Playing in a parade

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 21 Jul 2003 7:07 am

How many of you have ever played on a float in a parade? I was asked to furnish music on a float in a parade in a neighboring town yesterday. It was great fun!!! I had to go out and buy a suitcase generator in order to have something to plug into but that was ok, I needed one for emergency power for Minnesota winters anyway.
One thing I liked was that you didn't need to know too many different songs as the audience was constantly changing! If you ever get the chance to do it, try it, you'll like it!

Erv
[This message was edited by Erv Niehaus on 21 July 2003 at 08:09 AM.]

Tony LaCroix · Post by **Tony LaCroix** » 21 Jul 2003 7:46 am

Erv, my first gig ever was playing guitar in the Corn on the Cob Days parade in Plainview, MN. The guy I played with only knew two songs, Jumbalaya and the Auctioneer's Song. They both had the same changes. The guy driving the truck had a jerky brake foot- I almost fell off the truck several times. I was 13 years old and they paid me $10 afterwards. Man, was I excited![This message was edited by Tony LaCroix on 21 July 2003 at 08:47 AM.]

Mark Krutke · Post by **Mark Krutke** » 21 Jul 2003 9:14 am

Erv,

It is a lot of fun. I played on a flatbed through a parade about 17 years ago. The fun part was trying to play and hold on at the same time...

Al Marcus · Post by **Al Marcus** » 21 Jul 2003 10:03 am

Yeah, many times. I had my students Guitar band on a float in Traverse City, in the National Cherry Festival Royal parade.

That was a Biggie Held for one week in July and half a million people showed up in that little town.

Joe Dolan had his accordian band on a float too. I have a picture of it somewhere. Maybe I can get Bill Moore to put it on my website.

My band "the tunetoppers" played at the Grand Hotel, in Mackinaw Island, MI and played also on a float in the Lilac Festival they had every year. These were the main biggies I remember.

That was in the '50's.We had good times playing in those days...where did the time go...al

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Al Marcus · Post by **Al Marcus** » 21 Jul 2003 10:06 am

Al Marcus · Post by **Al Marcus** » 21 Jul 2003 10:07 am

Al Marcus · Post by **Al Marcus** » 21 Jul 2003 10:08 am

this is coming up automatically. I had nothing to do with it.....bob!!!!!help!!!!al

Al Marcus · Post by **Al Marcus** » 21 Jul 2003 10:10 am

Mark van Allen · Post by **Mark van Allen** » 21 Jul 2003 10:18 am

Man, Floats! You guys are so lucky... when I play the annual "Corn Squeezins' Festival" parade, I have to play a few notes, pick up my amp and steel and run 30 feet, play a few notes, pick up my amp and steel... and then it takes a whole day cleaning the Horse pucky off all my extension cords. I do get my picture taken with the Grits Queen, though...

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C'mon by and visit!- www.markvanallen.com
My Bands: Sugarland Kate and the Retreads Kecia Garland Band Shane Bridges Band Dell Conner Blues Band

[This message was edited by Mark van Allen on 21 July 2003 at 11:19 AM.]

D Schubert · Post by **D Schubert** » 21 Jul 2003 11:59 am

My bluegrass band played for a Christmas parade (first Sunday afternoon in December) on the back of a stake bed pickup. It was about 35F and windy, and we all wore brown cotton gloves with the fingertips cut out. Even with a big propane heater hid up there amongst us, that had to be the coldest my fingers have ever been. Are we going to to it again next year? Don't know -- but we probably would if they asked us, because it was a hoot!

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 21 Jul 2003 12:55 pm

This float was pulled by a John Deere tractor and the driver wasn't the smoothest. I have a spring reverb in my rack unit and every once in a while, when the goin got rough, it would let out a racket. One of the kids on the float thought it sounded like someone was shooting at him!
Uff-Da!

Post by **b0b** » 21 Jul 2003 4:33 pm

Moved to 'Steel Players' section.

Alvin Blaine · Post by **Alvin Blaine** » 21 Jul 2003 6:01 pm

A few years ago the band I was in that played in the Las Vegas Helldorado parade. The band rode on a hay wagon pulled by a couple of draft horses. I played my old Martin OO-17 with a pickup and wireless on it, and rode one of my horses around the wagon while playing with the band. That was fun, but I don't think I could have done it with a steel. I've tried riding and playing Dobro on a horse and even that's tough. Acoustic guitar or mandolin are about the easiest to play horseback.

Don Patterson · Post by **Don Patterson** » 21 Jul 2003 7:18 pm

Back in the 60's I had to play bass guitar with a band on a pontoon boat while crossing the Ottawa River. A wave came over the bow and my amp, an old Supro ended up in about 3 inches of water. That amp had the power supply & 6L6's in the bottom. It didnt quit, and none of us was electrocuted. I still have the amp today, complete with the water stains to prove it, and it still works! Not on a float, but afloat anyway.
DonP

Chris DeBarge · Post by **Chris DeBarge** » 22 Jul 2003 4:58 am

I was once in a surf band, and we were to play on a float for a 4th of July parade on Cape Cod. Thing was, a bar was sponsoring this float, and me and another band member had to sleep in the bar in order to be sure we'd be ready at 8 am to start setting up. Well, as you can guess, locking two old drinking buddies alone in a bar wasn't the greatest idea. We came up with some interesting cocktails that night!

