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Memphis Concrète 2018
Jun. 26th, 2018 07:01 pmIt has happened and...don't even know where to begin or how to even process everything to get it down. It was an absolutely amazing, stressful, mind-numbingly insane weekend. But it all happened and I think for the most part it went well. Most people seemed very happy and got lots of the same feelings of being part of something special that came at the end of last year. It was bigger and there were a few complications, however. But things went overall well, I think, especially considering how for a while it was just a string of everything going wrong. But where do I start? Once again, all the performances were really and truly amazing. And there were more of them this time. I know, I'll start with things that went wrong or started to go wrong or fall apart or whatever and I'll get that out of the way and end on a positive note.
I think I mentioned the trouble finding a sound engineer. We ended up finding three sound engineers, one for each day: Harry did Friday, Karl who I just met and works at Growlers did Saturday, and Kelley did Sunday. So that came together thanks to them and others helping spread the word. Getting a pa was a massive mess. We had feelers out with quite a few people but things seemed to get shifted around and it was a last minute scramble to get it all together (thankfully had SEVERAL people willing to help us out in a major way, so we brought it all together in pieces). I had been talking with Shangri-La about borrowing something, but it ended up their head had frayed wires and they feared it might blow up or something. They offered some speakers and stands, we were able to use that to meet our monitor needs that I didn't even think we'd be able to get together. Kip loaned us the main head and speakers so that was a huge piece of the puzzle. Well, after I got it all together and set it up, I realized the monitors needed power themselves. Harry loaned us another head we were able to push the monitors (and a fourth monitor for good measure to meet Circuit des Yeux's requirement). Also, we were using a mixer that Ricky had borrowed from Isaac at Slim House. I also had a line on this one guy, but I hadn't talked to him in a while (I guess I assumed Ricky had 'cuz he was getting the mixer to accommodate that pa and I was constantly distracted) and he was kinda like I hadn't talked to you in a while a what about advertising. Maybe could have done something if I absolutely needed to but with the little bit of awkwardness I utilized my other sources. A few of the artists had some problems. Jack the Giant Killer had run late 'cuz the power went out in his building so he got to the stage just about when he was supposed to start. We got him set up as quickly as possible (though it did take a bit of time) and for the most part it went alright. Cloudland Canyon's drum machine died and had to go completely off-plan. It was still a really good set and I would never have known it was based around machinery messing up. Linda Heck couldn't get her laptop to work. After a bit of trying to get it working, she gave up and moved on to play her set with her other stuff and it was also a really good save.
The big thing that got Friday off to a bad start was Circuit des Yeux's soundcheck. Found out that Harry couldn't do the soundcheck 'cuz he had to work the night before (he still ran sound for the meat of the night) but the sound check is the big part of it and I ended up having to do the sound check by default. I knew this would not be great. Well, I gave it a go and Circuit des Yeux were getting visibly frustrated with the bad work I was doing. I eventually turned it around and it came together, but it was touch and go for a minute. By the end of the night they were very pleasant and seemed in positive spirits so that was good. We did go over in time and ended up having to start a little late, but we caught up after a couple sets. Sunday had something of a repeat but maybe even worse. Kelley was at least there for it. Alex was doing his sound check and was getting very frustrated. But instead of it seething JUST below the surface, he got into a little argument with Kelley about his sound. He had mic'd drums (my drums, uh, Alex Zhang Hungtai played my drums so that's pretty cool) running through effects so that makes things a little more complicated. Anyway, she was very gracious and diffused the situation well. He was also apologetic about being upset, but it was kinda tense. Sunday started late too, but Alyssa didn't show up (the reason she'd had to cancel running sound a little before, being kicked out of her studio, I found out had been amplified where Murphy's dick owner made her leave immediately instead of at the end of the month as he'd previously said) so there was a gap to give a little extra time to fill out. We had the drums set up in the back on a rug so they just had to be dragged forward. Well, towards the end of the night when we were setting him up, that made it really efficient. Too efficient. We set up real quick and then he was just ready to start playing and started like 15 minutes before his scheduled time. He also played a pretty short set (maybe a little more than 20 minutes, it was over not a whole lot after he was scheduled to start). It was an intense, amazing, absolutely incredible performance, but it was short and early. And some people had arrived to see him and he was already