Batteries
There are certain items that no guitarist should consider leaving the house without. You can learn this the hard way, obviously, but it's a lot easier to just read our round-up of gigbag essentials. First on the list and leading the charge, it's...
Batteries
At some point in your fledgling career, you’ll be expected to power your pedals with an 18-gang plug adaptor that’s throwing off sparks in a waterlogged basement.
Avoid a bouffant-haired early grave by arming yourself with a bullet-belt of AAs and 9Vs - even if it does make you look like a cross between Rambo and the Duracell Bunny.
Strings and winder
When your top E pings - and it will - you’ve got about two minutes before the A&R scout slopes off and the crowd starts pelting furniture.
Travel with a multi-tool and you’ve got a chance of getting back in the mix before things get really lairy.
Business cards
Scatter them on pub tables. Press them into the palms of promoters. Slip them into the cleavages of Newport barmaids/men.
Just be sure they include your band name, contact details and social media links.
Cables
Few sounds are as ominous as the crackle, then silence, of your only lead dying on its arse - and few sights are more ridiculous than a grown man squatting next to his amp with a patch cable.
Bring at least three leads, and tape them up neatly to avoid looking like you’ve got a bag full of adders.
Super Glue
When the gigging gets tough, war wounds are inevitable. Make like Stevie Ray Vaughan and pack a tube of Super Glue.
That way, when your fretting hand gets sliced up like salami, you simply apply a drop to the gaping fingertip and return to the fray. Disgusting - but definitely good to know.
Capo
Your folky rendition of Here Comes The Sun is the highlight of your set.
However, if you forget to bring your capo out on the road, your frontman will have to sing in the register of either Justin Hawkins or Barry White.
Torch
Invaluable in so many scenarios, from replacing amp tubes on a darkened stage, to giving the drummer an impromptu cavity search and finding your way along the club’s back alley when the bikers turn nasty.
WD-40
Nobody quite understands the science behind this water-displacing miracle spray, but in layman’s terms, you spray it on something that’s knackered, from a squeaky kick pedal to a rusty van lock, and it’s immediately fixed. Also handy for Macing the drummer when he comes in at the wrong time.
Picks
Rivalled only by socks and Biros, picks are the world’s most easily misplaced item - and that’s before you start flicking them at attractive audience members.
Pack thousands of ’em, and line up the spares on your mic stand to avoid the nightmare scenario of having to perform the Sweet Child O’ Mine solo with those clumsy saveloys that you call fingers.
Duct tape
Like Sellotape on steroids, no road warrior should leave the house without a roll.
Not only is duct tape the best way to stick setlists to the stage, tape down cables, etc - it’s also ideal for tying penny- pinching landlords to lampposts until they cough up your share of the door. The Movielife once wrote a song called If Only Duct Tape Could Fix Everything - but it pretty much does!
