Too, too hot! Too hot to handle!

[vonnor]

In my part of the US, this past weekend was brutally hot and humid. My band had to play an outdoor show Saturday during the hottest part of the day. As the forecast called for "80% chance of thunderstorms and small hail," the venue promised we'd be under a roof and protected by a tarp. Turned out we were to set up in the corner of a covered patio area (about 30x35 meters). Oh they had done an excellent job of securing a tarp directly behind the back-line... a transparent tarp... with the sun right behind it.

 

Now as load-in and setup progressed, so did the temperature - it went from 33-37C (92 to 98F) with what felt like 105% humidity and no breeze (thank you mister tarp)!

 

Needless to say I was dripping wet by the time soundcheck came around.

 

Between the 1st and 2nd set, I noticed the sun had moved so that my laptop was directly illuminated. I went to move it and almost burned my hand. The display was all locked up and all controls were unresponsive. In a panic I was able to manually power it down and luckily the sound man had a freezer pack that I wrapped in a towel and sat under the computer for 20 min. It did come back up and was able to finish the show, but I had to set it on the floor in the shadow of my rack and keep moving it during the rest of the show to keep it in shadow. (I did have a spare laptop with me btw).

 

The other thing was in all my years of playing live (since '81) and doing many outdoor shows in direct sunlight, I have never had the issue I'm about to describe...

 

Even after chugging water and Gatorade all day, on the second to last tune my ankle started severely cramping, followed by my right hand! In the middle of the bridge on Rebel Yell (that synth lead line before the final chorus) my hand just stopped working!! It scared me to death! Luckily the last song was Highway To Hell - just power chords on a guitar sample - I covered it left hand only.

 

Have any of you guys ever experienced anything like that? My hand is still a little sore even today - 3 days later. That was the most brutal gig I've ever played in my life!

 

~ vonnor

 

p.s. not one drop of rain fell and it was hot and sunny the whole time. 🙄

[mate stubb]

I had to quit gigging outside entirely right before Covid. An outdoor gig on an unprotected deck in mid July sent me into sun stroke and I had to leave the stage, despite having fans, coolers, gatoraide, hydration, a sun hat, and a cooling rag around my neck.

 

Unfortunately, it permanently messed me up and I can no longer be outside in the heat more than 15 minutes.

[Doerfler]

Bill, we are getting old. Referring to the cramping, not the weather. 

[Baldwin Funster]

Ahhh...you baited me with a UFO song.

 

Yeah I don't play daytime outdoor gigs anymore, at least not without major stipulations about time of day and if the stage is covered. Its not just me being a codger, I have doctors orders not to do so. Funny though, the other band member get mad and don't apparently give a sht if I die out there. So I look out for me.

[Mills Dude]

I have not experienced in a gig, but in other aspects of life, yes.  Dry heat is much more comfortable than the Hazy, Hot, Humid weather.   When the humidity gets high like that, the body can have issues with fluid management.   I tore my calf muscle, the soleus, on my left leg twice in the span of a few years both on crazy humid days.  The muscle cramped but I was in the middle of activity, playing paintball with thick coveralls on -- yeah stupid.  

 

The soleus muscle goes way down to the Achilles, maybe your cramp was happening in that area as the first time I got that injury, I thought my Achilles tendon had snapped and so did my Physical Therapist sister-in-law.   Second time it happened a few years later, on a humid August day in NYC racing to catch a train.  Running down the steps and I felt it go, like someone hit me in the ankle with a hammer,  same thing, same leg, torn soleus muscle.  

 

On humid days, I can feel that area swelling up, so I need to keep that muscle stretched and sometimes wear compression socks.  I use an angled plane that some people use for plantar fasciitis to stretch it out and avoid cramps.

 

In our modern AC world, we're not as accustomed to severe elements.  There's a reason why South America does siesta in the afternoons.  I'm no doctor but could be that even though you were drinking a ton, maybe still dehydrated.

