Saturday Night Movie Theater Gig

Saturday, November 30th, my band the KTOs opened for another local band Satori at a local theater. The theater is a really cool space, and partners with a production company who has been putting on concerts in the main theater space.

We arrived at 7:00 p.m. for a 9 p.m. show. I know Satori as I have met the BL/lead guitar player (a monster jazz fusion player and excellent high end acoustic and electric guitar builder - he has sold guitars to guys like David Torn), and I work with his wife, so we had worked out set up and PAs and all of that ahead of time. We would be using their PA and drums.

Set up was fine until he asked me who was handling the PA for my set. I assumed it was him, but it wound up being me. On top of that, the PA was placed two speakers right next to each other, on the stage floor, in the back of the stage, in between the guitars and the drums. That makes sense for the other band, as they are mostly fusion/Hendrix instrumental, but not us, as we are a rock band. It was one of those wireless iPad digital PA jobs, which I had some experience in, but it did take some time to dial in a decent sound, and get things to work. I'm not a fan of the iPad digital PA thing - too many screens to check, way too complicated for what I need, although the effects are usually really good.

The person in charge was preoccupied with what background we wanted - I went with the LSD background images of sea animals, while Satori went with a showing of the 1920's version of Phantom of the Opera.

I think we took a little too long for to set up for Satori's liking, but we took the stage at 9:00 p.m. and played one set to a fairly small crowd. It was nice, we played mostly my originals, some of which I hadn't played live in 15 or 20 years. It went well, although I almost got dizzy staring at the background for too long.

It took Satori 30 minutes to get set up to their liking before they finally started playing - I didn't quite understand why, but I stayed for the first song, a Hendrix cover, Third Stone From the Sun, which they adapted to their own sensibilities. It was cool, weird effects, Allan Holdsworth style lead, and various moments of feedback. Pretty cool.

The best part? We got paid pretty well, before we even started playing. The crowd loved us too. It's always weird seeing a crowd of former students cheering you on, but at least they cheered.

Although I think the mix of bands was a weird one that really didn't work, I'd do that gig again in a heartbeat, just with my PA next time .

Thanks,

kevorargh

 

I think it was a rear projection, but I'm not sure. It may have all been from youtube, as that's where she told me to go to choose from different background loops.

 

It was actually two stacked 1x12s sitting on top of the theater's subwoofer, which I was not plugged into. The PA system is in between the bass cabs and the Fender amp on the left (stage right).

 

Thanks BassCliff - it’s always nice to have plenty of room on stage. I spilled my water and they were quick to help me clean up - while I was playing! Our drummer got to use his regular sticks and bash away so everyone was happy.