#1613285 - 05/16/19 03:44 PM
Recommendations for a sun shade on stage?
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Xenophile
Planeteer
Registered: 09/27/00
Posts: 19113
Loc: Sacramento, CA, USA
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Festival season is upon us in California, and I'll be playing a number of outdoor gigs this summer. Hot sun beating on my laptop, tablet and keyboards is often an issue.
Last year I carried around a pretty awkward patio umbrella with an iron base, but was kind of a PITA.
Any suggestions? It has to be stable enough not to blow away when it gets fairly breezy, and it would be good if it didn't look too silly. Need to find some solution that is effective but doesn't block too much of the audience's line of sight.
_________________________
"Bobby, I'm sorry you got a head like a potato. I really am."
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#1613287 - 05/16/19 04:02 PM
Re: Recommendations for a sun shade on stage?
[Re: Xenophile]
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Ismellelephant
Loquacious Planeteer
Registered: 07/10/01
Posts: 55963
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I am guessing in your situation this might not be possible but I used to do a lot of outdoor stuff and we always strongly suggested a canopy big enough to cover the entire band as being part of the deal.
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We're all gonna lose an eye!!!
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#1613303 - 05/16/19 05:15 PM
Re: Recommendations for a sun shade on stage?
[Re: Ismellelephant]
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Xenophile
Planeteer
Registered: 09/27/00
Posts: 19113
Loc: Sacramento, CA, USA
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We try, but it doesn't always work. The clients don't always provide what we ask for. And that damned sun keeps moving around!
_________________________
"Bobby, I'm sorry you got a head like a potato. I really am."
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#1613306 - 05/16/19 05:26 PM
Re: Recommendations for a sun shade on stage?
[Re: Xenophile]
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C Jo Go
EMERITUS ~ VS Roland
Loquacious Planeteer
Registered: 11/05/01
Posts: 36521
Loc: carmel valley,ca
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We always have it in our contract -- fully covered performance area. Usually 4 large umbrellas -- the coordinator has it arranged with the venue.
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Pretend creates an endless dream **( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡° )**
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#1613308 - 05/16/19 05:55 PM
Re: Recommendations for a sun shade on stage?
[Re: C Jo Go]
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motown59
Planeteer/Artist # 238
Planeteer
Registered: 03/01/04
Posts: 17848
Loc: California
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I've used a setup for years while mixing and playing both. It's a photographer's C-stand with a golfing umbrella clamped into it. That setup can be articulated to follow the sun, easily strapped or weighted down with a sandbag. I'm lucky to have inherited my dad's and brother's extra photo equipment. That rig has been one of my favorite setups.. I'll be using it all this weekend and another thirty times throughout summer.
Get a golf umbrella with the vented top fly. probably about $30
https://www.amazon.com/ePhoto-Height-Pho...la-640854468154
Edited by motown59 (05/16/19 05:58 PM)
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kel
"I love what you guys are trying to do up there" ...from an audience member at one of my gigs. Gear: Fender Medium pick
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#1613314 - 05/16/19 06:15 PM
Re: Recommendations for a sun shade on stage?
[Re: motown59]
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Xenophile
Planeteer
Registered: 09/27/00
Posts: 19113
Loc: Sacramento, CA, USA
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Great suggestion, Kel! I knew I could count on you! Now, maybe C Jo has an old C-stand in his garage that he'll sell me cheap.
_________________________
"Bobby, I'm sorry you got a head like a potato. I really am."
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#1613315 - 05/16/19 06:17 PM
Re: Recommendations for a sun shade on stage?
[Re: C Jo Go]
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Xenophile
Planeteer
Registered: 09/27/00
Posts: 19113
Loc: Sacramento, CA, USA
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the coordinator has it arranged with the venue.
_________________________
"Bobby, I'm sorry you got a head like a potato. I really am."
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#1613338 - 05/16/19 08:39 PM
Re: Recommendations for a sun shade on stage?
[Re: C Jo Go]
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Xenophile
Planeteer
Registered: 09/27/00
Posts: 19113
Loc: Sacramento, CA, USA
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Well, in my world there is rarely such a thing as a "coordinator" who ensures that we get everything that we want. We don't often get gigs at venues like Pebble Beach.
Need to come to the gig prepared. Kel gets it.
_________________________
"Bobby, I'm sorry you got a head like a potato. I really am."
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#1613339 - 05/16/19 08:48 PM
Re: Recommendations for a sun shade on stage?
[Re: Xenophile]
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C Jo Go
EMERITUS ~ VS Roland
Loquacious Planeteer
Registered: 11/05/01
Posts: 36521
Loc: carmel valley,ca
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#1613349 - 05/16/19 10:49 PM
Re: Recommendations for a sun shade on stage?
