Wow, what an experience. I've played tons of festivals outdoors with huge PAs, but never played through such a system in an indoor venue... But let me back up a bit.
One of my bands (a 4-piece) plays classic trio hard rock (guitar, bass, drums, and lead female singer). Think Zeppelin, Doors, 90's grunge, that sort of thing. We have a good following in our city as a party band with very talented musicians (except maybe the bass player). We were asked to open for a Papa Roach show to warm up the crowd.
We brought our own backline and the house soundman mixed us (he's great). PR had their own huge digital console and suplimented the good house PA with some of their own cabs and power. Sound check was all of about 10 minutes (max) as PR didn't want to spend any time on us. Ended up being OK as there were no hitches. PR's riser and backline were at the back of the stage covered with a black tarp and we were relegated to the very front of the stage - very cramped but we all understood and it was cool with us. Our set went perfect - the crowd was pumped for the headliner and we just put all out and the response was really memorable. The floor was packed and it was a blast to see them dancing, moshing, and groovin'. That could get addicting!
PR had a crew of about 10 techs (2 sound guys, guitar, drum, and bass techs who removed the tarp and tuned the instruments in about 20 minutes. There was also a road manager, seamstress, and a couple of others that I wasn't sure what they did, but they carried walkie talkies and were huge guys. They came in a Greyhound type bus with a full semi-truck loaded with gear. Two 8x10 SVT cabs and small pedal board (Boss tuner, a white Wah pedal and a distortion pedal with a big V on it for bass, 4 4x12 Marshalls and a huge pedal board for guitar.
During our set, some ******* from the second level of the club dropped a drink right down on the huge PR digital console. I didn't get a look at it, but it must have been 20 feet wide with 4 large LCD monitors. It must be worth $250K minimum. A real arena setup (and PR is doing multiple arena gigs this tour). Anyway, the sound guys went nuts, totally freaked. They were huddling with their and the bar management and it looked like it was going to get physical! All this while we were playing the set. Wow!
The volume for the PR set was frightening. I went back to the house soundguy's booth (about 150 feet away from the stage) and his meter was measureing 106db. Near the PA it was totally painful and likely damaging to the crowd. PR really put out for the show and the volume made the band sound heavy but their material was kinda lame to me - the songs supported the singer but there was little interesting musician moments. Simple pop stuff. And the band moves all seemed very correographed and pre-arranged. The crowd was nuts for them, though. Groupies all over the place and when they couldn't get near the band, the roadies (and our band members) had ongoing offers. When did that start up again? Phew!
PR didn't interact with us (didn't expect that) and just stayed in their bus before and after. They're in the middle of a 6-month tour and probably don't know what city they're in, night to night.
All in all a great experience and lots of memories. After it all, I'm glad that I get to play in clubs and dances and get to enjoy what I do - I think that that sort of touring would leave one very jaded. Way better to be an amateur musician (i.e. lover of music) than a professional musician. I think that their enjoyment wears thin quickly, while most of us here on TB get to keep enjoying our craft again and again.
One of my bands (a 4-piece) plays classic trio hard rock (guitar, bass, drums, and lead female singer). Think Zeppelin, Doors, 90's grunge, that sort of thing. We have a good following in our city as a party band with very talented musicians (except maybe the bass player). We were asked to open for a Papa Roach show to warm up the crowd.
We brought our own backline and the house soundman mixed us (he's great). PR had their own huge digital console and suplimented the good house PA with some of their own cabs and power. Sound check was all of about 10 minutes (max) as PR didn't want to spend any time on us. Ended up being OK as there were no hitches. PR's riser and backline were at the back of the stage covered with a black tarp and we were relegated to the very front of the stage - very cramped but we all understood and it was cool with us. Our set went perfect - the crowd was pumped for the headliner and we just put all out and the response was really memorable. The floor was packed and it was a blast to see them dancing, moshing, and groovin'. That could get addicting!
PR had a crew of about 10 techs (2 sound guys, guitar, drum, and bass techs who removed the tarp and tuned the instruments in about 20 minutes. There was also a road manager, seamstress, and a couple of others that I wasn't sure what they did, but they carried walkie talkies and were huge guys. They came in a Greyhound type bus with a full semi-truck loaded with gear. Two 8x10 SVT cabs and small pedal board (Boss tuner, a white Wah pedal and a distortion pedal with a big V on it for bass, 4 4x12 Marshalls and a huge pedal board for guitar.
During our set, some ******* from the second level of the club dropped a drink right down on the huge PR digital console. I didn't get a look at it, but it must have been 20 feet wide with 4 large LCD monitors. It must be worth $250K minimum. A real arena setup (and PR is doing multiple arena gigs this tour). Anyway, the sound guys went nuts, totally freaked. They were huddling with their and the bar management and it looked like it was going to get physical! All this while we were playing the set. Wow!
The volume for the PR set was frightening. I went back to the house soundguy's booth (about 150 feet away from the stage) and his meter was measureing 106db. Near the PA it was totally painful and likely damaging to the crowd. PR really put out for the show and the volume made the band sound heavy but their material was kinda lame to me - the songs supported the singer but there was little interesting musician moments. Simple pop stuff. And the band moves all seemed very correographed and pre-arranged. The crowd was nuts for them, though. Groupies all over the place and when they couldn't get near the band, the roadies (and our band members) had ongoing offers. When did that start up again? Phew!
PR didn't interact with us (didn't expect that) and just stayed in their bus before and after. They're in the middle of a 6-month tour and probably don't know what city they're in, night to night.
All in all a great experience and lots of memories. After it all, I'm glad that I get to play in clubs and dances and get to enjoy what I do - I think that that sort of touring would leave one very jaded. Way better to be an amateur musician (i.e. lover of music) than a professional musician. I think that their enjoyment wears thin quickly, while most of us here on TB get to keep enjoying our craft again and again.
