So, I've been asking myself all week why it is that six years of "successful" events have been wiped away in my mind by one bad show?? I'm feeling very reluctant about getting back on the horse, as they say. I've replayed the events of that evening over and over in my mind and I've even been plagued with "what-if" questions such as "what if this had happened during the Jane Goodall event at the Qwest Arena?" and "what if this had happened during the Aimee Mann concert after we had convinced a reluctant sound engineer to use our digital board?" I've also searched the Internet to find out if anyone has had something similar happen. I Google things like, "mixer goes out at concert" or "concert disasters" or even "worst concerts EVER". It goes on and on and on so I've been trying to remind myself of the good things that came out of that event and of all of the good things that have happened in the years we've been running sound. It still feels like I'm grasping at straws but this is what I've come up with:
This is a video of Steve Eaton. Although I had heard of him and we may have even worked with him a long time ago, before Sunday night I had no idea what a great man he is. Great musician, great under pressure and one of my hero's on Sunday evening. He's been playing music longer than I've been around and he's played with, and written songs for, the likes of The Carpenters, Art Garfunkel and Lee Greenwood. I'm sure he has seen it all in the music industry and our little mixer ordeal on Sunday night didn't seem to phase him in the least. He was kind and encouraging and played his heart out in spite of the sound issues that made his voice and guitar cut in and out during his short time on the stage. I hope we have the opportunity to work with him again:
Gayle Chapman is another artist that has probably seen it all in the music industry. She toured with Prince in the 80's as a keyboard player and has since become a solo artist in her own right. We've worked with Gayle many, many, many times during the last 7 or 8 years. She felt our pain on Sunday night and lifted our spirits with her kind words and mother-bear hugs.
This is Justin Gause. He was one of the employees at the restaurant that the concert was raising money for and hasn't had too many opportunities to be on stage. He was excited and fresh (and the first one onstage while the mixer was still fully operational) and is really very talented. He sent us an e-mail after the show telling us it "was a great show and dream come true" he also said, "It's the rocks in the stream that make the brook sing". Wise beyond his years:
The musicians that probably have the most right to be upset about the evening are Kevin Kirk and the guys from Onomatopoeia. Thankfully this isn't the first time we've worked with them but I think they would have been professional about it even if it had been. Last January we spent an amazing 5 days working with them on their PBS HD event at The Egyptian which they recently won an award for. (The links to that event are here, here, here, here, especially here and here.) It was one of the coolest things I've ever been a part of and the entire thing went off without a hitch. Way more stressful circumstances, way more money involved, way bigger crowd and HD television cameras!! No problem. We even pulled a prank on Kevin that made it onto the DVD:
This is one of the segments from that amazing event. (Did I mention it went off without a hitch??????)
Time is marching on and I know that this doesn't have to scar me for life. We recieved several appreciative and encouraging e-mails from the musicians but this one is my favorite:
". . . I didn't hear one single person blame it on you because, as we all know, MANURE happens! I would gladly work with you any day of the week and certainly hope to have another opportunity one of these days. I will personally pound on anyone who says different. I feel really proud to have had the opportunity to work with such classy professionals."
Her name is Wendi and she's about 5' 2" and 105 lbs. and she totally has my back!
I'm starting to feel better already. . .
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