39martind18
Friend of Leo's
I do miss the musical interplay with other musicians at times, but I find the cost, financially and emotionally/ mental (dealing with the idiosyncrasies of others) to be too high.
How Not To Advance Your Gig
- Thread starter Old Deaf Roadie
- Start date
Ben Harmless
Poster Extraordinaire
I'm having flashbacks to my live sound days. At one house where I worked, we used to rate things on "ohbytheways." This is a 95% ohbytheway. We also did the "turd to polish" ratio. This is not high on the polish side.
For those who don't know, the whole Van Halen, etc. M&M thing had a purpose. Trigger warning: I'm about to ruin the rock star mythos for you. The idea is that there are between 10 and 50 things on a stage that can kill you, and if nobody's paying enough attention to make sure the runner took care of the brown M&Ms, then nobody's overseeing the production crew, either. It's not a science, obviously, but it's not a whim, either. I'm sure plenty of TDPRIers can attest to this.
For those who don't know, the whole Van Halen, etc. M&M thing had a purpose. Trigger warning: I'm about to ruin the rock star mythos for you. The idea is that there are between 10 and 50 things on a stage that can kill you, and if nobody's paying enough attention to make sure the runner took care of the brown M&Ms, then nobody's overseeing the production crew, either. It's not a science, obviously, but it's not a whim, either. I'm sure plenty of TDPRIers can attest to this.
Fiesta Red
Doctor of Teleocity
Fiesta Red
Doctor of Teleocity
We booked ourselves to play a place that had a big stage—more than enough room for our 4-piece arrangement at the time, and about 3’ high, so you felt like you were really set up correctly…this was rare for the blues joints and Honky-tonks we’d played this far.
They didn’t have a PA, but that was ok, we had one and we could control who ran it that way.
Then, the day of the gig, I realized they had two duplex power outlets on the entire stage…two outlets that were overloaded with splitters that were running a bunch of neon beer signs…and I was mostly playing through single-coil-equipped guitars…that was gonna buzz like a freshman after his first six-pack.
Two outlets for a PA, two guitar amps, two powered pedalboards, a bass amp and a small powered mixer that was going into our (also powered) DAW (we were recording the show).
Dang. It.
Fortunately, they were on two different breakers. Some well-placed medical grade power strips, an extension cord taped along the wall that was plugged into another outlet away from the stage, and we made do…
I told the guy he needed to get more power outlets and get rid if the neon on-stage if he wanted to book bands.
To his credit, he did; when we played the second gig a week later, there were six outlets (on three breakers) and all the neon was behind the bar.
They didn’t have a PA, but that was ok, we had one and we could control who ran it that way.
Then, the day of the gig, I realized they had two duplex power outlets on the entire stage…two outlets that were overloaded with splitters that were running a bunch of neon beer signs…and I was mostly playing through single-coil-equipped guitars…that was gonna buzz like a freshman after his first six-pack.
Two outlets for a PA, two guitar amps, two powered pedalboards, a bass amp and a small powered mixer that was going into our (also powered) DAW (we were recording the show).
Dang. It.
Fortunately, they were on two different breakers. Some well-placed medical grade power strips, an extension cord taped along the wall that was plugged into another outlet away from the stage, and we made do…
I told the guy he needed to get more power outlets and get rid if the neon on-stage if he wanted to book bands.
To his credit, he did; when we played the second gig a week later, there were six outlets (on three breakers) and all the neon was behind the bar.
soundchaser59
Friend of Leo's
I play in a 10 piece tribute band....
drums
bass
guitar
keys
(that's 4)
sax
trumpet
tbone
sax
trumpet
(that's 9)
singer
(that's 10)
no way it would work with 2 keyboards. If we each play our parts correctly then 1 is plenty, sometimes more than enough.
I hear you, but we play some pretty big stages and it's just easier with cords and such strewn about not having to "run over to" a single keyboard ...
FabriceKaiser
TDPRI Member
My next one will be with Vibrogette on Friday 27th January at the Dublin Castle, Camden, London (UK, obv!)
Gear-wise, I'm thinking either my usual Classic Series '72 Deluxe Telecaster or my Squier CV 60's Tele Thinline... OR my J. Mascis Telecaster... I'll probably chose at the last minute.
Otherwise, amp-wise, I've had good results with my WEM Westminster 15 (best sounding and cheapest all valve vintage amp about because NOBODY knows about them!) so I'll stick to that!
Gear-wise, I'm thinking either my usual Classic Series '72 Deluxe Telecaster or my Squier CV 60's Tele Thinline... OR my J. Mascis Telecaster... I'll probably chose at the last minute.
Otherwise, amp-wise, I've had good results with my WEM Westminster 15 (best sounding and cheapest all valve vintage amp about because NOBODY knows about them!) so I'll stick to that!
