I was told this tip by my buddy and colleague Nick Payn. The tip pertains to the ‘What Else To Take’ section of Road Rat’s Tips. Nick suggests that if you are playing an open-air gig in Summer, you should research the venue, and if it’s anywhere near water, take some insect repellent with you. When the sun goes down, stage lighting really attracts our six-legged friends.

Thanks for that Nick. I remember playing a gig in Italy that was quite near a lake. I don’t remember there being any problems during the show, but I do remember the trip being organised by an amateurish rock n roll promoter. A consequence of this was that our driver disappeared to ‘take his pleasure’ with a girl he’d met and we were consequently left sitting near a lake until nearly 4am. The mosquitoes had a field day and I was bitten to buggery. As you can imagine, I was not in the best of humour when our chauffeur eventually arrived.