Essential Items for Bands to Take With When Performing a Festival
Performing at a festival is an exhilarating experience that you and your bandmates won’t soon forget. So if you’re about to play your first festival, you need to make sure you’re well-prepared. Packing the essentials will help you enjoy the experience and reduce stress. When you’re caught up in all the excitement, it’s easy to forget the essential items you’ll need, such as drinks and snacks, a comfortable festival seat, a change of clothes, equipment and gear, earplugs and towels, along with other essential performance items. In this article, we explore the items you need to take with you to your next festival.
Don’t Forget These Essential Items
To make sure your set goes as well as possible, remember to bring these items:
Festival Seat
There isn’t usually much seating backstage, so you should consider bringing somewhere to sit with you. However, you don’t want to drag a camping chair up there with you. While the drummer is always sitting down, the rest of the band needs some time off their feet, too! There is a solution: a portable festival seat that doubles as a walking stick! Walking seat sticks are much easier to transport than bulky camping chairs as they fold away nice and small, giving you more space to pack other essential items. Plus, many come with an adjustable shoulder bag, making the festival seat easy to carry around.
Drinks and Snacks
Playing at a festival is incredibly tiring— you’re going to get very tired and hungry! For this reason, staying hydrated and maintaining your energy levels at all times is vital. Make sure to pack plenty of water, electrolyte drinks, or even energy drinks if you feel like you need that extra boost before your set. You should also bring some snacks with you, preferably ones that quickly boost your energy levels without causing a sugar crash. Bring cereal bars, nuts and fruit to keep you satiated at all times because no one wants to perform on an empty stomach!
A Change of Clothes
Festivals typically occur during the summer months. As a result, it’s very likely you’ll get sweaty during the set-up process. To make sure you don’t have to take the stage with a smelly, soaked-through t-shirt, bring an extra one with you. We recommend wearing something lightweight, so you stay dry and cool, as thicker fabrics will cause you to overheat. If you’re all cool and comfortable, you’ll put on a much better performance for your fans!
Guitar – Your Own Gear
As a guitarist you will always need to bring your own gear with them. But this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. To maintain consistency across performances, it’s best to bring your own gear to all gigs, as much as lugging all the gear around the festival isn’t the most pleasant experience. Remember to bring two guitars (just in case a string breaks), guitar pedals if you use them, a tuner pedal, spare leads and cables, a guitar wireless system is a great addition too (but make sure it’s charged!), an amplifier – either combo or head and cab is okay as these are mic’d up to the PA (make sure it’s a high enough wattage for the size of your venue/audience) and many many picks in case some disappear into a different dimension. The last thing you want is to be frantically searching for a guitar pick just before you go on stage!
Drum Gear – Your Own Kit
Your drummer will also need to bring all their gear with them to the festival. Most venues (including festivals) provide the bare essentials, including a bass drum and toms, but you probably shouldn’t rely on them. Bring your own kit with you if you can. You will be much more familiar with your own kit, and you’ll feel more comfortable knowing that it’s good quality. Bring breakables – cymbals including a hi-hat, snare, bass drum pedal, sticks, drum stool, etc. Make sure to bring plenty of extra sticks with you, as broken sticks are an inevitable part of the job!
Bassist
Two Bass Guitars, effects pedals (if you use them), tune pedal, a bass amplifier, leads and cables (with spares), a spare battery if you have active pickups, and also picks if you’re the no fingers type. You could even try out a DI Box to feed straight into the PA system!
Singer
A microphone you prefer to use and hold (although usually festivals have them setup), and in-ear monitors so you can hear yourself.
Towels
Remember to bring towels with you to wipe away sweat and keep your hands and instruments dry. This prevents slipping and allows you to get a better grip on the microphone and instruments. So don’t forget to bring a towel!
Performance Advice
Now that we’ve discussed the essential items you need to bring with you, we wanted to offer some advice to help you give your fans the best possible performance:
Check your equipment
Make sure to do an in-depth check of your equipment before you go on stage. The last thing you want to happen is technical issues that completely ruin your set and disappoint your fans. Bring spares and backups!
Engage with the crowd
After you’ve performed your set, engage with the crowd. While some people in the audience may already be big fans of your band, engaging with the crowd gives you a chance to convert more people into fans!
Be ready to go on stage early
Be ready to go on stage well before your changeover time. Setlists sometimes change at very short notice, so being ready nice and early will remove any stress should you be asked to perform at a different time than planned.
In Summary
Performing at a festival is an exciting experience for any band, and ensuring that you’re well-prepared is absolutely vital. Taking the time to thoroughly prepare and pack the essentials will increase the chances that you and your bandmates will have a positive experience.
By bringing a seat, drinks and snacks, a change of clothes, guitar and drum gear, earplugs and towels, you’ll be well-equipped to deliver your fans an incredible performance that they’ll remember for years to come! By following the advice above and making the necessary preparations for your set, you can create lasting memories with your bandmates and leave a lasting impression on your audience.