done so they left. Kind've a bummer but what can you do? Also, peripherally related to Alex, I had reserved Saturday morning to finally get my modular set up and ready for my soundtrack performance. Well, the person who was supposed to pick up Alex from the airport had overslept and their battery died and so I had to just go and do that so it ate up my morning and I didn't get a chance to until after I'd arrived on Saturday and got things in order. I just threw some of my standards together by eye real quick. The movie on Friday was almost a disaster. We get it set up and realize we don't have the right connections for the movie's sound to happen. The stage was already running at least 15 minutes behind all day (not too bad since it theoretically ended early and there was extra time blocked off for the movie on top of that) but it took at least another 15 minutes to find the right connection. We got something together but it was, again, touch and go... The last thing I can think of that went badly was something I wasn't even aware of until yesterday after the festival was over. Kip was upset with me for not showing enough appreciation for loaning the pa. I tried to be thankful, but I was distracted constantly and sleep deprived (I had been waking up early for the better part of the week) so I may have not shown things well. Also, he'd asked to get his pa stuff loaded on a cart and to call him when it was ready at the end of the night on Sunday as he lives in the building and could just come down. Well, I got it loaded on the cart but forgot about calling him and he was upset about that too. We were supposed to meet up but he just picked it up and for a while wouldn't call or message me back. But I'd left out one of his cables so he messaged me about that and I met him to return it. He was with someone else so said we'd talk about it later. I had just let him know he'd "saved my ass" and he just said "Yeah, I know." Hopefully we can talk about it later and hopefully I can make things right with him 'cuz it bums me out to have someone upset or feel underappreciated for helping me out. Oh, there was also a snafu where we used the extra room (that was going to be for Pharmakon, then Wolf Eyes but we weren't able to get two beds so had to get them a hotel) for a few of the musicians who needed a place to crash. Well, the first one left the key in the room so the next night and then on Sunday there was no one around who could get the key back so it was a bit of a hassle we had to put on Crosstown, but it eventually got resolved.
Now everything great. I didn't eat much at all those three days, but I had a few bites here and there of the sandwiches Chris was able to bring from Second Line (via Kelly English and his staff), and I mean they were holy shit fucking tasty. Giving Alex a ride from the airport was pretty cool. He was super nice. Talked a little bit. I steered him in the right direction for food by recommending Payne's. He was even able to make it in the short time before it closed on Saturday. He said something along the lines of it being almost like a spiritual experience or something. So, if nothing else, he at least got a proper Memphis barbecue experience! Wolf Eyes were very nice (really just about everyone was very nice). I was a little nervous about their flight as they were scheduled to arrive only about five hours before they were scheduled to play and if there was any delay in the flights that could have immediately turned to disaster. But they arrived on time and well. There was some worry since there was like a fucking hour before they were scheduled to play that they were setting up, but we let them know just how much time they had and they enjoyed the opportunity to take some smoke breaks, etc. Also found out later they'd been on acid a few days. They were like they usually just smoke weed but couldn't smuggle it on the plane. They found the Crosstown Concourse experience to be a bit extra surreal while tripping. But man, they were fucking phenomenal live. I mean, I've seen them before, and here in Memphis to boot at a little house show no less and that was incredible, but I think this was even better. Kelley was inspired to put the lamp next to Nate and it was glowing up on him and it had just the ominous ("moody") look that was perfect. They killed a few minutes just standing there on stage, sometimes rubbing the microphone, before starting. They were just so good. The sound was very big. John had a saxophone and Nate had eurorack (that I had to nerd out to and scope out after they played) and they both had these touchpad things. Then some rich guy threw an after party (I mean, the show ended at 9 so the whole rest of the night it felt insanely late but it wasn't nearly what it felt) and Wolf Eyes went. I was a little later, loading and dropping off equipment and all. But I got to spend a little time with some friends and strangers, hanging out with Wolf Eyes. They continued to be very nice. And we just talked and joked around for a few hours. Lots of stories. Probably can't even begin to try to remember them all to put 'em down here. So I won't try now. I'll throw some stuff down if I remember. Oh, we had Josh's video running the whole time too (just about, except for the movies of course and a couple of artists who had their own visuals). I did chop it up and mix it up a little bit to give some variety. But Josh was pretty tickled to watch Wolf Eyes playing in front of his video work.
