Bay to Breakers
Yesterday was probably the big event of the year. We were able to weasel our way onto the list of bands for bay to breakers and we were given a choice spot near the starting line of the race at moscone center. We had a lot of things planned for the show and the logistics for getting things set up were quite daunting. John and I spent a couple hours Saturday tearing down his PA and loading into the van, and then we got up at 3:30am Sunday to drive to SF to set up. It took about two hours to unload everything and get sound checked.
The race staff at Labrynth were great and gave us the green light to go a little ‘Kamikaze’ in our setup decisions, so we took some stairs and made them into a little stage. Someone from the center was a little upset with us, but we were gone before they were even officially open, so I don’t think it was a big deal.
We ran through the set twice as a literal sea of people streamed by. People were in all kinds of crazy costumes. It was just awesome being out there in the city with all of the people and the sun. :-) Even though there were a fair amount of technical glitches, people were definitely in a great mood and appreciated us being there. It was so fun playing for a crowd that size. I totally want to do that again…
Things to do differently:
- The drummer should not double as the sound guy - John at one point almost had a meltdown and if John’s friend Chris hadn’t come along, we would have totally freaked out.
- We need to plan the stage layout ahead of time if possible and make sure that we have enough power cords and extensions for outdoor monitors.
- I spent a lot of effort on signage trying to get people directed to our web site, but it was pretty ineffective. I think so far we’ve only had about five hits from the tens of thousands of people who passed by. Maybe we were too far away, or maybe people just had too much going on to pay attention to our signs.
- The first three songs for me were a total fingermashfest since I didn’t bring enough warm clothes and had no circulation in my fingers. I guess I should practice more with a pick or bring a sweater next time.
- My wireless setup didn’t really work, which was a big disappointment for me since I couldn’t wander out into the crowd at all and missed out on that interaction. I still need to figure out what went wrong there.
- People generally wont get out of bed at 6am to check out a gig, and not many people came by. I’m starting to think that the way to
- We need a mailing list or some way of contacting fans after the show.
- Need another instrumental number handy in case Rich needs a break from singing.
- For me I wish I had saved a couple hours the week before to run through the songs more. Wishes Curse is still rough for me in the intro. Man made and Kris’s song are ones I still haven’t practiced much with the band and don’t have the changes down.
- Tuning might have been an issue - hard to tell, but I think we were out of tune in some spots. Also I think my setup was clipping when I turned the volume up since it sounded a little distorted and broken up standing in front of the amp.
Things I liked:
- The generator worked great even though it wasn’t the super quiet model.
- Pretty much every decision to spend money was worth it. I’m still thinking that an extra $100 on a sound guy might have been a good idea.
- The van was expensive, but definitely a good value. It was just the right size for all of the gear and it’s a lot cheaper than what I’d be paying if I had bought an SUV.
- I’m getting more comfortable with crowd interaction and finding my stage voice. The high point of the show in terms of crowd participation generally was when we would say things like ‘Hello San Francisco’ and talk the audience up. It’s also good to be out in front and away from my fx pedals and mics so I can move more.
I really like playing outside for people who are just cruising by. We should try to figure out some other opportunities for this.