OGG
Master of the Meh
Round 3 of The Obscure80's Live at Brick by Brick (our once monthly residency gig) took place night before last. As with the previous show, we opted to forgo a support band and play two sets since we now have so many songs in our repertoire. Once again, we BLASTED social media, exhausted every conceivable avenue for promoting the show. Virtually all of the San Diego news and entertainment outlets had mentions for it, the BandsInTown app was pushing it, the venue itself was actively promoting it... There really was nothing more we could do.
Remember last month when I complained about only having a crowd of 20?
Remind me never to do that again.
20 would have been a dream. Instead, aside from band member wives and family (of which there were actually quite a few) , there were precisely TWO people there . One of the two was the 5th grade elementary school teacher from my days as a kid. I had not seen him in 35 years. He was a huge mentor back in the day, and thanks to Facebook, we connected and he came out to support us which was absolutely awesome. The other was a friend of his he brought along with him.
This may have been more blessing than curse.
Train.
Wreck.
For starters, we had effectively zero practice time between the last show and this one. With the Thanksgiving Holiday, and individual band members traveling at different times over the last month, it just wasn't doable. I was substantially more nervous when I arrived at the venue than I have ever been before. I don't know why, but the anxiety was nearly overpowering, I felt sick and weak.
Then there was the sound guy. Not sure what happened, but the guy who had done our last two shows there (and was awesome), was not there. Instead, as it turned out, the guy who was there, turned out to be the same guy who did our sound at the Del Mar Fair gig back in June. Really nice guy, did a fine job at Del Mar.
His job was easy... Why? Because the entire set up is 100% digital, our "sound" template was pre-loaded as a file in the system. Everything from monitor mixes to EQ... It was all already done for him. He just needed to fire up the system and leave it the fuck alone.
Well, He decided on his own and without any consultation to significantly alter the locations of the stage monitors. Rather than having them in their standard position at the front edge of the stage, he thought we would like having them placed on the stage, and much closer to us than normal.
Since I was in the front and center position with a double keyboard stand directly in front of me, and my HD500 at my feet directly between me and the stand, he placed both of my massive monitors directly to my right, very close, and at a 45 degree angle that is firing directly at both my guitar pick ups, and my Amp behind me.
Anyone see the problem here?
We sound checked with a couple of songs where my guitar tone was sparkly clean. no issues.
Then the show started, Now mind you... I was using the exact same guitar, same amp, same processor and same patches as I had at the last two shows. The ONLY difference in my rig was that I actually turned my amp DOWN significantly from before. That, and the fucking stage monitors feeding my guitar signal DIRECTLY back at my guitar AND my amp.
The first time I engaged a patch with high gain (and there are many, many songs where this was the required sound), ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE. The ungodly howling and squealing that resulted was ear piercing and violent. I was completely caught off guard, sound guy does NOTHING from his perch to make adjustments, and I end up over the course of the night turning the output volume on my processor down further and further until the point of me being completely unable to hear my guitar. Of course, that made playing a unique experience. I honestly don't know if any of my guitar sound was getting to the mains though I doubt it. There was nothing else I could do.
Meanwhile, we are all making stupid mistakes. Starting songs in the wrong key, blowing transitions, you name it. Having already been nervous, this turned me into a mess. I could see my hands shaking as I was playing keys. It was awful. I had also forgotten to print and bring set lists, which led to only the drummer knowing for sure (he had his own) what song was next.
Thankfully, no one was there to see or hear any of it other than our friends and family.
Afterwards, Sound Dood hears me bemoaning my sound woes to my band mates as we are tearing down. He proceeds to tell me that being a sound guy is all about understanding the physics of sound. He then tells me the issue was due to me not using a noise gate. I came very close to earning my first assault charge at that moment, but I just smiled and said "OK Sparky".
I use a noise gate on EVERY patch. In fact, because of the crazy amount of modulation and delay FX most of these patches use, I keep the threshold very high. Way higher (opening) than would be considered normal. Not to mention, that the problem only occurred when the fucking gate was open... in other words, it only happened when I needed my guitar to produce actual sound. Dickbag.
I hope his being there was just a one time thing and that the regular guy will be back for the next show.
In the end, despite a completely FUBAR show in every possible way, The Boss lady in charge of the Venue FINALLY got us a Friday gig for next month. That should be huge in terms of pulling a crowd. She also Promised to make the show with us and Micwalt's band "Arena" happen in February, March at the latest. That will be a blast.
Oh, last thing... Our door take for the night...
