Contrast. . .

It's funny how it doesn't seem to really matter how prepared we are for a show, it all comes down to the attitudes of the group coming in that makes it a positive or negative experience. We generally do everything we can to get ready for a show. There are countless phone calls to promoters, tour managers and sound engineers several weeks in advance to make sure we can provide what the artist needs; we often have to sub rent backline which is sometimes hard to find, the truck has to be loaded with everything we need and venue schedules have to be arranged. It can get pretty tricky and often keeps me up at night as my brain tries to sort through all of the details.

The thing that was very clear to me this weekend is that no matter how neatly we have our ducks in a row, they can be blown out of the water in an instant when the bus / semi / mini-van pulls up to load in for the show. We had two fairly large productions this weekend, one on Friday night and one on Saturday. I was actually more concerned about the one on Friday night because we didn't have very good communication with anyone about it ahead of time so I was concerned that we would have to scramble around when they arrived in order to be ready for the show. On the other hand, I felt pretty good about Saturday's show since we had made all of the arrangements ahead of time and had a few extra hours to set it all up.

When the Swell Season group pulled in on Friday morning around 11:00 a.m. everything went exactly as planned. I wasn't there when they started unloading because of the trail ride but when I arrived at the theater in the afternoon, everyone was calm and very pleasant. After the way we were treated at the last concert in the theater, I wasn't looking forward to more of the same but it was a completely different story. We even had time to break away in the afternoon to prepare for Saturday's show.


The concert went beautifully and I enjoyed most of their music. The piano player and the guitar player were in a movie a few years ago titled, "Once". I tried to watch it earlier in the week but I didn't quite make it through to the end. They seemed to be very down-to-earth and friendly and that always makes things easier. . .

After a late night Friday, it wasn't easy to be up and out at the Civic Center by 8 a.m. on Saturday morning. We were all feeling very prepared by the time the group rolled in around 10:00 a.m. but we quickly found out that it wasn't going to be an easy day like we had planned. In retrospect I could see that the problems were due to the group being on a fairly new tour and they had three people in charge who all had very different visions of what the production should be like. I can laugh about it now but the "creative director" was pretty flamboyant and artsy and was much more concerned about how everyone and everything looked than how they played and sounded. Just as an example, he asked me to remove the guitar player's monitor because the girls would need to dance in that spot. Of course when the sound engineer realized the guitar player didn't have a monitor, he started to bark about that and it started a bit of a tiff which the creative director won! The guitar player still got his monitor but it was off stage to his left rather that in front of him where it should be. It was one thing after another like that and they ran us pretty ragged all afternoon. We even had to run back to the shop to bring in a mixer that they said they would be providing but didn't bring. I won't go into all the details but it was an interesting afternoon! We were still ready in plenty of time for the 2:00 sound check and the 4:00 matinee'. In spite of the fact that everything on the stage was shuffled around and back again and plugged in only to be unplugged and re-routed, it really did turn out quite beautiful:

We were still putting last minute touches on things during the sound check but I had a chance to sit back a take a few pictures. . .

Both the matinee and the evening show went off without a hitch which had a lot to do with our pre-planning and our willingness to jump through all of the hoops they put in front of us!! The performers themselves really did a great job and were appreciative of all of our hard work. After the show, of course, everyone was complimentary and said it was their best show yet. Go figure.

This is a Youtube video of scenes from Once. It was a good movie if you could get past the language. . .

The Trail Ride. . .

The much anticipated trail ride took place early Friday morning. In the rain. I wasn't nervous, at first. We arrived in plenty of time to casually bring in the horses and begin the grooming process. There were about 15 people going with our group on the trail ride which meant, of course, that there were 15 horses. As people were leading their horses from the fields to the barn area to saddle them up, I started to feel a little bit nervous. There were horses and people everywhere! I don't think I was the only one who felt unsure of the whole thing but, lucky for me, there were enough experienced people around that I had the help I needed when it came to putting the bridle on Diamond. Gloria was completely on her own. It was all I could do to take care of myself and Diamond so she tended to Butterscotch by herself and did a great job. . .

As soon as each rider finished getting their horse ready, they would head into the arena, adjust their stirrups and mount up. Keep in mind I've only been on a horse once in about the last 25 years and that was last Tuesday for one hour. Also keep in mind that I've been in this arena several dozen times but there have only been 4 riders and 4 horses at a time. 4 SMALL riders and 4 SMALL horses at a time. The arena seems plenty big under those circumstances but when you get 15 people -big and small- and 15 horses - big and small- inside the confines of the fences in the arena, it becomes a little claustrophobic. So, here is what I was dealing with: freezing rain (it was literally dripping off of the rim of my helmet into my face in huge droplets), a big horse that seemed a little nervous about having a novice on his back, a packed arena with riders of all levels of experience, horses walking nose to tail with each other and seemingly no way to escape if the situation arose. Not really a good feeling for someone who has a touch of claustrophobia. I was having second thoughts about the whole thing but it was WAY too late to change my mind. . .


As we walked around and around inside the arena, Kim reminded us about safety rules out on the trail. She told us that if anyone was in trouble, whoever was nearest to them needed to pass the word on to the rest of the riders. Kim would lead and Sarah would be towards the back of the pack so one of them would be available to help, just in case. Kim also told the more experienced riders to watch for signs of trouble with any of the less experienced riders. That would be me.



While I was glad to be outside of the confines of the fence, I faced a whole new set of challenges out on the trail. There are so many things to think about when you're on the back of a horse and I could feel the difference in Diamond as I tensed and relaxed. I was right behind Kim so she kept giving me tips and reminders as we rode along. Diamond wasn't real sure he believed me when I asked him to stop so I would be the only one in the whole ride whose horse had to circle around a few times when Kim would stop the ride so she could open a gate. About 5 minutes into the ride, while I was still trying to get my bearings, Kim shouts out, "Whole ride, prepare to trot"!! I didn't think I was quite ready to trot but as Kim's horse picked up speed, Diamond just followed along and we were trotting whether I was ready or not!! Gloria was behind me so there was no possibility of checking on her and, anyway, it was all I could do to hang on and count, one- two- one- two- one- two, as I stood up and kept my feet in the stirrups. When I had a chance to look back, Gloria was having a great time!

For most of the ride I was behind Kim and Gloria was behind me but every once in awhile Gloria and I rode side by side or she pulled in front. She obviously has way more experience than me!

It was impossible to take a picture of the whole ride in one shot, but every once in awhile I would pull out my phone and quickly take a picture before gathering my reins back up and waiting for the next instruction. . .

During the course of the ride, I finally learned how to "talk" to Diamond in a way that he understood. I had to force myself to relax and keep my heels back and my knees in (but not too much!). I had to tighten the reigns while holding them loosely. I had to anticipate what he might do before he did it and prepare myself for just about anything! He never came close to throwing me off although he did reach down to the fresh grass a few times for a snack which almost sent me sliding down his neck! We walked along a few canal banks and had a couple of birds fly up and frighten the lead horse but Diamond always kept his cool. All things considered it was a good ride but I was never so happy to see the arena in my life!!

I did what I set out to do and, chances are, I'll do it again.

I just wonder if I will always have a little residual fear around horses or if I will eventually overcome it and feel completely confident. It's hard to tell but somehow I think a little fear can be a good thing. . .

Thanksgiving Day Pics . . .

Just got home from spending a wonderful day with my family! We ate, we played games and we relaxed. It was the perfect way to spend the holiday! The pictures will have to speak for themselves because I have a long road ahead of me tomorrow (including a horseback ride in the morning!) and I'm calling it a day. A very good day!