George Winston: live and sleep inducing

I was thinking about a few more concerts that I did the sound for. George Winston may have been the most uncomfortable performance that I ever personally witnessed.

Winston plays sleepy/new-agey piano music that I can tolerate for maybe 2-3 tunes, but after that it just makes me tired. I was responsible for setting up microphones and running sound reinforcement for the show. I met briefly with his manager prior to the performance to ensure that things were set to his specifications. I’ll never forget the look in his face when he assured me that, “George will play an encore.”

Winston played for somewhere between 70 and 90 minutes, it all ran together. The audience was in for maybe the first third of the show, but then from my vantage point, I could see people shifting in their seats, looking around and yawning. When he finished the last tune, there was a collective leap to their feet as the audience started streaming for the doors.

About 10 seconds after finishing the last tune, George ran back out to the stage with a guitar to play an encore of slack-key hawaiian-influenced music. It was so uncomfortable to watch him starting to play while people were actively leaving. About 60 seconds into the tune, the exit doors were covered by ushers who where trying to get people to return back to their seats. Not exactly leaving the audience wanting for more.

February 21, 2011 | Filed Under music | Comments Off 

The Result of Quality

I’ve been on a big David Simon kick since I’ve been re-watching ‘The Wire’ with Jen. Although it took me a few episodes to dig in when I watched it the first time, I (like many folks) became enamored without the show. Critical acclaim naming the best TV Series ever is not to be dismissed.

The side affect of “The Wire” (for myself) is being unable to watch any other cop-related programming without a fair amount of teeth gritting at the low quality writing and ridiculous plot lines.

Simon’s show “Generation Kill” had the same effect on me when attempting to watch “The Green Zone”. Generation Kill showed a view of the Iraq War from an embedded journalist and how misconstrued so many of the efforts were. The voices of the soldiers felt real and true. Hearing lines like “Get your game face” on from Matt Damon in “The Green Zone” just made me wince. I made it about 30 minutes before giving up.

From a technical nerd standpoint, I love the way that Simon (or rather the directors he chooses) uses sound and visuals. Music is very rarely used unless it comes from a real source; a car radio, or music appropriate for the environment. GZ (like many hollywood films) uses silly, obvious music to tell you exactly how you should feel, “this is tension, this is drama” rather than letting the actors tell the story. GZ also uses the nausea inducing shaky-cam which makes me physically bothered (I shouldn’t be surprised, the director, Paul Greengrass made the unwatchable Bourne films) . David Simon uses the camera to highlight the content and not obscure it. With few exceptions, Simon focuses on story above all.

The results of quality is showing how far the bar can be raising by demonstrating the results of a valiant effort and commitment to telling a story in the truest way possible. “The Green Zone” was a hackneyed story with mediocre performances.

February 6, 2011 | Filed Under films | Comments Off 

Lyle Lovett vs Dwight Yoakam

I spent the summer of 1999 working sound for the Interlochen Center for the arts. It was a great opportunity to see how professional artists tour. I was amazed by how quick a touring staff is able to set up and tear down within a day. Two of the artist that made the most impression (for very different reasons) were Lyle Lovett and Dwight Yoakam.

I’ve been a fan of Mr. Lovett for a number of years. His album “Joshua Judges Ruth” is still one of my favorites. Tremendous song writing and an amazing group of musicians. This staff and group were exactly what I expected, totally professional and ready to go. They set up full lights, sound and instruments like navy seals. When the show was ready, Lyle stepped off the bus, hot lady on his arm, both dressed like they were going to an opera.

The show was great and tear down was exactly like the setup. Everyone knew what they were going and it felt almost effortless. The staff and musicians were cool and confident and worked well together. The experience with Mr. Yoakam was the complete opposite.

Once Dwight’s stage was set, they began the sound check. Apparently they had just released a new project, but no one could remember the the single. They had to scrape up a copy of the CD to play over the PA in order to relearn the tune. The poor front-of-house tech had to play the track at least a dozen times in order for the band to memorize the chord changes. Mr. Yoakam had the safety of a teleprompter for the lyrics, but even he was struggling with the music.

The show that night went equally as bad. There was nearly constant feedback from the monitors, and I’m positive that was the last night the monitor guy was employed by the Yoakum organization. The band was adequate and Dwight was a decent showman, but there was nothing professional about it. The musicians were agitated and the roadies looked beat up and worn down.

I learned a lot that summer about how I want to work. I want to have the experience and confidence that I know my job and will execute as expected, even when things don’t go as expected.

February 6, 2011 | Filed Under music, personal | Comments Off