April Til Now!

So I get worse at updating this blog! This is what I have done in the last month (And again I haven't taken any pictures)

April 5, 2008 - After a week off work I went to see Dave Spikey at Grimsby. Twas a very funny show and was good to catch up with some old mates who I had not seen in a long time.

April 9, 2008 - On my third attempt I passed my Class II LGV licence. I can now drive whacking great trucks. And so far still lovin it. Lets see how this one pans out in the summer!

April 12, 2008 - Bootleg Beatles in Cambridge. This was a funny day. A weeding in one of the University lecture theatres. Long push to the room and cramming in the band into the smallest space you have ever seen!

April 21, 2008 - Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong at Hull Uni Union. We set up our new DV-Dosc system in here for the first time. Worked really well, and was good fun!

April 26, 2008 - Tonight was Frankie Boyle in Grimsby. This was a very funny show. But very offensive. The show itself was hard work, not an easy room to do sound in. But it was rammed and I had no complaints which is a Bruce!

April 27, 2008 - Snake Davis in Hull Truck Theatre. This was a mint show. Rammed house and the best musicians about. Properly enjoyed it. I was really happy with how it sounded as well.

May 1, 2008 - Talent Trail in Hull City Hall. This is the third year I have done this show now. It was a bloomin long day, and although not particularly hard work, it was a proper endurance event. Less said the better!

May 2-5, 2008 - Spalding Flower Festival. After getting out of City Hall quite late we set off to Spalding the following day. The rig was slow, but weather held out for the first outside gig of the year!

After expecting the Saturday just to be a show in the evening, we soon found out that it was going to be a pretty full on day. And it was carnage. We all got pretty stressed out with the whole ordeal, but the night show worked out OK. A show called They Will Rock You, which played tribute to Queen, Status Quo, Dire Straits and Elton John. Some of it was very roped, but the Queen were quite good. There was also some mint dancing from some of the yocals!

After a traumatic day the day before we all took a lot more light hearted approach to the Sunday show. This turned out to be a very funny day with a variety of acts taking to the stage. The highlight being a bunch of Hungarians which were just down right lunes! Danny also dressed up as a tulip, which was sheer genius, and Chris bought a Cactus as a mascot for us! Barkin!

May 9, 2008 - Dave Spikey in Scarborough Futurist. After seeing him a month before in Grimsby a last minute call came in for the Scarborough show. This was a new venue to us, but rose to the challenge. It turned out to be quite a simple rig and I could sit and enjoy the show again. Same as a month earlier, but still just as funny!

May 11, 2008 - Global Day of Prayer in Beverley Minster. This is a repeat show from last year. And not an easy one at that. At least it wasn't out first time at it this time round. The rig was a complex distributed system with miles of cabling, but all worked first time. The get out was also fairly speedy which was good and unexpected!

Again I leave promises of trying to keep this blog updated. Lets see how that one pans out!

Gig - Eliza Carthy - Hull Truck Theatre

Tonight I worked a jazz show at Eliza Carthy for Hull Truck Theatre. Playing was Eliza Carthy. She had her own engineer so the day was a fairly easy one.

The rig went in fast, we waited and then the band arrived.

During the show I stayed in the green room and got to grips with L Acoustic Soundvision. The software for setting up the new system the company I work for have bought this year. 'Twas all good. I enjoyed it, and think I got some good results.

We then packed up, and when I got back home started my week off! Get in there!

Gig - Easter Praise - Hull City Hall

Today is Easter Sunday, and what a surprise when I woke up. Snow!

Anyway The day did not start excellent. Upon arrival at the warehouse to commence the brief drive to the City Hall, Iain and I were flawed in that the truck would not start. Dead Battery. Bummer!

The truck was parked in the unit, with the other truck behind it for another show. We had to jump it off using the other truck, but jump leads wouldn't reach. Do'h! A couple of 2 tonne rigging steels did a great job of bridging the gap! I did however wire up to the wrong end of the link between the two batteries in the Red Van. The resulting spark quite happily blew through a strand or two of the steel. Nice. It now resides in the bin!

Upon correct wiring the truck did start though. Genius!

After an eventful start we were only 20 minutes late for our load in, but we paggered it and were set in time.

It was a long day. I was running monitors, which ended up using nearly all of the inputs on my 48 channel desk and was 13 mixes.

One of the bands playing was theReign, who I had recorded and mixed their last album for as part of my final year uni project. It was a while since I had seen those guys, and it was good to cross paths again.

At the end of the day we packed up, went back to the warehouse, drank tea, tipped the truck and went home for much needed sleep!

This week I have been learning to drive a Telescopic Forklift Truck. And today I passed!

Now i can legally tare around in one of these monsters! Get in!












And this is me during training. Hilarious! I'm a sound engineer, not a builder!

Gig - Welly Club - Pnau

Tonight I was back in welly again doing a Club NME. The band were Pnau. An Australian Drum and Bass outfit.

During sound check I wasn't convinced I was going to like them. But the show was ace, and the place was rocking!

Gig - Hull New Theatre

Today I did a get in for a week long musical at Hull New Theatre.

The day was going ace, until mid afternoon we realised we didn't have a distro. Then the house system had lots of faults. So boyo here had to go climbing and fix it all. Repairing connectors at height isn't fun!

At 5pm the cast arrived and Martin and I settled into a 2 hour onslaught of getting everything sorted. Mics for cast, mics on orchestra. It was brutal.

I celebrated by sleeping during the rehearsal. Result!

Gigs in February

The second half of February has proved a busy time. But I have also dome some cool shows!

Feb 18 I did a show at Welly for a band called Art Brut! This was a good show and the band were hilarious.

The lead guitarist, Jasper, was in for some stick off the 16yr old crowd when they started to chant his name. The lead singer, a comical guy, interrupted his in between song banter with the following statement: "Leave Jasper alone. He's Busy!"

Along with some comedy jokes and hilarious lyrics I was in stitches for pretty much the entire set. Genius!

On the weekend of Feb 23 I was down in Stamford doing an Orchestral show for MAYC. I have worked with these guys a few times in Colchester and Luton a few months previous. It was a long day as we drove back after the show, but all went well.

On the way home Iain and I gt into a discussion about the fact he had never heard me belch. As you do. The thing is I don't belch. To prove this I downed a bottle of Coke...guess what...nothing...Not even a rumble. Ten minutes later I couldn't stop farting. That 'ul larn him not to ask me about belching!

Feb 27 and I was back working in Hull Uni. This time The Twang were playing. They were very good actually. It was a much better show than I was expecting. They are not really my sort of music. The crew were nice and the show went well. The support however were a bunch of arrogant stuck up heffers! Ah well, you cant win em all. They just need to remember they are the support act!

Feb 28 and I was in Welly. Just a standard Club NME show. The band were quite good. Not much more, but better than most of the acts that play there!