I wanna get down other things about the weekend. For a lot of it I was running on Jarritos 'cuz they had that at the Concourse. Hadn't had it in forever 'cuz usually places that have it also have Mexicoke and my mouth heads straight for that. But man that stuff is really good too. Other highlights? I didn't get to sit down and watch all of it. I mean, naturally with two stages you literally can't see everything, but I was also running around putting out the aforementioned fires and other little things that popped up and just generally helping things run as smoothly as possible. Well, I'm getting long. I'll put some more stuff in another post!
I think I mentioned the trouble finding a sound engineer. We ended up finding three sound engineers, one for each day: Harry did Friday, Karl who I just met and works at Growlers did Saturday, and Kelley did Sunday. So that came together thanks to them and others helping spread the word. Getting a pa was a massive mess. We had feelers out with quite a few people but things seemed to get shifted around and it was a last minute scramble to get it all together (thankfully had SEVERAL people willing to help us out in a major way, so we brought it all together in pieces). I had been talking with Shangri-La about borrowing something, but it ended up their head had frayed wires and they feared it might blow up or something. They offered some speakers and stands, we were able to use that to meet our monitor needs that I didn't even think we'd be able to get together. Kip loaned us the main head and speakers so that was a huge piece of the puzzle. Well, after I got it all together and set it up, I realized the monitors needed power themselves. Harry loaned us another head we were able to push the monitors (and a fourth monitor for good measure to meet Circuit des Yeux's requirement). Also, we were using a mixer that Ricky had borrowed from Isaac at Slim House. I also had a line on this one guy, but I hadn't talked to him in a while (I guess I assumed Ricky had 'cuz he was getting the mixer to accommodate that pa and I was constantly distracted) and he was kinda like I hadn't talked to you in a while a what about advertising. Maybe could have done something if I absolutely needed to but with the little bit of awkwardness I utilized my other sources. A few of the artists had some problems. Jack the Giant Killer had run late 'cuz the power went out in his building so he got to the stage just about when he was supposed to start. We got him set up as quickly as possible (though it did take a bit of time) and for the most part it went alright. Cloudland Canyon's drum machine died and had to go completely off-plan. It was still a really good set and I would never have known it was based around machinery messing up. Linda Heck couldn't get her laptop to work. After a bit of trying to get it working, she gave up and moved on to play her set with her other stuff and it was also a really good save.
The big thing that got Friday off to a bad start was Circuit des Yeux's soundcheck. Found out that Harry couldn't do the soundcheck 'cuz he had to work the night before (he still ran sound for the meat of the night) but the sound check is the big part of it and I ended up having to do the sound check by default. I knew this would not be great. Well, I gave it a go and Circuit des Yeux were getting visibly frustrated with the bad work I was doing. I eventually turned it around and it came together, but it was touch and go for a minute. By the end of the night they were very pleasant and seemed in positive spirits so that was good. We did go over in time and ended up having to start a little late, but we caught up after a couple sets. Sunday had something of a repeat but maybe even worse. Kelley was at least there for it. Alex was doing his sound check and was getting very frustrated. But instead of it seething JUST below the surface, he got into a little argument with Kelley about his sound. He had mic'd drums (my drums, uh, Alex Zhang Hungtai played my drums so that's pretty cool) running through effects so that makes things a little more complicated. Anyway, she was very gracious and diffused the situation well. He was also apologetic about being upset, but it was kinda tense. Sunday started late too, but Alyssa didn't show up (the reason she'd had to cancel running sound a little before, being kicked out of her studio, I found out had been amplified where Murphy's dick owner made her leave immediately instead of at the end of the month as he'd previously said) so there was a gap to give a little extra time to fill out. We had the drums set up in the back on a rug so they just had to be dragged forward. Well, towards the end of the night when we were setting him up, that made it really efficient. Too efficient. We set up real quick and then he was just ready to start playing and started like 15 minutes before his scheduled time. He also played a pretty short set (maybe a little more than 20 minutes, it was over not a whole lot after he was scheduled to start). It was an intense, amazing, absolutely incredible performance, but it was short and early. And some people had arrived to see him and he was already done so they left. Kind've a bummer but what can you do? Also, peripherally related to Alex, I had reserved Saturday morning to finally get my modular set up and ready for my soundtrack performance. Well, the person who was supposed to pick up Alex from the airport had overslept and their battery died and so I had to just go and do that so it ate up my morning and I didn't get a chance to until after I'd arrived on Saturday and got things in order. I just threw some