WHAT CARS DO YOU DRIVE TO GIGS ?

[shyamwestwind]

Hi Everyone
I havent seen any mention of the cars you use for going to your gigs.
How do you transport your equipment? Fold the rear seat, tie them on the roof carrier ?
I have a small Maruti (Suzuki) and my PSR 3000 fits in snugly in the luggage space at the back . The speakers and stands etc are crammed on to the rear seat.
I also have a big Toyota Corona (Diesel - Automatic ) and the boot space is really convenient to carry the powered speakers, stands and stool and the Band Pass Sub Woofer sits comfortably on the rear seat along with the keyboard, mixer etc etc.
I plan to buy a Toyota Qualis (a SUV) which will comfortably accomodate most of the big stuff.
Lets hear of your means of transport.
It would also be interesting to hear your experiences on the road. I've had many bad experiences driving to gigs , overheating, fanbelts snapping, alternators packing up, wipers giving up on rainy nights etc etc etc. Moments I dont want to remember. Being late at gigs is the worst thing that can happen to a musician and there were many times when I dreamt and yearned for a horse and buggy !!

[themd21]

Hi Shyam
I've an Octavia Estate. Massive boot.
Carries amp,desk, speakers, stands, bags etc.
What can I say, if it doesn't fit it doesn't go!

[weegeo]

Hi Shyam
I drive a vauxhall zafira and can pack everything into it quite comfortably and have no problems with it as it`s only 2 years old. Thinking of changing to either a vauxhall vectra estate or the new citroen grand picasso in January

Regards weegeo

[thingyy]

Holden Combo van.

[larryc]

Hi Shyam.
I drive a Mercedes Estate, I used Volvo for years and only changed recently, my son is an engineer in a Mercedes garage so I got the bargain of a lifetime, and I never have to worry about repairs, servicing ect....
I have no problem packing everything I need, and its very comfortable on long trips.

Larry

[mark]

Don't Laugh!
In England I had a Hyundai Accent hatchback.I got the guitar and keyboard and Speaker stands in the back and my gig bag and Speakers on the back seat and the head sat on the passenger front seat.
I now have a Dodge Caravan which can fit all the above in + two passengers and petrol is only 55p a litre.Canada has many advantages.

Regards

Mark

[jacqui01]

When I'm not using my Porche I have a Vauxhall Zafira , used to have a Vauxhall Estate, took a long time before I decided on the Zafira, used to go around all the garages looking at boot space, I even went a few times with my gear to see how it would fit, certainly to be recommended.

Jacqui

[geraint]

Cant beat it, the old Transit Van

[shyamwestwind]

Guys, I just love cars and I hope you can send me photographs of your cars/vans , with or without your equipment, but with you beside them.
Please e-mail them to me ........I'd love to ogle at them !!!!!!!!!!!!

[weegeo]

Aaaaaaww the old transit lol lol if only they could talk what stories they`d come up with They were the mainstay for bands for ages we would have bought 1 every other year from a local auction Thanx Geraint you just brought back a lot of good memories


weegeo

[larryc]

It was amazing the way the Old Transit could break-down going to and coming from a gig, How often did we hear "Its the tappets lads" lol and yet it always got the band home safe and sound.
Memories indeed lol.

[Emerald Midi]

I use to have a separate van, a 2001 Transit, which I loved but was too big just for doing one man shows. I know just use our family car, which is a 1997 Ford Galaxy. It's a seven seater and has enough room for all I need to carry, especially when I drop down the two back seats. It's a real allrounder of a car and does the job nicely.

[Tubbs]

I have a 2 year old commercial Toyota Landcruiser 2.9 turbo diesel, everything fits snugly into it no probs. Being a commercial, the tax is cheap also.

[Emerald Midi]

Is it the same as for a regular van? Often thought about going down that route.

[bobsynth]

I Drive a Toyota Sienna Mini Van to my gigs. It's 3 years old and I bought it just for that purpose. In fact my license plate is 1MANBND. Lol. It holds all my gear and my back up stuff. I hardly ever unload it. It stays loaded in my garage, when not in use.

[Steptoe]

My Chauffeur usually picks me up an hour or so before the gig and drives me down to the Airport where my private jet will take me to the venue where my road crew are busily setting up my equipment ;D

In my dreams ;D ;D ;D

I drive a 2006 Hyundai Getz, with the back seat down it has more than enough room for my Guitar, Amp and bags!

Cheers
John

[shyamwestwind]

Wow, what information !!!! Transportation is such a major part of our lives and we depend so much on our cars and station wagons to take us and our equipment to wherever and whenever, it really is amazing how much a part of our family these work horses are !
I truly need to get myself a reliable SUV soon, but there are no Automatics in this range and I will have to put in an Auto Clutch to a manual transmission . Its a liitle dicey, but I'll need to adapt one to my requirements.
It really is important for us musos not to be stressed out and to reach our gig spots, on time,with a smile on our faces and songs on our lips !!

[ovation99]

We are a duo and we share the load of equipment.
We both have Ford Focus C-Max (medium suv). Mine is a Ghia spec CTDI 6 speed 2.0 ltr and I cram into it:-
Fender Twin Reverb
Mixer/Sequencer flight case
JBL 15" Eon backline monitor
Keyboard, mic and speaker stands.
2 x guitars
2 cases of cables and FX pedals.

The other half of the duo carries 2 x JBL 15" Eons, Laney Bass amp, 2 x Bass guitars, mics, cables etc..

I have had Skoda Octavia L&K estates in the past, until I fancied a change to Ford, but I have to admit the Skodas were brilliant and totally trouble free.

[simmo123]

We are a one car family & it works out fine,for my little senior gigs the toyota corolla hatch works fine,i have all my equipment pre-loaded on a 2 wheel sack trolley which i have customised to suit.my gear consists of the 6 channel head from my yamaha stagepass pa which i run everything through,one session speaker box with a eminence 12" speaker & horn,i run my backing (midis turned into mp3s) through an mblaster midi & mp3 player,i have edited the midis using cakewalk sonar le then recorded them using the sounds of roland sonic cell before recording them to mp3.i will soon be doing away with the mblaster player & use the sonic cell with a memory stick.The trolley also carries all the bits & pieces stands leads etc which i am able to slide in the rear hatch door all as a singe unit & because everything is all plugged in ready to go it only takes minutes to get ready to start playing on arrival & even quicker to pack up, the only lifting involves putting the speaker on a built in shelf on the trolley at head height which all sits just slightly to one side behind me so i can pick up the countins etc. When i unload at home everything comes off in seconds,my guitar is carried in my spare hand so i only have to make one trip into the venues,i forgot to say i drop one seat forward in the corolla which means i can take 2 passengers as well,it has taken me a little while to get it like this because i would come home after a gig & make a few more changes but i think i have got it as good as i can,regards to all at mm, simmo ;D ;D

[shanless]

I drive my trusted 1993 Vauxhall Carlton 24v 3.0L Diamond Estate....Ive tried to upload some pics of it but failed.....it is featured on the totalcarlton.com website....under carlton show offs...page 5 and then under... re 3.0l Diamond Estate....only 96 of these models were made and only 32 remain...and mine is the only one registered over here....it holds all my gear even with the rear seats up.....no problem with power either......my wife drives a S Class Mercedes Limo.....so if I need any parts I will be calling on you Larry lololol