LD at Large

There's a sign posted on the wall of the shop at Upstaging Lighting that says, "If you arrive right on time for load in, you're late." These words are gospel; I have never been late to a call time in all my years. And I have zero tolerance for anyone who isn't there to meet me on time.

I think the majority of us in the lighting business are not too sorry to see 2009 end. We all seemed to work a bit less last year. I ran into my buddy, John Featherstone, at a convention center last month and we spoke about the workload last year. "The thing that was key for me was that our company is so diversified in the types of projects we obtain," he said.

In the last 20 years we have seen more lighting consoles come on the market than I can remember. They all strive to achieve the same thing; talk to lighting fixtures, dimmers and media servers. They all get the job done eventually, but I've come to conclude that certain consoles execute some tasks well and others, not so much.

When I run a show, I like to do everything I can to insure a flawless performance. Whether it's a rock show, a comedy shoot or a full-on theatrical performance, there are cues that have to be hit on time, every time, or I get upset.

The efficiency of the load in and out of any show is directly related to the cable management of everyone involved,” says production manager/rigger Dano Rowley. The man is right. One of my pet peeves is a sloppy stage with cables strewn all over the place.

Anyone who has ever looked after lighting a musical artist will eventually find themselves having to work in strange surroundings, with a light rig and set they did not design. Whether it’s a TV show, an awards presentation or a radio station-hosted arena bash, there is an unwritten etiquette that would be wise to follow.

Sometimes I think I’m too old to learn new tricks. But that’s just an excuse for being set in my old ways. What I really need to do is practice what I preach now, and start making lists. I’m thinking that if everybody made little lists we would probably save on a lot of things besides aggravation. Things like gasoline, overtime and shipping bills.

Over the years I’ve watched technology grow in leaps and bounds. America always seems to be a step ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to new gear and ways of setting it up, but eventually everyone catches up. I like to watch as they do, just as much as I like teaching in countries that are way behind. Last week I went back to Africa for the first time in years and noticed quite a change.

My friend Kenny Mednick is also a lighting designer who illuminates musicians on their tours. While I was speaking to him this year I mentioned that I had been working with some less-than-pleasant people in the last year, namely musicians who were, for lack of a better word, mean, disgruntled people.

One of my biggest joys of watching a live performance is when I see a lighting show where the designer has put a lot of thought into different aspects, when that lighting person is professional enough to know when to use the latest technological gadgets and when not to, when sometimes “less is more” and old school prevails.

There are a lot of social networking sites, including the new one started by this magazine (www.ProLightingSpace.com), that allow many of us in the music biz to keep in touch, or for that matter, find each other after all these years. It can be addictive and fun. It can also be annoying. But there is one feature where people can list 25 things about anything — stuff they hate, love, worship or just wish to blog about. I’m going to hijack that idea this month and list 25 things that shaped my career in music.

I’ve been asked several times about what smaller bands playing nightclubs should carry for lighting gear. These questions come from cover bands to newly signed acts to old touring professionals who are reuniting for a club tour. The two things they all have in common is a lack of knowledge and a shortage of cash for lighting. Long gone are the days when bands put colored PARs in coffee cans and connected lots of wires to a foot pedal board for the guitarist to trigger.