Cold weather is not my friend. When the temperature drops below 60 degrees F, my friends look on laughing as I desperately search for a scarf and gloves. When I see outdoor gigs come up on the calendar in the months of April or October, I shudder. What if it rains, or worse, what if it snows? I’ve learned to pack for the situation: hoodies, rain gear, beanie hats, extra socks, gloves, snow pants, neck warmer. And that’s just for the plane ride. I’m exaggerating. No, I’m not. I’ve frozen my butt off many a cold January morning standing outside the terminals at JFK airport while the wind whips, waiting for our cartage company to deliver our fly gear. Thinking about it makes me want to put my head in an oven.
What can you do to make sure the gear survives outdoor gigs in the cold of winter? I’m not referring to winter gigs in, say, Florida, where they cancel outdoor activities if the temperature drops below 40 degrees F. I’m talking about that gig I did on Copper Mountain in early April 2005. The one where the next day, the region had a blizzard with 30 inches of wet snow and we couldn’t go home because the roads were closed. Yeah, those kinds of gigs.
Start Your Engines
The most important part of any gig is getting to the gig so ensure that your truck is up for the task. If you’re based in an area where winter temperatures routinely reach 0 degrees F, an engine warming blanket is a good idea, especially for diesel engines, which require higher temperatures to fire fuel than gasoline-powered engines. As with any vehicle, it’s a smart idea to check the anti-freeze, brake fluid, washer fluid and tires (snow tires and chains, anyone?). Getting stuck is bad enough. Getting stuck in the dead of winter can be downright dangerous.
When Liquid Crystallizes
By definition, LCDs use liquid crystals to display images, and they can be affected by temperatures below freezing. Most LCDs can withstand storage temps down to 0 degrees F, but recommended operating temperatures are generally above freezing. Using an LCD in temperatures below freezing can affect the quality of the graphics (poor contrast, black appearing grey) and can cause the response time to slow several seconds. This is not only annoying but could also result in a late warning from a power amp. Hopefully, firing up the console generates enough heat to keep the LCD happy, though there are other ways to keep the gear (and you) thawed throughout the gig. Tents with walls help retain heat at FOH and monitor world, but simply retaining the heat generated by your gear may not be enough. Plan your electrical requirements with enough “headroom” to accommodate space heaters in these areas, and make sure you have one or two heaters on the floor to warm your feet (if your feet are cold, you’re doomed).
When gear has been sitting in a truck all night and you load it into a venue, allow time for it to come to room temperature before you turn on the power. One of the wonderful things (not) I’ve learned about middle age is that my glasses fog when I walk inside after being out in the cold. Similarly, condensation can form on electronics that are brought into a venue after being stored in a cold truck overnight. Waiting for the gear to reach room temperature can reduce the chances of moisture causing a short.
It’s also a good idea to have a few of those space heaters dedicated to the truck or trailer. At the end of the gig you can put cold cables inside the trailer and let them warm while you do the outdoor work. By the time you’re done pulling down the hang, the cables will be thawed and ready to be coiled [Note: it’s probably best to avoid using forced-air propane heaters in enclosed areas because they can easily melt plastic. Save those for use on stage — but make sure they’re not blowing directly at guitar world!].
Cold temperatures shorten battery life, so keep batteries warm for optimum performance. One way to do this is to hold smaller batteries such as 9-volt or AA cells in your pockets, or use a cooler sans ice to keep them warm. Lithium-ion batteries have a significantly longer life in cold weather than alkaline cells. If you’re using rechargeable batteries, charge them full before using them in extreme cold. And please don’t use a microwave oven to warm them!
Isolate Yourself (And Your P.A.)
Standing on frozen ground makes your feet cold (imagine how it makes a subwoofer cabinet feel). Plywood or stage decking creates a thermal barrier between your feet and the ground, helping keep you warm. It can also help your subwoofers stay warm, and while you may not be worried about the subs getting cold feet, you should worry about the possibility that heavy subwoofer cabinets can freeze to the ground, especially if there are heaters nearby that cause snow to melt and re-freeze near the subs.
Slow-Start Your Speakers
Speakers generally don’t freeze, but if you’re worried that voice coils might be frozen you can wake them up gently by playing pink noise or music through them at a low level. That will give them a chance to warm up before you start sound-checking Iced Earth. Keep plenty of tarps handy in case of snow. You don’t want snow getting into your speaker cabs and turning to moisture, especially if they are powered speakers.
Beware of Urban Legends
One unpleasant thing about working in cold temperatures is that plastic becomes brittle and cracks. There’s an urban legend about a sound crew that wanted to load out fast after a gig (that never happens), and the mic cables were wet from liquid that spilled on the stage. They tossed the cables in a trunk without wiping them down and loaded the trunk into a truck. Overnight, the temperature unexpectedly dropped below freezing and those cables froze solid. Can you see where this is going? The cable insulation became brittle, and cracked when the guys tried to unravel them. And so, they had to wait… and wait… and wait for the cables to come to room temp — at which point they unraveled the mess and were finally able to patch the stage. Legend or not, would you want to risk it?
Steve “Woody” La Cerra is the tour manager and front of house engineer for Blue Öyster Cult
