Monday, November 24, 2008

Gig Report - Nov. 22nd

Self promoted:

Burnt Orange
Scarlet Lace
Empire of The Forgotten

I think almost all the PA gremlins have been exterminated, or at least in strong cages.  Feel like I have a bit more gain after the loudspeaker management stages, meaning that I don't have to run the faders as "hot" on the console.  Another slow night, in terms of attendance.  I think the merch tables did a little bit of business though.  It would be interesting (scientifically speaking) to be able to "copy and paste" a particular show to a different week, and see how the amount of audience changes.

Still, keeping busy is always good for a venue, even if only a few folks show up.  Any audience is better than no audience at all.

Gig Report - Nov. 21st

Self promoted:

Outlet
Blackhounds
Larusso
The Tangerines
Alas The Dreamer
Offsuit

Long show - six bands in one night is a rarity.  Seemed to work well, though, and changeovers weren't a problem.  Had all the chairs torn down, which luckily made room for all the gear that was in the room all at the same time.  Crowd was a little thinner than I thought it would be, especially considering the strength of the bands involved.  I swear, if people only knew that they were missing cool shows...

Still debugging the new system tuning.  One or two gremlins are still running around.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Gig Report - Nov 15th

Wasatch Music Coaching Academy

Early show - started at 10 AM.  Long day - it was a pair of two-hour performances.  It was cool to see the students perform with the teachers.  I love Dave Murphy's shell pack - it sounds good no matter what.  Recitals like this are more "chill" than the shows, which makes for a less chaotic feel overall.  Revised PA tuning performed well.

Gig Report - Nov 11th

Stone Vista Media:

Birds Without
Jeff Stone
Emily Maher
Geoff Koch
Arienette
The Takeover UK

Alternately good and not so good night.  Solid turnout over all, but lots of people took off before Geoff and Takeover took the stage.  Was trying a new PA tuning, which sounded pretty good for Geoff, but didn't have the feedback resistance needed for Birds Without.  Back to the drawing board...

Monday, November 10, 2008

Gig Report - Nov 8th

Stone Vista Media:

Maybelle's Music Box
Pony Ride
Parley's Drifters

Bluegrass night.  Very light audience - maybe this was just a strange week for shows?  Saw the ultimate micing technique for double bass, which is wrapping a mic in something soft, and then wedging it in the tailpiece (pointed up at the bridge).  Actually had enough gain on the banjos, which surprised me greatly (usually, I end up not being able to really hear the banjo player, no matter how many strange tricks I try).  Of course, I offset that triumph by not quite getting the mandolins right.  You win some, you lose some...

Gig Report - Nov 7th

Self Promoted:

Ben Johnson
Michael Gross and the Statuettes
Nicosia

Fun night, though the crowd was pretty sparse.  Felt pretty good about the audio, although I think I've made some kind of fundamental error in the system tuning.  I'm always perching the vocal mics right on the edge of the system's point of stability.  I think I should knock down all my settings and see if starting over helps.  I wasn't really sure of myself with Nicosia's guitar tone, but I did settle on a darker, more middly sound after a couple of songs.

Gig Report - Nov 6th

Self Promoted:

Crashing at Dawn
Junior Giant

Okay night, lightly attended.  Had no trouble getting Junior Giant going in a short amount of time (which maybe is better than when I can sit and fret about every little thing).  Felt pretty good about the tones of things all around, but I felt like I never quite got enough vocal for Crashing at Dawn.  Luckily, I get to try again in a couple of weeks.  

Gig Report - Nov 5th

Solid Ground Cafe (@ New Song Underground):

Denison Witmer
Emme Packer
Seafinch

Amazing night.  Packed house.  Lots of waterbags/ portable, self-propelled absorbers (that is to say, humans) made the room sound pretty nice.  Along with the relatively low volume of the show, this led to an overall show sound that had pleasant low end, and rich (yet crisp) vocals.  I missed a couple of cues when Emme's guitar player did some quiet work with his e-bow, but I eventually caught on.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Gig Report - Nov. 1st

Rising Artists Studios LLC:

Carma
Codi
Julia
Brodie
Aubree

Excellent show, very well attended.  The room really sounds a lot better with lots of people in it - they soak up all the "garble" in the low-mids.  Soundcheck was extra long (and actually more of a rehearsal), because it was the first RASllc showcase without a wireless system.  Everybody seemed to adapt well, though.

Gig Report - Oct. 31st

Self Promoted:

Junior Giant

The Halloween bash came off well, although we struggled during soundcheck with getting everything just right.  Got another opportunity (with the opener) to try using a "vanilla" mic on a kick drum, and was pleasantly surprised (again).  Attendance not as high as hoped, but pretty okay as far as I was concerned.

Gig Report - Oct. 30th

Self Promoted:

Wasatch Music Coaching Academy

As expected, WMCA put on a great show that was very well attended.  A special highlight was "Thriller" being performed by an 11(?) piece funk band.  Reasonably solid sound throughout, although the feed from the keyboard amp was noisy, and not every guitar amplifier got a microphone during changeovers.  We were also trying to be less loud than last time WMCA came through - I don't know if we succeeded.