I have been working in lighting on a national scale for almost 35 years, five more if you count regional club bands in the 70’s. I have worked in every sized venue, designing and programming lights for every type act, from hardcore country to the heaviest of heavy metal. I’m not exactly sure where my latest band falls in that category, but I can certainly say they’re never boring.
We’ve all had those moments. A familiar face catches your eye and you think, “That guy looks just like fill in famous name. The thing about being backstage after a show is there is a pretty good chance that the person you’re seeing is actually who they look like. About 20 years ago, I met Sarah McLachlan after a show in Toronto. A pleasant conversation ensued between the two of us and a fellow crew member, who was lamenting on the length of our tour. When Ms. McLachlan commiserated, it got interesting.
Touring Life on the Tech Crew (When You Don’t Look Like The Other Boys…)
My name is Becky Pell, and I am an anomaly. I’m a live sound engineer, and I’m a woman. It’s an unusual combination, but I’m rarely conscious of it until someone points it out. Usually the conversation goes something like: “Wow, a female monitor engineer, you don’t see that very often.” Me: “No, there aren’t many of us.” Them: “Why is that?” Well, here I have to confess ignorance; as I am one, I’m kind of the wrong person to ask! Why are we the unicorns of the touring world? And what’s life like as a woman on the road?
I am blessed to work with some of the greatest scenic designers on the planet. They seem to have endless veins of creativity and come from all sorts of backgrounds and educations. However, it never ceases to amaze me how often they design with the most impractical scenic elements. Well, at least from this lighting designer’s point of view.
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. As denizens of the great and wonderful frontier known as The Road, it’s important that we develop a skillset of improvisation and problem solving while never breaking a sweat, or at least stoically pretending we haven’t, even in the face of moist and obvious evidence.
Whether you’re staring at the same walls deciding if you are going to leave that full time job to go on tour, or sitting in the back lounge of a bus trying to figure out how to “come off the road” and still support your family, making the decision to take that huge leap of faith can leave even the most confident person full of conflict.
Please welcome this Month’s LD at Large, John Featherstone. He has been illuminating just about everything since he was a mere lad. He is a principal in the worldwide Lighting and Visual design firm known as Lightswitch. –ed.
This month’s LD-at-Large is Stosh Rickenbach, longtime house LD at the original Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco. He’s glad to help, but you have to give him a fighting chance. He has some guidelines that each club band should follow to ensure a well lit show. Good luck with that, Stosh. —ed.
Ever since grade school, I’ve been one of those people who preferred to ride in the back of the bus. Even when I was on tour, I always seemed to get my sanctuary hanging in the back of the bus, working or reading. Of course spending hours on the road, solving the problems of the world over a couple of beers with the rest of the road crew often required time in the back lounge. Likewise, I spent the last eight years feeling quite at home occupying the back page of PLSN. You had to look all the way in the rear to find me.
