I added a few more pictures to an album on Facebook
I also forgot to mention that when we were in Michigan we had a photographer come out to take some pictures of us and our whole set up. They took pictures of the individual departments and one of the entire crew with Jeff and Brian. Live Tech wants to send out press releases for this tour because it's very unusual for one company to handle every aspect of the production. Usually the lighting, video, sound and set companies will all be separate. They want to get our story and pictures into some industry magazines or other media. I'll keep you updated on all of that as I find out more :)
Other than that, not too much more to report. I'm home for a few days right now. I'll leave on Tuesday for about a week and half, come home for 4 days and then leave again!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
2/10-2/15
Sorry I haven't been quite up to date with this. I just got a laptop yesterday, so that will make it a bit easier :)
Let's see... after we got back from Canada we had about 4 days off. The day we came back we worked on some more things in the shop. On the 10th we met at the shop around 9:30pm and left for E. Lansing, Michigan. We were at the Breslin Event Center which was on the Michigan State campus. Quite a few of the shows we've done have been on college campuses.
This was the first show with our new screen. Our original screen had a seam running across the surface, so they ordered a whole new screen that was a different material and frame. I joked with Steve that we finally got our video stuff figured out and running smooth, and they had to thow something else at us to slow us down again. The frame of the old screen collaped and fit into two cases that were probably no more than 5-6 feet long. Only the top and bottom pieces of this new frame come apart. It's a 19x25ft screen, so the side pieces are about 19ft, so the wood shop had to build a case that's 20ft long. Tim, our video department manager, came up for that show so he was there to help us out. It's a pain because there are a lot of steps and there's a certain order in which it goes together, but after this stretch of a few shows we're getting better at it. I'm usually the one in charge of it while Brandon is working with the projectors.
From there we went to Moline, Illinois, then Cedear Falls, Iowa. That was an interesting day. First of all it was at a college campus again in their indoor sports dome. We didn't have the normal stage hands who do stuff like this everyday, we had students. We were supposed to have 14, but only 7 showed up. Also, we couldn't hang our truss structure since the ceiling was a dome. There was a truss roof-like structure over the stage, so that's how we hung the screen. We didn't hang any lights, either. Spotlights were the only light on the stage. Here are some pictures:
We stacked the projectors on scaffolding back by the camera.
We put them on a forklift one at a time to get them up there.
You can also see in the picture our new camera riser system. It's the projector boxes flipped on their sides. The back one has a wood board on a hinge that swings up and over to make a platform for Timmy (the camera operator). That's what we call a "Quinn-o-vation." One of the many things Steve Quinn designed.
The house set up some drape running from the side of the stage to the wall and during the show it all fell down. I thought it was pretty funny. It was right beside video control, and all of a sudden I hear a noise, so I turned around and saw a bunch of people rushing over. They tried to catch it, but it was like a domino effect and it all fell to the ground. Marnell told them to just leave it down because it would have been even more distracting if they tried to put it all back up. Brandon said it felt like the Wizard of Oz since our control area was exposed to the crowd :P
The next morning we had an 8am call instead of the usual 10 because we had a show to do at 3. There was also another show at 8pm that day. It was in Bloomington, Illinois, and I guess the 8pm show sold out pretty quick, so that's why they added the earlier show. The next day we were in Lexington, Kentucky for a 5pm show. We had another 8am load in, and we got there at about 10 after. We were all pretty tired that day. I got a little nap in before the first show, and that helped.
It was a long week. 6 shows in a row with 2 in one day. I think that's about the most we've done.
There are a lot of nice things about this tour, but there's definitely a lot of hard work that goes into it. You have to work fast but work well at the same time. Sometimes we get good stagehands who know exactly what you're asking them to do, and sometimes it can be like working with little kids.
We have 25 shows under our belts now, and many more to go!
Let's see... after we got back from Canada we had about 4 days off. The day we came back we worked on some more things in the shop. On the 10th we met at the shop around 9:30pm and left for E. Lansing, Michigan. We were at the Breslin Event Center which was on the Michigan State campus. Quite a few of the shows we've done have been on college campuses.
