More fun in the HOT sun - $3 saved my keyboard!

[Reezekeys]

I did a gig last night north of Sacramento CA. The pictures tell the story - it was hot (40 celsius for the world beyond the USA!). Sound check was in the afternoon and even though the stage had an awning covering it, the angle of the sun got below it, as you can see. I put my SKB case with laptop backstage so it was not in sunlight (one benefit of not needing to touch it or see its screen while playing) – all 25 feet of my midi cable came in handy. My keyboard was left to bake in the sun, but fortunately I had my Ozark Trail Emergency Blanket! These are thin mylar reflective sheets sold at camping stores under various brand names (I got mine at Walmart for less than $3). I can now attest to their effectiveness – it passed the test. I got through sound check fine. At gig time the sun was down but the temp was around 90 Fahrenheit (32 celcius).

 

There are reflective blankets made for this application - which are thicker and easier to manage than this very thin mylar. This was a smaller municipal event with all rented stage gear, and they didn't have any.

 

I was worried that, sun or not, the high temps in themselves might make for problems with my aging MacBook Pro, but the gig went fine. It was a great crowd and the promoters really treated us well. Going home today after a nice week-long run on the left coast!

 

[KuruPrionz]

The best $3 blanket ever!!!!

 

I'm from Fresno, heat is similar to Sac but it doesn't cool off at night since the Delta is up north a good ways. 

I don't miss the summer outdoor gigs there. I do miss spring and fall, pretty moist up here. You can protect your gear but they don't book gigs because people won't show up in case it rains.

 

That said, in the middle of August we were playing the Festival of the River and opening for Buffy St. Marie. 5 minutes before start time a torrential downpour of Biblical proportions hosed the entire she-bang. The sound guys unplugged all their gear and threw tarps over it. My amp was on a covered stage and when I took it apart at home there was water inside the chassis. Different worlds!!!!

[Analogaddict]

I know the feeling..! :)

[Reezekeys]

Yea, those are the real deal. The only advantage to my "emergency blanket" is that it comes in a tiny cardboard box that fits into a side pocket of my laptop backpack. As I found out last night, it can never be folded back to that same size!

 

[JamPro]

Excellent idea.  I should get one and add it to my gig toolkit.  And you can use it as an emergency rain shield as well.

[Reezekeys]

3 hours ago, JamPro said:

And you can use it as an emergency rain shield as well.

 

Yea, it's actually tough to tear - but very light, so needs to be secured or wind can easily blow it away, unlike the heavier reflective blankets. Also, as I found out on one outdoor gig a while back, the surface of the stage can get wet anywhere, so all cables (especially AC power!) need to be off of there.

[The Real MC]

Neat solution.

 

Any music gear that is black gets the worse.  Black material absorbs and radiates heat, so the circuits inside are baking hot.

[EscapeRocks]

Yep!

Since outdoor summer festival-type shows are apparently our thing now here in Texas, the reflective blankets have saved my gear more than once.

[Reezekeys]

2 hours ago, The Real MC said:

Neat solution.

 

Any music gear that is black gets the worse.  Black material absorbs and radiates heat, so the circuits inside are baking hot.

 

Yep, my A800 Pro is black; sun no good. We also had guitars & basses going out of tune. It wasn't only electronics: our drummer's cymbals were hot enough to burn anyone touching them, and the saxophones were affected as well.

[Stokely]

Yep, we did a daytime gig yesterday, in a breezeway that was completely shaded at 11am (we started at 12).  I was on the side closest to the rays of the day star and I asked the dude who hired us whether I'd be in the sun in a couple hours.   "no, you'll be fine".   First set ended and I was in the sun.  I will not willingly stay in 100 degree summertime sunshine, for one thing I have a history with several times of skin cancer (and my brother has had melanoma.)  I moved my whole rig to the other side of the "stage" between sets.   My ipad was indeed blazing hot and I'm not sure my keyboard would have held up--but my first consideration was myself.  As it was even with my fan and mostly in the shade I was bordering on heat exhaustion (symptoms of which I know very well from my old tennis days...)

This 4th of July my ipad did shut down when the sun angle made it under the roof after soundcheck, those blankets would be a great idea to prevent that unless you are actually playing in that situation.

I'm probably going to start bringing my canopy to outdoor gigs.  They don't like it, tough shit, because I'm not going to sit there baking in the sun.  It's a pain to set up and you have to weight it down so hopefully I won't have to use it.

[obxa]

When I worked  at Disney they used those blankets to cover the gear for sun, but also protect from any fireworks stuff.  I've used them  ever since on outdoors stuff  Also those car windshield shade things work in a pinch too. 

 

My band contract states we will not play on an uncovered stage.  Whether it's me,  duo, or more pieces.   I  ask for shade or a tent.   If I end up at private function and they "forget",  I keep a couple of 10x12 tents.  Great time to buy them is end of summer.  Usually no more than $50-60.  they come in gig-friendly beige and white and UV protected.

 

If it's usual daytime setup and evening gig;  portable tents come in handy to keep you and your stuff cool and protected while setting up- and you can then always remove it at show time.  

 

I'm with Stokely!  I had a run-in  just this past Saturday afternoon with a wedding planner and  my  little jazz trio for an outside reception.   Bride's Mom neglected to have a tent provided.  I know she had a lot on her plate and they were super nice folks,  so didn't make a big deal and just got mine out of the car.   

 

Wedding planner arrived and said she absolutely hated the tent.   I offered to move the band to a shady section under the porch, but also reminded her it was in our contract and the sax tuning (and us) would not do well in the heat.    Also mentioned I'd be happy to take it down at sunset, but it was staying up.    She finally had the florist move some flower arrangements  in front of the poles,  and made sure to remind me how displeased she was.  Whatever. 

 

My tolerance level for these kind of things is getting  really bad.   But our health is more important.  I also normally worry about getting bad client reviews on the booking sites for not being "flexible" on these kinds of gigs.     Luckily we were hired by the Bride's Mom-not the planner, and they were happy. 😇