Anyways, got about 2 hours of sleep, the truck and trailer showed up. We had to set up, and play the parade, it was sunny and hot, we were still drunk. But the float took first place!

John Lacey · Post by **John Lacey** » 22 Jul 2003 6:18 am

Remember playing a parade about '76 in Saskatoon in the summer. The float stopped off at the bar we were promoting and took on supplies for the trip. I figured that I'd better avoid imbibing because of the long trip, but some of the guys had other ideas. Well, about half way thru the trip nature called with all that beer in them and the parade was stopped for a while. One guy tried to let go in a small hole on the float but got "stage fright" and clamped up. He finally jumped off and hit a restaurant.

Michael Brebes · Post by **Michael Brebes** » 22 Jul 2003 6:31 am

I've played three parades here in California, all back in '69/'70. The toughest ones were the two for the Morro Bay Rock-o-Rama because we had to go down Morro Bay Blvd, which happens to be downhill all the way. The first one wasn't too bad because we had a truck with sides. The second was pretty scary because we were on a flat bed lumber truck and had to nail everything down, drums, amps, mic stands. We strap a gas-powered generator underneath the truck to supply the power. The first year we actually won first place in the Band division for the parade. Once we got done with that route, we'd take the steep hill down to the waterfront and play there as well. We used it to advertise the dance that we had going on that night at the Vet's Hall.

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 22 Jul 2003 8:00 am

Back in my Southern California days I was playing steel with the Eddy Drake band. We were doing 6 nights a week at a club called NextTime Country in Covina. The club owned what they called a "Cadillac Truck". It was like a 1952 Cadillac which had been cut in half and added onto a flat bed truck which was about 20 X 8 on the bed. It had a generator and we did some Christmas Parades in Hollywood and Santa Monica and a couple of others. It was pretty cool. We'd set up in circle of sorts. My steel was in the back facing the rear. I remember we were cruising in the parade and a couple of young girls around 12 or 13 were walking along smoking cigarettes. I had a mike and yelled "Put out that cigarette". Man, they stomped on those butts and looked all around wondering who'd caught them. That was a really cool vehicle. I wonder if that club's still there and if the thing's still on the road. Have a good 'un....JH

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Livin' in the Past and the Future with a 12 string Mooney Universal tuning.

Doc Quinn · Post by **Doc Quinn** » 22 Jul 2003 11:11 am

Hi All; Don't ask me why or even how I still have photos from 38 years ago, I have no idea. It wasn't real easy to find them but we did! Back in the 60's a band we had was called "The Exotics", our saying back then was "Where The Action Is". We used to set up on a flat bed trailer that was owned by RC Cola (drummers dads truck) and do live shows outside at different businesses in town. During them gigs we used their power but, yes, we did also do parades. The drummers dad would put a generator at the rear of the cab and furnish us with all the power we needed. He built a air cooled box to put the generator in to limit the racket. No, not our racket, the racket from the generator, lol. Anuways, here are a couple of old photos of them days. I am the 16 year old cat playing the blue Fender Jazzmaster. The girls are my sisters, the bass player on the right is my cousin, the drummer was my bud as well as the other guitar player. Sorry about the quality....

Good ole days back then!!!!!

Doc

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you are bound to like one of them![This message was edited by Doc Quinn on 22 July 2003 at 12:13 PM.]

Roger Edgington · Post by **Roger Edgington** » 22 Jul 2003 3:39 pm

Many of our parades are on the San Antonio River at the river walk. So if you play one of these, you'll probably be on a small decorated barge. I've also played at rodeos where they pull the entire stage out into the arena at showtime with tractors or horses. Makes your bar movement challenging.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 24 Jul 2003 6:26 am

I was pretty lucky, my amp only tipped over once! At least my pac-a-seat was steady. I initiated my new Steeler's Choice, sidekick model and the extra length really made it sit solid on the float.
Erv

P.S. Thanks Doc for those pictures![This message was edited by Erv Niehaus on 24 July 2003 at 07:27 AM.]

frank rogers · Post by **frank rogers** » 24 Jul 2003 6:38 am

Just check out Woddy Allen as Virgil Starkwell, in the film "Take the Money and Run", playing his cello in the High School marching band. Nuff said. F.R.

joe long · Post by **joe long** » 24 Jul 2003 8:04 am

I played on a mobil stage for the Shriners for several years. Lot of fun. The unit had a 18 wheeler. The trailer was constructed as a mobil stage with all the generators to supply the power. Most import person is the driver. He is the one who gives you the smooth ride with no sudden stops. Those can be very interesting.

I will never forget the New Years Day parade in Dallas back in the mid 80's. It was nationally televised. Clear, brisk, beautiful morning. Temperature that moring for the form us was 15 degress F. I do not believe any of us was feelin any pain by time we finished.