Here's the thing. Although I am shopping for a PA system of my own, I don't have a car, so bringing my own gear to a gig means renting a car, which means charging $25 extra to partly cover the cost of the car. So, I would like to be able to play acoustically or use the house system when possible.

My question is, how do I know in advance if one of these options is viable? What questions do I need to ask the person booking me?

I was thinking that if the expected audience was 20 or less, I could plan on playing without PA - is that a sound policy? Or should I be asking about the size of the room rather than the number of people?

And for the house system - is there a basic checklist of questions that I should ask before agreeing to trust it?

Thanks, Marion