howie’s halfpipe

Well today I was up at sparrows fart to go up to the park. We were having a Christmas concert thing at work today and I was meeting the people with the stage at 7:30 in the morning at the park.
I got the park and there were 3 trucks waiting there with 5 council workers leaning against one of the trucks. They were waiting for a go ahead to put up the stage as it was quite overcast.
The got the green light and began erecting the stage. Which I might add I don’t know why it needed 5 people all they seemed to do is press lots of buttons a control panel and hydraulics were moving and un folding the stage right before my eyes. It was a cool stage, big, high off the ground, it had a roof and stairs. It is on wheels and gets toed behind a big truck.
I like stages.
Eventually our hire truck arrived which was full of riser boxes. ON the way into the park it manages to wipe out a massive branch on some tree which upset the groundskeeper who was already edgy from the stage guys running over a hedge.
We got the risers out of the truck and set them up in front of the big stage to make more performance space. They are big heavy boxes covered in carpet so first we put down some tarps underneath them so they didn’t get all mucky.
Then it was time to set up the PA system. My sound guy arrived and began unloading his stuff and setting up. We finishes setting up the PA and after a couple of disagreements on CD choices to hear while we were testing the PA we began testing the mics, starting with choir mics and a saxophone mice and then eventually on to the radio hand held mics. This is were the problems began. We tested one radio mic and had it set to go and then the heavens opened up.
It was less than an hour until showtime!
We had no cover for the PA mixing desk and the risers were going to get soaked. I grabbed my mobile and called jenny and asked her to go buy tarps quick and bring them to the park.
She emerged a few minutes later with 3 massive tarps. We put them over the sound desk and the risers.
Meanwhile all the kids had arrived and were ready for the concert to start. All these little primary school kids standing around in their little rain coats and umbrellas. And others seeking refuge under small verandahs of a building behind the stage.
But the show went on. In the pouring rain. We began with 1 radio mic and as the concert went on, the PA was improvised, most things had to get disconnected because of the rain, for some reason expensive equipment doesn’t like moisture.
The sound man was squatting under a tarp out in the pouring rain trying to make at least a few more mics operational. We got there! The whole concert ended up being done with just 3 radio mics and everything else unplugged due to flood conditions in front of the stage.
Not even any fold back so performers could hear their backing tracks or their voices.
The crowd dwindled as the rain kept falling after each item the performers would leave. With the audience shrinkling and shrinking and our clothes getting wetter and wetter.
I was soaked the sound man was soaked, we had to keep running back and forth from the stage to the mixing desk and so forth to make sure some from of organized chaos was heard through the PA.

Then after it was all over and packed away, a lot of wet cables were rolled (not by me I was off at another work thing). And equipment was put in front of heater to thaw out so it could be returned to the hire company. And the sound man took home all his gear. Probably some sick gear but hopefully a stint in the sun will dry it out for another day.

By 2pm I was wrecked but oh now not over yet then it was off to a meeting at a school.

After the meeting it was relax time, a quick dash to Westfield then I went to jennys house and fell asleep.