Danny’s Blog

Sunday 16th November 2008.
Nottingham Royal Concert Hall
Danny G - Drum/Lighting Technician

10 O’clock. . Beep Beep Beep (that’s the Alarm) Yawn . . Stumble out of bed into the shower.
Once Clean and smelling like roses, run down stairs to swallow a nice hot cup of tea, ready to be picked up by the truck.

Come 11 O’clock, the truck arrives with the driver and Ryan (Projection Engineer). So I open the front door and I’m greeted with “Get The Kettle On!”, and we proceed to drink more tea. Once we decide we can’t drink any more, we make tracks and head down the road to the Concert Hall. As it’s a nice local gig we take it easy and see the sights, (we got lost and hit every one way system in the whole of Nottingham city centre!). Half an hour later we arrive at the dock doors and are greeted by the lads from the Concert Hall, minus one of our own (Ricky - Sound Engineer) who is still on the M1 Motorway about half an hour away. We have a chat for a while and talk about stuff, then get down to business. Prep the lighting rigger with our set and lamps we require, colour’s etc. We set the stage with their risers then head to the truck to unload all the gear.

20 minutes later we have an empty truck and a stage full of flight cases ready to be emptied. Then Ricky turns up 30 min’s late, after all the hard work had been done. So no longer had we started setting up gear, Ryan stops for one of many ‘fag breaks!’ Anyhow, today we had Dave our Electrical man (Sparky) in the theatre with us testing all the equipment, this is to ensure its all safe when we turn the power on, and it doesn’t go bang.. Or even worse We don’t go bang!

A few of hours later and the stage is recognizable, Drums and Pianos on risers, all the Vintage Vox amplifiers set to position, all Guitars are out and on stands, Projection Screen up, monitors and Amps set, blah blah blah. All that’s left to do is turn the P.A on and do a Line Check (this is to ensure everything is plugged into its right holes and going where it should do) before the band arrive. So I jump up on the drums and do a quick line check, and because I can, do a soundcheck while I’m there. Once the drums are done I move onto the bass guitar, piano’s, all the Vocal mic’s etc. (Mic Testing 1,2 ) and Ricky makes sure it’s all sounding right for show time.

Andy Lockwood (Our media Mogul) turns up, catching the day’s full events on camera for some new shiny videos and such like for your viewing pleasure and the band arrives at the same time, jumping on the stage like monkeys making noise. Once all the instruments are fine-tuned, restrung, checked and double-checked we go for a sound check. This enables the sound man to get a feel for the venue and the band sound for this day, also eliminate any other problems there may be with Monitors, Amps, Mic’s ect. But my job isn’t done yet, I have to go and check the lighting board to make sure it’s all programmed and as easy to operate during the show. Yep all was good. The lads at the concert hall really know what they’re about!

Soon we’re all done and it’s time for the PUB! (To eat a nice pub lunch of course!)
7:00pm soon comes around and that’s my time to head back to the Concert Hall, as it’s my little job to sell the merchandise. So I head back grab the boxes of DVD’s, programmes and CD’s, and head for the stall. I sell the merchandise for about 20 minutes as this gives me time to head back stage, round up the lads to go on stage, grab a drink and run up to the lighting desk.

7:30pm - We wait anxiously for a little message over the intercom system from stage manager/front of house manager. “We now have Front Of House Clearance” Ok Then, Go with the music, Go with the house lights, Go with the preset . . . and Roll VT (Video Projection Screen).

The show runs without any hitches and get’s a very good reception from the 1,300 strong crowd, and soon it’s time to pack up and go home. If only it was that easy! As you can imagine there is quite a lot of equipment on the stage and front of house, but none of this would work without Cables, and let me tell you, there are hundreds of the bleeding things! From fibrotic cables as thin as human hair, to multi-core cables as thick as your leg. It takes a while for all these to be wrapped up and put away, but once this is done we can crack on with the big stuff. As I’m the Drum Tech I jump straight on the kit, Un-mic, take all the cymbals off, pack the stands away and load them into their flight case. Pedals and other gadgetry gets put in the necessary cases, and finally the drums are put in their hadcases and the mat is wrapped up and loaded in the truck. As we had 3 guys from the concert hall and the ever trusty Stevie Nelson (Ex-roadie/driver and all round diamond geezer) helping on the ‘Out’, we were loaded and out in record time, 11 O’clock. Just in time for the pub, Nice!

So there you go, a little insight into the day of a Roadie. Just as they say Rock ’n’ Roll!

Danny G