Loaded up and Ready to Go
So, here we are, coming out of our anniversary concert, and there isn’t much time to rest.
It’s my first chance to organize a gig.
I rashly volunteered to organize a performance for the Waltham Riverfest. Megan Gleeson of the Waltham Cultural Council approached me about this performance some time ago, and since Waltham is my home community and this a new event, I volunteered to organize the performance from the ONE side. I really want the Riverfest to succeed as an event, and I thought it would be fun to bring ONE to such a public performance in Waltham.
Now I’m learning exactly what it means to organize a gig.
So far, I’ve had to…
- Find out all the general details (time, location, stage size, where we’ll unload, how long the set should last…). This was the easy part, since Megan was super helpful.
- Find out who would be willing to play. We have a crew of six: Kate, Sheilarae, Joy, Matt, myself, and Tanya. (Thank goodness I’ve got a good crew!)
- Determine the set: Figure out what songs we can play well enough, what everyone wants to play, and then actually assign parts! This was challenging. I kept changing the song order, trying to balance things so that no one has to play too many songs…
- Decide what we’ll be wearing. (Our new black t-shirts, black pants, black tabi, and colorful hachimaki.)
- Make a loading list with all the needed equipment.
- Coordinate a little extra practice time. (Thanks to Mark, and a fortunate rehearsal plan, we got to play 3 of the 5 songs as part of our regular Thursday night rehearsal.)
- Communicate exactly what is needed and direct people as we gathered all the gear together at the end of rehearsal.
- Fit all that stuff into 2 cars (in the middle of a heavy downpour).
And today I still need to plan out what I’m going to say in between songs!
Okay, somehow it looks simpler when I list it out like this. Maybe I should have done that first!
I’m excited to see it all come together tomorrow!
Isn’t it interesting how lists somehow make things seem more manageable? It always works for me. Anyhow, interesting post giving a little insight into some of the behind the scenes work that goes into putting a gig together. The gig must be over by now. How did it go?
Thanks, Brian! Yes, the performance was Saturday June 13, and it went really well. I thought everyone in our group played well, we had a nice audience, and after packing up we got to eat lunch while watching some of the other Riverfest performances.
Lists rock!