Andy
Honorary Member
Up front warning - adult material contained in the video!! Mods: Due to the family nature of this forum, I've chosen footage that doesn't show detail, unless viewed in HD & full screen. Even then, only the keen eyed will pick up anything.
Background:
As some of you will know, a member of our band crew, & very dear friend Oz (Austin), suffered a ruptured aorta on Thursday of last week. A condition that's almost always fatal, but he's still with us (albeit in a terrible condition). He's not likely to make it through this, but we had a gig this weekend, & the band decided that Oz would want us to go through with it, so we did.
The band members (& others at this event) are really cut up about this (especially his life long friend, our singer), so this was going to be tough call. I'm giving you this as background info, as this thread is not about Oz, it's about a very weird day, filled with highs & lows in equal measure. So this is my gig report, & I hope it gives you some idea of a fairly typical summer bike rally experience.
8:00AM - Start load up the trailer. No lighting rig this time round, but we do carry our full PA for this gig. We've done this event before, & even though there's a 12K rig already at the event, frankly, our 7K rig out performs it, + we get a proper sound check
10:30AM - Leave out.
12:00 midday - Arrive at the rally as appointed, only to find that the supposedly empty stage has an impromtu "band" playing, so we wait around for an hour.
1:00PM - Start to load the stage. We set up our PA stacks either side of the stage, strap everything down, cable up, mic the kit, then have to vacate the stage for the next act.
5:00PM - Scheduled sound check. Didn't happen because one of the organising committee member's nephew's band was booked in last minute!! They were rude in their approach too, & even had the cheek (after being very rude & full of themselves) to ask me if they could use my kit, oh, & our PA - erm NO!! Anyhow, the obligatory Saturn was wielded out c/w amazing tom angles. Drum sound was crap (suspect tuning).
6:00PM - Finally, we get to set up & sound check. We're headlining this event so we're not due on stage until 10:30. We retire to camp "Fired Up" for BBQ & beers.
10:00PM - Report to stage only to be told they want us to split our set after 45 minutes for the "stripper". We don't like doing split sets at a rally, as you lose audience momentum. The stripper is also a hard act to follow at an 80% male bike rally
10:30PM - We start our first set & complete that without issue. Our singer gives a little speech about Oz & his condition.
11:30PM - Stripper does her act c/w "assistants" (more on that later).
12:15AM - We go back on, then play until 2:00AM!
3:00AM - Start breaking down our PA & rear line gear as we had to wait for the disco + fire eating display to end.
4:00AM - Leave out for the home run.
5:30AM - Crawl into bed!
Video: Recorded with my Zoom camera from the desk position. It's probably 250 foot away from the stage, & set on full zoom, so a bit grainy (sorry). The stage is set up in a partially open sided steel sheet barn c/w return walls either side (any sound techs amongst you will smell reflection nightmare - & you'd be correct ). The audience are mostly outside the barn (off camera). It was damn hot outside (for the UK), but inside the barn was topping 100 degrees F, so only the brave (& bands) dared enter.
Start until 2:00 - The band rocking the last song before we had to break for the strippers.
2:00 - One stripper was booked, but she encouraged girls from the audience to strip too, & they did!!! Of course, this is dreadful behaviour, & should be discouraged. Said girls stayed in that condition for most of the night, & insisted on messing around on the stage while we played. Of course, we discouraged that at every opportunity
2:41 - (let's see how many of you get past this point Rock medley stuff. We have a medley section that we pull out for these events, always popular
5:00 - Oz's favourite song intro & band dedication.
6:12 - Our singer falls flat on his arse, but makes a very pro recovery. Scared us all for a few seconds, because we're all in "band member collapse" mode right now
Link - read opening warning - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNMsA49xZYM&hd=1
Photo's:
1/ Context photo showing the stage (daytime band), main PA to the outer extremes, our PA on the stage flanks, & the barn structure.
2/ Shot showing the desk position, & you can see my Zoom camera on the right hand side on top of a flight case.
3/ My kit, & you can see one of the reflecting wall structures facing the stage. It was so damn hot in there. No wonder the audience stayed outside (except strangely, when the stage was full of naked ladies).
