Gibber-gabber
Why don’t smaller groups learn about a tech rider?
beingzoe 2007-11-11 10:11:35 UTC

In my other life as an Audio Engineer, mostly working at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido and with IATSE local 122 around San Diego, I am constantly amazed that most bands have no concept of a tech rider.

Last night I did a small outdoor gig for the museum opening at the CCAE with a dance and drumming group from Gana, and two local bands.

The dance group was fairly light in their needs and everything went smooth. However, the two other bands had been told on the phone by the coordinators that they would have to supply their PA as their was no way on such short notice.

The band that was booked had apparently changed their setup. What was originally (as I was led to believe) going to be a DJ and a couple of mics had turned into a five piece rock band at the last minute. This created some confusion and the museum tried to convey the changes to the theater technical director, who lacking any further information, had to assume the worst. The worst being that this a bigger act that would require a fairly large rig, and she was forced to say we simply weren’t prepared for that. Considering the types of groups we normally work with at the concert hall, this was not an unreasonable assumption.

But the fact was that we had a 16 channel board and a small but decent PA. And the reality was the 5 piece band really only needed 2 vocal mics and a sax mic. In the small sculpture courtyard and the size and quality of the amps for the guitars and bass they travel with we only had to get the vocals and the sax out and into the mix.

Which leads to the issue of the tech rider. Had this band had a simple rider that indicated all of their instrumentation (basic input list and stage plot) and what gear they typically played/travelled with, they would have been told it was no problem. Instead the guy from the band frantically spent all day locating a PA to bring that he didn’t need.

He was a bit frustrated but nonetheless relieved when I explained what I could do for him. I asked him if he had a rider, which went nowhere. I think it is amazing that small bands who are touring around not only don’t have a simple rider to send out, but rarely even know what one is. And that larger bands who should know often still don’t know because they pay a production manager to handle all that stuff.

In the end everything went exceptionally well, great show, great band(s), and a great mix if I do say so myself. Though I think some of the museum opening crowd might not have been fully prepared for SPL this type of group puts out. But everybody that was in the sculpture courtyard for the show was dancing and having a great time.

At any rate, just thought I would share that with you all.