holy crap, what a nightmare

Re: holy crap, what a nightmare

I am sorry to hear that. So far, in my career, I haven't had a single physical problem like that. No injuries. Some gear failure here and there that have put a stop to shows... But, no injuries. And for that, I am glad.
 
Re: holy crap, what a nightmare

LiamSmith said:
I am sorry to hear that. So far, in my career, I haven't had a single physical problem like that. No injuries. Some gear failure here and there that have put a stop to shows... But, no injuries. And for that, I am glad.
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I've had guys electrocuted (so much as to stop setup because they were "down"), guys that have had all their facial hair burnt off (slip of a screwdriver during tie in on an OLD panel-it just blew a 600A breaker), all sorts of punctures, broken fingers-guys beaten up in the alley during load out etc.

No deaths or major broken bones :)

But LOTS of gear failure-fires-burnt speakers-electrical overvoltage taking out the whole system (a couple of times)-truss falling-speakers falling-cars running into the PA-attacked at FOH with a conga stand at FOH-a fist fight with a lead singer on stage during the set (I have the video of that one)-vehicles broken into-gear stolen. You know-just normal everyday gigs---------------------------
 
Re: holy crap, what a nightmare

All I have to say is that I'm glad that I don't have to feel too guilty for the only thing I can relate to in terms of nightmarish things.

Being the younger tech that I am, I do steady work at a middle school. One day, I walk in there, and E2 was obviously hanging lower than it should be (read: 8 feet off the ground with a 14 foot proscenium). My supervisor was also in the room and I asked if I could bring it up. Given the go ahead, I start attempting to find the handle to the winch- I ended up using one from another winch- and then proceeded to raise the electric. At first, nothing out of the ordinary, nothing startling, fine. Then, I start to notice that all of the cable is winding up on top of itself, all the way at the edge of the spool.

Instinctually, I know this is a problem, but I don't know how to deal with it- I can fix a spool of thread but not a cable with half a ton loaded on it! I then ask my supervisor what to do, and he says to continue, and that it would "fix itself." (Go ahead, fidget.)

NOW- HE WALKS OUT OF THE ROOM. The after school group I'm working with finally arrives, as well as the building manager (my occasional boss). I return to my winch, and start raising it up a bit more. At this point, it "fixes itself" by dropping 4 feet. This is accompanied with a loud set of noises as the structure caught the weight as the cable rewound itself around the spool. Of course, building manager comes right on stage when- on cue- my supervisor also decided to make the entrance into the room.

Meanwhile, the kids in the house are going ballistic. When is the last time you've been to a middle school? I don't suggest returning anytime soon if you can avoid it.

So, luckily, I have my name cleared on two lucky counts. First, I asked the supervisor first, so it was written off into the bureaucracy as an accident caused by miscommunication, and second, the school was due for renovation over the summer, so they were going to tear that electric out anyway. Lucky me.

Of course, only after coming back to the school the week after did I fully realize how much danger I was actually in, considering that the plywood mount for the winch had actually moved upward diagonally half a foot, with the bolts carving gashes through the cinderblocks. I had literally broken the auditorium.

Don't you just love new, naive, inexperienced techs?
 
Re: holy crap, what a nightmare

If they lived they weren't electrocuted. ;)~;-)~:wink:

I'm sure we've all had the miniature version of Ben Lagmans speaker stand collapse when loosening the clutch on a mic stand and the upper part comes flying down and bites the inside of your finger.

Chris
 
Re: holy crap, what a nightmare

Per Søvik said:
Wow, that sounds really cool, has the program got a website?

EDIT: Found it, too obvious to think that was it ;)~;-)~:wink:
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Paul Green, the guy who started the program, was the model for the Jack Black movie. Spin magazine sent James Lha of the Smashing Pumpkins to write an article about the first school, then VH1 sent a camera crew to videotape for a couple of days for a reality series. They stopped returning his phone calls and six months later, the Jack Black movie is announced. He had registered the schoolofrock.com domain years before, but who is going to try to sue Viacom?

There are 114 locations in the US, Canada, Mexico and Brazil. The music directors at each school come up with two to five concert programs for each of three seasons a year. Beginners will play stuff like Black Sabbath while the more experienced kids will play more complex stuff. The older kids mentor the younger ones. The best kids from each school form a band and gig around town. The very best compete to join an "All-Star" band and go on tour - they'll be playing this year at Lollapaloosa and Gathering of the Vibes.

