Members StratGuy22 Posted July 9, 2014 Members Share Posted July 9, 2014 Well tomorrow I'm nailing down the details for a gig in a couple weeks. We have a local festival that runs Fri - Sun. It's grown over the years. I provided sound the first 3 years for second stage. The first year I physically ran both stages, when the volunteer who was going to run main stage freaked out and quit on the spot. So it was back and forth for me all weekend, a nightmare. I made it work and we made it through the weekend, to a grand total audience of 150 people. The next year we had, 300, then 750. It was the 750 show that was my last providing for them. Next it was 1500, then 3000, and 5000 last year. This year they are expecting up to 10,000 people. They were always thankful for my work and understood when I let them know it was bigger than I could handle. The first year, second stage was in the beer tent and when it was all said and done, about 2 dozen of us stayed in the beer tent and partied and jammed until 6:30am. It was for us, after all the insanity was over. 2 years ago the idea of an open mic came about, and we talked about it but I ended up taking a pass as there was no money in the budget for it. My argument was I knew they were paying $25k for lights & sound, everyone was getting paid so I just couldn't do it for free. I said do what you can this year, and I'll help out, and budget for it next year. I helped a buddy who was able to scrape together some gear and it went well. They did budget for me to do it last year and it was a blast. The open mic started in the beer tent once main stage shut down at 7pm. It ran until 4:30 and was a blast!! Basically the first few years we took anyone we could to fill the stage, then once things got bigger they could pick and choose. The open mic brought a local aspect back to the whole thing, and lots of people commented that it was their favorite part! So I'm doing it again this year. Here's a couple videos from last year: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted July 9, 2014 Author Members Share Posted July 9, 2014 Another couple videos. Again these are just randoms coming together to jam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted July 9, 2014 Author Members Share Posted July 9, 2014 One more: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted July 9, 2014 Author Members Share Posted July 9, 2014 I've never suggested my band or suggested it to my band because I know we cost more than they pay the smaller acts ($500) but I worked out a deal for this year. I'm providing sound for the open mic at my rate, and my band will open up with a 30 - 40 minute set to kick things off as people make their way over from main stage. So the band will get a weekend pass for each member, which works out to about an $800 value. I'll get a pair because I'm providing as well. So in past years Friday has always been a big bottleneck getting into the festival. This year they are going to be loading trailers in on Thursday to relieve some of the load on Friday. They were thinking of getting 3 bands from the city and I was going to provide with my rig on main stage: that's a Meyer rig in the pic, I'll have my 5000W yorkville rig, no comparison but its just to have something for the people that are pulling in on the Thursday. Now I hear that they aren't able to get the original 3 bands so I'm going to talk to them tomorrow about my band playing the whole night. Normally we are $1600, but I talked to the guys and they are cool with another round of weekend passes and $100 each. So I'll start at $700 and the passes and settle for $600 if I have to. It will be a fun night, and we can play for as long as needed. It will be a good weekend if it all works out. Playing Thursday, taking in the festival fri sat and Sunday, then doing our thing Sunday evening. I have fri - Monday off, and I can set up wed after work so there's less rush on Thursday. Wish me luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted July 16, 2014 Author Members Share Posted July 16, 2014 Well they agreed to the less money and another round of passes so that works out. Our singer is going to be driving 8 hours today to get here. We are setting up tonight after work so there will be less work tomorrow. Hopefully sound check tonight as well. Then tomorrow we party from 9pm - 1 or 2am. It will be a fun one!! Got the last details from a wedding the weekend after, $1300 for that job. I wish playing in the band paid that much to each member. But it is what it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted July 19, 2014 Author Members Share Posted July 19, 2014 The gig went really good. A bit of rain, but it passed soon enough. We played from 9:30 - 2am, with only 1 break. This was the last song of the night. The hard part of the night, was tearing down and loading out that night. They wanted to load in at 8:30am. We were down and out in about 2.5 hours. Hella tired today. Got home, loaded out my lights, and loaded in my drum kit so my trailer is all ready to go on Sunday. Here's the last song of the night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wesg Posted July 21, 2014 Members Share Posted July 21, 2014 Am I the only one who cannot see any videos? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted July 22, 2014 Author Members Share Posted July 22, 2014 There's just the one. Here's the link... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted July 23, 2014 Author Members Share Posted July 23, 2014 The open mic went great as well. We went until 4am. Finished loading out around 6:30. Went home, and had a nap. Then, I loaded out the Subs & tops and shop vac'd the grass off them, and wiped down the grills as well. Then I loaded in my light rig for this weekends wedding DJ gig. We decided as a band that we wouldn't play it again unless we got our full rate as its just so much work to load everything in and out. So we will see what happens next year. If they agree to our full rate, then great. If not that's ok too. We will just take a pass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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