I played my first arena gig this weekend

[WalterBush]

I plan on this becoming more the norm for me, but this was definitely my first time playing in front of thousands. Yeah, it was a rush. A short worship set at a convention for G12 churches, but a big first for my worship team and myself. It was at the Anaheim convention center arena, a venue familiar to more than one TBer, I'm sure.

So far all I have are crummy cell phone pics, I'm waiting on the high-res and video stuff for facebook.

A view from the balcony:

Me on stage; I didn't realize the bass made me look that tiny until this picture:

 

[engage757]

nice man, congrats!

 

[Rattman]

Yeah.. I know that place alright... I helped install the AP's (access point) that service the conventions that go in and out of the convention arena. Nice to see ya smiling BIG in there.

 

[FootieSoxx]

Me on stage; I didn't realize the bass made me look that tiny until this picture...

Nearly all my basses make me look tiny.

Congrats, though. It sounds like it was pretty fun!

How was the sound/monitoring?

 

[agreatheight]

Dude, I don't know what's funnier - the Conklin making you look so tiny, or the big guy behind you making that Les Paul look like a toy!

For real though, congratulations!!

 

[WalterBush]

Nearly all my basses make me look tiny.

Congrats, though. It sounds like it was pretty fun!

How was the sound/monitoring?

The sound was good, surprisingly so, actually. The monitoring, well, not so much, but that was mainly due to lack of time. They had wireless packs available, and sidefills that put most club PAs to shame, but we had less than 15 minutes to set up.

The thing is, on the edge of the stage, we caught enough of the PA to hear ourselves. That, and the stage was large enough that the amps (SVT VR rig in the backline!) were cranked. We heard each other fine, just not necessarily balanced. I suppose that's all that's necessary, though.

The guy who owned the audio production company was from Bogota, Columbia, and was as big a mic snob as I am at times; he took the same care with his PA. The only flaws I heard were due to lack of familiarity with the songs and bands, not because of incompetence. They compensated for the arena nicely, way better than I would have thought possible with the equipment they had. Just goes to show that without knowledge and experience, the best gear in the world is useless, I guess.