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When we left our hero, the power had just gone out in his hotel room. After about a 15-minute wait, the power was restored. Figuring now was as good a time as any Jack Boland went downstairs to the lobby to see who was around. Being that he couldn’t leave the hotel, perhaps Jack Boland could meet up with other members of his organization for a quick meal. Jack took the stairs in the event the power went out again, he wouldn’t be stuck in an elevator. Thank goodness his hotel room was only one flight up.
In the lobby he ran into the wardrobe girl. Jack quickly changed his name to Dan Bauer because Jack Boland didn’t sound as cool. The wardrobe girl was telling the story to other members of how she was just stuck in the elevator. Dan Bauer snickered under his breath at his cleverness of taking the stairs. Wardrobe girl pointed out to Bauer that other members were gathering at a table at the poolside restaurant to take in a meeting about the situation and have a meal.
Dan Bauer descended the staircase and proceeded to poolside where he met up with two backline guys and a guitarist. After much debate about whether ordering meat or vegetables was a safer bet, Bauer decided to have the burger. Why? Because it had both meat and veggies. It wouldn't be Dan Bauer’s way if he didn’t tempt fate with both barrels.
“Call time is 06:30,” said one of the backline boys, “Can you believe it?” In fact, Dan Bauer could not. What was he supposed to do for all those hours? Watch everyone else set up? The curse of the lighting designer again, forced to work in daylight with a lighting rig he’s unfamiliar with. He bit into his burger and noshed on a french fry. Not bad.
After the meal and a good local beer (Star brand?) Dan Bauer proceeded back up to his hotel room. He sulked down the hall, cautiously looking over his shoulder to make sure he wasn’t being followed. Swiping his key, he entered his hotel room and decided that Jack Boland wasn’t such a bad name and decided to go with that for a few hours.
It was now 22:30 and Jack decided now was as good at time as any to sleep seeing as he needed to get up at 05:30 to get ready for call.
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The alarm goes off, Dan Bauer, reaches over shuts it off and checks the time. 05:30 had come to soon. The rock he was sleeping on hurt his back. He got up and went to the bathroom. Flicking on the light switch, he discovered a slip of paper had been slid under his door. He picked it up and read, “Call time has been pushed back. We are not sure exactly what time, but everyone is too be in their room and ready to go by 12:00 hours.”
Excellent. He could get more sleep. He moved back to the rock and pulled the covers over him and immediately fell back asleep.
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The sun peaked in through the slit in the curtains and bounced off the white wall dimly lighting the room in a warm amber glow. Jack Boland rose from his rock and looked at the time, 10:30. Time enough for a shower and a meal. He rose and opened the door to the balcony to check the weather. A hot and sticky wind gasped into the room as he cracked the seal. “I think I’ll order room service,” Jack thought to himself. Another burger should do just fine.
It was 11:45 when Jack placed the tray in the hall and proceeded to the lobby to meet up with the rest of the crew. He arrived to find 3 or 4 people all milling about when the administrative assistant arrived. “Everyone back to your rooms, call time has been changed to 16:30 hours.” A collective groan was let out, “I was here at 06:30 and then again here now,” whined one of the crew members, “Why the time change again?”
“I don’t know,” Replied the admin assist, “But be by your phone at 16:30 hours. I’ll call you and let you know what the latest news is.”
Jack returned to his room. He was rather happy about the schedule change, because he could now watch the Tour de France on TV.
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The phone rang at 16:35 and Dan Bauer picked it up. “Call time has been moved to 20:30. Be in the lobby.” He hung up the phone and then dialed room service. May as well have something to eat if he is to wait another 4 hours. This time, spaghetti bolognese.
20:15 rolled around and Dan Bauer began his journey to the lobby. In the stairwell he ran into the mission commander who did not look happy. “This whole day has been f**ked. May as well go back to your room.”
“When is the new call time?” Bauer inquired.
“Don’t know, hang out in the lobby and we’ll figure this out.” Bauer and the commander went down to the lobby and met the rest of the crew.
