My wild, weird weekend.....

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Bruce Weldy
Posts: 8301
Joined: Fri Nov 27, 2009 11:37 am
Location: New Braunfels, TX

My wild, weird weekend.....

#1 Post by Bruce Weldy »

Nothing important here, just some self-indulgent writing......

Got a call last Wednesday from Paul Rogers (no, not the one in Bad Company). Paul has been in charge of sound and production for George Strait for over 30 years. He lives here in our humble little town. Quick aside....he had no desire to run sound for another country band. It was about 1983 and he'd been on the road with Barbara Mandrell and Charlie Pride, but he was a rocker and really didn't want to take on another country band, but the sound company he worked for wanted to get Strait as a client, so they sent him.

He ended up liking the power of George's band and the Texas Swing they were doing, so he decided to give it a shot - now understand, George had not yet had a hit and was just starting to do some touring. As you can imagine, it was the best decision he's made in his life.

Anyway, on with the story. He's been doing some little sound jobs for grins at a venue here in town to help out the owner. They wanted him for this Sunday, but he was in Vegas with George. So, he asked if I could cover the show using his gear. No problem. I contacted the bands and put the show together - 6 bands from noon to 7pm. These are a pain in the ass with all the changing, but I wanted to help out.

Friday night rolls around and we are a dinner party when I get a call from the venue - they lost the sound guy who was supposed to do the Saturday night show, and could I do it. Of course, I asked what the show was.....well, it was another marathon - 5 bands from 6:30 to midnight. The only reason I took that show was that it was all acoustic acts with all of them coming together at the end of the night for a jam. Figured that would still get me out of there quickly to get some sleep before being back there at 10am on Sunday.

So, I show up at 10am Saturday since I knew I'd have to put the whole PA together since it had been used outside the night before. I got everything wired up using my board...ran monitors....set up 4 DIs and 4 mics for the finale. Everything got line checked and I ran home for 3 hours to eat and get cleaned up.

I kinda' figured that this would put me ahead of the game on Sunday since I would have everything in place and it would be an easy night doing a bunch of strummers and singers.

Headed back to the venue for an easy night of mixing......WRONG. Walked in to a drum kit, and a wall of guitar amps. I just about blew a fuse.....I would have never taken the gig had I known it was some acoustic acts and some full band acts.

So, after letting a few folks know my feelings about the matter.....I went to work. Fortunately, I had a stage snake in my truck that I was planning to use the next day. Quickly my shower and dry shirt were a thing of the past as I had to totally re-vamp the setup and get everything miked and sound checked.

One interesting tidbit was that one of the performers was Kyle Cook of Matchbox 20. He did an acoustic set with just him and a steel player, then an acoustic set with a female singer and another guitarist, then came up to play electric with the full band jam session at the end.

Got through all the acoustic shows and then the finale started.....three electric guitars on stage. I was hitting 110db at FOH without a single guitar in the mix. Just drums, bass, and vocals trying to keep up with the ear-splitting levels of three guitars.

I was pretty fed up with the whole thing....even though the show was a success......then to top it off they went almost 30 minutes past quitting time.....and I had to be back at the venue nine hours later.

I guess I should mention the system.....right? Well, it was Paul's powered QSC system. 3-way tops and single 18 subs. Had plenty of punch for that room and sounded pretty good. Monitors were K12s. So, no gripe about the PA. It sounded fine.

Sunday morning came around quickly and I headed back out to be there at the agreed upon time of 10am.....did I mention that the day before the person that was supposed to open up got there 40 minutes late? No? Well, I only had to wait 30 minutes on Sunday.....but, that's just the life of a sound guy, right?

Anyway, I had everything planned out for this 7 hour extravaganza, so technically it went much better as far as my temperament. However, it was every sound man's nightmare.....guitar player after guitar player that was playing classic rock, country, blues, etc....with the tone of a thrash metal teenager....ARRRRGHHHHH!

Finally, a young man got up there with a Les Paul and a nice tube amp, a drummer and a bass player - he made the day worth it. After the first song, I didn't have to touch a thing. 45 minutes of why I run sound - to get to make a great band sound good. Too bad it has to sandwiched into 7 hours of crappy guitar tone.

Don't get me wrong, the bands were not bad at all, but the guitar tones destroyed the performance. It's really hard to get a distorted, grungy solo over the top of the band....there are so many harmonics going on that you can turn it up to 11 and still not be able to discern the notes. Very frustrating.

Anyway, to continue this little story.....the greatest line came from a female singer who came back to thank me - she had a great voice and really killed it...

She walked up and gave me hug then looked at Paul Rogers, who was standing there with me by this time (he'd just flown back from his shows with George in Vegas this weekend) and asked, "Are you in the music business, too?"

6 - T39 3012LF
4 - OT12 2512
1 - T24
1 - SLA Pro
2 - XF210


"A system with a few knobs set up by someone who knows what they are doing is always better than one with a lot of knobs set up by someone who doesn't."

