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The last two entries were from the little notebook I wrote in before I'd got to sleep on the bus. As I was typing them out I realized I should probably give a little better explanation of what we actually do on a daily basis.

There are 8 people on our crew from Live Tech: Steve, 2 audio guys, 2 lighting guys, Brandon and I, and a set/camera guy. We all travel on the bus along with Marnell the tour manager, and Anthony the merchandise guy.
If you haven't already guessed, I'm the only girl. I've worked with these guys for a year and half now and we all get along well. We joke around and make fun of each other just like any group of friends or family. I would not have done this if I didn't think I would feel comfortable with anybody.

As I mentioned, the bus is driving to the next city while we're sleeping. Then we wake up and head into the arena. There are at least 10 local stagehands at each venue to help us with our set-up (which we call load in) and tear-down (load out). We have two semi-trucks full of equipment. The stagehands unload the trucks and we tell them where to push the cases. Then once everything is off the truck, the hands divide up between the different departments (audio, video, lighting, and set) and we put everything together. The video set up includes putting together a 19' x 25' screen and mounting it to truss that hangs above the stage, mounting two 225lb projectors to truss that hangs in front of the stage above the audience, setting up a camera, running cables from the camera and projector to the video control area backstage, setting up our control area.

We get catered lunch and dinner at the venues. Jeff and Brian and their people sometimes have dinner when we do. They don't sit at our table though of course, so I don't really have any stories about that, but it's been kinda cool eating in the same place at the same time.

For the show Brandon calls cues and switches what is going on the screen (camera shot, video playback, graphic, etc.). I play a video before Jeff walks on stage, control the iris on the camera, record the show to DVD so Jeff can go back and watch a performance, and keep track of how long each performer and character are on stage. Then about 2 1/2 hours later the show ends, we pack everything back up, and after about another 2 hours later we hit the showers and get back on the bus.

When we get back on the bus there is another meal waiting for us. I usually just have Vitamin Water for breakfast. We eat lunch around 12-1, dinner at 5-6, and late dinner at 1-2am. Then we chill on the bus watching movies, talking, playing scene it or whatever until we trickle off to bed. It usually takes me a while to wind down. One night I couldn't get to sleep until 4:45. Most of the time it's been close to 3. We start loading in at 10, so I get up around 9:30 and do it all again!