The Anatomy of a Hardcore Show
By Jay Frost
Until now, I’ve brought you detailed, up close and personal accounts of performances from the myriad of acts that played Bogies in the first half of 2013. While these performance reviews are a lot of fun to write and helpful (I hope) to the musicians whose sets I review, today I’ve decided to give you a behind the scenes look at all of the hard work and careful planning that goes in to organizing and orchestrating these events.
On Saturday, April 27th, I worked under Upstate BnB stage manager and sound technician Dan Bushey from load-in to the final change-over for the last two acts. For the musicians, promoters and venue staff that may be reading, what I am about to recount is nothing new. The average concert-goer, on the other hand, can only venture a guess as to what happens in the hours before the doors open.
At 5 p.m., the six acts scheduled to perform began to arrive at the venue for load-in. With a door time of 7 p.m., it is of the utmost importance that all acts have their equipment inside the club, separated and ready to be placed on the stage no later than 5:15, 5:30 at the latest. In order to minimize confusion, each act chose a separate plot on the empty dance floor to stow their gear (guitars, basses, drums and amplifiers) and awaited further instruction from the stage manager.
When all the bands had loaded in, the order in which each would appear was determined. Typically, this is dictated by the amount of tickets sold, but tonight’s event was organized by Tower, the headliners, who therefore assumed this responsibility. Once the order was set, the bands and venue staff loaded the gear on the stage, guitars and basses stored in an enclosure behind the drum riser, amplification devices stacked stage left and right using a method known as “back-lining”. This process entails placing all of the amplifiers in the order that each band will appear – the openers’ equipment first, direct support and headliners last. As most of the acts on tonight’s bill featured two guitarists and a bass player, guitar amplification was stacked to the right and the left of the stage, the bass amps to the right of the drum riser. As you will see later on, this makes load-off between acts simple and free of aggravation. In order to prevent clutter, the openers and direct support shared some of the larger equipment (speaker cabinets for guitar and bass amplification).
After back-lining, drums for the openers were assembled on the riser, center stage. The bands slated to appear afterward began to assemble their drum kits in a fenced-off alcove directly behind the sound booth (left side of the room behind the dance floor). Just as back-lining eliminates unnecessary stress, partial assembly of the percussive instruments reduces the amount of time it would take to assemble them on stage, thus minimizing the set-up time between acts.
After the opening act was set up, sound-check began. Much like any other venue, Bogies has its own house P.A. system which is utilized to amplify the band and minimize the unpleasant feedback associated with the volume on stage being turned up too loud. Each instrument/amplification device is fitted with a microphone that is fed into a mixing board used by the sound technician to balance levels. As drums are essentially acoustic instruments, kits are fitted with a number of microphones – typically one for the kick-drum, one for the snare, and sever others mounted on toms. These mics also serve to amplify cymbal volume.
Sound-checks typically begin with setting drum levels: first, the bass, next the snare, and finally the whole kit. Once the sound man is satisfied with the drum levels on stage (and the drummer is satisfied with the levels coming through the stage monitors), one of the two guitarists plays in a few riffs in order to set their levels. After the guitars, the bass, and so on; depending on how many vocalists the band features, one to three microphones are tested and levels are set. Finally, the band as a whole plays a verse or two of a song for a final level check, then clears the stage until it’s time to perform.
As mentioned earlier, the openers and direct support shared equipment, which limited my responsibilities to assisting the acts with drum set-up and break-down. More often than not, the bands themselves are responsible for making this happen, so they were extremely grateful to have an extra pair of hands this evening. When the first of the openers completed their set, I aided the drummer in the breakdown and removal of the drums, and then offered my assistance to the next band. After their set, the first of the back-lined gear was removed from the stage as well. All of this gear is then placed in the alcove where the other acts set up their drums until it’s time to load out.
Though the technical side of orchestrating these events can be bothersome, careful planning and swift action on the part of venue staff minimizes any significant problems. Methods like “back-lining” allow for swift change-overs so that each act has ample time for adequate sound checks and enables venue staff to complete their jobs in an orderly, timely fashion. This is how the pros do it.
