When I Set My Drums Up On Mulch to Play a Covert Wedding Gig

Article no. 4 in the Gig Contract:

“Stage must include an 8’x8’ level, stable riser on which to set up drums.”

So many bands include something like this in their contracts, but I laugh when I think about how many gigs I’ve played on non-level surfaces. I remember a gig in particular where I had to set up on mulch. Not good...

When I was in college a few years ago, I played a wedding gig with a local brass band. I remember this being one of the highest paid gigs I’d had so far, which was a big deal for me as a college student. Needless to say, I knew it would be a fun gig. This was a five-piece brass band plus drumset, and we were playing all sorts of New Orleans-style and swing standards. However, this wedding wasn’t just any wedding...not because of who was getting married, but because of where it was taking place.

This couple had met at this big university where they both graduated, so it made sense to literally have the wedding where they first met AND where he proposed. That location happened to be the center of “old campus,” the super old and historic part of the school with the 18th century buildings and ancient oak trees. But there was a problem. The school didn’t allow weddings to take place there. How did this couple solve this? They had a mobile wedding.

The band set up off to the side of the lawn, directly adjacent to a parking lot. This was the home-base area where the catering tent was set up for the reception later. Here we played all the introductory music as guests arrived. Then when it came time for the ceremony, the wedding party and guests quickly walked over to the ideal spot on the lawn underneath a giant oak. Everything was very “hush-hush” since they knew they could get caught and fined any minute. Once the wedding party was set up on the lawn with the guests gathered around, we couldn’t even see them from where we were. We relied on the wedding director to signal to us from around a corner so that we knew when to play.

We made it through the ceremony, and the entire wedding party and guests scurried back over to the tent so that no one would ever know a wedding just went down on the old campus lawn. As far as anybody was concerned, the ceremony took place in the tent next to the parking lot.

We played for a couple more hours as the reception went on into the evening, and the gig went really well. It actually didn’t matter that it was 90 degrees and humid, or that we were set up on mulch. Oh yeah...Meant to come back to that. The band was set up in the shade (thank goodness!), but we were positioned on a large, soft, lumpy patch of fresh mulch - a perfect surface for setting up a drumset! Cymbal stands weren’t level, my snare had a slight (but awkward) tilt, and everything angled a little bit back and to my right.

The funny thing is, I look back on this and I don’t recall these things bothering me. I was so excited to play a well-paying gig with great musicians that I completely overlooked the fact that logistically this gig could have been a nightmare. It’s amazing how you start to form expectations over time, and you start to take for granted the gigs with “nice” accommodations. I’d be much more annoyed with setting up on mulch now than I was six years ago, which reminds me to always be accommodating and thankful for whatever gig I’m playing...even if it’s not the ideal setup. A gig is a gig, and it’s incredible to be able to play music with people, especially if there's a little bit of money involved. I’ll take great music and great people over a level surface any day.

God Bless,

Stephen

BTW, this is the same kit I use most of the time now. This was before I tore the wrap off. :)