Ah! I remember the days when it was a tenor in one hand, an alto in the other, and a flute tucked under my arm. One trip in, set them up, and I'm ready to gig.
But times have changed, bands have been downsized, and we have to do more than one thing on stage.
Now for Mrs. Notes and myself (The Sophisticats):
1 Tenor sax
2 wind MIDI controllers (including a spare)
1 Pedal for the wind contrllers
1 Buchla Thunder tactile MIDI controller
1 Korg pad Kontrol
2 guitars
2 Amp sim/fx pedals for the guitar
1 flute
1 rack with 4 synth modules, a 12 channel mixer, an FX unit and various interfaces
4 laptop computers (including the spare)
2 'hot spot' style monitors
2 powered speakers with 15" woofers
2 mics
7 stands for speakers mics etc
1 A-Frame stand
Enough cables to make a suspension bridge
A suitcase full of spare parts/cables just in case (the show must go on)
I tell our clients that we play for free, and charge them to move the gear.
But for 37 years we've been gigging steadily (except for the COVID interruption) and never wanted for work. I also tell our clients, the only band that has lasted longer than us is The Rolling Stones. As soon as that settles, I add, and we still have all the original members.
If the timing and audience is right, it gets a chuckle and last week it got a standing ovation.
Insights and incites by Notes ♫