All's Well That Ends Well

I'm writing this post on Monday morning while reflecting on all that has happened since Friday (and way before). I've written this post a hundred times in my head and it takes on a little different flavor every time. I think I've experienced every emoticon ever made over the last 4 days !!! I don't know that I have it in me to include all the nitty gritty details, but I'll start by saying it was the hardest weekend since The Show From Hell in March. I don't know if Rob would agree with that statement, but I've never seen him this tired and burned out. This time of year has always been a little difficult anyway because it's the winding down of a really crazy-busy schedule and the last couple of years we've kind of gone into hibernation mode around this time out of sheer necessity. In fact, this is the first year we have shows scheduled non-stop clear into the first part of October. We knew this weekend was going to be physically hard- three shows in three days- but we didn't realize how hard it would be mentally and emotionally. (I can't speak for Rob and Dale about the "emotional" part, but this is my blog and it was emotionally draining!!) We spent the week preparing for this weekend, so we were already tired and going on very little sleep. I woke up on Thursday with a wicked sore throat which completely took away my appetite all day Thursday and Friday. Thursday night was another late one- I think Rob went to sleep around 4 a.m. and I slept restlessly all night. Friday morning, Dale and Rob met at The Egyptian at 9:00 a.m. to complete the drum riser that sits over the organ. It turned out really nice :

We had a crew of loaders, so that was helpful, but it's still a big job to hook everything up for this kind of a show:

This show was for a national touring act which means everything gets a lot more difficult depending on the artist's rider. A rider specifies exactly what the artist needs in order not to cancel a show at the promoters expense. Riders list everything from what kind of food must be provided to what temperature the room must be to where things go on the stage in exact measurements. This group had very specific needs, many of which can't be met in this location. They knew coming into it that we were providing close to what they needed but not everything they wanted. We were ready on our end when the tour bus pulled into the area around 1:00 p.m. and the crew began to unload their gear. We were told pretty quickly that things would go really smoothly until "Simon" arrived and then it would be stressful for awhile and then it would be fine. Now, Simon isn't the artist; Simon is the front-of-house tech. And the phrase, "it will be stressful for awhile" was the understatement of the year.

Rob took the brunt of the abuse since Dale had to go and load up for the Saturday show and I ran back and forth for little things that were needed. I helped Dale for awhile as he loaded up the van and the trailer. . .

. . . and then I headed out to Meridian to attend the BFC Leadership retreat.

As much as I wanted to be fully present at this meeting, I couldn't help but worry about Rob and Dale working on their respective events. (Our Saturday show was an all night set up so Dale was out in Caldwell setting up.) Sitting by Gary didn't do much for my concentration level either . . .

I made it back to The Egyptian in time to hear the last song and to help with the tear-down. I couldn't even tell you if the performer was good or not because I had no interest after the abuse Rob suffered at the hands of his crew. (That's really not a fair statement, however, since others on the crew were great. It's always easier, albeit wrong, to make a blanket statement about a group of people!!!)

The local crew helped us pack everything up in record time and we pushed it all up into the lobby. Rob left to get my car from the parking garage so he could drive it to the shop to get the truck. He was back in about 10 minutes because my car wouldn't start. :( One of the guys in the crew offered to drive him over but due to Friday night downtown traffic, by the time Rob got back with the truck, all of our good help had left. Well, we still had two helpers:

After the truck was loaded, Rob made one last-ditch effort to get the car running to no avail. We left it in the parking garage at $12/day knowing it would be a few days before we could get back to it.

We went home, picked up the dogs and the motor home and headed out to Caldwell to unload and set up everything we just packed up. Dale had made great progress and had the canopy up as well as the delay towers and the sound system for his stage. We still had several hours worth of work to set up the sound on the main stage before we could grab a couple of hours of sleep. Rather than go into all of the sordid details of the next several hours, I'll post the snarky, therapeutic letter that I wrote but won't send:

Some things to keep in mind when hiring a sound company to provide quality audio for your
full day event:

1. Be nice.

2. Keep in mind that when you require audio for two stages and sound that can cover 6 city blocks, large vehicles will be required to bring in the equipment. Please provide adequate parking within close proximity of the event. Do not tell the audio company, in an irritated voice at 5:00 in the morning while shaking your head, that the only place they can park is three blocks away.

3. If your festival budget does not allow for security, it's no problem, just expect a motor home to be parked next to the stage until morning and it will be moved in plenty of time for your event. There is no need to bang on the door of the motor home or rip open the door of the motor home while yelling at them to get it out of here. Also, security does matter. And we do give a shit.

4. Please understand that it is no small task to set up a canopy and sound equipment to meet your requirements, so when the road doesn't close until after 5:00 p.m. and the event starts at 8:00 a.m., the crew will need to sleep for at least 2 hours. See #3 above.

