Gig Report / 8 Live Acts 7 Hours: Difference between revisions

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I am constantly pleasantly surprised how quickly people on stage figure all of this out - by themselves.

This is a special group of people and I probably invest more with them as individuals than I might in a different group.

At least half of the people there are performers. Many of them will have their first experience in front of the L1s at events like this. I see every L1 related conversation as part of the arc of the story. If I can help someone to understand it when s/he is in the audience, then s/he will probably have a better experience with it on the stage. And it only gets better from there.

== Highlights ==

=== How was the music? ===

Flat out astounding. These were all great players that you find working the better and best local rooms and events in my town. There were funny moments too - the kind that happen in a friendly house.

=== I just can't take you anywhere ===

One of the smooth jazzers invited his girlfriend (a wonderful singer) to come up on the stage for a few songs. When she sang you could sense a quiet in the audience.

She did something really odd though. Whenever her boyfriend was soloing would tip up her arm (at the end of which was the hand with the microphone). This would leave the microphone resting on her shoulder pointed straight back at the L1™ behind her. There would be a little squeal, her boyfriend would give her a look, she'd sit up and hold the microphone in her lap and all would be good again.

The third time this happened he reached over, gently but sternly took the microphone out of her hands, and planted it with firm conviction in the mic clip on the stand.

=== Intimacy ===

One of the groups learned just how intimate the experience was with the audience. They were playing a little loud (at least to my ears). I asked them if they thought they could bring the people back into the room (as many had moved to the 'outer' space). One "Aha" and a "big grin later" there was a quick huddle on stage. They brought it all down a notch or two, drew the people in, and got them dancing.

== Setup / Teardown ==

In case anyone is wondering, I set no speed records here (at least not L1™ speed records). It took me just under 90 minutes to setup (including going on the web to look up how to mic the Piano, and then making that happen). That was 6 L1s, 12 B1s, an assortment of preamps and processors (including my mighty monster McIntyre rack with the G-Force processor), XT Live, and on and on and still more. The Remote, a mic, two XLRs and a ¼ inch cable leading to every mic stand (the 2nd XLR cable was in case we needed to mic something). I'm certain I could have done it faster if I hadn't hurt myself earlier in the week.

Twelve hours later, teardown took just over an hour. I was moving slower but didn't have to pause to think.

For those not familiar with what it does and doesn't take to set an L1™ stage - That's one person (who cannot lift more than 40 pounds) 90 minutes to set a stage for six performers and their instruments. This was up to six performers in 8 different acts. Then later 60 minutes to tear it all down.

Now that I'm in the mindset of what it might have taken to do this in other ways - it just struck me -

Every act hit the stage running. That is - no soundcheck - just, "Is everything working? Great, then do the intro and count 'em in"

I finally have everything back here and my space is looking normal again. The phone rings and guess what... we're doing it again in eleven days. It's a party for all those who didn't get to play at the first one.

The background to this story is in [http://shadowtoonz.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!5FBC981056CCCFC1!349.entry But I never wanted to be the Sound Guy]

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@@ Line 112: / Line 112: @@
 I am constantly pleasantly surprised how quickly people on stage figure all of this out - by themselves.
+This is a special group of people and I probably invest more with them as individuals than I might in a different group.
+At least half of the people there are performers. Many of them will have their first experience in front of the L1s at events like this. I see every L1 related conversation as part of the arc of the story. If I can help someone to understand it when s/he is in the audience, then s/he will probably have a better experience with it on the stage. And it only gets better from there.
+== Highlights ==
+=== How was the music? ===
+Flat out astounding. These were all great players that you find working the better and best local rooms and events in my town. There were funny moments too - the kind that happen in a friendly house.
+=== I just can't take you anywhere ===
+One of the smooth jazzers invited his girlfriend (a wonderful singer) to come up on the stage for a few songs. When she sang you could sense a quiet in the audience.
+She did something really odd though. Whenever her boyfriend was soloing would tip up her arm (at the end of which was the hand with the microphone). This would leave the microphone resting on her shoulder pointed straight back at the L1™ behind her. There would be a little squeal, her boyfriend would give her a look, she'd sit up and hold the microphone in her lap and all would be good again.
+The third time this happened he reached over, gently but sternly took the microphone out of her hands, and planted it with firm conviction in the mic clip on the stand.
+=== Intimacy ===
+One of the groups learned just how intimate the experience was with the audience. They were playing a little loud (at least to my ears). I asked them if they thought they could bring the people back into the room (as many had moved to the 'outer' space). One "Aha" and a "big grin later" there was a quick huddle on stage. They brought it all down a notch or two, drew the people in, and got them dancing.
+== Setup / Teardown ==
+In case anyone is wondering, I set no speed records here (at least not L1™ speed records). It took me just under 90 minutes to setup (including going on the web to look up how to mic the Piano, and then making that happen). That was 6 L1s, 12 B1s, an assortment of preamps and processors (including my mighty monster McIntyre rack with the G-Force processor), XT Live, and on and on and still more. The Remote, a mic, two XLRs and a ¼ inch cable leading to every mic stand (the 2nd XLR cable was in case we needed to mic something). I'm certain I could have done it faster if I hadn't hurt myself earlier in the week.
+Twelve hours later, teardown took just over an hour. I was moving slower but didn't have to pause to think.
+For those not familiar with what it does and doesn't take to set an L1™ stage - That's one person (who cannot lift more than 40 pounds) 90 minutes to set a stage for six performers and their instruments. This was up to six performers in 8 different acts. Then later 60 minutes to tear it all down.
+Now that I'm in the mindset of what it might have taken to do this in other ways - it just struck me -
+Every act hit the stage running. That is - no soundcheck - just, "Is everything working? Great, then do the intro and count 'em in"
+I finally have everything back here and my space is looking normal again. The phone rings and guess what... we're doing it again in eleven days. It's a party for all those who didn't get to play at the first one.
 The background to this story is in [http://shadowtoonz.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!5FBC981056CCCFC1!349.entry But I never wanted to be the Sound Guy]
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