"fake it till you make it"?

OK, just finished the first day of load-in.

It went well, though it was a little frustrating at times.  Most notably, due to the searching for various adaptors and cables and such.  We were not nearly organized enough on the out at the shop.  Notes for next time.

Getting out of the shop was a little hairy.  Due to various obstacles, we were left with less truck space than originally promised.  On two separate trucks.  So, Drew and I had an early morning in the shop to get the truck pack figured out again.  Success.  The trucks packed fine, there was entire INCHES to spare.  What a luxury.

Packed up our stuff and headed to return the rental car in midtown.  Sat down, had a few beers, ate some food, and caught the train out of Penn Station headed for Harrisburg.  As it turns out, an ex-fling of mine was staying in the same hotel as I was that night...with her new boyfriend.  Sorry, Simon.  Anyways, got to Harrisburg just fine, found our ride to York, and eventually made it to the bar in order to have a few beers with the rest of the crew at a quick production meeting.

Tomorrow is a day off (awesome.)  Sleep, food, sleep, food, sleep.  In that order.

I'm putting off packing

...in order to write this blog entry.

It was a crazy weekend.  First, the party (as previous post has stated) was crazy.  So many friends from so many different social circles - from high school through to fellow tour crew members.  Good times.

Saturday night, I went to Joe's Pub to catch my friend Heather Christian's show.  Check them out here.  I highly recommend their music!  Here's a stage shot...

I do like Joe's Pub, but from where I was - rather close to the stage, the speaker coverage isn't very good, so the show doesn't feel very present.  Bummer, considering how much I love Heather's vocals.

Still, good concert.


The next day was spent doing some tidying and organizing around the apt, but generally consisted of taking a shower and putting on some nice clothes to go to the A View From the Bridge opening night at the Cort Theater on 48th street.  I met up with Ashleigh, my gorgeous date, at Bond 45 for a quick nibble of cheese and some wine.  Well, I had a couple glasses of wine, Ash had a dirty martini.  Not important.

What IS important is the party.  Ash looked stunning (see below, courtesy of Ash's Facebook...)

Great party - famous people and good food, what more could you want?


But then it was Monday morning, and back to the shop...



Things are coming together.  We began to test the sound system this afternoon and I got my totally hot go-button installed!

Nerdy?  Why yes.  Yes it is.

Masque Sound has really taken care of us on this one.  They've happily modified anything that we've needed - cutting holes, rebuilding pieces of hardware...etc.  There have been certain freebies slipped to us too...very hush hush.



OK, once again, far past my bedtime.  Off to York on Friday night....less than two days left...



Listening to: The XX, "VCR"

The morning after

Last night was quite a party.  A LOT of people showed up, which was great.  A couple friends from high-school that I haven't seen in years, college friends, work friends...all friends.  Oh, and Clay Aiken.  But he was there for some Spamalot party...

Aaaanyways.  Good clean fun had by all.

Yesterday in the shop was pretty low-key as well.  Still chugging away.  Haven't taken any pics of the console, but I'm sure once we really get everything set up and going, I'll post some.

I'm not sure it's quiiite sunk in exactly how long I'm leaving for.  It's a very strange thought, considering I'm so used to spending a few months on one show, then move to the next one.  Seeing friends.  You know, life stuff.  I'm also very used to having my setup - my computer goes here, everything's organized (well, sort of) and everything has a place.  Now I'm packing up half my room and moving someone else in.  On the flip side, I've been spending a lot of time with my gear at the shop, and I think I'm going to feel very comfortable at work, which is important.  Honestly, I just can't wait to get on the bus, then I'll find the groove.


Listening: Jay-Z, "Empire State of Mind"

Feels like a lot longer...

but it's only day 3.  Got the first paycheck today - always a good thing.

This will be another short post due to a) the late hour and b) very little is going on!  Still in the shop, prepping gear, making bundles of cable.  Slowly but surely progressing...  We finally unveiled the console today.  As I said, it's large...and purple.  I'll have pictures tomorrow.

In other (somewhat-related) news, I'm attempting to keep up with a "365" project.  The goal is to become a better photographer by taking (at least) 1 picture a day.  You can see my Flickr site with my 365 Set here.  I took some photos of the shop today with the camera.  They're on Flickr and below...

My big goal tonight was to put together a 6 hour playlist for this going-away party I'm having tomorrow night in midtown...of course, the playlist is currently 16 hours long, so I have some editing to do...but better to edit than be too short!  Should be a good party.  I hope people like the music...

OK, that's all for now, more tomorrow, probably...

Two for Two!

Day two in the shop.  We've continued chugging, getting more done.  Various aspects of the show are coming together - i.e. the racks of gear are being assembled, as are the various bundles of cable that interconnect the racks.

It's going to be a short post...but here's some pictures...


Cables, piled into "bundles" (groupings of cables that are taped together to act as one cable):

And here we have my console!  90*, on-end, and in a road-case.  But it's big...and purple.

Aaand then it's speakers....

Speakers....

And more speakers...

It's late...again...and I must go to bed, but more pictures shall follow tomorrow.

Tour #1, Day #1, Post #1

So, after a few people have suggested (and I myself was planning on doing so) I've decided to attempt to keep a blog for the entirety of tour.

Unlikely, but we'll see how far I make it. I'm notoriously awful with blogs. Writing for a few days, then giving up...picking up months later only to leave them a few measly posts later.


So, with that small disclaimer...we begin!

There have been a few weeks of paperwork prior to this first post. The show has been in planning stages, so the Sound Designer, Walter, and his Associate, Drew, have spent the past few weeks putting together plans and ideas for what kinds of speakers and gear to use and how it would all work together towards keeping 4,000 screaming kids, per show, happy.

My job is the A1. A1 means, in a literal translation, the first audio. I am in charge, mostly, of the audio department for the show. I run load-in, along with my A2, Squeege, and then I "mix" the show - I control the levels of the actors' mics and the levels of the band (which have been recorded and are played back via computer)

The itnerary is available online (http://www.nicklivetour.com/tickets.html) and as you can see, we're almost never in a city for more than 3 days. This means we load-in, have a show or two, get some dinner/see the city/sleep...then wake up, 3 shows, dinner/city/sleep....wake up, 3 shows, then load-out, climb on the bus at 1a and wake up (at 8a or earlier...) in some other city. Rinse and repeat.

This shall be my life for the next...5 months? 6? 9? 12? Who knows. We'll see how I take to it.


For the next two weeks, though, we're in shop prep. Shop prep, in this case, occurs at Masque Sound, out in East Rutherford, NJ. It's the rental shop from which we're procuring all of our speakers, equipment, and cable. We will spend a total of 9 days there putting together racks of gear and labeling everything. There are also bagels, and a fantastic italian deli nearby that makes it's own mozzarella (known at Anna Bella's as "Mutz")

There will be more (hopefully) posts to follow. And pictures (hopefully) too!

For now, it's late. Have to be up at 7. More tomorrow.