 

I used to travel to Southeast Asia a lot for work.  In the summer time, its like that every day, 90+ degrees with 90+% humidity and very seldom that storm that brings relief like in Florida.  Walking out of the office for lunch in those extremes, I'd break out into flop sweat after just a few minutes outside.  All the locals would be fine, but I'd be dripping in sweat and my shirt drenched after a casual walk.  

 

Its no joke.  There are small muscles in the hand, they have cramped up also.  That moisture in the air retains more heat than the dry air and it messes with your bodies ability to regulate temperature properly mostly by sweating as the sweat loses it ability to cool you off.

[HammondDave]

If the promoter does not cover the stage and at least provide cooling  fans, I don't play the gig. 

[Stokely]

Wow, ironically I was going to make a thread concerning the exact same thing happening at my 4th gig yesterday.

We set up outside under a roof but the afternoon sun angled down on us.  We set up around 3pm and my big mistake was leaving my ipad on top of my keyboard (which also could have been affected, I lucked out).  First set, my organ sound (which comes from my ipad) was garbled and crackling.  The ipad was super hot to the touch, and I figured that was the problem.   I limped through the first set with my MODX organ sound--which wasn't too awful as long as I avoided the fast leslie!--and brought the ipad inside into the AC between sets.   I adjusted my fan so that it was hitting my keyboard just in case.  Sure enough the ipad worked fine after that.

The mains on the left side by me also crapped out (it wasn't our PA) and the sound engineer thought it was probably due to heat.

All of us always bring our fans but it was incredibly hot...sitting in front of the fan felt like an oven blowing on you.   

This is gigging in Florida in summer time, I've done a fair number of gigs like this where I literally looked like I'd gone swimming.  I usually bring several changes of clothes.   Of course year by year the temps are heading up.   The bigger problem than the heat is usually the thunderstorms, though clouds are are welcome without the monsoon rains!   

 

[ProfD]

Several years ago, I did an outdoor gig on the hottest day of that summer. 

 

I knew it was hot that day when I pulled my KB from the case and it was sweating...literally.

 

A huge patio umbrella brought some shade but not enough to keep the devil from sitting in with the band. 

 

Bands and musicians should take extra precautions in protecting themselves and their gear when dealing with extreme temperatures and weather elements. 😎

[CEB]

Three or four weeks ago I was dealing with thermal shutdown on EV speakers. I carry silver reflective tarp thingies to cover the rig when not playing.  It sucks. We don’t have Spring and Autumn anymore.   

[Mills Dude]

4 minutes ago, CEB said:

Three or four weeks ago I was dealing with thermal shutdown on EV speakers. I carry silver reflective tarp thingies to cover the rig when not playing.  It sucks. We don’t have Spring and Autumn anymore.   

I'm in the northeast, NYC suburbs.  This is the first year in a long time that I feel we've had a legitimate spring.  For a long time it seems to go straight from winter to summer.  This year, its been great weather so far, spring like with lower humidity, though the summer is starting to amp up.

[Shamanzarek]

I have played the Jersey Shore for many years and it can get hot and humid at times but nothing like Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. That is the most humid place I have ever played or been to. I played there two consecutive years the first time at the beginning of summer and the second time toward the end of summer. Both times the air had a thick heavy feel and sweat would pour off you with the slightest movement. The second summer I was there on top of the high humidity there were thunder storms. I've been to various areas of Florida, South Carolina, and California and never experienced humidity like that at Rehoboth Beach. Just a heads up for anyone that might get a gig there.

[Reezekeys]

I related a story about my laptop in direct sun a few years back - in short, not a fun experience. A few weeks ago I did a show in Atlanta in direct sun and despite a white towel draped over my laptop, it shut down on the last song.

 

Now I check our schedule to see which shows are outdoors, then go to google earth to see if there's a roof or not. Then I check to see what time we start. I'm not going so far as to calculate the direction and angle of the sun yet, even though I've done outdoor gigs where there's still problems if the sun is directly hitting the laptop, even late in the day.

 

I got myself a collapsible Ikea "drona" storage box that folds flat and fits in the SKB case under my keyboard. It's white, but I wanted to go the extra mile so got an "emergency blanket" which is made from "aluminized polyester", i.e. it's reflective. Less than $3 at Walmart! My plan was to tape or somehow cover the surface of the box with this reflective material. Then maybe add a laptop cooling pad, though I just returned one because it hardly seemed to blow any amount of air. I'll report back if I get the chance to test my homebrew sun-protector!

