After a decade or so of touring, I’m eternally surprised at the sheer variety of problems that I get confronted with on the road. It seems there’s no shortage of new and creative ways that things can be mishandled, plugged in incorrectly, and perhaps even not plugged in at all. It’s important that we develop a skillset of improvisation and problem solving…. These days, I have a global labeling system in my programming so that anyone who sits down at my console is able to understand the system and apply it to the rest of the show. If I can’t be there to load a truck, I make sure a trusted associate confirms everything is on there for me. And being flexible in the face of adversity — such as a tropical storm or another unpleasant force of nature — makes the unexpected infinitely more tolerable.
—Craig Rutherford, from LD-at-Large, PLSN, April 2015
