I played at a venue in the Lake District last year, which I won't name.
It had a ready-set up PA and lighting rig in a new outbuilding. Plus an InHouse 'soundman'.
This was fine, except that the legs on the lighting tree and the power amps for the PA were situated at stage
right where (ideally) the bass rig would go. he had mic'ed the drum kit up and had cables running over the
space where the bass rig belonged.
The result was that I had to forcibly cram my rig in, after muttering about having to putting it back in the van
(along with everything else) and the sound engineer having a truly enormous and childish sulk. The 'sound
engineer' then proceeded to get us the worst imaginable sound (it was all mid) and then moaned that a bank
of 4 small stage lights that I put on top of my bass rig got in his eyes from the back of the room, as they pointed
forward. What a control freak prat.
That was really a trip not worth making. The landlady actually later sent me an abusive message through
another site because I had upset the sound engineer. In addition to this she went on at length that my
old band had cancelled 3 shows at a venue she had previously had (NOT my decision) because her idiot
husband led the chants to boo bands off there. She needs to get a grip.