 

  

[DrEsophagus]

I don't know how you guys do it in that heat down there, I'm in Canada and it's almost 30 celsius and I can't handle it. I need a f*cking glacier to roll around on.

[FatFingers]

Years ago did an outside gig in southern Illinois in mid-July, accompanied by heat and plenty of humidity.  Kept splashing myself with cold water and didn't stop at first, but finally had to quit when I got very dizzy and realized what was happening.  At least now I can easily recognize those warning signs in advance.

[KuruPrionz]

I've experienced heat and humidity but not gigging. 

Up here in Bellingham we've had more problems with torrential rain in the summer than with heat. 

 

But, way back when in Fresno my band gigged on the back of a flatbed truck parked on fresh blacktop (so it was BLACK) for a local music store's "Music Festival". We were too stupid to not wear stage clothes and it was 107 that day, multiplied by the radiant heat of the blacktip. The bassist passed out, literally. And I felt like crap for a few days after. 

 

Then we hit the "big time" and only played in air conditioned splendor, which has it's own problems like dehydration. Drinking lots of beer does not help that malaise, don't ask me how I know this. 

Heat is dangerous, music is fun but not if we die. Be careful out there!!!!!

[allan_evett]

9 hours ago, HammondDave said:

If the promoter does not cover the stage and at least provide cooling  fans, I don't play the gig. 

 

Same here.  I had severe heat exhaustion once, from a semi-exposed stage gig; almost crossed over into heat stroke. Didn't feel right for the next 24 hours.  Of course moving around with a keytar during the finale didn't help, but the whole band felt like crap well before that. At least the following day's gig had good cover and was scheduled well into the evening. A 103 degree late afternoon in the Chicago suburbs can be brutal.

[TommyRude]

WAY back in the day I played a week in Yuma, AZ.  It was the middle of summer, the gigs were at a club at nighttime, but during the day, you didn't go out after 10am or before 6pm.  I think it was around 125°.  When you opened the door it was like a blast furnace hitting you.

[KuruPrionz]

12 minutes ago, TommyRude said:

WAY back in the day I played a week in Yuma, AZ.  It was the middle of summer, the gigs were at a club at nighttime, but during the day, you didn't go out after 10am or before 6pm.  I think it was around 125°.  When you opened the door it was like a blast furnace hitting you.

Yeah, I've stepped out into 116, not pretty at all. 

I don't miss living in Fresno. Never been to Yuma but I've been through Arizona many times. It's beautiful to visit, especially in winter when it's dark, wet and cold here. 

 

[Adam Burgess]

Had a busy weekend here in the UAE a few years back (2017)

Was a Friday afternoon gig in an enclosed beach in a lovely cove at the bottom of a small cliff. Didn't feel warm at all. Was really dry. Thought I was used to it.
Getting the gear up and down the million steps was a chore, but the staff were great, and I really didn't have to do much.

We played the last set before summer really hit in that venue and they closed the outside.
'Twas mid August. The Kronos died that afternoon for a while, the Mac and iPad, too. A plucky beaten up SY85 got me thru the last set.

Went straight to an outdoors evening gig (some awards function, or something) at the Burj Kalifa in Dubai. Suited up and was sweating like hell. Was soooo humid and around 45ºC at 9pm. 

Became really ill - very nauseous and a bit spaced out, finished the gig, went home, lost 4x gigs in the coming weekend, and that was the only time I got sunstroke.
Also dropped my laptop in my sweaty spaced-out-ness and smashed the screen and bent the thing to bits. 

Was the cauldron-like sun trap I was in all afternoon. Dry heat is the worst.

But Blue Marlin is a lovely venue! Had a brilliant afternoon! Wouldn't change a thing 🙂 

[re Pete]

Years ago played a hot afternoon big band gig on one of those stage on wheels. I was by myself in a back corner. The place was using juice off a large portable generator that was too close to the stage. Halfway thru the gig I felt tired and losing it. I'm pretty sure carbon monoxide was getting in by me. 