of my standards together by eye real quick. The movie on Friday was almost a disaster. We get it set up and realize we don't have the right connections for the movie's sound to happen. The stage was already running at least 15 minutes behind all day (not too bad since it theoretically ended early and there was extra time blocked off for the movie on top of that) but it took at least another 15 minutes to find the right connection. We got something together but it was, again, touch and go... The last thing I can think of that went badly was something I wasn't even aware of until yesterday after the festival was over. Kip was upset with me for not showing enough appreciation for loaning the pa. I tried to be thankful, but I was distracted constantly and sleep deprived (I had been waking up early for the better part of the week) so I may have not shown things well. Also, he'd asked to get his pa stuff loaded on a cart and to call him when it was ready at the end of the night on Sunday as he lives in the building and could just come down. Well, I got it loaded on the cart but forgot about calling him and he was upset about that too. We were supposed to meet up but he just picked it up and for a while wouldn't call or message me back. But I'd left out one of his cables so he messaged me about that and I met him to return it. He was with someone else so said we'd talk about it later. I had just let him know he'd "saved my ass" and he just said "Yeah, I know." Hopefully we can talk about it later and hopefully I can make things right with him 'cuz it bums me out to have someone upset or feel underappreciated for helping me out. Oh, there was also a snafu where we used the extra room (that was going to be for Pharmakon, then Wolf Eyes but we weren't able to get two beds so had to get them a hotel) for a few of the musicians who needed a place to crash. Well, the first one left the key in the room so the next night and then on Sunday there was no one around who could get the key back so it was a bit of a hassle we had to put on Crosstown, but it eventually got resolved.
Now everything great. I didn't eat much at all those three days, but I had a few bites here and there of the sandwiches Chris was able to bring from Second Line (via Kelly English and his staff), and I mean they were holy shit fucking tasty. Giving Alex a ride from the airport was pretty cool. He was super nice. Talked a little bit. I steered him in the right direction for food by recommending Payne's. He was even able to make it in the short time before it closed on Saturday. He said something along the lines of it being almost like a spiritual experience or something. So, if nothing else, he at least got a proper Memphis barbecue experience! Wolf Eyes were very nice (really just about everyone was very nice). I was a little nervous about their flight as they were scheduled to arrive only about five hours before they were scheduled to play and if there was any delay in the flights that could have immediately turned to disaster. But they arrived on time and well. There was some worry since there was like a fucking hour before they were scheduled to play that they were setting up, but we let them know just how much time they had and they enjoyed the opportunity to take some smoke breaks, etc. Also found out later they'd been on acid a few days. They were like they usually just smoke weed but couldn't smuggle it on the plane. They found the Crosstown Concourse experience to be a bit extra surreal while tripping. But man, they were fucking phenomenal live. I mean, I've seen them before, and here in Memphis to boot at a little house show no less and that was incredible, but I think this was even better. Kelley was inspired to put the lamp next to Nate and it was glowing up on him and it had just the ominous ("moody") look that was perfect. They killed a few minutes just standing there on stage, sometimes rubbing the microphone, before starting. They were just so good. The sound was very big. John had a saxophone and Nate had eurorack (that I had to nerd out to and scope out after they played) and they both had these touchpad things. Then some rich guy threw an after party (I mean, the show ended at 9 so the whole rest of the night it felt insanely late but it wasn't nearly what it felt) and Wolf Eyes went. I was a little later, loading and dropping off equipment and all. But I got to spend a little time with some friends and strangers, hanging out with Wolf Eyes. They continued to be very nice. And we just talked and joked around for a few hours. Lots of stories. Probably can't even begin to try to remember them all to put 'em down here. So I won't try now. I'll throw some stuff down if I remember. Oh, we had Josh's video running the whole time too (just about, except for the movies of course and a couple of artists who had their own visuals). I did chop it up and mix it up a little bit to give some variety. But Josh was pretty tickled to watch Wolf Eyes playing in front of his video work.
I wanna get down other things about the weekend. For a lot of it I was running on Jarritos 'cuz they had that at the Concourse. Hadn't had it in forever 'cuz usually places that have it also have Mexicoke and my mouth heads straight for that. But man that stuff is really good too. Other highlights? I didn't get to sit down and watch all of it. I mean, naturally with two stages you literally can't see everything, but I was also running around putting out the aforementioned fires and other little things that popped up and just generally helping things run as smoothly as possible. Well, I'm getting long. I'll put some more stuff in another post!