[Re: C Jo Go]
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Mooseboy
That's "MR. Asshole" to you, buddy!
Loquacious Planeteer
Registered: 04/24/99
Posts: 37210
Loc: Black Mountain Hills of Dakota
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We always have it in our contract… We have a contract that keeps the sun from moving.
Oh, wait… that was that other planet
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"My fingers go wiggle wiggle and the music goes jingle jangle and the crowd is happy"
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#1613352 - 05/16/19 11:28 PM
Re: Recommendations for a sun shade on stage?
[Re: Mooseboy]
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C Jo Go
EMERITUS ~ VS Roland
Loquacious Planeteer
Registered: 11/05/01
Posts: 36521
Loc: carmel valley,ca
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We always have it in our contract… We have a contract that keeps the sun from moving. Oh, wait… that was that other planet
Like to get a copy of that said contract -- We seem to get those coordinators to bend over backwards ...as it is >>>
_________________________
Pretend creates an endless dream **( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡° )**
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#1613353 - 05/16/19 11:34 PM
Re: Recommendations for a sun shade on stage?
[Re: C Jo Go]
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Mooseboy
That's "MR. Asshole" to you, buddy!
Loquacious Planeteer
Registered: 04/24/99
Posts: 37210
Loc: Black Mountain Hills of Dakota
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I'd love to show it to you, but as we were flying by Sirius, all of my paperwork flew out of the hatch and got burned up.
In other words, The Dog Star ate it.
_________________________
"My fingers go wiggle wiggle and the music goes jingle jangle and the crowd is happy"
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#1613363 - 05/17/19 01:35 AM
Re: Recommendations for a sun shade on stage?
[Re: Mooseboy]
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C Jo Go
EMERITUS ~ VS Roland
Loquacious Planeteer
Registered: 11/05/01
Posts: 36521
Loc: carmel valley,ca
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I'd love to show it to you, but as we were flying by Sirius, all of my paperwork flew out of the hatch and got burned up.
In other words, The Dog Star ate it.
We always travel with our dog KAZAK > in the Chrono-Synclastic Infundibulator >> nice to have on board ~~ a qualified pilot like Winston Niles Rumfoord >> always checks that hatch before re-entry
Edited by C Jo Go (05/17/19 10:05 PM)
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Pretend creates an endless dream **( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡° )**
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#1613414 - 05/17/19 04:05 PM
Re: Recommendations for a sun shade on stage?
[Re: Ismellelephant]
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Blue Roots
Planeteer
Registered: 09/23/00
Posts: 12120
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Not for the gear... but for you:
I work a lot in the hot texas summer sun. I rely heavily on cheap wide brimmed gardener style hats.
wide brim straw hat
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#1613415 - 05/17/19 04:07 PM
Re: Recommendations for a sun shade on stage?
[Re: Blue Roots]
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Blue Roots
Planeteer
Registered: 09/23/00
Posts: 12120
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And because I sweat profusely.... head bands are also essential gear.
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#1613429 - 05/17/19 05:07 PM
Re: Recommendations for a sun shade on stage?
[Re: MadGuitrst]
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C Jo Go
EMERITUS ~ VS Roland
Loquacious Planeteer
Registered: 11/05/01
Posts: 36521
Loc: carmel valley,ca
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#1613430 - 05/17/19 05:09 PM
Re: Recommendations for a sun shade on stage?
[Re: Blue Roots]
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C Jo Go
EMERITUS ~ VS Roland
Loquacious Planeteer
Registered: 11/05/01
Posts: 36521
Loc: carmel valley,ca
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Not for the gear... but for you: I work a lot in the hot texas summer sun. I rely heavily on cheap wide brimmed gardener style hats. wide brim straw hat
We have 4 orchestral strings to protect -- blazing sun can change those cellos /etc. tuning > in the first set Not to mention :: 200 year or so ~ wood has its problems
Edited by C Jo Go (05/17/19 05:15 PM)
_________________________
Pretend creates an endless dream **( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡° )**
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#1613437 - 05/17/19 05:27 PM
Re: Recommendations for a sun shade on stage?
[Re: Ismellelephant]
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Xenophile
Planeteer
Registered: 09/27/00
Posts: 19113
Loc: Sacramento, CA, USA
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Maybe it is a CA thing, but each band member with his own umbrella set up sounds comical to me compared to a cheap to rent canopy set up. The problem is you never know what you're going to get. Often the venue will have a big canopy over the stage, but you can't adjust that for the angle of the sun. Sometimes they provide those portable EZ-Up canopies, and sometimes they aren't flexible enough. Not every person in the band really needs one. But for my case, if my laptop or keyboard overheats and shuts down, I can be dead for 20 minutes or so before they will cool off enough to boot again. Not good if that happens mid-show.
