Contingency/Because I've always done it this way.

[Excalibur]

Two for one in this, so sit down with a mug of cocoa. :D :D
Contingency
Friday I was due to venture into deepest darkest L**********e once again, so SS Continental Drift was loaded up nice and early. Went off and did a couple of jobs, finished in good time, so looking good. Sadly the old girl was not in peak form, and I suspected the fuel filter. I got a new one, and having fitted it, fired up the engine. Oh dear. :( :( Having opened up the system, it had proved to be too much for the ailing system to bleed itself. :( :( :( Result-a dead engine. ( It's running again now, but it's now had a new lift pump as well, and another one of the umpteen factory fitted immobilisers bypassed )

So, what to do? :confused: :eek: :eek: Answer, nick son's Astra van. Regular readers will already have realised there's less space in an Astra than an LDV. A lot less. So the subs, second amp, LED panels and a box of cables were left behind. The Astra was full to capacity, and off I went. I'm unaccustomed to being able to travel at 70mph, and in comparative quiet! :eek: :eek: Just to make things interesting, they'd heard I was coming, so they closed the roads, in a vain attempt to stop me! Aided by my nice sat nav lady, I soon embarked on a tour of the local byways, rat runs and goat tracks, arriving my customary hour before anyone else.

So, a lovely modern hall, used by many different groups, and we've got the small bit. Hoorah. :D :D Keyholder arrives, and I get the gear in. All set up, and with the panels missing, I spaced four Revo Rolls out on the overhead. Penfold arrived for a chat, and voiced the opinion that I had ample kit for the venue. He was right. A great night followed, and I loaded up for the journey back to civilisation and bed. ( PS Tony, sorry I was a bit pushed at the time, I'd have liked a chat. February, eh? ;) ;) )

Because I've always done it that way.
Part the second. My normal rig on the overhead is three panels in the middle, and a pair of barrels at each end. With the panels missing, I spaced the four barrels out evenly, and had a gap in the middle, and a space at each end. This got me thinking. I have a fourth panel, which doesn't work master/slave with the other three ( a story for another time. :o :o :o ), so it would fill that void nicely. ( So would a laser, but I can't afford one yet. :( :( ) That leaves a space at each end for two more effects, and I have two Virusators which would work nicely. Food for thought, eh? If I'd had all the kit with me, I'd never have considered this possible change.

Have you ever had to make a change to your usual kit which resulted in you making a change, or at least considering one?

Your thoughts as usual please, thanks.

[DJDC]

Yes, I did that 12 months ago, and have not yet stopped.

Last october I found I needed to reduce my overall footprint for a number of jobs so went from 2 stands and T bars back to a desk stand with overhead.

I thought it all looked much better on a deck stand, but then looked at the lighting. I then decided to sell 2 datamoons and the 8 pinspots when I brough 2 colourstrips, one skytec Polaris, and two Quadrilles. I then brought another polaris. 2 jobs later as I found some space as I'd decided to sell the other 2 datamoons.

I then brought then 2 revoscan LED's for some 'movement', in another space I found. By this time I had 6 effects and 2 colorstrips on the top.

After 2 jobs I was not happy with the polaris's so I sold them and brought 2 acme dynamic's. 2 months later a quadzilla, to fill another space i'd re found but as every venue I was working could not use smoke thought this was a waste. I swapped this for an Atlantis but found that I had too many dots' (1500) of them, so sold this and brought 2 dynarocks, this changed slightly again as last week 2 dynamo's. At present that gives me 8 effects on the 2.m overhead with 2 colourstrips, and the par 56LED's uplighters that I've also added.

So the upshot I made a change to my rig to suit my work, liked elements but then spent the next 12 months playing about with it, but as i've run out of money I must stop now! I think that in the last 12 months I've not used the same lighting set up twice.

[Andy Goodtimes]

I rarely use the same show twice. Last night was a very small area to set-up, I was going to use 1 Bose Pole and 2 of the little B1 bins and a scissor stand but as the Bose were berried right at the front of the van and it was cold I decided to do it like this...

I set-up the S+H booth with a 4ft Ultimax inside it with winch pods, I put 1 RCF ART710 on speaker horns on each upright of the winch pods and a RCF902 mini bin behind me facing into the corner. I usually have a Wizard on each end of the overhead but as there were sticky out wall lights and a high shelf I had to bring them in a bit so the shoulder of the light didn't overhang the end of the bar, that meant leaving out a couple of little green lasers, on the centre bit of the bar I put 3 cluster lasers and a Visio bar on the top. So that was it...just a 6ft footprint and everything else over head height, looked nice and TBH the sound was really nice, 2.5kRMS but it was hardly ticking over.

I actually enjoyed the night, as the room was so small I was packed in-between tables and felt much more in the thick of it.

I like ringing the changes and quite enjoy going to a new venue because sometimes it forces you to try something different. Guess with an Astra though carrying different bits of kit isn't an option.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Good thread.
I'll admit that most of the time I will use the same set up where possible as it's quick and easy to assemble. Sometimes I will change the middle light from either a laser to something that may light up the ceiling.

