We LOVE working shows. Especially big ones.
We also love working with MCP (Mass College of Pharmacy), UNE (University of New England), BC, and BU. However, it’s less love-inspiring when they all call up trying to book us on the same weekend. Thats right, they all called upon GrooveBoston for MAJOR shows all within a single 30-hour window. So we put on our logistical thinking caps (they’re orange in case you were wondering), rounded up the troops, and said “Hell yeah, we can handle all four!”
It went something like this:
Friday, October 26th. Game Day Number One. We had already been in touch with all of the clients, venue contacts, electricians, vendors, and staff. We had visited the sites, picked up lighting and video rentals, and been to production meetings. We even tried to get a normal amount of sleep to charge up for what was about to go down. Andrew, Ben, and I, met at the O (we call the GB office the “O” to save time… ok, so not that much time) at 10am to load up and head to the new Convention Center in South Boston. After setting up our rig – a big, 40’ wide lighting rig, flown audio, and a killer video system driving two widescreen plasmas – Ben and I sat back, along with first-timer Ryan, while Andrew got started on the mix, providing a nice vibe through the cocktail hour and dinner. After dinner – and you may have seen this coming – it got CRAZY. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Those pharmacists know how to party.
Here’s where it starts to get interesting. Normally, we’d change back into jeans, say “Oh man, great show!” pack up the gear for a couple of hours, and home to bed. But this was Megaweekend, so we pressed on. After doing all of those things, we drove to BU (making a quick fortification stop at Subway) to set the lighting all up again. At 5am, we headed back to the O to regroup, and, in turn, head to our respective beds.
But sleep would be brief, as we all had to be back on site at 10am. As in, we had four hours to drive home, sleep, wake up, get dressed, and drive to the next shows. The momentum of Friday’s success powered us through the morning, as Andrew, Springer, and Chris Kung headed North to UNE, dispatched by Ben. Jason Slomovitz, now a fully-certified GB veteran, got things started at BU. Ben, after getting the UNE crew rolling, met up with me to install the video rig at the BC site – which was starting to look less like a parking lot and more like the tent village of insanity that we’ve grown to love. Ben then headed to BU, where the second diesel generator of the day was up and running, and the audio crew was getting things fired up.
By about 5pm, everything was in place. After a dizzying logistical masterpiece, we had had done it: We had three major GrooveBoston shows standing by. As students arrived, we made GB history, and rocked three events simultaneously. As the sun began to rise once more, we packed up yet again, and finally, mercifully, went home to sleep. Most of us slept through most of Sunday, awakening briefly to watch Red Sox bring it home to cap off an amazing weekend. Thanks to the GB crew, including our new members Chris and Ryan, as well as guest DJ Ed Slapik (who spent his Monday mixing audio on stage at the “rolling rally” with Papelbon and the Dropkick Murphys… AWESOME), and thanks to our vendors – JDI Productions, Matrix 1 Audio, Advanced Lighting, and Capron – for their making this all come together. I daresay we rocked it. And for all of you schools out there: Three shows at once? Bring it on.
See you all at NACA.
[tags]GrooveBoston, Boston College, BC, BC Homecoming, Boston University, BU, Mass College of Pharmacy, MCP, MCPHS, UNE, University of New England, dance party[/tags]