$22
However, I rocked the FIAT 500L to the gig, which crazily had more than enough room for all of my gear. This saved me a ton of money on gas compared to driving the Pathfinder, so I figure I easily netted a cool ten bucks in pure profit!
Remember last month when I complained about only having a crowd of 20?
Remind me never to do that again.
20 would have been a dream. Instead, aside from band member wives and family (of which there were actually quite a few) , there were precisely TWO people there . One of the two was the 5th grade elementary school teacher from my days as a kid. I had not seen him in 35 years. He was a huge mentor back in the day, and thanks to Facebook, we connected and he came out to support us which was absolutely awesome. The other was a friend of his he brought along with him.
This may have been more blessing than curse.
Train.
Wreck.
For starters, we had effectively zero practice time between the last show and this one. With the Thanksgiving Holiday, and individual band members traveling at different times over the last month, it just wasn't doable. I was substantially more nervous when I arrived at the venue than I have ever been before. I don't know why, but the anxiety was nearly overpowering, I felt sick and weak.
Then there was the sound guy. Not sure what happened, but the guy who had done our last two shows there (and was awesome), was not there. Instead, as it turned out, the guy who was there, turned out to be the same guy who did our sound at the Del Mar Fair gig back in June. Really nice guy, did a fine job at Del Mar.
His job was easy... Why? Because the entire set up is 100% digital, our "sound" template was pre-loaded as a file in the system. Everything from monitor mixes to EQ... It was all already done for him. He just needed to fire up the system and leave it the fuck alone.
Well, He decided on his own and without any consultation to significantly alter the locations of the stage monitors. Rather than having them in their standard position at the front edge of the stage, he thought we would like having them placed on the stage, and much closer to us than normal.
Since I was in the front and center position with a double keyboard stand directly in front of me, and my HD500 at my feet directly between me and the stand, he placed both of my massive monitors directly to my right, very close, and at a 45 degree angle that is firing directly at both my guitar pick ups, and my Amp behind me.
Anyone see the problem here?
We sound checked with a couple of songs where my guitar tone was sparkly clean. no issues.
Then the show started, Now mind you... I was using the exact same guitar, same amp, same processor and same patches as I had at the last two shows. The ONLY difference in my rig was that I actually turned my amp DOWN significantly from before. That, and the fucking stage monitors feeding my guitar signal DIRECTLY back at my guitar AND my amp.
The first time I engaged a patch with high gain (and there are many, many songs where this was the required sound), ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE. The ungodly howling and squealing that resulted was ear piercing and violent. I was completely caught off guard, sound guy does NOTHING from his perch to make adjustments, and I end up over the course of the night turning the output volume on my processor down further and further until the point of me being completely unable to hear my guitar. Of course, that made playing a unique experience. I honestly don't know if any of my guitar sound was getting to the mains though I doubt it. There was nothing else I could do.
Meanwhile, we are all making stupid mistakes. Starting songs in the wrong key, blowing transitions, you name it. Having already been nervous, this turned me into a mess. I could see my hands shaking as I was playing keys. It was awful. I had also forgotten to print and bring set lists, which led to only the drummer knowing for sure (he had his own) what song was next.
Thankfully, no one was there to see or hear any of it other than our friends and family.
Afterwards, Sound Dood hears me bemoaning my sound woes to my band mates as we are tearing down. He proceeds to tell me that being a sound guy is all about understanding the physics of sound. He then tells me the issue was due to me not using a noise gate. I came very close to earning my first assault charge at that moment, but I just smiled and said "OK Sparky".
I use a noise gate on EVERY patch. In fact, because of the crazy amount of modulation and delay FX most of these patches use, I keep the threshold very high. Way higher (opening) than would be considered normal. Not to mention, that the problem only occurred when the fucking gate was open... in other words, it only happened when I needed my guitar to produce actual sound. Dickbag.
I hope his being there was just a one time thing and that the regular guy will be back for the next show.
In the end, despite a completely FUBAR show in every possible way, The Boss lady in charge of the Venue FINALLY got us a Friday gig for next month. That should be huge in terms of pulling a crowd. She also Promised to make the show with us and Micwalt's band "Arena" happen in February, March at the latest. That will be a blast.
Oh, last thing... Our door take for the night...
$22
However, I rocked the FIAT 500L to the gig, which crazily had more than enough room for all of my gear. This saved me a ton of money on gas compared to driving the Pathfinder, so I figure I easily netted a cool ten bucks in pure profit!
