-Dan
SHOWDAY PART 1
I had set my alarm for early on Sunday morning. I wanted to make sure I got up and packed all my stuff for the eminent get away that night. Rescheduling the show for the afternoon on the same day we flew seemed like an exercise in futility, but here I was, none the less at 6:00 in the morning, laying there packing my bag in my mind. I had brought with me number of powerbars and snacks because I figured I may have a tough time finding food on Lagos. May as well eat them for breakfast now so I won’t have to pack them home. Plus catering was very lacking at the venue and didn’t expect to see food there anyway.
I sat up and ate all that I could; cookies and powerbars are very dry in the morning. And proceeded to take a shower. I didn’t pack the shower gear knowing I’d need to shower when I got back. I packed all my clothes, neatly folded, and left the room for the 7:30 call.
We arrived at the venue promptly at 8:00AM. Our collective heads dropped, chin to chest, as we discovered nothing much had changed. In the overnight hours, the decision to just hang lights to the grid and not hang any of the fancy angle trusses was ignored. The lighting rig was still on the ground with 80% of the fixtures hung on all of the fancy angle trusses.
We walked backstage and began to mingle with the crew from another band, UB40, who had also been scheduled to play yesterday (Saturday), but found themselves, like us, waiting for the stage to be built and the lights hung.
They were in the building yesterday afternoon, when the crowd began to walk in at 4PM. There was no security by the doors (although there was plenty around us) and no house manager to chase the people out. They began to come in and ask crew members where their seats were. The promoter finally came to the front and shouted to the people that the show for the evening was cancelled because customs at the airport held up most of the band gear (not true) so they couldn’t load in the bands in time. Never mind there was half a stage and no lighting rig. The show is now rescheduled for tomorrow afternoon, with the doors being open at 10:00AM.
Our production manager (PM from now on) called our tour manager (TM from now on) and told him to “get down here right away, nothing has changed.” We tracked down the PM for the promoter and asked him what happened with the lighting rig? “We told the promoter, that we were running out of time and needed to cut the lighting rig down so we could get something in the air in time. He said, no, that he paid for all of it, and all of it was going in the air.”
“Fine,” our PM grunted, “But you have until 9:30 AM to get this rig floated or we’ll pack our stuff up and we’re not playing.” He then turned to our shipping guy and whispered, “Find the truck drivers, and have them standing by. Tell the security team captain to have the bus at the back door, engine running, so we can hop in and get out of here.”
The TM showed up at about 10 minutes past 9:00AM. “I was just on a shuttle with all the sound and lighting crew for the promoter. Shouldn’t they have been here all night?” He questioned.
Our PM and TM were huddled in a corner talking about what to do. I casually walked over and sat on a road case near them and became a fly on the wall. Just as I sat, the shipping guy came over to report, “The bus is outside, and it turns out the promoter hasn’t paid the trucking company so the drivers walked off the job. I’m in touch with the company, but they refuse to send anyone over until they are paid.” Then members of the sound crew came over to join the huddle.
“Well, they still haven’t hard wired any of the amplifiers nor have they run power to the stage right speakers. It will be a miracle if they get this stuff running by show time.”
The huddle then grew bigger when the TM and PM for UB40 came over. “We’re supposed to play at noon, but it doesn’t look like they’ll be ready in time. What’s the plan?”
The clock ticked 9:30. The huddle walked over to the promoter PM and confronted him. “By 10:00AM, we’ll have the lighting rig off the ground and you can start putting band gear on stage," He said defensively.
“What about the sound? Will that be ready at 10:00AM?” questioned our TM.
“The sound guys just showed up, they’ll get to wiring ASAP, we should be fine.”
“Okay, you have until 10:30 AM. The lighting rig needs to be off the ground, the stage cleared and noise coming out of the speakers or we walk.”
“Your right your right, I know your right,” replied the promoter PM, “We’ll do our best and if you have to pack up and go, that’s what has to happen.”
Tired of standing around, the crew went and sat in the chairs in the audience. I glanced at my watch, it was 9:35AM “25… 25 minutes to doors,” I said with a smile on my face. Some of the crew turned around and looked at me. It just seemed funny to me that the doors were opening in 25 minutes and the lights were still on the floor. They did not seem amused.
At about 9:45, I heard the familiar click and grind of the chain motors springing to life. They were starting to raise the lighting grid. All truss was hung, all lights in place, time to raise the roof. “1…2…3… go!” counted off the lighting crew chief. Snap! Whirrrr… the grid began to rise off the ground.
Suddenly, there was a 20-foot tall fountain of sparks from behind the stage. The grid came to a dead stop. People ran from every direction to the source of the sparks. Long story short, someone had wired the motor power backwards. It was at this time, we learned, there wasn’t a single trained electrician on site. Our crew sprang to life. “Enough of this s**t,” said one of the sound guys, as he walked off in the direction of the generators. He took over and started wiring and running all the power properly. Another guy went on stage and rewired the motor controller that sent the fountain of sparks.
(Quick break in the story, I just had to go take my malaria pill while writing this. To this day, still reminded of this trip. – Dan)
“10 minutes… 10 minutes to doors,” I once again announced. No sooner did I finish, than people began to walk in. Once again, there was no security at the doors and none of them locked. I walked backstage and found our TM, “Um, just so you know, doors are open.” He looked out and saw the people walking in. He stormed off to find the promoter PM. His solution? He left the doors open, but got a number of unarmed (which was rare) security guards to hold a large rope across the front of the stage so no one would get close.
So here we are, 10:00 AM on show day. Doors are open, the audience is walking in. The lighting rig has blown up and is only 8 feet off the ground. Sound still isn’t wired, and our gear is still on the trucks with no drivers.
Tomorrow, the 10:30 deadline and beyond.
No blog is complete without a picture. I have no photos of the venue. We were told to leave everything at the hotel because anything brought to the venue will be stolen. So instead, here's a picture of Yaroslav Popovych. He was a key member of the Discovery Channel cycling teams win of the Tour de France this year. Like Chechu in years past, Popo paced Leipheimer and Contador up the mountains, sloughing off lesser men. His reward was an 8th place finish, which is pretty damn amazing.
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