Toddy Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Do you have humorous band van stories to cheer me up, Bless our Sprinter, today the power steering pump has fallen off, dunno how the heck to get to Wales for Fri ! and I'm sat ere feeling pretty fed up,,last month the alternator packed in,, door fell off in Yarmouth a while ago,, ignition packed in ,, wipers flew off the other night,,, arghhhhhhhh,,,,, to be honest she does pretty huge mileage,, actually reading this back sounds like a clown van.. Saying that, we have had hours of fun on the road,, plenty of water fights on the A1,, oh but we do have to carry tomato sauce,, cos the bleedin sat nav has a chip on its shoulder,,especially the last ten miles to the venue and takes the country route. Please tell me its not just us !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorick Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Don't buy French......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Back in the late 80s I was in a band that did many gigs, all over the country. One day we had a gig in Bolton, but the brakes on the van had gone. So the singer/guitarist, whose van it was, set about changing the pads. But, with time running out, and only one set changed, he decided we needed to get on the road. Now I wasn`t getting in a van with brakes on only one side, so me and my mate went up in my very stylish Ford Capri. Got to the gig, thinking the band would soon be with us. The rider appeared in the dressing room, so my mate and I ate all the tuna & cheese sandwiches, leaving the ham and beef ones, knowing full well that the rest of the band were vegetarians (we were not, btw). Anyway, about an hour later, the rest of the band arrived. The singer came up to us and asked how long we`d been there. On hearing the reply of an hour, he launched into what he thought was a fearsome b*ll*cking, stating that if we had a route planned out, we should have kept him in eyeshot, so he could follow us. I replied that my route was following the road signs, and he was welcome to do the same. For some reason, the tw*t had driven the rest of the band to Liverpool. My mate and I couldn`t stop laughing for the rest of the evening. I think they enjoyed their sandwiches of, well, bread, but not too sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 (edited) 2007. My band of the time has a gig on the Isle of Arran. The band are split between the band van (containing PA, instruments, gear, manager, band members, hangers-on and roadie) and my car with a couple of other band members who need to be back to Newcastle the following day bit quicker for various reasons. The next day, we dash off ahead of the van, and stop at Happendon Services for coffee and cake. The phone rings - it's our drummer, who tells us that for some reason, the van driver decided to go home via the back roads (we predicted this - it's partly why we took the car). He can barely contain his amusement as he tells us what happened next. [quote]Evening Chronicle, 2007 Singer Peter Donegan leapt for his life when his tour van careered out of control and plunged into a river. The son of the legendary king of skiffle Lonnie Donegan managed to throw himself out of the front passenger door of the van just before it crashed through a picnic table and hurtled into the river. Unmarked after cheating serious injury, he could be excused for pausing to thank his lucky stars. But Peter, 23, was more concerned about his dad's guitar and banjo which were in the back of the van. Peter was travelling back to the family home in Bedlington from a gig on the Isle of Arran in a group of five people which included his mum Sharon and former Lindisfarne drummer Ray Laidlaw on Sunday when they stopped at a picnic spot near Dumfries in Scotland. The van started rolling down the hill towards a river with Peter in it. He said: "I just jumped. It went through a picnic table but fortunately no-one was using it. It went down a little embankment and into the river nose-up which saved the equipment in the back. "The engine compartment was flooded and there was water in the front of the van. If I had stayed in it I would have gone through the windscreen. It all happened in an instant. I tried to grab the handbrake but it was too late and I just managed to jump out of the vehicle before it toppled into the river and sank. "My first thought was that I had my dad's guitar and banjo in the back of the van. They are 50 years old and priceless, Fortunately when they pulled out the van and opened up the back they were all intact." [/quote] Edited April 4, 2012 by wateroftyne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roland Rock Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 [quote name='yorick' timestamp='1333518525' post='1602703'] Don't buy French......... [/quote] You talking about the Sprinter? That's German, surely. Or maybe they are just words of wisdom based on your own experience? [quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1333520453' post='1602711'] For some reason, the tw*t had driven the rest of the band to Liverpool. [/quote] I blame lack of meat. A carnivore would never have done that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nottswarwick Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Always transits, always got us there, still do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiamPodmore Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Not really a van story but try fitting the whole band, plus our guitarists mother, in a Ford Galaxy along with our PA, 2 guitar combos, bass combo, and drums (5 piece with all hardware and cymbals too), 2 guitars, and 2 basses. Singer had a kick drum on his lap for half the trip, it must've been quite a sight for any onlookers. Liam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Piss bucket fell over once or twice. That was grim cos people used to throw up in it aswell. There might have been some certain sanitary and contrceptive things in there aswell. At the time, we had a driver who would literally refuse to stop until we got to the venue. This meant, seeing as we were a metal band and therefore unkind to our bodies, we'd drink lots of beer and get messed up in the van and deal with the consequences in the van aswell. Heady days...gross days. Once, the singer was leaning out of the window shouting abuse at some pedestrians and the door flew open. Hilarious but he suffered a couple of broken ribs because he was balancing on his ribcage as the door was swinging about. Serves him right, he was always a bit of a helmet. Truckstop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Coming back from a gig in London with SugarBox, we had the singer, guitarist and drummer in the van with the gear, I was in our sound engineer's car with his girlfriend and her friend. Coming out of London we stopped to fill up with petrol and I paid for what was put