Van Packing Checklist for the Gigging Musician

Date:2020/2/13 16:50:49 Hits:

With all the planning and excitement that goes into hitting the road, sometimes it’s easy to forget about one of the most vital aspects of a successful run — what to bring with you! When your head is full of booking the gigs, advertising, practicing, and getting the merch made, things like remembering to bring earplugs to block out your snoring bandmate can fall by the wayside. But if you’ve ever crammed yourself and a handful of others into a cramped van to chase your dream, you know that these little details are your lifeline to enjoyment, comfort, and basic road survival.

Having spent plenty of time in the back of many band vans, I put this little checklist together to help you get your act together when it’s your turn to hit the pavement. Of course, each band will have its own considerations, so don’t think of this as an exhaustive list. But it’s definitely a good start.

Bring Doubles of Everything You Can!
Things for the Band:
Van maintenance products
Let’s start right off with something I’ve seen many bands forget, and most of them regret forgetting. Whenever a band runs into van trouble, it’s always on a mountain pass in a snowstorm in the desert when it’s 110 degrees, or way out in the cornfields of the Midwest without a repair shop in sight. Having some spare coolant, oil, gas, replacement headlight bulbs (along with the necessary tools!), and washer fluid is a must if you want to ensure you make it to the next gig.

ID and contact info
From booking agents to hotel management, lawyers to next of kin, having a hard copy of all the contacts that you’ll need throughout the tour is a must. You’ll also want to make sure that everyone in the van is carrying a current, government-issued ID (especially if you’re traveling over the border). When you get pulled over and your drummer — who is driving — informs the police officer, and the rest of the band, that he doesn’t have a valid license because it was suspended a year ago, that’s the beginning of a story you won’t forget.

Business laptop
We all have laptops today. And if you’re running your band well, there definitely needs to be one in the van. This is home base for finances, addresses, social media, websites, bookings, and pretty much everything else. We recommend any of Apple’s MacBook models. You’ll find them all over Sweetwater and on just about every tour traversing the world today.

Merch
Merchandise may be the biggest moneymaker you have in the van. Having great swag is the absolute lifeline for many touring bands and musicians. And yet, I’ve been in multiple band vans that have forgotten it at home. FAIL! You spent the time and money in design, recording, having shirts printed, and choosing the products. Don’t forget and leave it at home!

Bring Doubles of Everything You Can!
Music Gear:
Don’t forget your guitars, basses, drums, PA, or vocalist. But besides all the obvious…

Cases
The road is a rough place. Sorry, but the gig bag you’ve had since you bought your first guitar probably isn’t going to cut it. It’s imperative that you protect your PA equipment, instruments, and every other musical valuable in good, rugged, hardshell cases meant for the rigors of the touring life. Check out SKB’s TSA-approved, waterproof line of instrument cases and Gator’s top-notch line of touring road cases for PA equipment.

Accessories
From picks and strings to drumheads, gaffer tape, and instrument maintenance tools — the lack of these tiny accessories can bring your whole performance to a screeching halt. And always bring twice as much as you think you need. Ever seen a drummer sent on a 3-hour drive to the nearest music store, searching for a head for that night’s performance? I have. It wasn’t pretty. Even batteries. You may think batteries are available everywhere, until you end up in Ghana, and the only vendors in sight are carrying their wares on their heads.
Amp Tubes
Guitar Picks
Guitar Strings
Gaffers Tape
Drum Heads
Octopus 17-in-1 Tech Tool

Dedicated performance laptops, hard drives, and storage
These are newer additions to band vans around the world. With more and more of us relying on computer-controlled MIDI, click tracks, and backing tracks, you need to make sure you have the gear that supplies it. We can’t speak highly enough about the LaCie Rugged line of hard drives. Compact, powerful, and reliable.

Cables, cables, cables, and adapters
Fairly self-explanatory here. Instrument cables, microphone cables, speaker cables, patch cables, and pedalboard cables. And don’t forget adapters, because you’ll still inevitably not have the right cable. Bring as many as possible, and then bring more. Need help finding the perfect cables? Check out Sweetwater’s Cable Finder.

Practice tools
Believe it or not, the back of the van can be a great place to brush up on parts that are not yet tight. And with so many quality, battery-powered amps, drum practice pads, and other practice-focused gear out there, you’ll want to keep one within arm’s reach. You may even want to keep a travel guitar and bass in the van if it will fit. What a great way to keep the chops up. You may also want to check out the Line 6 Pocket POD Guitar Amp Emulator and the Vox amPlug 2 AC30 Headphone Guitar Amp

Just for You:
Clothes
Plenty of performers have made quite a name for themselves by baring a bit too much onstage. But trust me, it doesn’t fly in the band van.

*Bonus tip: Bring the minimum! If you don’t have the opportunity to do some laundry on the run, you need to plan your time better.

Toiletries
Again, just what you need. No one wants to smell an unwashed drummer after a particularly heated performance the night before. But no one wants to be knocked out by the singer’s expensive perfume or cologne used to attract suitors from the front row, either.

Smartphones and iPads
We can’t live without them at home; we can’t live without them on the road. Apple’s iPads are your entertainment and communication. Keep them close. Keep them charged. Oh, and bring your chargers. And spare chargers. Most hotels have baskets full of chargers that were left behind.

Things to put in your ears
Not only do you need hearing protection when making your living around loud music, but there are a million situations where you’ll be glad you had just the right thing to shove in your ears. Foam earplugs will ensure you’re sawing logs, even sitting next to a snoring bandmate. And some good, isolating headphones/earphones, or better yet active noise-canceling ‘phones, are great for listening to music on the road while tuning out the outside world for a while. They’re also ideal for doing any mixing or practicing on the road.

Bring Doubles of Everything You Can!
There you go, the essentials you need for a successful tour. The trick is still to get all of this into as compact a space as possible, as there’s always more to bring than expected. And half of getting asked back on a gig is being easy to live with on the road. If you’ve gone through this checklist, made sure you have everything, and are ready to go, don’t forget the most important thing to bring — a good attitude.

Prev:Universal Audio APOLLO TWIN X DUO

Next:Sound Ideas Captin Audio

Leave a message

Message List

Comments Loading...

Products Category

Products Tags

Fmuser Sites

Van Packing Checklist for the Gigging Musician

Leave a message

Message List