Concert Education Part 1

I’ve decided that maybe I should try and educate concert goers instead of endlessly making fun of them, as fun as that may be. In this first installment, we’ll look at the people involved in the setup of a show. Some of you may call them “roadies”, but some of us feel that is a very disrespectful, derogatory term. We prefer “touring technicians”. I will, however, continue to use the term “mutant” (we’ll get to that description in a future installment), and I am aware of the hypocrisy involved and I don’t care.

 

Front of House (FOH) Engineer: The FOH engineer is responsible for mixing the sound that the audience hears. This is an important task as there are on average 24 to 32 microphones on stage for all the different instruments, and the sounds must all be balanced and equalized properly so that every instrument and vocal can be heard clearly. (S)He can be found somewhere in the crowd standing behind the console with all the coloured knobs and flashing lights. Even though most venues have an FOH engineer on staff, most known bands travel with their own FOH engineer to make sure they sound consistent night after night. Often times, there are special effects cues during the show, or the band wants certain instruments to sound a certain way, and it takes someone who knows the music inside out to make sure it’s all done properly. The FOH engineer is arguably the most important person on the crew as (s)he is trusted by the band to make sure their music comes across in they way that they envision. And, yes, competent FOH engineers do know what all the buttons do.

 

It is extremely poor etiquette to approach the FOH engineer during a performance and ask him or her to make adjustments to the mix. If you should do so, you deserve whatever gets thrown at you, fists and beer bottles included. These are highly trained technicians and they (usually) know what they’re doing, and things sound they way they do for reasons most mutants will not understand. Always remember that if the band sounds like shit, it’s probably because they suck. Shit in, shit out. And yes, even your boyfriends/brothers/sisters/fathers etc… band can suck, no matter how great you think they are. If you think you can do a better job than the FOH engineer, you’re welcome to try.

 

Monitor Engineer: The monitor engineer is responsible for making sure the musicians hear everything properly on stage. You can find the monitor engineer at the side of the stage controlling a sound console similar to one that an FOH engineer would use (There are some differences, but that can be for a later installment). Bands sometimes travel with their own monitor engineer, but this is a luxury that only the most successful bands can afford. The monitor engineer can easily be the most important person on the crew, simply because they control everything the musicians hear (see below). If the musicians hear everything and are comfortable on stage, they play well. If not, they suck, and it shows, and if they play badly the audience will not enjoy the show.

 

When you’re at a concert, you will sometimes notice speakers on the stage pointed back up at the musician, or perhaps the musician is wearing special earphones. Those are called stage wedges and in-ear monitors, respectively. At bigger concerts, each musician will have their own separate monitor mix. Sometimes they can have 3 or 4 mixes each, and it’s not unusual for a 4 member band to have up to 8 mixes on stage. On bigger stages, like the Rolling Stones for example, there can be 40 or more separate mixes. In each separate mix, the musician can ask the monitor engineer to hear only the specific instruments they need to hear in order to play well. Sometimes a singer likes to hear only his or her own voice, and maybe the drummer only likes to hear the lead guitar. Every musician has different needs, no matter what style of music. Mixing monitors can be very challenging and you definitely need a certain type of personality to deal with it. It’s often said that the difference between a monitor engineer and a toilet is that the toilet only deals with one asshole at a time.

 

Never approach a monitor engineer during a show. They have very high stress jobs dealing directly with the musicians and they must be focused and pay attention at all times. Again, should you disturb the engineer, you deserve whatever you get. Sometimes the engineer will be cool, other times you risk losing teeth. Tread carefully. Also, please don’t ask for song lists (they’re called “set lists”, by the way) or guitar picks or autographs, unless you want the engineer’s autograph or you come bearing gifts of free beer. And, whatever you do, NEVER complain to the monitor engineer that the mix in the crowd doesn’t sound right. That’s not the monitor engineer’s problem. Talk to the FOH engineer, bearing in mind that you’ve been warned (see description above). That being said, once the show is over, the FOH and monitor engineers are extremely cool people and are always happy to hang out and have a drink or two, or three, or more…

 

Lighting Designer (LD): The lighting designer controls all the lights and lighting effects during a show. They can be found in the crowd, usually near the FOH engineer, and they have consoles with only a few buttons or faders, and usually a small computer-like monitor or screen built into the console. LD’s contribute to the atmosphere of a show. They interpret the music visually and use special lighting effects, such as strobes and colours, to recreate the intended moods of the songs. Again, some bands travel with their own LD, but it is a luxury. On larger scale shows, there are sometimes lighting technicians on crew to setup and focus the lights, and a lighting operator who programs special effects and operates the console during the show. Similar situations can occur for monitor engineers and FOH engineers where a technician sets up the system, and the engineer operates it during the show.

