This is a guest post by band member Chris Shanks, from the UK based band ‘Blast from the Past,’ a self-signed band that has been making waves recently. Chris plays drums in the band and in his free time likes to write about all things rhythmical and musical. Today he guest posting for us and writing about a logistical nightmare that him and his band mates had to undergo last year when they were moving some equipment onto their truck. They were using a scissor lift table to move a very big and very heavy flight case onto the truck, when the equipment seized, leaving them with the flight case stuck in the air.
The Scissor Lift Table Story
We were headed up to Manchester to play a gig that we had all been excited about for weeks. Our booking agent contacted us to let us know that we were supporting a pretty major band, and we were all buzzing with excitement. It was early at around 7.30am on a crisp Friday morning, when we all gathered around with our sausage rolls waiting for the van to arrive so that we could load our things on. There was one particularly large flight case that housed all the drum equipment together, a neat storage solution but a pain in the arse to move. It usually required specialist equipment like a scissor lift table in order to get it on and off vehicles, but luckily the truck driver had all the necessary tools.
When it All Went Wrong
The truck arrived and the process of loading it all on began. The driver wanted to put a few other flight cases in first, then the big one with the drums, then put all the smaller pieces in last. Once the heavy flight case was manoeuvred onto the lifting device, the driver started slowly raising it into the air. We all know that the lifter was rated to lift the case, which weighed about 400kg, but we all watched with baited breath as the huge case was lifted into the air. When it was about a foot from the top the scissor lift started whining and then clunked, before coming to an abrupt stop in the air.
The Start of the Nightmare
When this happened, we thought the same thing, and we were all right. The stupid giant flight case had broken the scissor lift, leaving it stranded in mid air and leaving us stranded, unable to set off for the gig. Naturally we all jumped into action, and tried to manually move the case the last foot, but it was so heavy and awkward that we know we would probably drop and break it if we kept trying.
What Happened
We ended up having to wait for a fellow trucker to arrive with another hoist so that we could transfer the case over, then finally get it onto the truck. This cost us 2 or 3 hours’ worth of delay time, and meant that we had to race up the road in order to make the gig on time. We just made it in time to do a rapid set up, didn’t have enough time to get a sound check, and were rushed around by the organisers. In the end we played one of the best gigs we have ever played and has the best night playing for a great crowd.