“Listen up people,” barked the commander, “This day has been totally screwed, as you all may have figured out. We were supposed to play tonight at 21:00 hours, but seeing as that’s in half an hour, it’s not gonna happen. The show has been cancelled for tonight and we have been rescheduled to play tomorrow at 13:30 hours. Which should still give us enough time to pack the trucks and get to the airport for our 23:00 hour flight. I’ve been at the venue all day, and it’s not pretty. They are about 2 days behind in set up, and if we play at all tomorrow, it will be a miracle. Call time is now pushed back to 23:00 hours tonight, and we WILL go over there and dump the trucks and be ready to work.”
“How bad is it commander?” Questioned one of the crew members.
“Bad. They are still pouring concrete to make the floor, and half the stage isn’t even built.”
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23:00 hours. Jack Boland and the rest of the crew pile into a bus along with a security team and begin to drive out into the night. Jack quietly recalls his pre-mission orders given by the U.S. Government travel advisory website:
“Road travel is dangerous. Robberies by armed gangs have been reported on rural roads and within major cities. Travelers should avoid driving at night.”
And yet, here they were, traveling one hour before midnight. The security team with them did little to ease the discomfort Jack Boland felt. At least the AK-47 assault rifle was real. As they weaved through the city, it felt as if they we intentionally taking more turns and doubling back in case they were followed. Jack Boland could see the makeshift food stalls lit with tiki torches along the roadside. He could have sworn they passed the same one twice.
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When they finally arrived at the venue, Dan Bauer could not believe his eyes. A brand new building… Still being built. There where workers in the back corner of the room, most covered in lime, still pouring concrete to finish the floor. “At least they are on the final section,” said the commander.
There was no air conditioning and the phrase, “Africa hot” took on a whole new meaning. It was brutal. Because of the humidity, sucking in a breath was like drinking a glass of water. Without even moving, sweat began to pour off Bauer.
Since the 20:30 hours meeting, the stage had been completed. But the ground supported lighting rig was still on the floor. Bauer noticed a number of his own crew members banging truss together and running motors in an attempt to help the locals out. Bauer scanned the room to discover his operating position and lighting console were 25 feet in the air on a platform welded to the roof of the building. A makeshift ladder of different lengths and width of pipe was welded together as access to the platform. Cautiously, Dan Bauer scaled the ladder. He thought that is was hot on the floor, but when he got to the top, the heat the roof had trapped was almost unbearable. There on the platform, he found two gentlemen working feverously on the lighting consoles. He announced his presence and began speaking to one of them. “As you can see, the lighting rig is still on the ground, but here’s a light plot if you want to patch and merge your show into the console.”
“Thanks,” Replied Bauer, “Do you mind if I get to work?” The man stepped back and Dan Bauer began to load his disks into the console.
The process was not easy. The lighting rigs were completely different and it took some time before Dan Bauer could make sense of it all. He pushed “Save” on the console and took a moment to look up. It was 0:45 hours on his watch and he noticed all the members of his crew beginning to collect at the back of the room. “I’d better see what’s up,” he told the man as descended the rickety ladder.
Upon touching the ground, the commander came up and said, “Join the others, we’re leaving.” Dan Bauer hustled over to the others and they all, once again, piled into the bus with the security team and took off.
Once on the road, the commander began speaking, “As you can all now see, this situation is f**ked. There is no leadership from the local or promoter crew. You saw our people building the truss. If it weren’t for them taking over and getting things done, we’d never have seen the truss built. Bauer, I told the rig designer and his programmers to just hang the lights directly to the truss and not to bother with the rest of the lighting rig. They haven’t the time to make it right. You all know we didn’t dump the trucks. In the event we have to pack up and leave tomorrow, it will be easier this way. I gave the ‘booger eating moron’ in charge an ultimatum. By 09:00 hours tomorrow, the lights have to be up in the air, the power has to be run to the sound system, and the air conditioning back stage has to be working, or we’re not playing. So call time for tomorrow is 08:30. Get some rest.”
Tomorrow… Show day, and the great escape.
1 comment:
Sounds like your average gig in San Brdo county! Ha ha! Heh.....
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