However, a bit of forward thinking now..... This friday I am doing a 13th Birthday party. I have already spoken to the venue who inform me that I am unable to set up in the morning as they have childrens football on throughout the day and then aerobics and finally, circuit training. I start at 7.30pm and can't get access until 7.00pm at the earliest or until the hall is cleared (and aired!). I have spoken to the lady who has booked me and informed her of this and she isn't too happy as she has the hall booked from 7.00pm until 11.00pm. Needless to say, she isn't impressed with the venue and has said that if she has it booked from 7.00pm then that's when she will get in there as she is paying for the privilege.

I have told her that I will try to be as quick as possible so my idea is to pre-wire a couple of T-bars in advance and literally 'plug in and play'. It will fill the venue with colour and (hopefully) I will be set up in no time at all. The access is a bit dodgy but I reckon I can do it. Denon, Actives and some T-Bars and Starcloth should do the trick and most of it can be done in advance.

[CRAZY K]

Two for one in this, so sit down with a mug of cocoa. :D :D
Contingency
Friday I was due to venture into deepest darkest L**********e once again, so SS Continental Drift was loaded up nice and early. Went off and did a couple of jobs, finished in good time, so looking good. Sadly the old girl was not in peak form, and I suspected the fuel filter. I got a new one, and having fitted it, fired up the engine. Oh dear. :( :( Having opened up the system, it had proved to be too much for the ailing system to bleed itself. :( :( :( Result-a dead engine. ( It's running again now, but it's now had a new lift pump as well, and another one of the umpteen factory fitted immobilisers bypassed )

So, what to do? :confused: :eek: :eek: Answer, nick son's Astra van. Regular readers will already have realised there's less space in an Astra than an LDV. A lot less. So the subs, second amp, LED panels and a box of cables were left behind. The Astra was full to capacity, and off I went. I'm unaccustomed to being able to travel at 70mph, and in comparative quiet! :eek: :eek: Just to make things interesting, they'd heard I was coming, so they closed the roads, in a vain attempt to stop me! Aided by my nice sat nav lady, I soon embarked on a tour of the local byways, rat runs and goat tracks, arriving my customary hour before anyone else.

So, a lovely modern hall, used by many different groups, and we've got the small bit. Hoorah. :D :D Keyholder arrives, and I get the gear in. All set up, and with the panels missing, I spaced four Revo Rolls out on the overhead. Penfold arrived for a chat, and voiced the opinion that I had ample kit for the venue. He was right. A great night followed, and I loaded up for the journey back to civilisation and bed. ( PS Tony, sorry I was a bit pushed at the time, I'd have liked a chat. February, eh? ;) ;) )

Because I've always done it that way.
Part the second. My normal rig on the overhead is three panels in the middle, and a pair of barrels at each end. With the panels missing, I spaced the four barrels out evenly, and had a gap in the middle, and a space at each end. This got me thinking. I have a fourth panel, which doesn't work master/slave with the other three ( a story for another time. :o :o :o ), so it would fill that void nicely. ( So would a laser, but I can't afford one yet. :( :( ) That leaves a space at each end for two more effects, and I have two Virusators which would work nicely. Food for thought, eh? If I'd had all the kit with me, I'd never have considered this possible change.

Have you ever had to make a change to your usual kit which resulted in you making a change, or at least considering one?

Your thoughts as usual please, thanks.

Wedding at the Forest of Arden Golf Centre--upstairs room--39 steps or similar.:eek:

Left the bass bins in the car--

Did we have another brilliant night--yeah:D

Anyone notice no bass bins--no--only me:D

Make any difference--no--only one person had a complaint.

Me--I like the sound of more bass:D

I still take the bass bins to Weddings if its ground floor--upstairs (no lift) forget it.

Lesson learnt;)

[welby]

Nice thread...

For my sins I always mix and match to suit the venue and the type of customer. Young crowd get the laser, haze machine etc, "standard weddings" get the LED effects, soft lighting etc.

Large venues get the 32kg (mind the back) Warrior speaker system, smaller venues get the Smaller D's and subs.

So in my opinion, it pays to mix and match and I think it makes a more interesting gig.

[deltic]

definitely mix and match here too,nobody would notice if i just used the same show relentlesly gig after gig..................but i like to have a change you get bored with the same old kit every time.

[Excalibur]

Interesting replies. Once upon a time, I might rarely have the same gear twice in a row. Nowadays, I tend to use the same playout, stand and lights most nights. Usually, only the PA varies.

I may have to consider varying things a little more.

[DeckstarDeluxe]

I have a set "setup" now but have taken 3 years to get to where I am now. Its only because a gig for a third party required me to have four uplighters that I used them and thought actually this looks much better and then ditched my four led effects for two 250watt scanners.

Result show is less crowded, quality has replaced quantity and oddly enough arrived at a light set up that I was happy with by being forced to.