This was the first show with our new screen. Our original screen had a seam running across the surface, so they ordered a whole new screen that was a different material and frame. I joked with Steve that we finally got our video stuff figured out and running smooth, and they had to thow something else at us to slow us down again. The frame of the old screen collaped and fit into two cases that were probably no more than 5-6 feet long. Only the top and bottom pieces of this new frame come apart. It's a 19x25ft screen, so the side pieces are about 19ft, so the wood shop had to build a case that's 20ft long. Tim, our video department manager, came up for that show so he was there to help us out. It's a pain because there are a lot of steps and there's a certain order in which it goes together, but after this stretch of a few shows we're getting better at it. I'm usually the one in charge of it while Brandon is working with the projectors.
From there we went to Moline, Illinois, then Cedear Falls, Iowa. That was an interesting day. First of all it was at a college campus again in their indoor sports dome. We didn't have the normal stage hands who do stuff like this everyday, we had students. We were supposed to have 14, but only 7 showed up. Also, we couldn't hang our truss structure since the ceiling was a dome. There was a truss roof-like structure over the stage, so that's how we hung the screen. We didn't hang any lights, either. Spotlights were the only light on the stage. Here are some pictures:
We stacked the projectors on scaffolding back by the camera.
We put them on a forklift one at a time to get them up there.
You can also see in the picture our new camera riser system. It's the projector boxes flipped on their sides. The back one has a wood board on a hinge that swings up and over to make a platform for Timmy (the camera operator). That's what we call a "Quinn-o-vation." One of the many things Steve Quinn designed.
The house set up some drape running from the side of the stage to the wall and during the show it all fell down. I thought it was pretty funny. It was right beside video control, and all of a sudden I hear a noise, so I turned around and saw a bunch of people rushing over. They tried to catch it, but it was like a domino effect and it all fell to the ground. Marnell told them to just leave it down because it would have been even more distracting if they tried to put it all back up. Brandon said it felt like the Wizard of Oz since our control area was exposed to the crowd :P
The next morning we had an 8am call instead of the usual 10 because we had a show to do at 3. There was also another show at 8pm that day. It was in Bloomington, Illinois, and I guess the 8pm show sold out pretty quick, so that's why they added the earlier show. The next day we were in Lexington, Kentucky for a 5pm show. We had another 8am load in, and we got there at about 10 after. We were all pretty tired that day. I got a little nap in before the first show, and that helped.
It was a long week. 6 shows in a row with 2 in one day. I think that's about the most we've done.
There are a lot of nice things about this tour, but there's definitely a lot of hard work that goes into it. You have to work fast but work well at the same time. Sometimes we get good stagehands who know exactly what you're asking them to do, and sometimes it can be like working with little kids.
We have 25 shows under our belts now, and many more to go!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
2/3/09
Columbus, OH
I have another crazy airport story! So the plan was to fly out of Canada to Minneapolis again, and from there fly to Columbus. We were supposed to leave Winnepeg at 4:35pm and arrive in Columbus around 10pm. The plane was a few minutes late getting to the gate, and then they had some maintenence to do. It wouldn't have been so bad if the gate attendant wasn't so annoying about it. He'd say things like "My guess is we'll be boarding in the next 15 minutes." Then later come back and say "I'm sorry, I guessed wrong. They're still working on it but we should be able to board here soon anyway." "Well they just informed me they don't want anyone to board until all the repairs are done just in case it takes a long time." We finally boarded around 5:30. Then we had to get de-iced again. Our flight out of Minneapolis was scheduled to leave at 7:05 and we landed right at about 7:00. While we were still on the plane Marnell called to see if it was delayed or anything, and it actually left 5 minutes early. Of course!
So Steve and Marnell again tried coming up with different solutions on how to get use home. Marnell called Dana the bus driver to see where he was because he was driving from Winnepeg to Columbus to drop some stuff off for us. He was around Chicago, so we caught a flight to O'Hare and hitched a ride from there. Again, we got lucky and everything worked out. Dana said he's never going to let us fly again, which most of us would be fine with after all of that!
We made it back to the shop at 5am yesterday morning. Since then I've slept, did some laundry, bought a few groceries, paid some bills, re-packed, and I have to be back on the bus in an hour or two to head back to Canada!
I have another crazy airport story! So the plan was to fly out of Canada to Minneapolis again, and from there fly to Columbus. We were supposed to leave Winnepeg at 4:35pm and arrive in Columbus around 10pm. The plane was a few minutes late getting to the gate, and then they had some maintenence to do. It wouldn't have been so bad if the gate attendant wasn't so annoying about it. He'd say things like "My guess is we'll be boarding in the next 15 minutes." Then later come back and say "I'm sorry, I guessed wrong. They're still working on it but we should be able to board here soon anyway." "Well they just informed me they don't want anyone to board until all the repairs are done just in case it takes a long time." We finally boarded around 5:30. Then we had to get de-iced again. Our flight out of Minneapolis was scheduled to leave at 7:05 and we landed right at about 7:00. While we were still on the plane Marnell called to see if it was delayed or anything, and it actually left 5 minutes early. Of course!
