The
Logistics of Sundogs
Gigs
This document is
intended to provide clients with an overview of the following logistical
issues relevant to Sundogs bookings:
Space
and Access
A rock band
needs a surprisingly large amount of space.
Starting from back to front, we have (a) the drummer, (b) his
drum kit, (c) the other performers, (d) their microphone stands, and
(e) their floor monitors. We find that a stage depth of 12'
is the minimum to accommodate all of these comfortably. Also,
we have three guitarists standing side by side. To be comfortably
spaced out, we like to have a stage width for just the musicians of at
least 12' feet. In addition, we need a few feet of space on
each end of the stage to set up the main speakers and any lights. In summary, the minimum comfortable stage area is about 12' deep by 16' wide.
We normally prefer to have even more space than this so as to be
able to spread out and have some freedom of movement. We have,
however, made do with significantly less as well, though it can be
quite awkward and can even impair our ability to perform well.
Although it isn't required, it's nice to be up on an
elevated platform assembled from portable 4'x4' risers.
The elevation helps keep the band visible above the heads of
dancers as well as making it less likely that dancers will stray
into the tangle of wires and equipment in the performance area.
In the event that sound is being provided by the customer or the venue, this stage layout may be helpful.
Dance
floor:
Any space required for dancers is in
addition
to the above stage area. It is not unusual to have to move tables
after the banquet part of a party or reception in order to make room
for a dance floor.
Positioning:
The
performance area should normally be on the far side of the room the
entrance guests will be using. Because of music volume, it is also best
to keep it away from any bar or service areas where people need to be
able to hear each other talk.
Access: Because of the
amount of gear we need to move from the cars to the stage area, we need
a place to park at least temporarily near a convenient entrance.
If applicable, a temporary parking pass for up to four vehicles would
be appreciated. We might also need to use ramps or elevators to move
some heavy items on dollies.
Important:
The
stage area (but not the dance area) must be available exclusively
for use by the band from the time of set-up onward. Once music
and sound equipment has been set up and the sound check completed, we
cannot move equipment around. To do so would undo the effort that went
into eliminating feedback and other potential sound problems.
Also, the stage area must
be
off-limits to traffic by either guests or staff - and especially
children, due to the risk of tripping on cables or otherwise disrupting
the sound set-up.
Room Acoustics
If you have not
yet chosen a venue for your event, it's worth at least considering room
acoustics as one factor in your choice. A great many events we
have played, especially weddings, have been held in rooms that are very
"lively" acoustically -- that is, they have a lot of hard, reflective
surfaces like hardwood, marble, glass, tile, etc., and very little
absorbing material like carpet, drapes, acoustic ceilings, upholstered
chairs, and so forth. While a room like that can be great for
choirs, string quartets, and the like, it can be very problematic for a
rock band with drums and amplified instruments. In particular,
there is no "volume knob" on the drums, and so the sound of drums can
be overwhelming in a small, reflective room. Moreover, the
volume on other instruments and on the band vocals needs to be brought
up to be heard over the drums, so there is a definite limit to how
quietly a rock band like ours can play in any given setting!
The bottom line is this: If you choose a room that has a lot of
natural reverberation, then it will be difficult to make the band sound
really good (not boomy or muddy), and it will be even more difficult to
effectively control overall volume so that people sitting at the other
end of the room can converse normally. We will of course do our
best with whatever room we're given, but please understand that our
sound engineer has only so many ways to work magic! It
will help, by the way, when the room is full of people, since people
help absorb sound -- a nearly empty room reverberates much more than a
packed one!
Power
requirements
If we're providing our own sound system for a smaller venue, then our complete
set-up can usually run off of a single AC wall outlet, provided
that the outlet is capable of providing 20 amps of current at
120V with no risk of tripping a circuit breaker. If this is not
the case, then power should ideally be provided from two or more outlets on at least two separate
circuit breakers. The outlet(s) must be located within a 30 foot radius
of the back edge of the stage area. Otherwise, the client is
responsible for ensuring the availability of a heavy duty extension
cord(s) long enough to bring power to within 30 feet of the back
edge of the stage.
If we are bringing in a pro sound company, which is very likely for
weddings and/or larger or outdoor venues, then power requirements may
well be greater than indicated above. Sometimes the sound
engineer will want to tap directly into the power panel and use his own
breakers. We will generally put the sound engineer into direct
contact with the venue manager to discuss access to power.
Disclaimer:
Although we have never had this occur to date, the Sundogs are
not responsible for interruptions of the performance due to tripped
circuit breakers.
Important:
To
avoid hazard of electrical shock to performers, all outlets must
be properly grounded and have standard three-prong receptacles.
