Sabotage (but not the song)–

I value line checks. I learned a hard lesson nearly 20 years ago because of a couple of swapped inputs. There are two types of people; those who have either experienced the pain of a swapped input and those who will.

During a theater gig, I was doing line check before the last tech rehearsal and ran into a snag. It seemed as though the frequency of a few packs had been changed. The packs had been locked up, so I did not know how that could be possible. I finally checked the snake going to the wireless rack. Inputs were definitely re-patched. This made me appreciate the habit I had gotten into. All inputs were corrected before the cast had arrived.

The following show dates provided more opportunity to find a saboteur at work – everything from re-patched pit mics, changed mic patterns and monitors un-plugged from the amp rack. Now, I love a great mystery, but …..I prefer it to stays in a book that I won’t read.

Ultimately, in the market which I find myself working – educating clients is a significant portion of my job. I also have to remind myself that preperation and communication are key.

Blindsided–

Another gig that shows up on my “short list” was an painful case of mis-communication. This particular gig was sub-contracted out three and a half times. Each time that it was passed to a new production company details were lost and new ones were magically created. This hid the fact that tech-riders were being completely ignored. Hold on…Rewind for the ugly details. Part of the reason I am even documenting this is to remind myself of the pain I endured and what led to it.

As a backdrop for this gig, it is important to say that it occurred during a time when it was more important to get the gig and then worry about the details.

I was working for a SR provider whom I trust and was to be FOH for a local opening band and on monitor beach for the headliner. We had asked several times for tech riders, but were told that none were available and to not worry.

Load in was supposed to begin at 11:30a at a now defunct club. This seemed quite early to me, but it made more sense after I heard a rumor about a video shoot as part of the night. 11:30 came and went and it was near 1:30 by the time all the gear was in the building. The club was interesting and the smells were too.

The bands were scheduled to sound check at 2pm…but it was 3pm until we saw anyone that appeared like a performer. Then from the loading dock we saw not one, but three buses and one backline truck pull up. Obviously this was not the local opener / regional band that we were promised.

When the dust cleared– the tour included four bands…and a local opener. That’s right – FIVE bands in one night on one tiny stage with a sound check that was close to two hours late. I was made aware that our rig was not up to their rider. I had explained that we had requested a tech rider and were never supplied with one. I suggested we meet with the promoter so that he can make some decisions. Anyone know where the promoter is?? Hmmm….oh yeah, that’s right!—you guessed it… the promoter was in over his head and had bailed on the situation. JeeerrrrK!

Then, a nice slurry of explicatives were delivered to me. As if things were not frustrating enough at this point, an AMX controlled house PA turned on–pumping really painful dance music. No one at the club knew how to turn it off and told me that it turned on automatically at 5pm. Yay…5pm and nothing has been checked….bad with a single band…impossible with five bands.

I found an electrical panel and started flipping breakers until the pain stopped. I had one “David Navarro-whanabe” FOH / road manager breathing down my neck. He was the headliner engineer (yeah… that‘s right. The same person that did not supply a tech rider was the person who was complaining about it.) The level of gear that he stated their tech rider specified far out-weighed their professionalism, talent, and ultimately the venue they were playing. I reminded him that given the fact there was two hours before the doors open and five band’s gear to pack the stage with; we need to utilize what is already in the room. He grumbled and I decided it was time to have a “coming-to-Jesus” meeting in the bathroom (it was the only place we could really meet without tons of noise). After we calmed down and discussed realistic options (or lack there-of), he committed to salvage the gig. We did a sound check sans-lead vocal. The rest of the gear was stacked on the stage to be pealed back after each band. The doors opened 10 minutes late….but the marathon gig was off and running.

After five+ hours of painful death-metal later, my ears and the rig were ready for a rest. We loaded out and arrived at IHOP for a recovery session at 4am. We talked how the day could not get any worse….but by that time it was a new day and I found a parking ticket on my vehicle when I was going to drive home. It was the perfect end to the perfect gig. I learned that nothing is so pressing that it should trump demanding a tech rider…no matter how pud the gig seemed.

Since I am a blog newbie, I want to try and keep the pro audio theme central.  I hope to rant and rave about new gear and fun gigs.  I have finally resigned to the fact that pro audio is about 20% skill and gear, and probably 80% about red tape cutting, ego stroking, and wandering through the ever confusing maze of internal politics.  In “greener days,” I would have met the frustration with a nice big helping of sarcasm and condescending comments…and I am sure that would have helped the situation.
Recently I have had a few bad (the bad bad, not the good bad) experiences with this unnecessary sideshow.  Here are a few recollections of the events:

Change in plans
Recently, while working a theater gig doing a musical, I encountered situations I have never been in before.  I have been developing a relationship with the client and have been impressed by how much they have developed over the past couple of years.  We had a pre-production meeting which was productive and went well.  I was approved to secure/rent wireless for the show.  I immediately contacted a production house that I work with often for wireless rental.  I am confident in their gear and enjoy working gigs with them.  I committed to at least a dozen mics (the show really needed about 19-20).  The mics were now unavailable for other clients for rent.
However, the night before load-in, I was informed that a member of the production team had rented another wireless rig for the show.  WOW… that’s a new one…I never had to deal with this predicament.  My mind immediately had the need to create an analogy for this.  Because my name is on the line, I thought of a tight rope performer whose line was replaced with string because it was cheaper.  That sounds a bit extreme…but it was a show stopper for me.  Ten years ago, I would have freaked out and thrown a fit!  Ten or fifteen years wiser now, I asked to speak with the production team and explain the dilemma I was placed in.  Instead of dropping the gig, I was able to continue after we spoke of some contingency plans.
I know the owner of this supposed second rig.  He is a nice guy and friend to the production staff that contacted him without my knowledge.  While being cordial is great; I do not agree with his business and production approach.  We spoke and I explained that I respected his friendship with the production staff who contacted him.  I also committed to trying the wireless rig.  I let him know what “level” of performance would be acceptable.
Long story-short…in the end, I did not use the substitute rig because of what I determined as unacceptable performance.  We had a fairly successful show which followed the slightly revised original plan.  This would have not been the case if I would have walked out or complained instead of entering into dialog with the production staff.

Here is where I will try to share the drippings of knowledge I gain from interesting production experiences…some weeks will be marinating and juicy wet, others will be rather dry.  However, just about every situation offers up glimpses of truth that have not been made evident before.

standby….go, I will just dive in and feel the wrath of comment flames.  I will tolerate just about anything…but MAC elitists

cg