Next musical: "Little Shop Of Horrors"

oldskoolsoul said:

Nice..!

That looks like a very nice, atmospheric and cozy way of playing a gig in my opinion..

Also sounds like a pretty big audience and they sound enthusiastic too..

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It was a sold out crowd, and they were in the next room - which clues you in to how loud the applause was.

We've been having some real challenges with the space - the sound system is ancient, and the playhouse was never really meant to have a band in it. The offstage spot where we're set up leaks sound into the theater, so the patrons on that side of the theater were complaining that what they could hear from next door was overpowering the vocals from the actors. We've been futzing ith it all week, and hopefully we'll fix it before closing night!

From yesterday's show, here's the full lineup in action. (The video I posted earlier has subs for winds and keys 2 missing.)

L-R: Angela (winds), Ted (guitar), Steve (bass), Anna (piano/MD), Brady (keys 2), me (I hit things).

alparrott said:

From yesterday's show, here's the full lineup in action. (The video I posted earlier has subs for winds and keys 2 missing.)

L-R: Angela (winds), Ted (guitar), Steve (bass), Anna (piano/MD), Brady (keys 2), me (I hit things).

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Are you all on IEMs? I can't clearly see from the picture. Just wondering if a more "grouped" setup would be helpful in not.

Andy said:

Are you all on IEMs? I can't clearly see from the picture. Just wondering if a more "grouped" setup would be helpful in not.

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I am using IEMs (as is my custom for any gig with any amplification), and keys 2 has headphones available since he is right next to me; sometimes he slips them on for upbeat numbers where I'm laying into the kit a little harder. Everyone else has wedges in front of them. I argued that going all headphones would drastically lower the backstage volume, but there's no telling some people, I suppose. To be fair, the theater is not really optimal for live music performances to begin with - the sound system is antediluvian, and there's vents running directly over us that open into the theater, which means direct sound leakage.

Grouping up is not possible in the space, because we all have to be able to see the one monitor provided, plus the area in front of us also serves as a passthrough for actors.

I've noticed guitarists and bass players seem to have the most difficulty going to IEMs; something about the feeling of pure volume hitting their body while performing (I get it; playing drums as hard as you can feels better than playing as softly as you can). But eventually folks learn it's as much, if not more, about the audience experience than what you get out of it.

EDIT: Here's a video walkthrough of the kit that I shot yesterday between shows.

Well, it's over, the drums are home, and I'm happy to say we sold out every night of the last five shows. Got some rave reviews from theater folks and musicians, including some who've played the show before.

If you've ever wanted to try musical theater percussion, check out what your local community theater groups are doing. It has always been a rewarding and fun experience for me and I've learned a lot with every show, too.

Favorite songs from this show have been the title track, "Skid Row", "Git It", "Mushnik & Son," "Da-Doo", "Suddenly Seymour", "The Meek Shall Inherit", "Suppertime", and "Finale Ultimo" (yeah, I know, that's almost half the songlist! It's just that good a show.)

The one song I never really warmed up to was "You Never Know". The rhumba feel was very challenging for the vocalists and there was always a lot of push and pull.

Now to run some bleach through my head to cleanse the palate, and on to the next musical venture!