I am currently on a smaller tour, carrying only a floor package for theaters and small outdoor venues. Every morning I wake up to a new room, new fixtures, and new people. This requires extra planning, cloning, and innovation. To showcase the sweeter side of touring life, I’d like to take you through a day of gratitude for all the little things that make a big difference on tour.
Morning
Today, I woke up at 8:25 a.m., just before my alarm clock went off. The obtrusive DVD players in the bunks have been removed so that my condo bunk is as spacious as possible. I rolled my feet out of the bunk onto the clean floor in the bus. My shoes were right there at my feet. On this tour, we keep the shoes in the alley, and no one seems to mind. I grabbed my shower bag and went into the back lounge. The lock worked. Locking the door to the back lounge gave me just enough time to change out of my pajamas into last night’s clothes without anyone walking in on me. I’m not embarrassed, but it’s uncomfortable to walk in on a co-worker changing. The bus was parked so close that I got off the bus and took 30 steps to the venue. My PM had already texted me the code to the stage door. The first towel I found was a clean, brilliant white—not too soft and not too scratchy. Perfect for the sensitive roadie type. The temperature and water pressure were perfect. There was even cruelty-free, non-toxic, all-natural shampoo available in the stall. After my refreshing shower, I walked over to catering and enjoyed a delicious breakfast of plant milks, high-fiber cereals, peanut butter, and ripe avocados. As I went to check my morning emails, I recognized that the password to the Wi-Fi was clearly posted on the wall in several places. As I went to enter the code, a notification popped up that one of my contacts had already shared the code with me. Who could ask for more?
Load-in
After a pleasant breakfast, it was time to move to the stage. We had already advanced the show two weeks prior. I had a pretty good idea of what I was walking into. I didn’t expect the extra touches. The house lighting director greeted me with a hearty handshake and a smile. I even went in for the bro-hug. He showed me the best place to securely hang my backpack on the wall upstage right. He seemed to know what my questions would be even before I asked them. “There is a 200A disconnect upstage right, we have an in-house FOH snake with everything you need, and my MDG hazers are on a balcony 10’ above stage right and left” was music to my ears. The encore was when he mentioned that he had the same console that I was carrying, so I could leave mine on the truck. He quickly introduced me to the local crew who would help me load-in my floor package. They were all eager to help but not overly imposing. I gave them my plot and the lead lighting tech connected the dots quickly. There was one new crew member who didn’t understand how a powerCON connector worked. The lead tech took him aside for just a few seconds to show him the intricacies of twisting while pulling back the lever. Everyone worked together to lay out the fixtures and then we cabled the fixtures quickly and efficiently. I could see that before anyone asked me any questions, they went to my plot to see if the answers were already spelled out. This saves time and confusion. As I started helping to wire up the rig, I was able to get my twist lock connectors into the correct orientation on the first try. After my gear was set up, it was time to move to the very clean FOH and start sorting out the house rig. My USB stick even went in on the first try. The patch sheet that was emailed a month before was still accurate. The house rig was a balanced fixture count of spots, washes, beams, and blinders. The fully functional fixtures were placed on three straight sticks in symmetry. The fixtures were all in standard mode and patched sequentially. This made my clone quick and easy. After my clone, it was time to focus the front wash. The house LD sat at my console so that I could go onstage while the lead lighting tech went into the catwalks. I didn’t have to say a word. I stood onstage making YMCA gestures like the cop from the Village People and she made shutter cuts to match my movements. The entire process was very intuitive.
Preshow
Now that the conventional fixtures were focused, it was time to update my moving light focuses. The house LD left me in the hazy semi-darkened room with a patch sheet that I could make notes on, asked if I needed any snacks, and went to sit stage right just in case I missed anything. Normally, this process only takes me 30 minutes, but my artist added a new song yesterday. Luckily, he sent me the lyrics and a song breakdown the night before. I was able to program the song using a recording that he had done in his hotel room. The house LD continued to check in on me at intervals that were helpful, but not overwhelming. As soon as line check started, it was time to return to catering.
Showtime
As 8 p.m. rolled around, it was time for show. The Clear-Com was crystal clear. I was able to describe exactly what was expected of my two followspot operators uninterrupted by static or incessant questions. They knew what was expected and they were ready to perform. The house haze was perfect, not too thick and not too thin. The house LD even sat behind me next to the house light controls playing on his device. I didn’t need him there, but he chose to sit there just in case. I was in the zone for the entirety of the show. I even caught a few new cymbal crashes that I had missed before. The house rig was all LED fixtures; I didn’t have to remember to lamp off before walking away.
End of the Day
Despite all our advance planning, we can’t completely control the outcome or the smoothness of our working day. Proper planning can make the local team’s day easier, though. In turn, that translates into a better day for all of us. If we all approach gigs with the intention of making it a better day for the other side, we can all have more days with most of these niceties. Taking just a few moments to be grateful for the things that we do have in modern touring puts most of the bad days back into perspective.
What extra steps do you take to ensure your gig day is a great one? Share it with close@plsn.com.
