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This was a Relay for Life, benefitting the American Cancer Society. It was at Tulsa University. We were scheduled to play two 'sets' and one band dropped out a little over a week before the event. We went ahead and took their spot too. My wife was on the planning/event committee, and she didn't want to scramble for a last minute band. We also had a teenage girl singer and one guitarist that was playing a set - they were going to use our PA.
I showed up 4 hours before we were supposed to go on, and there were barricades with a county sherriff there. He wouldn't let me past. So I had park in the dropoff point, hitch a ride with a volunteer on a golf-cart (with my gear jammed on it) then walk back to the dropoff point then park my car a few blocks away and walk back.
Get to the stage - we were told it was going to be 16x24. It was 8 x 16. Thank God we're a three piece... wasn't even enough room for us and our lighting truss, so we adapted and it worked pretty well. It was tight on that stage though.
Also noticed that our power requirements are much less than we asked for, and it's 60' feet away from the stage. Ah, long extension cables... so we ran a little less PA and crossed our fingers.
We soundcheck after finishing setting up (the other guys in the band got there at around 9am) and while we're not 100% happy, it works.
Right after soundcheck we find out there's going to be a DJ... ok, we weren't told about it, but that's fine. He also hooks into the power 60' away (I had to loan him a spare extension cord I brought) and he's going to be doing announcements and such. Thankfully he was a cool guy and easy to deal with.
an HOUR before we go on the first time, three guys show up... they are in the band that cancelled. *!* They start planning how they are going to set up, and it's decided that it isn't going to work. Our stage is too small, we didn't bring enough gear to support their band (SEVEN piece band: three guitars, drums, keys, sax, vocals). They wish us a good show and leave after about 30 kinda tense moments.
We play our first set - and when I'm done my wife looks a little unhappy. I ask her what's up, apparently the band came back, and one member bitched out my wife while we were playing. Of course, they left just before we finished. I'm really glad I didn't have a confrontation with him at a charity event and that they did leave, but if I was down there he wouldn't have been talking to my wife like that. If I ever run into the guy we're going to chat about it, and that's all I'm going to say about that.
[img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]
We play our second set, having fun, then the teen singer's stage mom and I talk for a few. She decides that our drummer's gear (which barely fits on the stage) needs to be removed. basically she wants us to tear down all our gear. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] We don't. We set her up in front of the stage (outdoors gig) with her TWO guitarists. Yes, we had plenty of room if she had only one guitarist as was stated to us... but there was no place to put a third guy onstage. Stage Mom was pissed, but had to deal with it.
Teen girl does her set, sings along with a few karaeoke tracks where you can still hear the original artist underneath, and on her songs with her band... well, she tried hard. Her and her band were all high school students - one was playing a 12 string that went out of tune badly. (note to outdoor performers: 12 strings hate being played outside: and if you do play one, tune that sucker about 30 seconds before you start playing!)
After Teen Girl's set, Stage Mom comes up to me and the drummer/sound guy... says that she lost a few songs during the setup time, so we should let her play SEVEN songs over our last set. We look at each other, painful silence... then she says "I'll be back later, think about it" like there is anything to decide. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] She ends up not playing those extra 7 songs.
While we're playing our third and final set, Teen Girl has taken over a tent that was being used for auctions and is selling autographed photos and her band demo. At a charity gig. *!* They didn't seem to be selling many, but I wasn't watching it that close. Just seemed kinda unclassy to do. We made sure and didn't bring any merchandise, nor did we announce where we were playing or anything. The gig wasn't about US, it was about keeping the relay members entertained. We tried our best.
Anyways, sorry about the long post... thought some of you might find it interesting. If you do play benefits, keep an open mind be flexible - things are rarely what they seem, and things change a LOT from minute to minute. We still had a good time and it was a great cause.
Pete
I showed up 4 hours before we were supposed to go on, and there were barricades with a county sherriff there. He wouldn't let me past. So I had park in the dropoff point, hitch a ride with a volunteer on a golf-cart (with my gear jammed on it) then walk back to the dropoff point then park my car a few blocks away and walk back.
Get to the stage - we were told it was going to be 16x24. It was 8 x 16. Thank God we're a three piece... wasn't even enough room for us and our lighting truss, so we adapted and it worked pretty well. It was tight on that stage though.
Also noticed that our power requirements are much less than we asked for, and it's 60' feet away from the stage. Ah, long extension cables... so we ran a little less PA and crossed our fingers.
We soundcheck after finishing setting up (the other guys in the band got there at around 9am) and while we're not 100% happy, it works.
Right after soundcheck we find out there's going to be a DJ... ok, we weren't told about it, but that's fine. He also hooks into the power 60' away (I had to loan him a spare extension cord I brought) and he's going to be doing announcements and such. Thankfully he was a cool guy and easy to deal with.
an HOUR before we go on the first time, three guys show up... they are in the band that cancelled. *!* They start planning how they are going to set up, and it's decided that it isn't going to work. Our stage is too small, we didn't bring enough gear to support their band (SEVEN piece band: three guitars, drums, keys, sax, vocals). They wish us a good show and leave after about 30 kinda tense moments.
We play our first set - and when I'm done my wife looks a little unhappy. I ask her what's up, apparently the band came back, and one member bitched out my wife while we were playing. Of course, they left just before we finished. I'm really glad I didn't have a confrontation with him at a charity event and that they did leave, but if I was down there he wouldn't have been talking to my wife like that. If I ever run into the guy we're going to chat about it, and that's all I'm going to say about that.
[img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]
We play our second set, having fun, then the teen singer's stage mom and I talk for a few. She decides that our drummer's gear (which barely fits on the stage) needs to be removed. basically she wants us to tear down all our gear. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] We don't. We set her up in front of the stage (outdoors gig) with her TWO guitarists. Yes, we had plenty of room if she had only one guitarist as was stated to us... but there was no place to put a third guy onstage. Stage Mom was pissed, but had to deal with it.
Teen girl does her set, sings along with a few karaeoke tracks where you can still hear the original artist underneath, and on her songs with her band... well, she tried hard. Her and her band were all high school students - one was playing a 12 string that went out of tune badly. (note to outdoor performers: 12 strings hate being played outside: and if you do play one, tune that sucker about 30 seconds before you start playing!)
After Teen Girl's set, Stage Mom comes up to me and the drummer/sound guy... says that she lost a few songs during the setup time, so we should let her play SEVEN songs over our last set. We look at each other, painful silence... then she says "I'll be back later, think about it" like there is anything to decide. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] She ends up not playing those extra 7 songs.
While we're playing our third and final set, Teen Girl has taken over a tent that was being used for auctions and is selling autographed photos and her band demo. At a charity gig. *!* They didn't seem to be selling many, but I wasn't watching it that close. Just seemed kinda unclassy to do. We made sure and didn't bring any merchandise, nor did we announce where we were playing or anything. The gig wasn't about US, it was about keeping the relay members entertained. We tried our best.
Anyways, sorry about the long post... thought some of you might find it interesting. If you do play benefits, keep an open mind be flexible - things are rarely what they seem, and things change a LOT from minute to minute. We still had a good time and it was a great cause.
Pete
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