My silly patio umbrella works, but it is awkward and funny-looking. A C-stand with a nice golf umbrella would be easier, more flexible and professional-looking. I'm going to go that route. My nephew left some of his old photography stuff in my shed a couple years ago, and I know that there are some parts of a C-stand in there. But I think I'll probably just buy a new one. It looks like it might come in handy for lots of things.
_________________________
"Bobby, I'm sorry you got a head like a potato. I really am."
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#1613445 - 05/17/19 06:18 PM
Re: Recommendations for a sun shade on stage?
[Re: Xenophile]
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Ismellelephant
Loquacious Planeteer
Registered: 07/10/01
Posts: 55963
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Ya I hear you. I stopped gigging 7 years ago and did gigs all my life. It was because to me musicians just didn't seem to be valued anymore. I was running into situations where no one cared enough or weren't knowledgeable enough to even supply electricity. Could be a regional thing.
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We're all gonna lose an eye!!!
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#1613448 - 05/17/19 07:00 PM
Re: Recommendations for a sun shade on stage?
[Re: Ismellelephant]
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Xenophile
Planeteer
Registered: 09/27/00
Posts: 19113
Loc: Sacramento, CA, USA
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I do it mainly for fun now. But unless I can give a reasonably professional level of performance, it isn't fun for me.
_________________________
"Bobby, I'm sorry you got a head like a potato. I really am."
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#1613503 - 05/18/19 02:49 AM
Re: Recommendations for a sun shade on stage?
[Re: C Jo Go]
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Doughboy
Loquacious Planeteer
Registered: 07/15/01
Posts: 26863
Loc: Gaylord, MI
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Has anyone recomended a really really fat lead singer?
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#1613573 - 05/18/19 07:09 PM
Re: Recommendations for a sun shade on stage?
[Re: Doughboy]
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fabulousthunderbird
Planeteer
Registered: 07/17/11
Posts: 24116
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Tinfoil hats!!!!!
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"They walk among us, my son. By their ill-conceived and poorly executed facial hair shall ye know them..."
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#1613941 - 05/22/19 05:24 PM
Re: Recommendations for a sun shade on stage?
[Re: motown59]
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Xenophile
Planeteer
Registered: 09/27/00
Posts: 19113
Loc: Sacramento, CA, USA
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Just took delivery of the C-stand yesterday. Holy crap! It is way overkill for what I need. That thing could stand up in a hurricane! I'll probably just attach the umbrella to a stout tripod mic stand with a boom. But I'm going to keep that big C-stand around. I'm sure I can find lots of uses for it... Keeping things in place for photographing my wife's paintings comes to mind right away.
_________________________
"Bobby, I'm sorry you got a head like a potato. I really am."
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#1613948 - 05/22/19 06:03 PM
Re: Recommendations for a sun shade on stage?
[Re: Xenophile]
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Marty Gilman
Official Planet Sax Monster - Planeteer/Artist # 117
Loquacious Planeteer
Registered: 04/05/00
Posts: 26524
Loc: Palm Beach, Florida- U S A
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Outdoor gigs-Ggrrrrrrrr!
The employer thinks: butterflies, flowers, birds what we get is: mosquitos, sun, humidity and rain. Once a keyboard shut down from the humidity.
Flatcat will remember a gig we did on a hotel rooftop when it started to rain and were standing in an inch of water, powerstips and cables too. OMG! Lucky to be alive.
Get a big fan to blow on you too. (clamp down any charts)
-m
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#1613949 - 05/22/19 06:12 PM
Re: Recommendations for a sun shade on stage?
[Re: Marty Gilman]
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Xenophile
Planeteer
Registered: 09/27/00
Posts: 19113
Loc: Sacramento, CA, USA
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what we get is: mosquitos, sun, humidity and rain.
Or the drummer trying to spread a carpet and set up his kit on an uneven lawn.
One funny memory: A few years ago we played a fancy outdoor wedding reception. They actually had a pretty nice (but a little small) stage set up for us, with hedges behind us. In the middle of the 2nd song, the drummer stopped playing. I looked over, and his throne had tipped off the back of the stage, and he was all arms and legs thrashing on his back in the bushes. I nearly pissed myself laughing so hard.
_________________________
"Bobby, I'm sorry you got a head like a potato. I really am."
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