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52
FOH-at-Large
Keeping Busy
in a Taxing Time
the economy
stupid,” and despite
“It’s
it all we still carry
on with our business albeit
on shaky ground. Fortunately,
the bulk of the
summer touring season
ended just before the disastrous
reports from Wall
Street became headline
news — thus leading us to
wild speculation regarding
what the future might
hold in store for the upcoming
winter and spring
season.
By the time this piece
is published the country
will have hopefully chosen
a new president, and quite
possibly, the effects of the
“bail-out” will be reporting
a positive outcome in
all areas of the economy.
Despite an optimistic scenario
where Wall Street
and the world market
does rebound quickly, we
will still have to rely upon
a trickle-down effect from
the “bail-out,” and it may
be a few months or more
before we see results from
the government’s intervention.
Effects on Touring Season FOH
Nonetheless, last year’s economy has
been nothing less than taxing on all of
us (pun intended, damn it) even though
some tour returns have looked decent
enough. In the July issue of Rolling Stone
magazine it was reported that Bonnaroo
and Coachella, two major summer festivals,
failed to sell out for the first time
in years. The Stevie Wonder, Janet Jack-
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FOH Interview
What’s it like working for
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Production Profile
Rat Sound provided
audio for the Los
Angeles Detour festival,
a one-day event in
downtown featuring 30
bands on four stages.
Companies and people worried about the state
of the economy have started to cut back on their
events and shows.
son, Maroon 5 and George Michael tours
struggled through the summer, and even
Springsteen tickets were moving slower
than usual. Madonna’s tour posted
strong sales as did Radiohead, Bon Jovi,
the Dave Matthews Band and Jimmy Buffett
to name a few, but the high price of
gasoline, though not overly detrimental
to the upper echelon of the touring business,
did have a far more reaching effect
on the smaller touring bands.
Not to downplay the consequence of
inflation in regard to the larger acts, but
the up-and-coming and mid-level touring
bands that were unable to charge
$100 or more for a ticket to their shows
certainly felt the pinch of the high gas
prices in a more direct manner. Regional
audio companies all fell prey to the budget
crunch, and the busier ones I spoke
with grumbled about less work, while
the smaller companies complained that
there was none at all.
Marketing Tours FOH
In the past — though having a shallow
concept in regard to the bands —
marketing tours have always had seemingly
deep pockets, but this year they
too felt the walls of the economy closing
in on them. These marketing tours, with
the backing of record labels and major
corporate sponsorship, introduce their
wares while at the same time presenting
young and rising stars to perform in malls
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from coast to coast. The past few years
has seen a boom in this kind of marketing,
and the company I work for is often
hired to provide audio for the marketing
firm in charge of presenting artists such
as Ashlee Simpson and The Plain White
T’s to their adoring public.
This year, the negotiations broke
down between the marketing firm and
myself while we were engaged in the
process of trying to plan a 12-week summer
mall tour with Coca Cola and Kate
Voegele. Although my prices had only
been modestly adjusted to account for
higher gas and travel costs, the marketing
company balked at the final price.
After a bit of haggling, we finally settled
upon a flat fee for the equipment rental
with the marketing firm agreeing to
provide travel, accommodations and
salary for my technicians, as well as the
cartage of the equipment from mall to
shining mall. I’m positive that the marketing
company will never again agree
to that type of arrangement, but for
three months this past summer two of
my techs were working and my audio
department had an income from the
tour without having to manage all the
extraneous cost.
Trickle-Down Effect FOH
Other than that solo three-month
tour, this past summer turned out to be a
bit slower than usual, although business
By BakerLee
Artwork by Andy Au
did pick up a bit in September
just before Lehman
Brothers, AIG and the rest
of Wall Street went belly
up. Although many people
may feel that the Wall Street
investors have finally received
their come-uppance,
the negative trickle-down
effect has already started
to take place as companies
and people worried about
the state of the economy
cut back on their events
and shows.
I don’t mean to imply
that the shows have gone
away altogether, but on my
end I have begun to see more
of a negotiation process in
regard to putting together
audio and other aspects of
any given production. Hopefully,
the government bailout,
in association with our
newly elected president, will
restore confidence and faith
in the economy. This positive
influx of cash will only
trickle down to us on the
heels of the negative trickle
down, however, leaving us
all in a worrisome predicament
for more time than we
would like.
Settling for Less FOH
Business loans have dried up and the
banks that are still viable are overly cautious
in regard to extending credit. This is especially
worrisome to the smaller and mid-size
sound companies that are already in debt
up to their ears and need to make payments
or even update their equipment. In an atmosphere
like this, the buyer that manages
to still produce an event is now shopping for
a better-than-usual deal to offset their cost
of doing business. Unfortunately, the audio
company that wants to do business may
have to settle for less, and this does not bode
well for any of us since this type of business
environment causes a negative ripple effect
that spreads like rings on a pond.
I apologize for being so downbeat —
maybe all of this will be straightened out by
the time this article is read, but I am furious
about the flagrant abuses of finance and
policy that has taken place over the past few
years and brought us to this point of chaos.
Of course, it would be irresponsible for me
to place all the blame on the lenders since
it is the borrowers that keep the lenders in
business. Regulating the financial industry is
an obvious panacea, but more importantly a
real change of perception is required much
akin to the dieter who benefits more from a
change in lifestyle than just a change of diet.
Anyway, that said, I must confess that I will
miss providing audio for the Lehman Brothers
Christmas party… it was always quite
the blow out.