 

Feel free to approach LD’s during a show. They are often friendly, though some bite, and are proud to discuss how cool they think they are.

 

Video Director: The video director is the person responsible for the content that appears on the video screens which are used at larger arena and festival shows. They can sometimes be found near the FOH engineer and LD surrounded by a dozen small tv’s, or they are sometimes set up backstage. The video director communicates with the various camera operators throughout the venue and tells them what kind of shot to look for, and once that image is attained, then switch from image to image, camera to camera, on the main video display system. Often times, shows have visual cues for each song that can be live action or a computer generated image or animation. It is rare for bands to travel with their own video system. Aside from festival situations, it is usually only seen with bands the calibre of Metallica, U2, The Rolling Stones, etc…

 

Video Directors are often referred to as “vidiots” and are thankful for any friend they can make. These are often people who were in charge of the A/V club in high school.

 

Pyrotechnician: The pyrotechnician has, bar none, the coolest, yet most stressful job in a concert production: to blow things up, but to make sure no one gets hurt in the process. Pyrotechnicians have very specialized training in pyrotechnics and have to be licensed in order to work. A pyrotechnic show requires a lot of careful planning and execution. It’s not unusual for backstage areas to be cleared during a show, save for the bands technicians, and usually red warning lights (like a fire truck) come on moments before detonations occur. The pyrotechnician’s console has many safety features to prevent accidents, such as an ignition key and a cover over the “fire” button. Accidents rarely happen, but when they do, they’re spectacular. James Hetfield of Metallica once was standing directly over an explosive pot in the stage when it was detonated. The show stopped, he was rushed to hospital and his body was covered with severe burns. Very few bands travel with pyro systems, among them are Metallica, Nickelback, Kid Rock and The Rolling Stones. This is the ultimate luxury. Pyrotechnics are very expensive and very dangerous.

 

Pyrotechnicians are very cool people. They get to blow shit up for a living. How can they not be cool? Still, NEVER, EVER approach a pyrotechnician during a show. They can’t afford to be distracted as a single mistake can be disastrous and people can be seriously injured.

 

Guitar Tech: The guitar tech is responsible for the maintenance of the band’s guitars, oddly enough. Sometimes the guitar tech will also take care of basses and setting up drums if the band can only afford one technician. The guitar tech will set up the guitar rigs at soundcheck, check to make sure everything works and troubleshoot accordingly, and help the guitarist with guitar changes during the show. More successful bands have a technician with similar responsibilities for each instrument.

 

The guitar tech is the person to ask for guitar picks, set lists, empty water bottles and whatever else you can think of. They’re usually very cool and happy to make friends.

 

Local Crew: The local crew are people hired to assist with the setup of larger shows. When you see a concert at an arena for example, often times the setup starts as early as 8am because there is so much equipment. It’s impossible to bring everyone you need on tour with you, so the bands travel with the main technicians (as listed above) and hire local crew to help out in each city. The local crew does not have any glory. They often unload the trucks, push roadcases to the stage, store the empty roadcases, help run cabling where necessary, etc… In short, they do all of the grunt work. If you ever stay after the end of a concert to watch a show get torn down, you can easily identify the local crew. They are the people swarming the stage and arena floor wearing different coloured t-shirts, usually bad colours like pink, olive green, purple, etc… Each colour is assigned to a different department. For example, red shirts help with audio, blue shirts help with lighting, green shirts pack the trucks, etc…

 

The local crew can in no way help you get souvenirs, and can in fact lose their jobs if they give away items that belong to the band. They are, however, insanely proud of their jobs and are happy to tell stories about all the bands they’ve worked with over the years. A great source of entertainment and well worth the price of a beer to sit down and listen.