wacky1980 Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 i quit running sound and light for a band in 2010 after doing it for about 8 years. that was my sole living for much of that time, and i was pretty damn good at it. but then kids and responsibilities came along, and i got to the point where i didn't want to be gone that much, so i hung it up and got a "real" job at the bank. i kept in good contact with a few of the band members, and have occasionally gone to see them play when it fits my adulting schedules. earlier tonight i got a text from one of the old guys, saying they're doing a one-off themed gig only an hour away next month. they're bringing back some more old guys to sit in. and they want me to run the light show. shit. i haven't sat behind a respectable console for years. i don't even think i could stumble my way around a basic dmx operator anymore. this is gonna be a beautiful mess... and now i'm all nostalgic and shit. at one point i was uploading videos to youtube of some of my more favorite songs, but i think it was on a different account that's not around anymore. i gotta see if i can dig some of that shit out...maybe i still have it on an old hard drive somewhere. do you have an old line of work that you'd want to try out again, even if it was just for one day? could you still do it? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molarbear Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 You'll get the hang of it again! I think my favorite job ever was working for my Best Friend's Dad out of HS. He was a vendor for Lexus and we touched up paint and stuff I got to drive all kinds of cars I'll probably never be able to afford wearing some of the dirtiest clothing you've ever seen we used syringes to apply the paint (we didn't do full paint jobs) and we'd wipe the excess off on our pants legs generally so we'd wear like 1-2 sets of pants to work and they'd end up looking like a Jackson Pollack painting about a month in one time a salesman couldn't be bothered to drive the 1/8th of a block away so I walked over and picked the car up and drove it to our shop, I swear the lady had a stroke when she saw me hop in her car in paint spattered jeans and a t-shirt 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discolé monade Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 i sort of miss the days when i was trying for my 'wings' and doing ammo dumps and blowing stuff up. and the range. i always liked going to the rifle range, but i didn't have to qual every year, and would volunteer to be a 'coach' just to get in some practice. i also, miss that gig i had at the textile mill. it was all admin. making spread sheets and the like. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyberbully Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 Eh....I haven't had any "cool" jobs......I mean we used to do coke at the lil shrimp shack I worked at, but I don't really wanna ever do either of those things again. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doom Metal Alchemist Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 My first job was as a newspaper carrier (aka paper boy) in 2006 - 2007. I always liked that job and wanted to do it again. Did it again last year. The job sucks ass now. Pretty much thanks to print newspaper being a dying medium. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wacky1980 Posted October 26, 2018 Author Share Posted October 26, 2018 3 hours ago, discolemonade said: i sort of miss the days when i was trying for my 'wings' and doing ammo dumps and blowing stuff up. and the range. i always liked going to the rifle range, but i didn't have to qual every year, and would volunteer to be a 'coach' just to get in some practice. i also, miss that gig i had at the textile mill. it was all admin. making spread sheets and the like. wife was a ... munitions clerk? ... or something like that, for the army back in the day. she managed inventory on a base over at the state capital. i think she'd say that was probably one of her favorite jobs, because she got to handle all the heavy artillery on the reg. that, or working at the pet store. i'm not sure if the band gig was my favorite job ever because i worked my ass off for 12-16 hours every day we worked, but it was definitely the most fun. it involved free booze most of the time, and the after-parties were always good for a couple thrills... back when pictures were film-only, thank the gods. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wacky1980 Posted October 26, 2018 Author Share Posted October 26, 2018 2 hours ago, Doom Metal Alchemist said: My first job was as a newspaper carrier (aka paper boy) in 2006 - 2007. I always liked that job and wanted to do it again. Did it again last year. The job sucks ass now. Pretty much thanks to print newspaper being a dying medium. i always thought as a kid, that i'd have loved to be a paperboy. but we lived out in the sticks, and i couldn't convince my parents to let me ride my bicycle several miles into town that early. this adult version, with loading up the car at 4am and all the stop-and-go driving...nah, not for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naraku4656 Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 my first job was being a cashier in a supermarket. i think i could skip doing that again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hornshire Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 We used to weaponize robots. Those were good times. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wacky1980 Posted November 10, 2018 Author Share Posted November 10, 2018 so tonight is the big show. i have the set list, and i've been given the name of the console and the light fixtures i'll be using. never used the console (lightshark core with two ipads for control) so that should be interesting. i'm heading down early to get in an hour or two of practice so i don't blackout the stage halfway through the opening song. that would be a little embarrassing. if i don't do an absolute shit job, i'll try to capture some video and bore you folks with it tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wacky1980 Posted November 13, 2018 Author Share Posted November 13, 2018 so that actually went pretty well. i didn't get any video because i was too busy with the light show, but a few people posted pics on the social media. the first one is the console setup, and the rest were taken live during songs. for the record, i never lost the gift, even though it was my first time on that console, using those light fixtures, and mixing to those songs. i have never received more positive feedback for running a light show, possibly ever before. i know wifey got some snaps while she was out in the crowd. if i can figure out how to get them onto a post, i'll do that too. it doesn't seem like anyone had their phones out for the last couple songs, which are usually the most visually entertaining for me (lots of dramatic movement, palette changes, and of course...the strobes come out). if anyone has video of those, i'll be delighted. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mthor Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 I still have my cool job. I started volunteering at the library when I was 9, and now they pay me to do what I used to do for fun. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codename: Jackass Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 Which band? Did they have any siqq breakdowns or brutal mosh pits? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wacky1980 Posted November 13, 2018 Author Share Posted November 13, 2018 10 hours ago, empty said: Which band? Did they have any siqq breakdowns or brutal mosh pits? golly, i sure hope not. the band was a one-off thing between a group of old friends, and they did mostly 90s alternative covers. the last few songs were stp / rhcp / velvet revolver / kid rock / nirvana. but look at that crowd, lots of ladies in there, and most of the dudes were only dancing because the ladies were in there. shit got a little dicey when they were in the guts of "teen spirit" but i didn't see anyone getting tossed around. then again, i was mostly looking down at the console so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts