I wore my new hat and two hats of crew.

Tonight at the Trevi Center we had two shows in two rooms. I was the sound guy for the early show and the VJ for the late show. It was a great time and I got to play with all my video toys and BobbyD’s audio rack. It has everything you might want for sound, and then some. I shot the late show in the main room with a bunch of cameras and tricks. Over all I think I kicked ass, I took names. I had a blast and drove home sober.

Follow up:

Thursday night we had DJ Jamz and DJ Phaze playing together. It was a thing of beauty. I was there ‘til two. They tore it up for the regular Thursday night crowd. Each time I’ve been here with these guys the crowd was cool and word is getting around. These guys bring it.

Today we moved all the Video gear into the main room and all the audio gear into the Elks Room. I set up the cameras and rigged a screen. It was fun flying cables overhead and an 8’screen as high as we could get it. I love that stuff. Throwing ropes, pulling cable, making it look easy and making it work, it was fun.

End to End I strung a couple of hundred feet of camera cable and only one shorty was bad. When all was said and done I had 5 cameras on the stage and 2 on the crowd. Not everyone was well lit, what can ya do? I added color and made it work. I really like taking full advantage of the faults of my equipment and using the result as an effect. Tweak the color on a dark grainy bass player angle and whatdyaknow it’s on the big screen and looks cool.

OK that’s done. Set up. Ready to go…

So I move into the Punk show to do sound for the 5:30 while the crew goes in to set up sound in the other room. That show starts at 9.

It was a very interesting mix at the early show. Some Punks started the show and some were rather young and played like pros. The last band, a rock band, was in their 30’s and they farking rocked for some old dudes. The Universal Entertainment crew humped all the speakers and hooked it all up. Then I stroll in, in my socks, with my thermos and sit down and take all the credit while drinking coffee and pushing buttons.

I ran the board ok, I guess. Some bands better than others, it is great when a band has someone who knows them near the board. Helping to get the sound they like, making sure everyone is heard. I should have done better with some. I somehow lost a keyboard in the mix till the next to last song of the night. Sorry dude. Anyway I didn’t totally suck and they rocked the house.

A whole different set of bands. haircuts, dance moves and ages. One band didn’t show. One of the other bands and some friends filled in and played a double set. Everyone got along and nothing broke but a broke down mic stand. When Inhale hit the main stage Derek came in and let the Punks play out and load out. TADA! I grab my shit and run to do visuals.

For the most part my screen show lit it up. I was a hit and everyone wanted DVDs which I won’t have for a while. Maybe I can make a youtube video or two. My crappy temporary computer held its own and only crashed twice. I have ordered a “mobile workstation” which is code for a laptop that weighs a ton. Wakitu was there shooting and found the unplugged thing for one crash and by the way, got some great pictures.

I crashed the thing good during the second show. I switched away and hit black. No one noticed, but me. So, be patient for your DVDs, please. I can’t edit much video on this thing and the laptop won’t be here ‘til after the first.

This show was 5 bands, I shot the last two. I had two screens, one over the bar and the big one we flew, stage-right, up high. Everyone could see and I didn’t steal the show but definitely made it better.

It is really fun to shoot a band for a change. It’s easy with a bunch of camera operators with headsets and a director on tape for TV. This I did as a one man show, live to the big screens, in front of Bobs and everybody. No 7 second delay, no second chances. The good thing is, just like TV, the goofs only happen for a second and no one notices or remembers or cares.

I sit at the switcher and switch, then run over to a camera, frame a shot, back to the switcher and drop in a key, fade to graphics, run to a camera, frame a shot… it’s a work out.

The other cool thing is what I call Club Color, Television in this country uses what is called NTSC video, look it up. Among nerds in the A/V Club that means “never the same color.”

Color matching is one of the most challenging things in broadcast. Club Color on the other hand is everyman for himself. It is dark, there are lasers and gobos and blinky lights and flashes and strobes. It’s nuts from a color standpoint.

This means I don’t have to match color, which, in turn, lets me play with color. Paint with it. Fun it is. No need to adhere to FCC guidelines or carry that wave form monitor and vector scope which weighs like 60 pounds. Freedom! Freedom from the rules, so I tweak the color or set the camera out of phase if I want, Always something different, it’s fun. I can crank the SC, or leave a little wiggle in the horizontal on one and get a little “bump” on the end of throw when the switcher switches fully to the out of sync shot. BAM! Or don’t throw the handle full and stay smooth. Great stuff.

Tomorrow I get to take it all down.

{8~{D}>
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