This weekend was really grueling. It took about half an hour to load the drums, (quick by usual standards, but it was a small set). We then had to drive 5 hours to the border. We got to the hotel around midnight to find out that the client wanted to see us at 7am, (which meant missing breakfast!). In the morning we found out the client was meeting is us at 8am, so that wasn't quite so bad. Still very tired though.
We drove to the venue and set up (an hour or two) then had a sound-check, which involved standing around for what seemed like an eternity. I noticed during the check that we were on an elevated stage with crawlspace and that the drums lacked any resonance. The sound just died. I didn't dwell on it too much though, as I assumed the professionals would fix that. We came back to the hotel to freshen up and a quick card game before heading back.
We got lunch, we changed, we hung around a bit more. The show was running late (Let's face it, when have you ever known a show to run to schedule?) A decision was made by the organizer to cut our first performance and go straight for the 20min slot. We had to do some very quick, last minute workarounds. Rework the songs to fit the slot and incorporate the big drum in there somewhere!
The performance went OK (I think), but (at least to my ears) the sound was horrible. It was also really hard for me to hear the other drums (I never thought I'd ever hear myself saying that). We played in a dark hall with computer-controlled spots and floods flashing on and off at intervals. It looked kinda swish! For the first song I had a videographer in my face... lovely!
Then it was back to the changing room and wait for the show to finish so we could pack up the drums. 5 road hours later we get back to base and unload. One of the drum containers was broken in transit. Should be an easy fix though. Nothing major.
At least no smashed thumb this time and I managed to hang onto my drumsticks!
We drove to the venue and set up (an hour or two) then had a sound-check, which involved standing around for what seemed like an eternity. I noticed during the check that we were on an elevated stage with crawlspace and that the drums lacked any resonance. The sound just died. I didn't dwell on it too much though, as I assumed the professionals would fix that. We came back to the hotel to freshen up and a quick card game before heading back.
We got lunch, we changed, we hung around a bit more. The show was running late (Let's face it, when have you ever known a show to run to schedule?) A decision was made by the organizer to cut our first performance and go straight for the 20min slot. We had to do some very quick, last minute workarounds. Rework the songs to fit the slot and incorporate the big drum in there somewhere!
The performance went OK (I think), but (at least to my ears) the sound was horrible. It was also really hard for me to hear the other drums (I never thought I'd ever hear myself saying that). We played in a dark hall with computer-controlled spots and floods flashing on and off at intervals. It looked kinda swish! For the first song I had a videographer in my face... lovely!
Then it was back to the changing room and wait for the show to finish so we could pack up the drums. 5 road hours later we get back to base and unload. One of the drum containers was broken in transit. Should be an easy fix though. Nothing major.
At least no smashed thumb this time and I managed to hang onto my drumsticks!
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