into the car. Imagine my surprise when we spluttered to a halt just off the M1 on the A453 just by the power station, because the sound engineer not wanting to abuse my generosity hadn't put enough petrol in the tank to get us all the way home! Leaving the girls in the car we set off towards Clifton with the petrol can. Luckily a car stopped and gave us a lift all the way (some 5 miles) to the petrol station and back to our car. By the time we got back to my house where the gear was stored the others in the van had been waiting for over an hour. This was in the days before everyone had mobile phone so there had been no way of letting them know what had happened. TBH had we had to walk all the way to Clifton instead of getting a lift, I would have probably kept on walking to Nottingham until I found either a taxi or an early morning bus. IIRC it was after 6.00 in the morning by the time we got the van unloaded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benplaysbass Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Transit van all the way, back bone of Britain so they say. Never had any problem that couldn't be fixed or bodged on the quick to get me where I'm going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 [quote name='Benplaysbass' timestamp='1333530340' post='1602827'] Transit van all the way, back bone of Britain so they say. Never had any problem that couldn't be fixed or bodged on the quick to get me where I'm going. [/quote] So no stories? Truckstop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mylkinut Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 No problems myself, but my Mum was in a band that used a knackered late-60s Transit none of them could afford to fix. The back would be filled with band members, equipment and several gallons of water to cool the engine every 2-300 yards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorick Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 [quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1333526044' post='1602755'] You talking about the Sprinter? That's German, surely. Or maybe they are just words of wisdom based on your own experience? I blame lack of meat. A carnivore would never have done that Had a series of French vans in a band in the mid 90's all went FUBAR in a very expensive way....... [/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyf Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 In all the years of playing, I've only ever done the van thing a handful of times as the bands I'm in have always used separate cars for the "fast getaway". However, the one trip I do remember was being in the back of a van on a 30 odd mile trip up the A38 to Barton-Under-Needwood just south of Burton-Upon-Trent. Nothing spectacular apart from being driven at near light speed as we were running late. Me, the guitarist and the drummer in the back of the van, all closed off from the cab, uncomfortably wedged between gear and having only having the dim internal lights for illumination. There was this constant nagging fear of knowing we were travelling at stupidly dangerous speeds but unable to do anything about it and the realisation that if anything went wrong, it'd probably not be pleasent for all concerned. The worst thing though was the travel sickness though. That rush of freezing air as the van doors opened and the realisation that I was still alive and had managed to keep my dinner down. Bliss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benplaysbass Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 [quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1333530478' post='1602829'] So no stories? Truckstop [/quote] Only that I could link this topic to the thread on Gaffer tape, rubber floor mats are also good for hiding holes in the floor. But other than that it was just a recommendation for Transit Vans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gust0o Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 My mate has a van called Nelson Vandela - it's some old railway services van, with portaloo in the rear. Classy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiamPodmore Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 [quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1333533351' post='1602904'] My mate has a van called Nelson Vandela - it's some old railway services van, with portaloo in the rear. Classy [/quote] Suppose it's better than a p*ss bucket in a corner, and i just love that name. Liam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gust0o Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 It has a touch of death about it, but do agree it's a boss name Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benplaysbass Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Not sure about having a p'ss bucket floating around in the back, we used to just open the back door whilst in motion. Windows are alright but you have to watch the wind doesn't blow it straight back in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyf Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 [quote name='Benplaysbass' timestamp='1333537371' post='1603020'] Not sure about having a p'ss bucket floating around in the back... [/quote] Glad it's not just me thinking that. I mean, where's the problem with stopping the fckn van in a layby for a "slash and dash" rather than risking dysentery. Euk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 There was one time my band rented a C-20 (Chevy's 'Transit') from Rent-A-Wreck to go do a weekend of rehearsals up in the mountains in the middle of Pennsylvania. Me and the singer got back approx. one month later with the van on a trailer, all the windows busted out, every panel bent and even some bullet holes in it. Long story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Well...? Truckstop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomProddy Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 [quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1333538078' post='1603054'] Long story[/quote] Do tell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 [quote name='RandomProddy' timestamp='1333539561' post='1603108'] Do tell [/quote] Indeed, there's no escaping now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiamPodmore Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 [quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1333538078' post='1603054'] There was one time my band rented a C-20 (Chevy's 'Transit') from Rent-A-Wreck to go do a weekend of rehearsals up in the mountains in the middle of Pennsylvania. Me and the singer got back approx. one month later with the van on a trailer, all the windows busted out, every panel bent and even some bullet holes in it. Long story. [/quote] Did you get your deposit back? Liam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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