vans for bands

[Dmoney]

SO!
im sure a lot of people here tour or whatever from time to time.
being the only person in my band who actually does anything means i often have to find vans, drivers, book ferry tickets or whatever...

most van hire companies are really expensive, especially for DIY bands on DIY labels. the first two times we toured mainland europe we hired a van of people we knew, but as time has gone by thats no longer possible.

so... does anyone have an secret van's they own, and would be willing to hire our, or do you know any companies that rent vans out for cheap.

this is the most annoying thing i have to do within the band, and it takes up so much time, every time we have a mainland show or we want to tour... just wondered if anyone had any thoughts.

[AndyR]

I'm only posting to say "I feel your pain..." but I have no answers for you...

I haven't played live for years, but that was always the biggest problem we had (aside from the obvious "hey, where do you get your audiences from? we never seem to have one... :roll:")

And I was probably one of the people that caused someone else to have the "being the only person in my band who actually does anything " headache... (but I was the front-man, main songwriter, general "all-round-artistic-tw@t", and so on.... so... I couldn't really be expected to be practical and have good organisational skills as well, could I? :lol:)

[Dmoney]

thats fair enough.
our new bassist is good, but he is the only person who does stuff in his other band.

i design or deal with designers who do our merch, deal with the printers, look after the online store, pack and post stuff to people, deal with booking, running the myspace, booking anything like recording time, looking after money, and writing all our stuff minus lyrics. as well as working a full time job. oh yeah and the transport thing.

bogus!

[AndyR]

:lol:

And I bet things still haven't changed much:

The wimin after the gigs - do they value the organisation/marketing skills when looking for someone to "get close to" in the band? Hell no... it's the singer, the lyricist, or the biggest prima donna (usually the same person :lol:) ... er, actually, that worked out well for me, so I'm not complaining 8)

[Dmoney]

haha. dude, post gig im taking down merch and loading the van while most other people swan around doing that stuff.
things is, i dont trust that lot to do it anyway. oh well! guess im stuck. anyway, when that does go on i like to ruin it... by yelling things like "she's no stranger to a dinner!"

i win!

[hunter]

What about buying instead? You could sell after the tour. If you pay like 50 bucks a day for renting, you could as well just buy an old van, paint it funny and don't care when you burn cigarette holes in the fake leather seats :O)

[hamfist]

Sack the least able member of the band - replace with musician who also owns such a van as you require for your band activities - job done !

[PhilKing]

When I was touring Europe (admittedly in the 70's), we bought an old van ourselves because it was the cheapest option in the end.  I don't know how much gear you have though, back then we had a half stack for the bass player, and AC30's for 2 guitars.  The PA was 4 2x15 columns with Fane Crescendo's and we had an Orange 8 channel mixer and 2 power amps for it.  Add a 5 drum kit, 4 guitars, one bass and 6 people and that was it.  We got it all in an old Commer camper van (we stripped out everything but the top storage shelves).  3 of us in the front, the rest on a couple of air mattresses and sleeping bags in the back!

For you youngsters that have no idea what that would look like here is a picture of one (ours was yellow and white!):

[hamfist]

When I was touring Europe (admittedly in the 70's), we bought an old van ourselves because it was the cheapest option in the end.  I don't know how much gear you have though, back then we had a half stack for the bass player, and AC30's for 2 guitars.  The PA was 4 2x15 columns with Fane Crescendo's and we had an Orange 8 channel mixer and 2 power amps for it.  Add a 5 drum kit, 4 guitars, one bass and 6 people and that was it.  We got it all in an old Commer camper van (we stripped out everything but the top storage shelves).  3 of us in the front, the rest on a couple of air mattresses and sleeping bags in the back!

For you youngsters that have no idea what that would look like here is a picture of one (ours was yellow and white!):

Outstanding !!  :D

[AndyR]

When I was touring Europe (admittedly in the 70's), we bought an old van ourselves because it was the cheapest option in the end.  I don't know how much gear you have though, back then we had a half stack for the bass player, and AC30's for 2 guitars.  The PA was 4 2x15 columns with Fane Crescendo's and we had an Orange 8 channel mixer and 2 power amps for it.  Add a 5 drum kit, 4 guitars, one bass and 6 people and that was it.  We got it all in an old Commer camper van (we stripped out everything but the top storage shelves).  3 of us in the front, the rest on a couple of air mattresses and sleeping bags in the back!

For you youngsters that have no idea what that would look like here is a picture of one (ours was yellow and white!):

Outstanding !!  :D

+1

(and also... "hippy! :lol:")

[bucketshred]

My mate Vulche does tours for bands. Got his own 7 seater transit van with two dvd screens, microwave loads of storage room etc. He drives, you pay him and provide petrol. If you want his number, PM me or add me on facebook (Patrick Von DySlag) and then search my friends list for Dan Howes.

[Dmoney]

thats the problem. paying people to drive is to expensive. if we bought a van it would basically be me buying since everybody is broke, then its just something else id have to deal with. plus i dont have a drivers license so i wouldnt even be able to move it.

we've paid £70 a day for  van, which is round about the cheapest ive ever found thats owned by a company that deals with vans and bands. thats an 8 seater with a little loading space. no dvd players or xbox's. you add that stuff, then add a driver and its easily out the price range of most budding musicians i think. unless they have rich parents. when we do one off shows we take amps, guitars, drum breakables. if we did a tour we'd have to pay closer to £90 a day for the extra room to fit in two 4x12's, a full drum kit, an 8x10 bass cab, plus luggage and merch and everything else. just not a PA.

if you're supporting bands that are on guarantees of £300+ even if you're main support, you may only cover your petrol cost.

the economics just seem to fit semi-pro or smaller full time bands much better.
i think you're right though, best idea is try and buy a van that isnt a dud, use it, then sell it. or keep it and rent it out to other band on the cheap! which is all well and good till someone trashes it.

[Tellboy]

When I was touring Europe (admittedly in the 70's), we bought an old van ourselves because it was the cheapest option in the end.  I don't know how much gear you have though, back then we had a half stack for the bass player, and AC30's for 2 guitars.  The PA was 4 2x15 columns with Fane Crescendo's and we had an Orange 8 channel mixer and 2 power amps for it.  Add a 5 drum kit, 4 guitars, one bass and 6 people and that was it. 

We used to use a Ford Thames 15cwt like this one:


Must have been grossly loaded over 15cwt!! One full Marshall stack, two 50w Marshall half stacks, 100w Marshall PA with two 4x12 columns, full Ludwig drumkit, 2 guitars,bass and 6 people. Only 3 speed gearbox - like permanently riding a roller coaster as it used to take for ever going up hills (in 1st or 2nd gear) but used to go like a rocket downhill with all that weight
 :ctf2:

[Dmoney]

sweet jesus!

[Johnny Mac]

I used to have an old Bedford CF long wheel base van years back. It had a 2.3 engine in it that was the same as a Vauxhall Firenza which was a boy racers motor ahem years back. It was great the clock only went up to 90 but you could thrash the tits off it and nearly get it around to 0 again!  :lol: I used to use it for carrying gear to studios, carpet fitting, light removals and carting myself and my enduro bikes to punishing off road races and motocross tracks with 2 pals of mine. Versatile things vans and they can earn you money.

If you want something really big, powerful and reliable then get a Mercedes Sprinter. They're bomb proof and really shift too. My mates in a Zepp tribute use one and they go up and down the country every week.