Fool in the Rain

At the onset of rainfall amid an outdoor gig, I usually start screaming. Then, desperately, I dive upon my gear in an effort to shield it. Usually, I crack both a cymbal and a rib. A trip to the emergency room follows, after which I have to get a new cymbal. It's embarrassing and expensive.

By the grace of God, I've always been under a pavilion or a tent in rainy settings. Uncovered, I've somehow lucked out with no rain. All my cases are waterproof for transport, so I'm solid for that purpose. But, man, it's nothing short of a miracle that I've dodged storms over the years. I know many musicians who have different tales to tell.
 
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I keep a thin plastic painter's tarp in the stick bag, or nearby. It's kind of a single-use deal - too hard to fold back up into its tiny, original package, but they're cheap.

Some of my tom cases have a regular old bath towel as padding and emergency drying.

The rug may get soaked anyway, so that goes on the roof of the minivan.
 
I've sometimes wondered about big tour sets that get rained on. I've seen pics of various sets that are soaked and been to shows where they play through the rain. Are the drums ruined after that?
 
incrementalg said:
I've sometimes wondered about big tour sets that get rained on. I've seen pics of various sets that are soaked and been to shows where they play through the rain. Are the drums ruined after that?
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I would think most drums are ok getting wet. The heads are Mylar, the drums themselves are mostly covered by a plastic wrap, or sealer of some sort. A brief exposure water should not be a problem. Cymbals should be fine, electronics…..maybe not
 
There have been a few occasions where some rain passes through, and all equipment is covered in tarps - lighting too.

I think we've had only one show get cancelled due to weather, and another was stopped mid-show because a storm was getting close (I think 5 miles away.) The announcement was made, and everyone got up and left as if this was normal. The storm did indeed hit right when we would have finished the show.
 
fess said:
I would think most drums are ok getting wet. The heads are Mylar, the drums themselves are mostly covered by a plastic wrap, or sealer of some sort. A brief exposure water should not be a problem. Cymbals should be fine, electronics…..maybe not
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I use sanding sealer on my shells to add to their sound & safety. I'm sure it helps with waterproofing to a degree as well.

I remember seeing an interview Neil Peart gave about one of his Brazil shows where the rain was coming in right on the stage. His Mallet Kat midi marimba was soaked & giving off sounds that it wasn't supposed to.:LOL:
 
Acrylic drums seem to have this issue on lockdown. This is actually a really good argument for someone who does the outside festival thing a lot.

The folks who sit upon cloth thrones get to drum with a nice case of swamp ass.
 
CommanderRoss said:
I use sanding sealer on my shells to add to their sound & safety. I'm sure it helps with waterproofing to a degree as well.

I remember seeing an interview Neil Peart gave about one of his Brazil shows where the rain was coming in right on the stage. His Mallet Kat midi marimba was soaked & giving off sounds that it wasn't supposed to.:LOL:
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I saw Foo Fighters a couple of years ago at Fenway park. It poured, but they played through it. We were right up to the stage, so could see Taylor and his drums were getting rained on while he played.
 
incrementalg said:
I saw Foo Fighters a couple of years ago at Fenway park. It poured, but they played through it. We were right up to the stage, so could see Taylor and his drums were getting rained on while he played.
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I'm sure if I had my kit provided by someone else, I'd care less about it getting wet too. ;)
 
incrementalg said:
I've sometimes wondered about big tour sets that get rained on. I've seen pics of various sets that are soaked and been to shows where they play through the rain. Are the drums ruined after that?
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If dried immidiately after the gig they survive well, cymbals should have more attention in the drying department though
 
CommanderRoss said:
No...not the song. :devilish:
What steps have any of you taken if your gig is the victim of a sudden rain storm? If your kit gets soaked, what do you do to ensure no permanent damage occurs?
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I hope that never happens to me ?, i bring a Tarp and rope to every outside gig. WE had a gig once on a barge in an inlet to the LI Sound ,it was a nice day,then while playing the gig a giant thunderstorm came rolling in. we stopped playing the wind picked up it got real dark i put my tarp over my drums and tied them up,all the other guys in the band were worried that their equipment would get wet ? It started to rain and for some reason the storm then veered north of us towards CONN. thankfully . Ever since that day i bring that tarp and rope to all outside gigs.

Thanks for listening.
 
Just yesterday late afternoon, we were playing in a big parking lot under 2 large canopies. There were some dark clouds on the horizon and radar showed some storms nearby, but we thought we had time to finish the set. Out of nowhere, a huge gust of wind picks up both canopies and they go flying through us knocking over equipment. Fortunately the crowd watching rushed up and helped us get them taken down. Nothing was damaged and we just got everything thrown in the back of our cars before a torrential downpour.
Lesson learned, stop early when storms are in the area.
 
I have a Beato Pro 1 drum cover - it is water resistant and has weighted corners in case the wind picks up . It saved my kit this past Saturday and we received a deluge of rain .
 
My first audition with my first real band...in the 70's...I had my 76 - 3 ply Ludwigs in the back of my Dad's pickup that I borrowed, and I got caught in a bad rainstorm. I played one headed bass drum then so My bass drum was like a big bucket and I dumped quite a bit of water from it after the ride.

I never had a problem with those drums afterwards. They stayed exactly the same.
 
I have only had one occasion where my kit got rained on. Forecast showed little to no chance of rain and while we were tearing down it started to drizzle. When I got home I wiped/dried everything down. I did notice two of my cymbal stand's boom arms got a little rust on them from it, but no major impact luckily. My kit was a wrapped Starclassic kit so I wiped down the Delmar wrap and rims as well as my cymbals but no long term issues other than a few light rust spots on the cymbal stands.
 
incrementalg said:
I've sometimes wondered about big tour sets that get rained on. I've seen pics of various sets that are soaked and been to shows where they play through the rain. Are the drums ruined after that?
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Actually, no. I've played drums in the south for about 50 years, including outdoor venues like Piedmont Park at the Atlanta Jazz Fesitval and more than one year has included some very typical afternoon thunderstorms.

Drums get wet, drums get dried. It is a lot of fun to play in the rain by the way.
 
Well, had the opportunity to play outdoors a few times on some parties. Only asked two question: a stage to put put our gear on and a shelter to keep the instruments out of the rain/sun. If both questions were answered with 'no', then our answer was;

tenor.gif
 
CommanderRoss said:
No...not the song. :devilish:
. . . . .
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I can't read the thread title without hearing at least one bar in my head.

For those who've been rained on, when you dry the drums off do you remove the hoops? I think I would have to or I wouldn't be able to sleep at night.
 
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