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Post by roly on Jan 18, 2020 6:48:45 GMT -5
Three opening acts, all soundchecked, all happy. All rappers and a DJ. Headliner did not request a soundcheck...  Here's a cut and paste from an email I sent to the person representing the performers. "Keep in mind, I will not ask more of the monitors or front end that I feel they are capable of handling. I'm not saying it can't be real loud, just that there are boundaries I will not cross" Well, guess what....headliner wanted WAY more "trax" in the monitors than I knew they could handle and he wasn't remotely polite about his request Result...Roly goes up on the deck, get's right in his face and says "did you not read the email?" Headliner grabs me, his younger bigger brother assists him....brief tussle...bouncers intervene...no harm done. I am guilty of not being as tactful as I could have been but I have been at this long enough to know when tact is a useless tool. Lessons learned. !...Never assume all performers have had access to, and have read all email correspondence regarding the venue and it's limitations. 2...Never Not soundcheck the headliner. Life is challenging. cheers |
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Jan 18, 2020 7:20:41 GMT -5
Divas can go screw themselves into the wall. I don't care who they are.
Rule #1: Be Nice.
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Post by LM on Jan 18, 2020 7:37:02 GMT -5
Did their rider ask for green M&M's only and room temps of 69.25 degrees +/- .25?
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Post by roly on Jan 18, 2020 7:52:40 GMT -5
Nope....rider only asked for zebras on swings.
I said zebras were out of season but I could do giraffes..talent declined the offer.
Go figure.
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Post by Mfitz804 on Jan 18, 2020 8:39:43 GMT -5
Divas can go screw themselves into the wall. I don't care who they are. Rule #1: Be Nice. Sounds like one of those situations where, in a movie, you head butt the guy directly in the face. |
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Post by roly on Jan 18, 2020 8:51:40 GMT -5
The situation would have been very different had it happened twenty years ago.
Now, I'm just a skinny old weasel.
Oh well.
Still don't understand why they declined the giraffe offer, the venue has the headroom.
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Jan 18, 2020 9:51:26 GMT -5
Probably an insurance thing; they didn't have giraffe liability.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2020 23:12:48 GMT -5
Doing sound is one of the most thankless jobs in existence. I worked at a venue for a while that I really liked. Lots of great punk, folk, roots, metal, electronic shows. Everything but country went through that place. People were really cool and even the odd thumbs up was a welcome sign everyone was reasonably happy. It’s pretty tough at times to alter the laws of physics but aside from one night where a guy in the audience was critical of the eq for the kick drum I managed to make it through most nights with no complaints.
I also did sound as a volunteer for an arts society at a little coffee shop - open mic night featured the most finicky group of regulars I’d ever had the misfortune to tech for.
One night a regular asked for more monitor. Keep in mind this coffee shop was a tiny place. This person kept asking for more. Eventually the monitor was so loud I had the mains all the way down to compensate. Mission accomplished for 12 or so minutes.
The following week the same regular was up next, so I got things set like he wanted them the previous week. The reaction was the monitor was way too loud. Less monitor. Even after the monitor volume was all the way down they were still asking for less monitor. There was nowhere lower to go, so I pretended to twiddle a knob on an unused channel - apparently that made things better.
Of course the entire time this fiasco is going on there are people in the audience laughing, which was a bit uncomfortable to be on the receiving end of.
And that was just one person. I’ve never seen an open mic like it. Any that I‘ve played at you get up, plug in, do your thing, and next...
The only night these malcontents didn’t complain was the night I took the monitor out and hid it in a storeroom, and said it was broken.
I stopped volunteering. After that I stopped doing sound altogether. Maybe I should have a rider for a stage with a trap door with the lever at FOH. That might get me out of my shell again.
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Post by rickyguitar on Jan 19, 2020 0:03:17 GMT -5
I recall a couple instances that were compounded by language barriers. A middle eastern folk group who spoke no english and communicated with their tech in French who spoke some English. I was sent out blind with a system nowhere near what had been requested. It was tense. Another time it was Pete Seeger with a South American group whose government had collapsed while they were out of the country. Pete was trying to raise money for them. His part of the show went fine, language and cultural issues combined with current events made theirs a little less pleasant. Ah, the glamour of show biz.
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Post by LM on Jan 19, 2020 8:10:04 GMT -5
Years ago, one of our sound guys wore a t-shirt that said 'We need more talent in the monitors'.
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Post by roly on Jan 19, 2020 8:22:10 GMT -5
Can I use that line?
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Post by LM on Jan 19, 2020 8:30:45 GMT -5
Sure! It's not mine.  |
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