So Steve and Marnell again tried coming up with different solutions on how to get use home. Marnell called Dana the bus driver to see where he was because he was driving from Winnepeg to Columbus to drop some stuff off for us. He was around Chicago, so we caught a flight to O'Hare and hitched a ride from there. Again, we got lucky and everything worked out. Dana said he's never going to let us fly again, which most of us would be fine with after all of that!
We made it back to the shop at 5am yesterday morning. Since then I've slept, did some laundry, bought a few groceries, paid some bills, re-packed, and I have to be back on the bus in an hour or two to head back to Canada!
2/1/09
Winnepeg, SK
Well here I am in another hotel. It's nice being the only girl because I get my own room :) We fly back to Columbus tomorrow afternoon for a couple of days, then we drive back up for 2 more shows in Canada. On the way here Steve told us that Robin pulled him aside earlier that night to tell him this has been the longest time the show has gone with out anything going wrong. They're all still very happy with us.
Last night during the show Brandon took Jeff's HD camera to tape a few Valentine's Day greeting with Walter. They should be up on his website to send as E-cards soon. You should check 'em out! He taped in on stage right in the middle of the show.
I think I've been outside for no more than a few minutes since we've been in Canada. Today and the first day the bus parked inside the arena. Yesterday we were parked right outside a door so I was outside walking to and from the bus a couple of times, then today I walked from the bus to the hotel. It's definitely cold and of course there's snow everywhere, but that's about all I can tell you about the weather!
We were done with almost the whole set-up by lunch today. The arena had back and side curtains that we usually have to put up, so that saved us a lot of time. We were also all back on the bus by midnight tonight. We still have a few more things in video to get smoothed out, but we've definitely come a long way.
Sorry I don't really have any crazy or funny stories from the road.
I got a haircut last time I was home which I'm happy about. It's a lot easier to deal with in this touring situation, plus I've always like having my hair shorter. I also bought a new iPod. It's nice to have for airports and flights (especially when you're in one for 12 hours).
Well here I am in another hotel. It's nice being the only girl because I get my own room :) We fly back to Columbus tomorrow afternoon for a couple of days, then we drive back up for 2 more shows in Canada. On the way here Steve told us that Robin pulled him aside earlier that night to tell him this has been the longest time the show has gone with out anything going wrong. They're all still very happy with us.
Last night during the show Brandon took Jeff's HD camera to tape a few Valentine's Day greeting with Walter. They should be up on his website to send as E-cards soon. You should check 'em out! He taped in on stage right in the middle of the show.
I think I've been outside for no more than a few minutes since we've been in Canada. Today and the first day the bus parked inside the arena. Yesterday we were parked right outside a door so I was outside walking to and from the bus a couple of times, then today I walked from the bus to the hotel. It's definitely cold and of course there's snow everywhere, but that's about all I can tell you about the weather!
We were done with almost the whole set-up by lunch today. The arena had back and side curtains that we usually have to put up, so that saved us a lot of time. We were also all back on the bus by midnight tonight. We still have a few more things in video to get smoothed out, but we've definitely come a long way.
Sorry I don't really have any crazy or funny stories from the road.
I got a haircut last time I was home which I'm happy about. It's a lot easier to deal with in this touring situation, plus I've always like having my hair shorter. I also bought a new iPod. It's nice to have for airports and flights (especially when you're in one for 12 hours).
1/28/09
Minneapolis/St. Paul airport
Today's been one of those crazy airport days. It's 5pm and I've been at this airport since 9:30am. And I'm not leaving (or scheduled to leave) until 9:20pm. Here's why: This morning we were supposed to fly out of Columbus to Regina, SK Canada with a layover in Minneapolis. Columbus got hit with wintery weather last night and today, so yesterday evening Steve called everyone to let us know we may be leaving that night instead of risking a cancelled or delayed flight out of Columbus this morning. We all met at the shop around 7pm and went to the airport to rent a couple of cars. Then we drove to Detroit so we could catch a flight out of there the next morning. We made it to Detroit through all the snow and stayed at a hotel for about 2 hours. We arrived around 1am and had to drive to the airport at 4am. We were going to catch our original flight out of Minneapolis to Canada at 6:40.
