Lighting guy rant.

[VredDoesLights]

What do I hate? Cheap bands. NOTHING I hate more then bands who aren't willing to put in the extra coin to further themselves. Example.

I charge $30 per set for lighting with bands I have never worked with before. I don't know there music, and It won't be as synchronized as It would be if I did know the music/band, it just won't be the best I can give them, so I don't charge full price.

So, this ONE band (hardcore band, already put a bad taste in my mouth) asked my lighting engineer friend, Luke, during a set I was working. ''How much do you charge for lights?'' he said ''$50'', the lead singer of the band then acted like he just walked in on his misses sucking another guys cock, like he had just been shot. ''$50 is WAY to much for lighting'' he claimed and walked away laughing. Once I was done with my set, he then asked me how much I charge. ''$30'' I said, he then proceeded with a ''WAY to expensive'' line on me. He already pissed off the two engineers working the gig in the space of 10 minutes.

Later on during the night, before their set, he tries to convince me that his very drunk friend has done lighting before. Seeing as it is NOT my gear, I asked his friend a bunch of standard lighting questions, to which, he could not answer a single one of them. I refused to let him touch the gear for fear of him fucking it up and it being on MY head, not to mention he was drunk. This pissed off the band even more so. It was by stroke of luck that one of the band members knew a girl at the gig that I know for a fact, is a qualified and good lighting engineer. OFCOURSE, she didn't get paid, but I allowed her to do their set, on condition she didn't use the strobe or smoke.

What the fuck is the point of being cheap and going threw so much bullshit just to save $30? EVERY Single other band that night had really good looking lights, whilst they had basically nothing, but hey, they saved $30. Lucky they didn't hear what I charge for professional HUGE gigs with massive setup and packdown time, THAT is a big price.

Remember people, without lights, it's just radio.

/end rant.

 

[Tim Charles]

haha....


I guess the reality is that most local bands are getting paid barely anything for shows, and then of those that do get paid decently, not all are prepared to invest the money in their show, whether it be through hiring an amazing sound engineer that charges more than most, or by hiring even basic lighting.

As Vred would attest, NeO kind of takes the opposite approach where the sound and visuals of a performance are extremely important to us. I really strongly feel that if the sound and lighting are amazing, as well as making the audience able to hear everything clearly, it also helps the audience have a stronger emotional connection with the music. Lighting can create fantastic moods and that's why most huge bands that are earning lots of money will often spend just as much on their lighting (some more), than they do on their sound engineer.

Not every band is thinking of the bigger picture though. When NeO first started out we never even thought to hire lighting engineers.. it just didn't occur to us in the beginning. Then after studying more and more the differences in the effects of shows with and without lighting we now have a lighting engineer at every show. So sometimes people need a bit of time to process the value of investing extra money in their live shows above the cost of a basic sound engineer.

It is great to see a fair few bands on the metal scene using good lighting these days though. I definitely think it's becoming a bit more prevalent on the scene which can only be a good thing.

 

[Elliott]

http://www.kidshelp.com.au

 

[Sarindria]

it also helps the audience have a stronger emotional connection with the music.

This, definitely. The connection is, for myself anyway, very important. My favourite moments have been ones where the band draws the spectators in, until they're no longer just there watching but feel like they're a part of something bigger than themselves.

I strongly believe in the saying "You only get out what you put in". If you want a half-arsed fanbase, put in a shitty effort.

 

[mark b]

You definately have to speculate to accumulate!!