By the time they graduate from the program at 18, if they stick with it, they are skilled pros and generally equipped to step into a band with experience playing a wide range of music - two of Paul Green's original students formed two thirds of the Adrian Belew Power Trio.
 
Re: holy crap, what a nightmare

Actually, to me, all the nightmare stories are boring. Something (or someone) blows up, everything gets sideways, everyone sweats blood and bullets, situation is resolved one way or the other, end of story. Yawn.

But in 35 years of playing and doing production, I could write a book of funny stories 3 inches thick. A stagehand with a wooden leg and a pitch transposer (mis)used during a local talent show would be the first few pages.

People seem to enjoy the funny stories more. And I have a nearly endless supply of them.

Geri O
 
Re: holy crap, what a nightmare

Max Warasila said:
All I have to say is that I'm glad that I don't have to feel too guilty for the only thing I can relate to in terms of nightmarish things.

Being the younger tech that I am, I do steady work at a middle school. One day, I walk in there, and E2 was obviously hanging lower than it should be (read: 8 feet off the ground with a 14 foot proscenium). My supervisor was also in the room and I asked if I could bring it up. Given the go ahead, I start attempting to find the handle to the winch- I ended up using one from another winch- and then proceeded to raise the electric. At first, nothing out of the ordinary, nothing startling, fine. Then, I start to notice that all of the cable is winding up on top of itself, all the way at the edge of the spool.

Instinctually, I know this is a problem, but I don't know how to deal with it- I can fix a spool of thread but not a cable with half a ton loaded on it! I then ask my supervisor what to do, and he says to continue, and that it would "fix itself." (Go ahead, fidget.)

NOW- HE WALKS OUT OF THE ROOM. The after school group I'm working with finally arrives, as well as the building manager (my occasional boss). I return to my winch, and start raising it up a bit more. At this point, it "fixes itself" by dropping 4 feet. This is accompanied with a loud set of noises as the structure caught the weight as the cable rewound itself around the spool. Of course, building manager comes right on stage when- on cue- my supervisor also decided to make the entrance into the room.

Meanwhile, the kids in the house are going ballistic. When is the last time you've been to a middle school? I don't suggest returning anytime soon if you can avoid it.

So, luckily, I have my name cleared on two lucky counts. First, I asked the supervisor first, so it was written off into the bureaucracy as an accident caused by miscommunication, and second, the school was due for renovation over the summer, so they were going to tear that electric out anyway. Lucky me.

Of course, only after coming back to the school the week after did I fully realize how much danger I was actually in, considering that the plywood mount for the winch had actually moved upward diagonally half a foot, with the bolts carving gashes through the cinderblocks. I had literally broken the auditorium.

Don't you just love new, naive, inexperienced techs?
Click to expand...

This is one of the reasons that it's considered very bad practice to stand in the drop zone of anything moving overhead. Also why if there's any doubt, the safest place for rigging is on the floor.
 
Re: holy crap, what a nightmare

Rob Timmerman said:
This is one of the reasons that it's considered very bad practice to stand in the drop zone of anything moving overhead. Also why if there's any doubt, the safest place for rigging is on the floor.
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And why you yell, "E2 moving overhead" or whatever your theater's naming protocol is, like, "Downstage 2nd electric moving overhead" when you start. Wait for acknowledgement, usually a chorus of "Thank you" as everyone clears out. I've been on deck when a rope let go. Had anyone been under it..... ugh.

Also good practice to announce when you are using an un-tethered tool overhead, "Loose tool overhead".
 
Re: holy crap, what a nightmare

Geri O'Neil said:
Actually, to me, all the nightmare stories are boring. Something (or someone) blows up, everything gets sideways, everyone sweats blood and bullets, situation is resolved one way or the other, end of story. Yawn.

But in 35 years of playing and doing production, I could write a book of funny stories 3 inches thick. A stagehand with a wooden leg and a pitch transposer (mis)used during a local talent show would be the first few pages.

People seem to enjoy the funny stories more. And I have a nearly endless supply of them.

Geri O
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EXACTLY. I have plenty of wild stories-but so does everybody else who has been in the business long enough.
 