So we get to the airport, drop off the cars and check in. A few people had already checked in for the original flight out of Columbus, and that caused some problems. We were there for close to an hour before they got everything straightened out. We had just enough time to walk to our gate and use the restroom before the plane started boarding. Then we were waiting and waiting to leave the gate when the pilot said they had to fix some computer problem for the flight attendants and there was also some discrepancy between how much fuel they were told was in the plane and how much was actually there. They had "enough to get us where we were going," but there was just some paper work they had to get done for all of that. Then after all that was done we were waiting in line to get de-iced. I don't know exactly how long we sat there because I was drifting in and out of sleep, but it was at least an hour.
Because of all of that we missed our next flight out of Minnesota. A lot of people missed their flights, so when we got off the plane they had new iteneraries printed. Only our new flight was scheduled for tomorrow. We neeeded to be in Canada tonight because we start working tomorrow morning. So finally Steve got it worked out to where 5 people flew to Winnepeg at 11, then to Regina, and the remaining 4 flew straight to Regina at 9:20 tonight. So after all of that was straigtened out we all got some lunch (it was the first we had eaten all day). The group of 5 went to wait for their flight which got delayed an hour. The rest of us went looking for a place to "set up camp" for the next 9 hours.
We found a little lounge on the second floor of the main concourse and that's where we've been all day. Marnell has been working on e-mails and phone calls. Brian, Brandon and I slept a little, walked around, I watched/listened to my iPod, and they read.
The four of us got first class seats, so that will be nice. That will be first for me. The situation has been annoying, but considering all the circumstances things have worked out pretty well. Our original flight out of Columbus did end up getting cancelled, so we did the rigth thing by driving to Detroit. I just hope this last one to Canada goes ok. I need sleep!
Today's been one of those crazy airport days. It's 5pm and I've been at this airport since 9:30am. And I'm not leaving (or scheduled to leave) until 9:20pm. Here's why: This morning we were supposed to fly out of Columbus to Regina, SK Canada with a layover in Minneapolis. Columbus got hit with wintery weather last night and today, so yesterday evening Steve called everyone to let us know we may be leaving that night instead of risking a cancelled or delayed flight out of Columbus this morning. We all met at the shop around 7pm and went to the airport to rent a couple of cars. Then we drove to Detroit so we could catch a flight out of there the next morning. We made it to Detroit through all the snow and stayed at a hotel for about 2 hours. We arrived around 1am and had to drive to the airport at 4am. We were going to catch our original flight out of Minneapolis to Canada at 6:40.
So we get to the airport, drop off the cars and check in. A few people had already checked in for the original flight out of Columbus, and that caused some problems. We were there for close to an hour before they got everything straightened out. We had just enough time to walk to our gate and use the restroom before the plane started boarding. Then we were waiting and waiting to leave the gate when the pilot said they had to fix some computer problem for the flight attendants and there was also some discrepancy between how much fuel they were told was in the plane and how much was actually there. They had "enough to get us where we were going," but there was just some paper work they had to get done for all of that. Then after all that was done we were waiting in line to get de-iced. I don't know exactly how long we sat there because I was drifting in and out of sleep, but it was at least an hour.
Because of all of that we missed our next flight out of Minnesota. A lot of people missed their flights, so when we got off the plane they had new iteneraries printed. Only our new flight was scheduled for tomorrow. We neeeded to be in Canada tonight because we start working tomorrow morning. So finally Steve got it worked out to where 5 people flew to Winnepeg at 11, then to Regina, and the remaining 4 flew straight to Regina at 9:20 tonight. So after all of that was straigtened out we all got some lunch (it was the first we had eaten all day). The group of 5 went to wait for their flight which got delayed an hour. The rest of us went looking for a place to "set up camp" for the next 9 hours.
We found a little lounge on the second floor of the main concourse and that's where we've been all day. Marnell has been working on e-mails and phone calls. Brian, Brandon and I slept a little, walked around, I watched/listened to my iPod, and they read.
The four of us got first class seats, so that will be nice. That will be first for me. The situation has been annoying, but considering all the circumstances things have worked out pretty well. Our original flight out of Columbus did end up getting cancelled, so we did the rigth thing by driving to Detroit. I just hope this last one to Canada goes ok. I need sleep!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
