Need help on playing drums quietly

So here's the thing. Tomorrow we're playing a gig at a very small venue, I don't even think they have a proper stage. No unplugged thing, a proper gig with full pa except the drums aren't miced. The music we're playing isn't quiet most of the time, in fact usually it's quite loud. In order to prevent police from shutting down the club, the manager told us that the drums must be quiet, which pisses me off, cause I like to play the way I want, but that's not the thing. I just have no idea how to play REALLY quietly, not because of my style - I really don't beat the shit out of my drums - it's just that the music we play is loud and my playing has a lot of crashhitting involved and so on... And I don't want to play the whole gig with rods. So any help would be VERY MUCH appreciated, cause I'm a little worried. I think I can turn down the volume to a certain extend by hitting even softer, but still I fear it mightn't be enough and I just don't feel really comfortable or relaxed. Also, I think it's quite annoying to see your bandmates really rocking on stage while you have to just try to play really quietly...

I played a gig once that asked of the same thing.  To be honest, if you dont use rods, it's really hard.  To your point, you can just set your mind to say "Play Lightely" but I found that about 5 or so songs into the set, the crowd was getting into it and it made me play louder.  By the end of the night, we were playing at full volume only because the energy of the crowd got to us.  So yea...probably didnt help much, but it sounds like rods are the only option for you, even though i cant stand using them all the time during a gig.

For a one off performance I would think it would be easier to use brushes or rods rather than to try to change your technique.  Hoenstly...if you knew someone with an electric kit that would probably be the best way to go.
 
Good luck!

Thanks for your answers, guys. I guess eventually I will have to use rods, but I'll try playing with sticks as long as I can keep the volume down. Also, my bandmates don't really understand that it's not that easy to "turn down the volume" of drums, so that's annoying too. I'll just try to have fun on stage, no matter what happens...

To play the kick drum softer and for more control, try playing with your heel down.

Can you rent an electronic kit (if it is workable in your music), or one of those plexiglass sound barriers?  

First go buy small drum sticks like a 7A or Regal Tip's Jazz model if you don't want to use rods or brushes, then drape hand towels across a portion of your drum heads to dampen them. As Power Ranger said play the bass heel down. Unless you're playing in a closet this should cut the sound down.

Don't change your technique so you can play with sticks, that will end up just pissing you off (trust me!)
 
Get some rods and/or a sound barrier so that you can still play at your usual level of ownage, otherwise you will find yourself not being able to play things you want to play because you are too concerned with playing quietly
 
Best of luck! 

i can relate to this BIG TIME
unfortunately or not, I am literally the LOUDEST drummer on the planet - no joke
as a big dude 6'2/220, lean, very athletic, i've always CRUSHED the drums and cymbals and left many a band member with a hearing issue!
 
this has ALWAYS been a big issue with my band now, who i have been with for 11 yrs now.
while we are moderately successful in the ultracompetitive SF scene, we still play clubs and the like and the volume was always an issue
 
UNTIL, maybe 5 years ago i got the metal drumsticks that you see advertised
no, i don't play LOUDER now, i play softer
this happens because these sticks force you to control them with your fingers and wrists, and that is where the sound truly comes from
my dynamics are truly pro level now, and i literally credit ALL of it to regular practice on the pad with these sticks - mostly rudiments, maybe 15 minutes 4-5x/wk
the level of control you learn on the drumsticks will enable you to play at any volume around the kit
since this revelation, the band has (not surprisingly...) gotten a lot more response in a live setting because people aren't getting their ears blown out
 
obviously this won't fix ur problem tomorrow, but as a long term solution, i don't see how these things can be beat for speeding up the learning curve on dynamic control