- Apr 11, 2009
- 223
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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.
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.