Well, where do I start? I suppose the beginning is a fair bet, so Friday afternoon, I pulled up outside Twinspin's house in Hull, with everything except a playout system. We put John's MC6000 into the van, and off we went, ready to Rock and Roll. Except for the rush hour traffic. :(
I engaged full White Van Mode, and we arrived only ten minutes or so later than planned.
"We have to carry the kit downstairs " said John. "Oh goody", said I. ( Actually, I didn't, but that's the nearest translation the censor will allow. ;) )
Turns out not to be a big obstacle, for there's also a ramp like a roller coaster, and I'd packed the big sack truck, so a few easy runs down the hill were all it took. Fighting gravity on the way out was a different matter. Blimey but the climb looked like the North face of the Eiger. :( :( :(
So, with the gear in, due to space considerations, and the abundance of tables in our little enclave, we didn't take the Ultimax down, but used a venue table with cloth, Powerbar and a T-bar with lasers, and stacked a pair of Class D's. Not the prettiest rig we've ever used, but more than fit for purpose.
Halloween party for the kiddiwinkies, and the venue has got its strategy bang on, cos it was packed. Games are well received, except for one presenter, who gets wound up by the DJ not doing clean pauses during Statues. I warned John that if he didn't improve his technique, I was going to practice Reiki massage on his head with a cabled Sennheiser 825S. :p :D :D
We had a visit from Brewster Bear, and all went really well. Kids loved it, venue staff were impressed, and an early finish. Nice.
Saturday : Elvis ain't dead.
I know this for sure, cos he was working with John and I at the Triton in Brantingham. :D :D :D
At this point, I have to hold my hands up and apologise. :o :o :o :o :o :o :o When John asked me how big the venue was, I said the Ballroom was big. Oops, it wasn't as big as I remembered. Hey come on folks, I'm an Old Guy, I forget things. :( :D :D Thus, the planned lighting rig of the mighty truss adorned with four scanners, a wizard and two huge icolours for Elvis became:
Wait for it
The trusty Teutonic Powerbar. :eek: :eek:
Elvis and his wife had the smallest rig I've ever seen, an ipad ( John said. I think it was smaller, but I have no idea ) feeding a lovely Bose mixer that was little bigger than a powered hard drive. We put that into an aux channel on the MC6000, and after very little tweaking, it sounded lovely.
The function was a surprise birthday and anniversary party, and we got it spot on. Room in darkness, guests of honour enter, I hit the lights, John fires up Congratulations, guests shout Happy Birthday, and fire two huge confetti cannons. When Elvis entered, we did something along the same lines, and the venue staff said it was the best entrance they'd ever seen. Elvis' wife lined up the music, Elvis was fabulous, and I tap danced on the Powerbar controller, in an effort to provide some form of suitable lighting.
May I say that if anyone either gets the chance to see Steve Caprice as Elvis, aided by his lovely wife Barbara, then take it. Superb. If you have the privelege of working with them, you're in for a treat. They're knowledgeable, helpful, pleasant, and utterly profesional. If only every live act was like this. :fp: :( :(
Fabulous night, lovely lovely crowd, we did a big Tamla and 60's set which went down a storm, and even got a punter at the end coming up at the end thrusting a note into John's hand with the immortal words: "well done lads ( Lads? Lads? Either I must have been in the shadows, or the Oil of Olay's starting to take effect. ) get yourselves a drink". Lovely way to end a great night. I even managed to play three tracks in a row from the 6000! :eek: :D :D :D :D
