guitar rig, and I would trust him to watch over it for the day until I got there.

But as a general rule, we almost never play the same venue twice in a month, let alone back to back days.
 
Have done it in the past at a couple of different venues. In one we still packed everything up and put it in a storage room. The other venue we left the bulk of the stage gear and production rig set up but I took my snare and cymbals and the other guys grabbed their guitars.

Ultimately it comes down to how safe you feel everything is gonna be. For us, we felt the first venue was just too risky to leave everything as it was due to several factors, like the stage being placed away from the direct sight of bar staff. Much bigger venue with lots more comings and goings throughout the day lead us to belive there were just far more opportunities for someone to lift whatever they wanted without being seen.
The second just had a far more secure feel about it.

You're just gonna have to call this one as you see it. In some places I'd be perfectly comfortable leaving it all there. In other places not so much.
 
Make a call to his insurance and confirm that your equipment would be covered under his policy. If so, document the condition and existence of everything you'll be leaving there. Take pictures.

If I did all that, I'd rest easy. Your call if you want to really do that, though. Some things are more replaceable than others and it doesn't come down to just the insurance dollar replacement for everyone. I wouldn't want to lose some of the things I consider one of a kind, but most gear isn't that personable. I might leave everything except maybe cymbals and snare, or something to that direction.
 
Absolutely. I always leave my gear setup if we get a two-nighter. That's one of the best things about them. No one cares as much about gear as the type of folks on these forums. The only thing I do is hide my sticks.
 
I didn't on the one time the opportunity arose for me to leave my gear.

1) a little bit of effort (which I do pretty much every day anyway for rehearsals or gigs) would give me plenty peace of mind for the following day while trying to enjoy my time with friends

2) its a small risk im not willing to take; the trouble would be severe to go without a kit for some time, id be forced to play my older kit at gigs, not cool; not for me or my band too

3) it was a one off time for me to leave my gear over night; and chances are bad things happen "that one time..."


do what you think is best, im just erring on the side of caution for the sake of peace of mind at the expense of a little effort
 
I'm thinking of bringing my drum stuff back home.....but at 1:30am at the end of our cling song.....after being up for almost 24 hours, I may feel different. My sticks are at least coming home and I'll put a cover over my set.
 
I usually take my cymbals down and take them with me. I doubt if anybody is going to make off with my entire kit, but a few hundred bucks in cymbals could be taken off the stands in the blink of an eye.

Other than that, take your sticks and enjoy the fact that set-up the following night will only take you 5 minutes.
 
I've played in many covers bands that did back-to-back two nighters at bars. I would cover as many things as possible with dark sheets, so you don't draw attention. That "out of sight, out of mind" saying is true, I think.

I'd also take my cymbals, guitars, etc... home. Also pack mic's away or take those home. That's about it!
 
I've played in many covers bands that did back-to-back two nighters at bars. I would cover as many things as possible with dark sheets, so you don't draw attention. That "out of sight, out of mind" saying is true, I think.

I'd also take my cymbals, guitars, etc... home. Also pack mic's away or take those home. That's about it!

This is the way to do it! Peace and goodwill.
 
Yeah, i do it all the time. I drape a black sheet over the kit and always take my cymbals, mics and pedals.
 
/\ This. Back in the day when clubs booked bands Thursday-Saturday, it was done all the time. Now not so much.
 
Back in the day I did 6-nighters all the time, week after week. We left most stuff set up, but as noted here, don't leave mics, cymbals, etc.

That said, the venue does make a huge difference: where's the staff? When are they open? Are there exit doors near the stage? Will there be patrons in there all day?

If I'm a bit nervous about it I'll use a long cable lock and thread it through stands and lugs. That's more deterrent than prevention, but it's a nice half way between leaving it all set up and lugging it all home.

And about taking sticks away. Normally I would agree, but one day I showed up and there were pencil marks all over the drum heads. I was not pleased. I wonder if I'd left sticks if it would have been less of a problem.

Have a good look around the venue, and trust your gut.
 
I personally pack up and bring it back... if i do a one nighter i do that.. so its just like 2 separate shows.. I trust no one with my drums. lol

I have too many friends in touring bands that have horror stories of amps/guitars/drums going missing... ive had people come too close to my stuff at a gig too and i dont like it

If i knew the owners and could lock em up in a room that would be one thing.. but unless im leaving at close and there at open id be worried the whole time
 
If it's a decent place, take down the cymbals, mics, and guitar pedals. If you have a black sheet or cloth, drape it over the stuff. Used to do this all the time at a popular resturant in Monterey/Cannery Row playing Fri/Sat once a month. DW drum kit, $4K Fuchs amp, $3K IEM mixer and wireless set up (with the lids on the rack). Never had a problem. And this place is open to tourists wandering in and out all day.
 
Well we played the first show and left our stuff there. I took my cymbals and sticks. I also took all vocal mics AND the mixing board. The board will be easy to hook back up, because I left the color coded cables there on the on-stage table where we set it up. Just plug and go. Our guitarists took their guitars and amp heads. I took a black sheet and draped it over my set.

The bar opens at 12 noon so there will be patrons there although probably not many. It's only about 2 miles away. I may check in on it. Ha!

So I hold my breath for the next 10 hours and pray it's all still there.....
 
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