The Ranting Room

Dayvenkirq wrote: ^ Doesn't sound like you hate it. AEProgman wrote: My peave, I cannot stand the idiots who blast that supposed stuff called music, Rap or hip hop, so lound at stop lights that my vehicle is rattling and vibrating from their million watt car stereo system.  With that low frequency blasting in their ears, they should be deaf within a couple of years.  I think I will invest in hearing aides..... Well, who doesn't hate those cts? This is a big problem here in the Sparks/Reno area. They just don't give a st about the community. I must act. I must walk around with a carton of eggs and throw them at every single ddo on wheels! Rant over.

Dean wrote: Finnforest wrote: I'm a honda guy..... i had a bright red 95 integra that was a blast....no real power of course, but such damn fun in corners....i used to hit this really sharp curve area and you could just corner like crazy, huge fun The wife has a honda, it's a good little car and while it didn't exactly win in an argument with a 18-wheeler, it didn't lose either - remarkably after being spun off the road and shoved into the central-reservation, it was back on the road within two weeks and is still going strong.   The VW Scirocco (in the picture) was dreadful at cornering ... when cornering hard if the front wheel touched the painted white-line if felt like you were going to fall off (in much the same way falling off a motorcycle feels when you're just about to fall off). Since the UK roads are more corners than straights I seriously considered dumping it for a honda or nissan that could go round corners, but I liked everything else about the vw skyrocket and didn't really want to part with it so I spent £1000 on sports suspension and shocks, lowering it no more than about half an inch in the process. After that it cornered like it was on rails and while my current coupe is considerably more powerful and considerably quicker and faster, it cannot take really sharp corners as fast as the modified skyrocket could.

Your comments about stop lights somewhere below was right, they are like a cancer spreading to so many locations where not needed, to protect people from their own driving inabilities and their inattentiveness.  I could parlay that into another rant about sh*tty local govt and transportation policy, but I won't.    

What I really wanted to say was that a few miles north they put in the areas first Roundabouts and for me personally I think it was the first ones I'd driven on.  Initially disconcerting and strange....they were pretty fun once I got the hang.  Supposedly the are building many more.  But these ones are semi-rural, I wonder how well they will work in the more crowded areas with today's American driver who can't put away their damn phone and generally can't pay attention, because, as a teen I know so tellingly put it "driving is so boring, I can't......*just*......drive!"  

Can I rant here? Oh good.

I'm in a band that's just looking for some decent gigs.  We've been together about 8 years, mostly playing for free and for groups of friends, but in the last couple of years we've decided to up the ante and focus on original material and obtain some more substantial gigs.  One of our main sticky points recently has been to avoid lugging our entire PA system across town just to play for small (paying or non-paying) groups of people who probably aren't even listening and would rather hear a cover band play "Margaritaville".  In short, no more party gigs.  I've turned down two this year already.  Instead, we'd like to try and get shows booked at music clubs - where people come there to hear music, and you're encouraged to play your own stuff, and most importantly, there's a PA system and sound man already there.

Despite some uncertainty, we decided to accept a gig for a "Relay for Life" event sponsored by the American Cancer Society.  It seemed like a good opportunity for local exposure in the ATL scene.  This is a big all-night outdoor event with multiple bands.  Naturally, being a charity event, we would expect no pay for such a gig.  However, I have been trying for the last month to get some answers as to what equipment will be there, and what we would have to bring.  I had been led to believe they had a PA system at the event, but no one could really confirm this with certainty, and I got bounced around to numerous friendly people with good intentions who were unable to answer my questions.  The event is in three days.

Bottom line, I finally got some answers.

- There's a DJ with a PA system, but there will be no microphones nor stage monitors for the band.  Meaning we will pretty much have to bring most of our rig on Friday.

- No sound man, which means erratic and unbalanced stage sound, relying on annoyed patrons to help us adjust our levels as we go.

- Sparked by an offhand comment I made in a very early email saying our bass player would need to shuffle his work schedule in order to be able to play at the agreed 8 pm slot, the event coordinators took it upon themselves to move us to 11 pm without asking us, thinking they were doing us a favor.

- A 30-40 minute set (we had planned for at least an hour) which means by the time we get the sound figured out, our set will be over.

We're having band rehearsal tonight to decide how to handle this.  I'm tempted to just bag the whole thing, but it is a charity event, and doesn't seem to be in the spirit of giving to cancel on an event like this - even though if I had known all of this weeks ago like I should have, we probably would have declined the gig in the first place.

I get the impression that most people believe that live music works in real life like it does on TV shows like "Glee".  Just give some guys some instruments, and presto!  You've got a concert.   But there are a lot of wires, speakers, amplifiers and microphones involved, and getting them all set the right way is necessary for a band sounding good.  You don't just show up with a guitar and suddenly you're Guns n' Roses.

OK, thanks for allowing me to rant.


Edited by HolyMoly - April 30 2013 at 09:11

Sounds like a gig arranged by someone who hasn't got the first clue about the requirements of a live band (i.e. a decent PA to start with). There's no guarantee that the DJs PA will be okay for you, it doesn't sound very good for an event with multiple bands.

Not a bad idea.  I'll run it by the boys today.  The main problem with that is, it's an all-night event (6 pm to 6 am), and I don't have any desire to stick around the entire time waiting to get our gear back.

Thanks, Dean.  The infuriating thing is that I have been asking questions about the equipment for weeks, with very little response from them at all, not even a "let me check on that for you".  I gather they're understaffed and in over their heads.

With the responsiveness the way it's been so far, I have little faith that I could pull together multiple bands to collaborate on a common PA system and/or drum set, with only 3 days til the gig, and honestly, I don't want the gig that badly.

In an alternative world, the band follows through with the gig, it turns out that the director of new talent for Atlantic Records just happens to be in attendance, he signs the band on the spot to a multimillion dollar multirecord deal and the band goes on to become the biggest thing since Guns N Roses. 

And that was almost as bad as the guitarist in a band we supported years ago. He had about 25 effects pedals spread over 2 boards and God knows how many adapters. When I plugged my one amp in, it blew the fuse in the hall and he blamed it on me!

rushfan4 wrote: In an alternative world, the band follows through with the gig, it turns out that the director of new talent for Atlantic Records just happens to be in attendance, he signs the band on the spot to a multimillion dollar multirecord deal and the band goes on to become the biggest thing since Guns N Roses.

Alas.

^WHOA!   Looks like Axl ate the jungle.