James C Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 Yes thats right. But most lx techs I know either have good people skills and bugger all other skills or fantastic lx skills and crap people skills.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> Assuming this includes the lx techs who work for your company, do you generally have to send out one of each on a job - one to talk to the client and the other to carry out the Lx work? I'd hate to see your wage-bill! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightnix Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 A Blue Dot! Una Punto Azul! Un Dot Bleu! Ein Dott Blau!...Nice dot, it coordinates with your avatar really well :** laughs out loud **: Anyway, before we go too far :blink: and start defaming major companies left, right and centre... To begin with, what is "concert touring"? Sheila is very active in the folk world and we know loads of artistes who tour the country and Europe in their Vauxhall Astras, making a (sometimes partial) living out of playing concerts at folk clubs and events. Who knows? This may be the future. At the start of the 80s I read an article mourning the death of the British Rock Festival, following Led Zeppelin's performance at the last "real" Knebworth and predicting the immediate demise of Glastonbury and Reading. Last year there were more festivals around than you could shake a stick at. One of the trade mags tried to look ahead to 2020 at the start of the Millennium. Their prediction was that there would still be big, lavish productions, but to smaller, more highly paying audiences of a few hundred, while the real money was made on global pay-per-view. Looking back, one thing that has happened is the demise of the Supergroup and the contraction in big stadium touring in the last decade. The music scene since the late 80s has been increasingly dominated by Marketing Men, who have foisted endless boy bands and no-hopers on us. Record companies simply don't want ageing, wrinkly artists on their books any more, who put on airs and graces, cost a fortune to get to the airport and have wised up to how much they are worth. They want camera-hungry youngsters who are too blinded by the chance of fifteen minutes' fame to realise how much they are being taken for a ride, before it's too late and they are one of last year's one-hit-wonders. Despite the never-ending blandness of the charts, there is still a lot of exciting new music and talent breaking through out there. In fact, there's possibly more music being made and released now than ever before. It's already technically possible for a band to market and sell it's own music over the web, without any need for a record company and it will soon be commercially viable, too. What effect this will have on live music remains to be seen, but... On the technical front: there's the rise of LEDs and the increasing efficiency and fidelity of 12 volt sound systems. I reckon their ability to be run from solar/wind charged batteries or a couple of 13A sockets will make it easier to do big-looking and technically sophisticated, but self-contained "micro-tours" on a modest budget. There will be less need for the "heavy gear" (truss, dimmers, big cables, massive speaker arrays) and more potential to get the whole thing into a one tonner, with the backline :) Whatever the whims of fashion may bring, I think people will always want to see live bands and that, whatever it's actual form, there will be a future for concert touring. I think (hope) the trend over the next few years will be towards the smaller and more intimate shows. To end on a bum note: the one big fly in the ointment right now is the hash the Government are continuing to make of the Public Entertainment Licence regs. This is a serious situation, which could lead to a serious reduction in the number of live events and festivals in the near future and less work for us :( Keep an eye on the UKCMA website for news on what the business is doing to try to make the politicians see sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 But most lx techs I know either have good people skills and bugger all other skills or fantastic lx skills and crap people skills.Then you're working with the wrong people.I have to agree with Tom here, you must be working with the wrong people. I hate to blow one's own trumpet here but I consider myself to have both good lighting and people skills - something thats very important when your a venue technician in a mid scale recieving house. Anyway, each to their own. Stu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
london sound Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 Consider this, sales of Guitars are higher than they have ever been (scary I know) in fact Fender were apparently struggling to keep up.Also sales of drum kits and keyboards are also up.I tour with a band (see details below) and ticket sales are very healthy, in fact each year the tour gets extended, and even though the band are not the youngest on the circuit (average age 58!!) we get a lot of young people at the gigs all keen to learn how to play their instruments well. Their was a prediction about two years ago that the live music market would double in 5 to 10 years! We seem to be involved with lots of new gigs and festivals. Ianp.s. The lighting market is not tied up by one or two big companys neither is the sound side. To state that employees of these companies are un-skilled or routinely rude is crass. These companys spend time and money on training their staff and to say that if they lose one client does not matter is also a crass statement, no company can afford to lose a client (unless that client is a bad debtor). Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the kid Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 sales of Guitars are higher than they have ever been (scary I know) in fact Fender were apparently struggling to keep up.Also sales of drum kits and keyboards are also up. snip we get a lot of young people at the gigs all keen to learn how to play their instruments well. Althought this is true our of 6 freinds that have got guitars/bass' 3 have continued playing. One as part of a band and the others singualy. 2 have only played once. And one can't find a tutor. At the start of the 80s I read an article mourning the death of the British Rock Festival, following Led Zeppelin's performance at the last "real" Knebworth and predicting the immediate demise of Glastonbury and Reading. Last year there were more festivals around than you could shake a stick at. How many "festivals" were there last year? The only other one I know of other then Glastonbury and Reading was Isle of White. Becasue although one type might dissapear, say pop, others like folk and jazz will continue, but not in a massive way like reading and glastonbury, thousands upon thousands of people. I do agree with lightnix about Boy bands, if im not much misstake busted split just the other day and MC Fly will soon be on the way. The only way that bands that become gigging bands like greenday etc is to be a support band and rise up the sliperly slope to the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 How many "festivals" were there last year? The only other one I know of other then Glastonbury and Reading was Isle of White. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Guildford, Eastleigh, Cropready, Sidmouth, Elephant Fair (did it run this year?).... And those are only the ones that spring immediately to mind. There must be DOZENS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightnix Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 The lighting market is not tied up by one or two big companys neither is the sound side. To state that employees of these companies are un-skilled or routinely rude is crass. These companys spend time and money on training their staff and to say that if they lose one client does not matter is also a crass statement, no company can afford to lose a client (unless that client is a bad debtor).<{POST_SNAPBACK}>That's right, Ian, the whole industry has really begun to tidy up its act over the last decade (sales of guitars are massive, as well :) ). There's always room for improvement, but I would say that the level of professionalism shown by most companies and crew has risen dramatically over my time in the game. Outside factors, especially standards and regulation are playing a major part in the change. These days, it's getting so that if your company isn't ISO9001/2000 registered, you won't get a sniff at any government or council work and will be automatically declined by many major corporates. Virtually nobody will employ uninsured freelancers any more (some will only use freelancers who are Ltd. Co's), and the requirement to demonstrate competence through regularly updated training is becoming ever more important. The improved training on offer now, means that a new wave of better trained people are working their way up the business, like a fresh breeze through a stuffy old room and I envy today's students for the range of quality courses that are available. How many "festivals" were there last year? The only other one I know of other then Glastonbury and Reading was Isle of White.Becasue although one type might dissapear, say pop, others like folk and jazz will continue, but not in a massive way like reading and glastonbury, thousands upon thousands of people.Good point, although I think it's a little academic from a crew point of view, as they all represent work and income in the end. There's also a lot of Crossover artiste-wise between "types" of festivals and many acts do festival tours as a cheaper way of getting about, with minimal crew and kit. For most people, a gig's a gig at the end of the day. The original title of the post was just about "concert touring". There are so many different types of "concert" it's difficult to predict anything beyond possible general trends, IMHO. But most lx techs I know either have good people skills and bugger all other skills or fantastic lx skills and crap people skills.Then you're working with the wrong people.I have to agree with Tom here, you must be working with the wrong people...<{POST_SNAPBACK}>I'll add my voice to that and say that I'd be a little worried about engaging the services of a company who's management has unintentionally admitted that his crew aren't that great. Bit of a "Ratner" moment there :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djw1981 Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 Festivals last year: T in the ParkVirgin / V2004 (Hylands Park Chelmsford & Weston park Staffordshire)Carling (Reading & Leeds)GlastonburyCreamIsle of WightOne Big Weekend (Radio 1 in Birmingham and Derry)Newquay Plus stuff like Proms in the Park etc Hogmannay in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling, Aberdeen etc which are at least one dayers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightnix Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 There are good lists of festivals at Entsweb, folky stuff at fRoots or you can subscribe to Festival Eye, to name but a few sources of such info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete McCrea Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 The new Wychwood Festival and GreenBelt are two that run at cheltenham alone. As well as the Jazz, Music and miscallaneous others. Then there's the town hall which sees a regular group of touring bands........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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