The Opening Act

I've titled it "The Opening Act" merely because it's my first entry. Clever (not). I've got no specific plan or direction for this entry, either -- I'm just going for stream-of-conscious things that I've experienced on the road with various professional musicians. It won't apply to everyone, admittedly.

When you're on the road, everyone's personalities tend to get amplified, particularly onstage. 

Let's take, for instance, a singer I'll call Mandy. Mandy is a freak of nature, vocally -- an incredible vocalist who wrings every single note from the core of her soul. It's an amazing thing to watch, especially close-up (say from 10 feet behind her at "guitar station"). This girl has likely experienced so much pain in her life, and singing is clearly the outlet for that pain (as it should be, frankly).

Problem is, she can't help projecting some of that pain onto the audience. What do I mean by that? There's something called "contempt for the audience". It's not all that common to you "civilians" as most people like that tend to not be terribly successful as it seriously impedes people wanting to LIKE you -- not just your singing, but YOU the person. Audiences (especially paying audiences) WANT to like you. But, part of that singer hates the audience. There's a barely imperceptible anger directed toward the audience, whose subtlety often gets lost within the crush of stage and PA volume. For those of us who are quite used to that, though, we can recognize it more easily. Maybe there's a part of that singer who feels they deserve more success, or more credit, or more money, and hasn't gotten it. They may think, "Can't you see how great I am?! You're not really getting how great I am, are you? I know you think I'm great, but am I GREAT???". It's probably working on an unconscious level, too. Don't blame them for that, though -- being "an artist" encourages us to act childish, to keep us in a state of arrested development. I love this singer, though, and wish her greater success, because she's truly amazing. Moral of the story: Be nice to the audience, performers! They may leave unsure as to why they didn't like you as much as they thought they would have.

When you're on the road, everyone's personalities tend to get amplified.  Just ask the tour/road manager. 

On second thought, don't. He'll tell you what a giant pain in the ass I am. Yeah, that's right -- I'm throwing myself under the bus today. Although I sometimes ask for high-end equipment in my rider, I almost never get any of it. I get that -- it costs the production a lot more and is often harder to find. And I don't really care if I get them, honestly. I ask for them because it's always fun to play through amazing "boutique" guitar amps, for instance. Occasionally I get one to play through on stage, but that's rare. There are, however, a few really small, minor items that I don't think are unreasonable, and are certainly inexpensive for a tour/production budget. Guitar stands. Decent ones. They're really not expensive, at all. A large wooden box or road case to put whatever rented amp I get onto, so that it's right at ear level and I can hear myself on stage. I get push-back from stage managers on this, quite often. Until I tell them, "Listen, if you give me the box, I can have the amp right behind my head and I can keep my stage volume low!" -- oh, they love that. That wins every time. And it's true! I can keep my stage volume way down that way, (particularly since we guitarists are known for being ReAlLy LoUd On StAgE!!!). Until that argument is made, though, you'd be surprised how hard it is to get that box. Sheesh.

When you're on the road, everyone's personalities tend to get amplified.  Just ask the tour/road manager. 

I'll tell you another thing that happens on the road, although not to everyone (but it does to me). You forget what day it is, and you forget where you are. You've no doubt heard the stories about singers taping a note to the back of their guitar so they can say, "How ya doin' tonite, [insert name of town/city/state/country here]?!?!?"

I'm not at all big-time like that (on the "success" ladder), and it happens to me. I do need serious hand-holding from the tour/road manager for stupid stuff like that. And when I need to get on the bus. And when breakfast is.