5. If you have a D.J. making announcements from another part of the festival and you tell the sound company he will need to tie into the main system, please do not blame the sound company when the D.J. doesn't tie in. This doesn't mean the delay towers are not working, it means the D.J. did not tie in.

6. If plans change after the planning meeting, please inform the sound company before the event. When the canopy is in place and it is 5:30 in the morning, it is too late to move it no matter how much you swear it wasn't supposed to be that big.

7. All sound technicians set up directly in front of the stage, about 30-50 feet back, even if there are breakfast tables there first. This is how they ensure that the sound coming out of the speakers is good. If this is a problem, we are flexible if you tell us and not a big angry guy that rips open doors of motor homes. See #3 above.

8. If the event is especially stressful for you, we understand. We've experienced this kind of stress before. If you lose your head for a moment and say something rude, we understand. We've experienced this kind of moment before. Just apologize and move on. We understand.

9. Be nice. Be nice. Be nice.

Despite the early morning drama, the event went very well. The groups that came to perform on both stages were prompt and entertaining. The event itself was a success and attracted upwards of 3000 people during the course of the day. In spite of a vendor running over and crushing one of the lift stand legs, there were no more problems with the canopy:

This was Dale's "stage". Basically 10 pieces of plywood screwed together on the grass.

Lori got to be Rob's side kick for the day while I attended day two of the Leadership retreat. I was concerned that he would be cranky after such a difficult night but Lori said he was funny and silly all day. They actually had fun!

The first group on the main stage was great. They've been playing music together all over the valley for years and they were very nice:

The main stage:

Dale and his side kick, Brian:

The Depot Stage:

My appetite had returned with a vengeance on Friday night after eating nothing of significance for two days but it was too late and we were too tired to eat by then. When the kids and I headed to Meridian around 10:30 a.m., we made a quick stop for breakfast and this Veggie Omelet at Denny's was heavenly:

I went to the leadership retreat from 1:00-4:00 and felt like I was more engaged than the day before. I'm encouraged to see positive things happening at BFC. The kids and I headed back out to Caldwell to await the ending of the event so we could take it all down.

The Mystics played from 4:30-7:00 and they are always fun to listen to. A few of these guys are in other bands that we have run sound for on many other occasions. It was nice to hear Don, the bass player, say we were the most professional sound company in the valley and he always looks forward to working with us.

The delay towers:

The events on Dale's stage ended earlier than the main stage, so Dale and Brian packed up everything they could just in time to drive over to help load up the main stage:

This is hard work when you're not already worn out and tonight these cases seemed 10 times heavier than usual:

All loaded up by 10:00- ready to be unloaded at 11:00 tomorrow morning at Ste Chappelle.

Sunday morning I took the kids to church where they can detox from the crazy life we lead for a few hours and spend an enjoyable afternoon at the McConaughey's house.

At 10:00 a.m., Rob, Dale and I climbed into the box truck and headed out to Marsing to run Straight Away at Ste. Chappelle. Rob and Dale had lost all traces of humor by this time so it was a tense set up. We had a few glitches in the sound system (the system is as tired and cranky as we are) but once things got started it went fine.

I actually enjoyed myself quite a bit once the band started playing. Lori came out to hang with me, I had a little wine, I danced a little bit, and I recovered from the previous days events.

The guys in Straight Away are always great to us. Kurt and Scott stayed around to help load the truck.

Kurt joined the band when they lost their drummer and changed their name from Straight Shooter to Straight Away. He's a very laid-back guy with a quirky sense of humor. I've gotten to know him better than the other guys during the last few events with them. He and Rob have a lot in common and I could see them working well together in many situations. He used to be an auto mechanic so when Rob mentioned the problems we were having with the car, he quickly volunteered to drive Rob into Boise after the event and take a look at the Subaru. By putting their heads together they found the solution and my car is safely home in the driveway. The parking attendant even took pity on us and only charged for one day even though it should have been two. As a side note, another very interesting thing happened earlier in the day that I can't help but wonder about- when I left Caldwell on Saturday morning, there was a five dollar bill tucked lightly into the wind shield wipers on the motor home that had been moved several blocks away from the event. I'd like to think this was some small gesture of good will and/or regret, but Lori just thinks someone assumed we were homeless and wanted to buy us breakfast. . .

I learned a lot about myself this weekend. I learned it's hard to pray for someone who is making false judgements about you but it's possible. I learned that I really can forgive someone without an apology (only by the grace of God) and it's a good feeling. I learned that while it's human nature to focus on negative events, no one's opinion can alter the fact that God's opinion is what really matters in the end. When I originally titled this post on Saturday, it was Mean People Suck. I'm glad I was able to change it to All's Well That Ends Well and really mean it.