This isn’t about a “small” stage, but about an “Unusual” stage.
Our band was booked to play at, what was described as “barn dance” When we arrived at the address it was a farm out in the country, and we were in fact playing in a barn.
When we enquired as to where we should set up, the boss pointed straight up to the hayloft, which was about 3 metres off the ground, and the only access was a timber ladder that was about 12 inches wide. At the time I was using a full size Yamaha console organ that weighed 140 pounds, so the prospect of getting it up into the hayloft was a bit daunting. We came up with a brainwave, and made a set of steps from a number of hay bales that were spread throughout the barn – perfect! We got set up & had a fantastic night. Except for two things. Being a hot humid night, in a tin shed with 100+ guests, condensation settled on the tin roof, and then started falling like rain.
Oh, and after we'd finished we went to climb down the hay bales with the gear, but people had been sitting, jumping & dancing on them, so they were flat. Fortunately we had plenty of helping hands to get the back down again.