Homegrown My Ass Vol.3
It was kind of a tough gig for Concave Scream on Sunday night. I spoke to them before they went up and they were all quite tentative cos it felt like they won't be welcomed by the largely Filipino crowd (who were there for the main act Bamboo). But Filipinos, they know how to have a good time and although they were alien to Concave Scream, they applauded and cheered politely.
When the signal for Concave Scream to enter stage was given, they duly went up, plugged in and prepped themselves. But the soundman was doing something else, or he wasn't ready or he was just too busy staring blankly at the stage (cos i turned around and saw him standing behind his console staring blankly at the stage) and for the longest time Concave Scream were left standing there on stage waiting like do-do's.
Willy the gig organizer, his staff and the bouncers were waving
frantically at the soundman that the band was ready. But the soundman was just ..... staring blankly at the stage. I don't know why. Maybe he lost his contacts. Maybe he just woke up from a nap. Or Maybe to him its just another local band, so why bother. So it must be a ...yawwwnnn.. nap.
Nevermind that. Perhaps he really did lose his contacts. But anyway
there wasn't a tech guy by the stage. So when Pann's amp broke down intermittenly during the first two songs, no one was on deck to fix the problem. It took them ages to get someone to the front to
troubleshoot. It made Concave Scream look bad. If not for the
fact that they ARE really a good band, that they kept their shape,
brushed off the initial tech gliches, pulled it through and finally
won a good part of the crowd over.
Through the years I have seen this too many times at countless gigs- The Tidak Apa Bochap soundmen. Buying them a coffee and having a big grin is a must during soundcheck. So he will be kinder to your band and put in that extra (actually not extra but the bare minimal he is supposed to put in in the first place) attention to your band sound.
That said, bands at the same time are equally guilty of not wanting to understand the meaning of balanced stage mix, of playing together. Vocalist, "I can't hear my vox." So vox level up. Guitarist, "I cant hear my guitars" and so the guitars goes up... and it spirals on and on. Hence the birth of the Tidak Apa Bochap Soundguy. So which comes first? The chicken or the egg? I don't know and I don't care. I take the egg and smash it at the band, and let the chicken shit on the soundguy.
I love this to bits the first time i heard it when they played at the AGF Theatre in 2004. Hearing it at Barnone last Sunday I felt chills under my skin.
When the signal for Concave Scream to enter stage was given, they duly went up, plugged in and prepped themselves. But the soundman was doing something else, or he wasn't ready or he was just too busy staring blankly at the stage (cos i turned around and saw him standing behind his console staring blankly at the stage) and for the longest time Concave Scream were left standing there on stage waiting like do-do's.
Willy the gig organizer, his staff and the bouncers were waving
frantically at the soundman that the band was ready. But the soundman was just ..... staring blankly at the stage. I don't know why. Maybe he lost his contacts. Maybe he just woke up from a nap. Or Maybe to him its just another local band, so why bother. So it must be a ...yawwwnnn.. nap.
Nevermind that. Perhaps he really did lose his contacts. But anyway
there wasn't a tech guy by the stage. So when Pann's amp broke down intermittenly during the first two songs, no one was on deck to fix the problem. It took them ages to get someone to the front to
troubleshoot. It made Concave Scream look bad. If not for the
fact that they ARE really a good band, that they kept their shape,
brushed off the initial tech gliches, pulled it through and finally
won a good part of the crowd over.
Through the years I have seen this too many times at countless gigs- The Tidak Apa Bochap soundmen. Buying them a coffee and having a big grin is a must during soundcheck. So he will be kinder to your band and put in that extra (actually not extra but the bare minimal he is supposed to put in in the first place) attention to your band sound.
That said, bands at the same time are equally guilty of not wanting to understand the meaning of balanced stage mix, of playing together. Vocalist, "I can't hear my vox." So vox level up. Guitarist, "I cant hear my guitars" and so the guitars goes up... and it spirals on and on. Hence the birth of the Tidak Apa Bochap Soundguy. So which comes first? The chicken or the egg? I don't know and I don't care. I take the egg and smash it at the band, and let the chicken shit on the soundguy.
I love this to bits the first time i heard it when they played at the AGF Theatre in 2004. Hearing it at Barnone last Sunday I felt chills under my skin.
5 Comments:
Ah san....I call them the jagah jam boys...
Can I just say that some local gig organisers just put the rest - who work hard to really help our bands, to shame because they anyhow do things - especially since many have contributed consistently good work over many years...
I say, if you are not going to do this wholeheartedly, don't bother organising gigs. HUMPH!
was good seeing u again la, joe. thanks for da support!! everything that could have gone wrong dat nite just went wrong, haha, but we had fun, nonetheless. and it's guys like you that made it feel right for us on stage. : )
thank you sooo much for all the rare music. :)
hey! so what's Nuance like now? not anywhere a indies scene like cafe cosmo right?
yanda,
http://anti-corporation.blogspot.com
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