Any evidence that outlets are not properly grounded (e.g., even
mild shocks from instruments or microphone stands) will be grounds for
discontinuing the performance.
Lighting
The client is
responsible for general lighting of the performance and dance area.
Depending on the venue and the nature of the gig, the Sundogs may
provide two light trees, each with four PAR-38 lamps with colored gels to help illuminate and
accent the stage area only. However, these cannot be relied upon
for general-purpose lighting.
Ideally, the
venue overhead lights can be dimmed selectively for different areas of
the room. Usually, there should be more light over the stage area
than over the dance floor and surrounding area.
If you have a larger event in which the lighting described above will
be inadequate, let us know and we can plan to hire professional
lighting. This may add between $50 and $200 to our fee, depending
on how large and complex of a lighting system is required. Added
lighting will also place signficantly greater demands on the available
electrical power (see above).
Client
use of PA system
When the band is
not performing, clients may use our PA system for announcements and/or
background music. If desired, one of our vocal microphones may be
detached from the stand and hand-held by an emcee. We will show a
member of your party how to control the volume for that microphone.
If background music is required prior to our performance, then
you should plan to burn a CD, or load up an MP3 player (e.g., an iPod),
with the desired selection of songs. You will need to (1) provide the
actual CD player or MP3 player used for playback and (2) delegate
responsibility for the music playback to a trusted member of your
party. Your player should have a 1/8" output jack -- either
headphone or 'line out'. We will connect the player to our mixing
board during the soundcheck period (see schedule, above) and show your
designated person how to control the volume.
Please let us
know before the date of our performance whether you plan to play music
through our PA system, so that we can ensure the availability of a
suitable cable (e.g., 1/8" stereo plug to two male RCA type plus) for
connecting your player to our console.
Summary:
We are happy to make our PA system available for announcements and
music playback. We will show a designated person how to control the
volume on our mixer board. However, the Sundogs will not be responsible for
overseeing the actual playback of any recorded music.
During the Performance
There are
several issues that can come up once the party is started, and you
should give these some thought in case they come up at yours.
Sound Volume -
Sometimes the bride's mother approaches us at the stage and tells us
we're too loud. When we turn down, we are then approached by the
bride who tells us to disregard her mom and turn back up again.
We don't want to get caught in the middle of differing
expectations concerning sound volume, so our rule is very simple: Whoever booked us is the boss. If anyone else approaches us about turning up or down, we will always ask them to talk to our client and have them tell us what they want.
Coordination
- Sometimes we are asked to be part of a special activity, such as a
Dollar Dance. We are told what to do (e.g., announce Dollar
Dance) and when to do it (e.g., at the end of the first break).
Not infrequently, however, we go to do what we're asked to do at
the appointed time and discover that a key person (e.g., the bride) is
missing. If you have activities planned for for our breaks or
during our performance, please make sure that everyone who needs to be
there gets the word. We will not leave long periods of "dead"
time, so in the event that something can't start on schedule, we'll
return to playing our usual material again until we get the word that
it's time for another try at the activity.
Time
When the Sundogs
are hired to play 3-3.5 hours of music at a wedding reception, that's all that most
of the audience sees. What they don't
see is the significant time and labor that goes into preparing for the
gig and packing up afterwards. For an in-town wedding that
begins at 8:00 PM and ends at midnight, here is the typical schedule:
1:30
PM Band members and/or sound tech inventory instruments and PA equipment and load vehicles.
2:30
PM
Band members leave home.
3:00
PM
Band arrives at venue.
Carry in and set up equipment.
4:00
PM
Thorough sound check, adjustment of monitors, etc. Note: A full sound check includes trial
performances of selected songs at full volume. The time set aside for
sound
check must
not
conflict with other activities scheduled in the same building!
5:00
PM
Stop before guests start arriving; eat dinner (probably at local restaurant)
8:00
PM
Begin performance; take three 15 minute breaks in a 4-hour
period.
12:00
AM
End performance; begin dissassembling and packing up equipment
12:30
AM
Carry packed gear to vehicles and begin loading
12:45 AM
Drive home
1:15
AM
Arrive home, begin unloading gear from car
1:30
AM
Finished unloading.
Bottom
line:
A typical
in-town wedding
costs each bandmembers
11 hours
from beginning to end! In addition to the performance itself,
this time includes at least two hours of physical labor due
to carrying heavy equipment up and down stairs, from cars into the
venue, etc.
If
the gig is out-of-town,
then the transportation time is greater. If the gig is more than
an hour away from Madison, we will usually spend the night in a local
hotel and drive home after
breakfast the following morning rather than take to the roads at 1
AM. If there is a block of rooms reserved at a local hotel in
connection with your event, please consider whether you could spare one
or two of the rooms for band members.