Steve Payne said:
"Shut up and sing one, monkey."
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I always thought you were saying "Shut up and sing 'One Monkey' "

As in the Gillian Welch song "One Monkey Doesn't Stop The Show..."

:)

Our latest over here is "That chain is rated for $100" as spoken by the grounds keeper hooking a tractor chain up to our 26,000lb truck to pull us out. It didn't.



Jason
 
Re: holy crap, what a nightmare

Rob Timmerman said:
This is one of the reasons that it's considered very bad practice to stand in the drop zone of anything moving overhead. Also why if there's any doubt, the safest place for rigging is on the floor.
Click to expand...

In (heavy) industry, standing under a load is often a firing/severe warning kind of safety violation.

In most theatres, stage is off limits when the tech crew is rigging. Concert venues, particularly temporary venues seems to be a different deal altogether. :x~:-x~:mad:
 
Re: holy crap, what a nightmare

Ivan Beaver said:
I have thought about it-but while i have a lot of "war stories", there are MANY MANY more out there for so many other people.

It is a wild and crazy business and some things you just can't believe happening-but they do. Just part of the job. And it happens on all levels of the business-from the small clubs to large concerts. The range of stupidity is simple amazing.

And then there are great stories associated with the business that have nothing to do with the business.

The weirdest thing I ever did vehicle wise was on a early Sunday morning (around 5am) during Feburary starting to go up a steep mountain in Tenn. Mount Eagle between Nashville and Chattanoga).

The fan belt on the 24' truck broke. NOW we have a problem. It is cold outside-and the engine won't circulate the radiator fluid-so we can't stay warm. So we started thinking one guy mentioned he had heard about using pantyhose for a fan belt-but I reminded him that we left all the girls back at the show----------------.

But we do have DUCT TAPE! So we dug through the back to get to the work box to get it.

I doubled it over on itself (sticky side to sticky side) put it on. We filled the radiator with the cold water running off the mountain.

I started it up and IT WAS TURNING THE WATER PUMP! We let it run until the temp came down then started up the mountain.

We made it almost to the top when it broke-because I could see the temp starting to rise. But being a large engine--to takes awhile to heat up-so we kept going.

So we pulled into a Waffle house-had breakfast and asked around for a truck parts place. We found one a mile down the road and he had the belt in stock. We had to put it own ourselves since he did not have a mechanic available-but no big deal-we just asked to pull the truck into his bay so it would be a bit warmer.

YES that is a TRUE story. So I made a fanbelt out of duct tape and climbed a mountain with it on a kinda large truck.
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Duct tape repair to a radiator hose, while not as adventurous as a duct tape fan belt it got us to the show. The show was one in a series of "battle of the bands" in hot mid July flea market parking lot.

Said radiator hose was on an early 70's Jeep Wagon pulling a trailer down interstate 75. My buddy says "do you smell something hot" about the time I see wisp of steam coming out from around the edges of the hood.

Got pulled over, anti freeze is blowing out of a split in the top radiator hose. All of the tools and duct tape is buried in box at the front of the trailer.

We had to unload 80 percent of the trailer just to get to it, picture a pile of stuff stacked along the guard rail of the interstate.
Many layers of duct tape fixed the hose, refilling the radiator was fun. The gallon of drinking water we had did not even start to refill the radiator.

After an off road hike to the outside faucet on a warehouse type of building to refill the water jug and a trash bag (only other thing we had to hold water) radiator was filled and we were back on the road.

Saturday morning fun about 1984 with a trailer load of what my buddy and I called a PA system.
 
Re: holy crap, what a nightmare

Ivan Beaver said:
I've had guys electrocuted (so much as to stop setup because they were "down"), guys that have had all their facial hair burnt off (slip of a screwdriver during tie in on an OLD panel-it just blew a 600A breaker), all sorts of punctures, broken fingers-guys beaten up in the alley during load out etc.

No deaths or major broken bones :)

But LOTS of gear failure-fires-burnt speakers-electrical overvoltage taking out the whole system (a couple of times)-truss falling-speakers falling-cars running into the PA-attacked at FOH with a conga stand at FOH-a fist fight with a lead singer on stage during the set (I have the video of that one)-vehicles broken into-gear stolen. You know-just normal everyday gigs---------------------------
Click to expand...

You need to upload some videos to YouTube.
 
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