Made it to the end of gig and felt like throwing up.

We had another gig that night. I barely made it driving home wondering why I felt like shit. Slept a couple hours an felt somewhat better. 

I wasn't dehydrated before this afternoon gig and was in shade. So I believe I got some of that generator exhaust.

Another thing to consider.

 

[marino]

We are having 42/43 C° (about 110 F) in Rome right now, with surreal humidity. I am not taking gigs right now, manily because I have plenty of other stuff to do this summer (two records, a book, apartment restructuring, and more) - but frankly, I would be a bit worried if booked to play in a hot environment. I have collected a fair number of conditions lately, and I would hate not being able to play to my best abilities. 

The only time when I felt so badly onstage to fear I couldn't go on, was in Japan, in 1987. (!) I gestured to our stage manager in the wings, and in a few seconds, he handed me a glass with some mysterious Japanese mixture, and I felt better almost instantaneously! My only regret is, I can't remember what it was...

[Stokely]

I definitely bring a "kit" of sorts to outdoor gigs.  Lasko drying Fan (which is at every gig), a towel or two, tarp, extra shirt or two, and a small drink cooler filled with ice and water that I can refill with more water.   I've even been known to sport some tennis wristbands Loverboy-style to try to keep from sweating too much on my keyboards    Like I always told my kids before their soccer games, the time to stave off dehydration is way before the event; you need to start drinking water hours before.   From what I have read, water alone can do the trick, gatorade drinks of course won't hurt you, but the key is to not wait until you are already dehydrated to start hydrating...you won't easily catch up.   

I'd like to find a better cover for my rig for before shows and between sets when rain (and sun) are a threat.  I have tarps but those aren't ideal.  Ideal would be something like a grill cover that slides down over the keyboard(s) and doesn't need a bunch of bungies to hold it in place against the wind.

[PianoMan51]

I put off replying on this because it’s an ugly answer. In my mid 50s to mid 60s I did a lot of (non-musical) outside work, including Carolina afternoons in the high 90s and 80% humidity. 
 

I found a pattern in my reaction to heat. At least a dozen times. First understand I was consuming massive amounts of Gatorade. A half gallon in an afternoon. 
 

Stages of Symptoms, maybe 15 minutes apart:

 

1. You get a little stupid. How do you recognize it? You find yourself having to remind yourself what you’re doing. 
 

2. Lightheaded. 
 

3. Stomach cramps.

 

4. Full on diarrhea. 
 

5. Hand and arm cramps. (Like the OP mentioned).

 

I tried a bunch of things. Slowing down. Get in the shade. Get in the truck with the AC running. Lay down. But the one that really worked well and immediately was pouring cool water on my head. Cooled the brain down and mitigated the process above. A dip in a nice pool would have been better, but not possible.

 

I ended up taking two containers of liquid. One iced to drink, the other (larger and not iced) to cool down my head. Take that as a professional recommendation.

[Reezekeys]

51 minutes ago, PianoMan51 said:

Carolina afternoons in the high 90s and 80% humidity. 

I’m playing a show in Cary NC (near Durham) tomorrow night. It’s supposed to be over 100 during the day - probably around 90 when we hit the stage. Might be thunderstorms too, which I’d probably welcome!

[Theo Verelst]

Great stories, really cool

[Bobby Simons]

On 7/5/2022 at 4:10 PM, Shamanzarek said:

I have played the Jersey Shore for many years and it can get hot and humid at times but nothing like Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. That is the most humid place I have ever played or been to. I played there two consecutive years the first time at the beginning of summer and the second time toward the end of summer. Both times the air had a thick heavy feel and sweat would pour off you with the slightest movement. The second summer I was there on top of the high humidity there were thunder storms. I've been to various areas of Florida, South Carolina, and California and never experienced humidity like that at Rehoboth Beach. Just a heads up for anyone that might get a gig there.

Just drove home from there this morning. (Actually from a couple of blocks down the road at Dewey Beach.) Yesterday was brutally hot.