Grant Bunter
Posts: 6915
Joined: Mon Nov 28, 2011 11:12 am
Location: Ilfracombe Queensland Australia
Contact:

Re: My wild, weird weekend.....

#2 Post by Grant Bunter »

Bruce,
There's so many things to like about your post, and a lot to hate lol.
Kudos to you for doing it all, and making it happen, says a lot about you.

Yep it's great to make a great band sound great.
And yes, it sucks about the guitar sounds.

I couldn't help but read your post to my wife. She loves George, and Matchbox 20, and, I'd get into trouble for how saying just many years that has been for lol.
My wife's been with me on the road.
My wife said to say "all guitarists are show offs, they get louder and louder and louder". That was the clean version.
Perhaps present company is an exception hehehehe.

Anyway, thanks for the great yarn, sharing the experience, and all, but, despite the frustration, I hope you enjoyed it all and have a bit of an afternoon nap for the next week or so to recover...
Built:
DR 250: x 2 melded array, 2x CD horn, March 2012 plans.
T39's: 4 x 20" KL3010LF , 2 x 28" 3012LF.
WH8: x 6 with melded array wired series/parallel.
Bunter's Audio and Lighting "like"s would be most appreciated...

Bruce Weldy
Posts: 8301
Joined: Fri Nov 27, 2009 11:37 am
Location: New Braunfels, TX

Re: My wild, weird weekend.....

#3 Post by Bruce Weldy »

Grant Bunter wrote:Bruce,
There's so many things to like about your post, and a lot to hate lol.
Kudos to you for doing it all, and making it happen, says a lot about you.

Yep it's great to make a great band sound great.
And yes, it sucks about the guitar sounds.

I couldn't help but read your post to my wife. She loves George, and Matchbox 20, and, I'd get into trouble for how saying just many years that has been for lol.
My wife's been with me on the road.
My wife said to say "all guitarists are show offs, they get louder and louder and louder". That was the clean version.
Perhaps present company is an exception hehehehe.

Anyway, thanks for the great yarn, sharing the experience, and all, but, despite the frustration, I hope you enjoyed it all and have a bit of an afternoon nap for the next week or so to recover...
Your wife is correct about most guitarists.....however, I've run across some real pros over the years that just make your life behind the board really easy and satisfying.

While the whole experience was not something that will bring back fond memories, the remuneration was stellar.

And I don't need a long, tiring weekend to find time for afternoon naps nowadays. :mrgreen:

6 - T39 3012LF
4 - OT12 2512
1 - T24
1 - SLA Pro
2 - XF210


"A system with a few knobs set up by someone who knows what they are doing is always better than one with a lot of knobs set up by someone who doesn't."

NukePooch
Posts: 371
Joined: Mon Jun 30, 2014 8:07 pm
Location: Berea, Kentucky

Re: My wild, weird weekend.....

#4 Post by NukePooch »

That's awesome, man...Get it done, no matter what. :hyper:

I SO love the gigs where the drums just 'show up'... :roll:
Built:
4 Jack 112L- 3012HO, melded array
17.5 wide AutoTuba with Infinity 860w
6 Wedgehorn W6 w/ Panel Mount Piezos
2 T48 Slims (15" wide) with 3012LF
4 T48 Fattys (32" wide) with 3015LF

Grant Bunter
Posts: 6915
Joined: Mon Nov 28, 2011 11:12 am
Location: Ilfracombe Queensland Australia
Contact:

Re: My wild, weird weekend.....

#5 Post by Grant Bunter »

Bruce Weldy wrote: While the whole experience was not something that will bring back fond memories, the remuneration was stellar.
Arrr, something to ease the pain.
Bruce Weldy wrote:And I don't need a long, tiring weekend to find time for afternoon naps nowadays. :mrgreen:
True be that...
Built:
DR 250: x 2 melded array, 2x CD horn, March 2012 plans.
T39's: 4 x 20" KL3010LF , 2 x 28" 3012LF.
WH8: x 6 with melded array wired series/parallel.
Bunter's Audio and Lighting "like"s would be most appreciated...

Ryan A
Posts: 867
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2012 11:19 am
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Re: My wild, weird weekend.....

#6 Post by Ryan A »

Best story I've read on here. Thanks for sharing, Bruce.

Bruce Weldy
Posts: 8301
Joined: Fri Nov 27, 2009 11:37 am
Location: New Braunfels, TX

Re: My wild, weird weekend.....

#7 Post by Bruce Weldy »

Ryan A wrote:Best story I've read on here. Thanks for sharing, Bruce.
Thanks.....and you just inspired me to post another screed that I wrote a year or so ago.....

6 - T39 3012LF
4 - OT12 2512
1 - T24
1 - SLA Pro
2 - XF210


"A system with a few knobs set up by someone who knows what they are doing is always better than one with a lot of knobs set up by someone who doesn't."

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