4/ A little spy shot of my ebony stave acting as a test bed for a new strainer we're strongly considering. BTW, it was superb
Background:
As some of you will know, a member of our band crew, & very dear friend Oz (Austin), suffered a ruptured aorta on Thursday of last week. A condition that's almost always fatal, but he's still with us (albeit in a terrible condition). He's not likely to make it through this, but we had a gig this weekend, & the band decided that Oz would want us to go through with it, so we did.
The band members (& others at this event) are really cut up about this (especially his life long friend, our singer), so this was going to be tough call. I'm giving you this as background info, as this thread is not about Oz, it's about a very weird day, filled with highs & lows in equal measure. So this is my gig report, & I hope it gives you some idea of a fairly typical summer bike rally experience.
8:00AM - Start load up the trailer. No lighting rig this time round, but we do carry our full PA for this gig. We've done this event before, & even though there's a 12K rig already at the event, frankly, our 7K rig out performs it, + we get a proper sound check
10:30AM - Leave out.
12:00 midday - Arrive at the rally as appointed, only to find that the supposedly empty stage has an impromtu "band" playing, so we wait around for an hour.
1:00PM - Start to load the stage. We set up our PA stacks either side of the stage, strap everything down, cable up, mic the kit, then have to vacate the stage for the next act.
5:00PM - Scheduled sound check. Didn't happen because one of the organising committee member's nephew's band was booked in last minute!! They were rude in their approach too, & even had the cheek (after being very rude & full of themselves) to ask me if they could use my kit, oh, & our PA - erm NO!! Anyhow, the obligatory Saturn was wielded out c/w amazing tom angles. Drum sound was crap (suspect tuning).
6:00PM - Finally, we get to set up & sound check. We're headlining this event so we're not due on stage until 10:30. We retire to camp "Fired Up" for BBQ & beers.
10:00PM - Report to stage only to be told they want us to split our set after 45 minutes for the "stripper". We don't like doing split sets at a rally, as you lose audience momentum. The stripper is also a hard act to follow at an 80% male bike rally
10:30PM - We start our first set & complete that without issue. Our singer gives a little speech about Oz & his condition.
11:30PM - Stripper does her act c/w "assistants" (more on that later).
12:15AM - We go back on, then play until 2:00AM!
3:00AM - Start breaking down our PA & rear line gear as we had to wait for the disco + fire eating display to end.
4:00AM - Leave out for the home run.
5:30AM - Crawl into bed!
Video: Recorded with my Zoom camera from the desk position. It's probably 250 foot away from the stage, & set on full zoom, so a bit grainy (sorry). The stage is set up in a partially open sided steel sheet barn c/w return walls either side (any sound techs amongst you will smell reflection nightmare - & you'd be correct ). The audience are mostly outside the barn (off camera). It was damn hot outside (for the UK), but inside the barn was topping 100 degrees F, so only the brave (& bands) dared enter.
Start until 2:00 - The band rocking the last song before we had to break for the strippers.
2:00 - One stripper was booked, but she encouraged girls from the audience to strip too, & they did!!! Of course, this is dreadful behaviour, & should be discouraged. Said girls stayed in that condition for most of the night, & insisted on messing around on the stage while we played. Of course, we discouraged that at every opportunity
2:41 - (let's see how many of you get past this point Rock medley stuff. We have a medley section that we pull out for these events, always popular
5:00 - Oz's favourite song intro & band dedication.
6:12 - Our singer falls flat on his arse, but makes a very pro recovery. Scared us all for a few seconds, because we're all in "band member collapse" mode right now
Link - read opening warning - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNMsA49xZYM&hd=1
Photo's:
1/ Context photo showing the stage (daytime band), main PA to the outer extremes, our PA on the stage flanks, & the barn structure.
2/ Shot showing the desk position, & you can see my Zoom camera on the right hand side on top of a flight case.
3/ My kit, & you can see one of the reflecting wall structures facing the stage. It was so damn hot in there. No wonder the audience stayed outside (except strangely, when the stage was full of naked ladies).
4/ A little spy shot of my ebony stave acting as a test bed for a new strainer we're strongly considering. BTW, it was superb